Last time, we followed the apostle Paul to Ephesus, where he wrote an epistle to the church in Corinth, which is now known as the book of 1 Corinthians (see Third Missionary Journey of the Apostle Paul).
We delved into the first section of that book, which dealt with disunity in the church. Next, Paul shifts his focus to sexual immorality.
In last week’s study, you will recall that the church had brought prostitutes into the worship services, and, he learns, some congregants were practicing incest (1 Cor. 5:1). The apostle tells them to have no association with sexually immoral people if they will not confess and repent. In fact, he tells them to throw the unrepentant offenders out of the church!
What he is saying is that matters such as these need to handled within the church. He strictly forbids taking these problems to outside sources, as he infers that some have done:
When one of you has a dispute with another believer, how dare you file a lawsuit and ask a secular court to decide the matter instead of taking it to other believers! Don’t you realize that someday we believers will judge the world? And since you are going to judge the world, can’t you decide even these little things among yourselves?
Don’t you realize that we will judge angels? So you should surely be able to resolve ordinary disputes in this life. 1 Cor. 6:1 – 3. NLT
(It is an important at this point to understand that Paul is referring to judging people for what they do, not who they are). He continues by elucidating what behaviors require judgment – for the express purpose of helping the sinning brothers and sisters in Christ get back on track):
Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people – none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.
Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Cor. 6:9 – 11. NLT
The apostle then directs his focus solely onto sexual immorality:
The body is not intended for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body [to save, sanctify, and raise it again because of the sacrifice of the cross]. 1 Cor. 6:13 AMP
He elaborates:
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Am I therefore to take the members of Christ and make them part of a prostitute? Certainly not! Do you not know that one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, “The two shall be one flesh!” (Gn. 2:24).
But the one who is united and joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Run away from sexual immorality [in any form, whether thought or behavior, whether visual or written]. Every other sin that a man commits is outside of the body, but the one who is sexually immoral sins against his own body.
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is within you, whom you have [received as a gift] from God, and that you are not your own [property]? You were bought with a price [you were actually purchased with the precious blood of Jesus and made His own]. So then, honor and glorify God with your body. 1 Cor. 6:15 – 20. AMP
What Paul is revealing through the Holy Spirit, is that our body is to be sacredly dedicated to serving God. However, if we add immorality to our union with Christ, we desecrate Jehovah, Jesus, and our union with them through the Holy Spirit.
Let us not forget that the apostle is just as human as the rest of us. He knows that we are powerfully drawn to the flesh. Because of that, Paul suggests that the best way that we can fully serve God, is by remaining celibate (1 Cor. 7:1). Yet that urge (which was initially created to populate the earth – Gn. 1:28) is irresistible to many. So, God said that the only way to bring morality to that, was to express it in the confines of marriage:
But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband. The husband should fulfill his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband’s needs. The wife gives the authority over her body to her husband, and the husband gives authority over his body to his wife.
Do not deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. Afterward, you should come together again so that Satan won’t be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 1 Cor. 7:2 – 5. NLT
So wise this God of ours. He knows all about the strong pull for sexual union between a man and a woman (He put it there!). He gifts us with that union only in a monogamous marital relationship.
We also see that we yield ourselves to our spouses for a cooperative exploration of a path to intimacy that is mutually rewarding.
Finally, we see that we are not to deny our spouse their present-time desires (e.g., withholding intimacy out of anger), because the devil will leverage that withholding, to try to turn the eyes and heart of the afflicted spouse elsewhere.
Paul then addresses Satan’s greatest tool for the destruction of a godly household – divorce:
A wife must not leave her husband. But if she does leave him, let her remain single or else be reconciled to him. And the husband must not leave his wife. 1 Cor. 7:10, 11. NLT
Divorce should never be an option unless one spouse is an unrelenting, unrepentant adulterer, abuser or abandons the other.
Lastly, Paul speaks to the marriage where one of the spouses is not a believer, (e.g., a couple who are non-believers but only one decides to come to Christ). The apostle prefaces this by saying Jesus never explicitly spoke of this situation. Yet if it is coming out of Paul’s mouth, it is by the Holy Spirit:
If a fellow believer has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to continue living with him, he must not leave her. And if a believing woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to continue living with her, she must not leave him.
For the believing wife brings holiness to her marriage, and the believing husband brings holiness to his marriage. Otherwise, your children would not be holy, but now they are holy. 1 Cor. 7:12 – 14. NLT
However, if the unbeliever departs from the marriage, the believer is set free from judgment:
But if the unbeliever leaves, let him leave. A brother or a sister is not bound in such cases. God has called you to live in peace. 1 Cor. 7:15 CSB
But with the case of mutually believing spouses, marriage is a bond until death. Then the surviving widow is released:
A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. If her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but only if he loves the Lord. 1 Cor. 7:39 NLT
Obviously, it applies for a widowed husband as well if he marries in the faith. Then, you are still in a place where you can be sacredly drawn to the flesh. To be continued…