1 Corinthians 7:8-11- Do not divorce

7:8,9

So if someone is unmarried, or a widow(er), then to remain single is a good thing to do. However, they should do so only if they have excellent self-control. Otherwise, choosing to be single will only increase the temptation they face, and they will likely fail. “For it is better to marry than to burn with passion”. In this area the church has tended to make a mess of things. The Roman Catholic church is completely wrong and unbiblical in insisting on celibate clergy, and the utter failure of this in terms of curbing sexual immorality, and of a most horrendous sort in some cases, has been made all too clear. But in protestant, charismatic and evangelical churches there has been an undue idolising of marriage. Marriage is a wonderful gift from God and is the bedrock of any stable society, but it is not the only way to live. A person who is single, maybe for all of their life, is not less of a person, and need not be less fulfilled than a married person. To remain single for the sake of the kingdom is an excellent choice for someone who is able to live that way.

7:10,11

Paul is keen to stress here that what he is commanding is from the Lord, it is not just his personal opinion. It isn’t clear why Paul first applies the command not to divorce to the wife, and then later to the husband. Jesus teaching on divorce was given to the man (Matt 19:4-6), maybe some folk thought they were being clever and said it therefore did not apply to the wife, but that is pure speculation on my part. Whatever the case, Paul then makes clear that it applies to both husband and wife. I guess that the cultural situation of the time is why Paul talks about a woman separating from her husband, and a husband divorcing his wife, though v13 would seem to count against this.

1 Corinthians 7:3-7 - Do not deprive each other

7:3,4

We don’t realise how radical this verse is. Paul starts by saying “the husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights”. The wife and her rights are given first place here. And this is from Paul who some ignorant people accuse of being a misogynist, such people merely demonstrate their own myopia. Sex is meant to be part of marriage, and it is a mutual part of marriage. In Genesis we read the two become one, they become one flesh. In marriage the husband and wife give their bodies to each other. Now this most definitely does not give the other partner the right to abuse the other. There is a mutual giving to each other.

7:5

Then we get more practical advice. A husband and wife can agree to abstain for a time from sex in order to devote themselves to prayer, but this must only be by agreement and only for a limited time. Why? Because if we do otherwise we only open the door to temptation. Paul is completely down to earth about the reality of sexual desires and practical in his advice.

7:6,7

Paul is now going to give further advice on the merits of remaining single. In Matthew 19:10 the disciples, in response to Jesus’ teaching about divorce, say “.. it is better not to marry”. They apparently considered Jesus’ teaching on the sanctity of marriage to be so onerous. Jesus then gives examples of people who will be single (Matt 19:11,12). The first two groups are those who have no choice in the matter because of circumstances. The final group who choose to be single for the sake of the kingdom, and Jesus commends this choice for those “who can accept it”. Paul essentially gives the same advice here. Paul was single (he may possibly have been widowed, but that is speculation, the fact is that he remained single now). To choose to be single for the sake of the kingdom is a noble thing, but it is a gift, and not everyone has that gift.

1 Corinthians 7:1,2 - It is good for a man not to have sexual relations

7:1

Clearly the Corinthians had sent Paul a letter with some questions in it, some of these concerning marriage. As noted earlier, there were essentially two opposite approaches to sexual immorality. One was to say that it didn’t really matter at all what one did, the other was to take a very ascetic approach. Neither of these approaches was Biblical. Paul deals with these matters in this chapter, and what he says also challenges some of our attitudes in the church. In particular seeing marriage as the be all and end all of life (I have been happily married for thirty two years, so I do actually have a positive view of marriage!).

7:2

There is value in not having sexual relations, Paul will go on later to expand on the circumstances in which this is so, but for the moment he focuses on the dangers. One thing to note in all this chapter is the down to earth reality of Paul’s teaching, there is no airy-fairy nonsense! Sexual urges are strong, and sexual immorality is a real danger. So husbands and wives should not abstain from sexual relations (an exception will be given later). If they do they may be “putting God to the test”, ie increasing the temptation in their life for no good reason. Now we need to note that Paul here is not giving his complete teaching on the place of sex within marriage, it is not only to reduce the risks of getting into sexual immorality, but that is one effect of it. God has provided a perfectly good outlet for our sexual desires.

Sinners or not?

We all know that we come to Christ as sinners in need of forgiveness and new life, but after we have come to Christ are we still sinners? You find churches that place a great emphasis on our being sinners, and then you will find others that say we are no longer sinners? So should we view ourselves as sinners or not? I want to spend a little time looking at this question and hopefully to shed some light on the matter. The answer is yes and no.

First to the yes. I sinned last week, I have sinned this week, and I will sin next week. Hopefully my life is more in line with God’s word than it was before, but I still sin, and so do you. So in that sense we are still sinners, and we need to recognise it. The flesh wars against the Spirit, and we need to engage in the battle, and to repent when we need to. To neglect this reality is very dangerous. We do not appreciate how deeply ingrained sin is, and the deep effects it has on our lives.

Now to the no. The term sinners is often used in the Bible to signify those who are opposed to God, living their lives either with no regard at all for the Lord, or even in complete opposition to Him. When we gave our lives to the Lord we ended our rebellion against Him, and we were born again. The fundamental nature and direction of our lives changed. Yes, we do still sin, and have to be always on our guard, but we are now on a different side. The basic direction of our lives is for God and not against Him, it is to seek the growth of His kingdom. So while we need to be on our guard against sin in our lives, we need to realise what a fundamental change has taken place, and is continuing to take place.

As it says in Colossians 1:13:

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves

We need to live our lives in the light of this great truth.

1 Corinthians 6:19,20 - You are not your own!

6:19a

See again the extremely high view of the body that is implicit in the Bible’s teaching on sexual morality and the resurrection. Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit! Jesus says that He and the Father will come to dwell with those who believe in Him. God Himself comes to dwell within us. He does this by the Holy Spirit whom we receive from God. Worldly sexual (im)morality consistently devalues the body, God’s teaching consistently places an infinitely higher value on us as people, and upon our bodies. God’s teaching on sexual morality is not there to “stop us having fun”, but because we are so precious.

6:19b, 20

“It’s my body” cries the world. Wrong! We are not our own, we were bought at a price, the precious blood of Jesus. If we seek to live as if we are autonomous then we are deeply mistaken. We belong to God, that is the truth. But we also belong to a God who loves us more deeply than we can ever imagine, and more than we love ourselves. So we are to honour God with our bodies. This should be the motivating force behind our lives., and our approach to all aspects of sexual morality. On this matter the world does not have a clue what it is talking about, and those churches that have opted to become sin-affirming churches do not know what they are talking about either.

New Year Message

Well here we are at the start of a New Year, so in addition to my normal Bible Blog (which can sometimes be highly unseasonal!) here is my New Year message, and I would like to base it on the scripture shared at the opening of our church service yesterday:

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Eph 3:20,21)

There are two key aspects to this. One is God and His power, and the second is His power and glory in the church. As churches we can go wrong if we either neglect His power (which is the more obvious of the errors) or if we neglect His power in us. We all know churches that are just trudging along, not expecting God to do anything, and I guess there are times in all our lives when that is how our own lives are. Then there are churches which can be doing things in a very professional manner, but in pursuing our own excellence we forget the power of God. We can become like the church in Sardis, having a reputation for being alive, but in reality being dead (Rev 3:1).

However, the error I want to focus on is neglecting the power of God in us. We can say we are utterly dependent upon God, and everything is dependent upon Him. This is true, but if we look at Eph 3:20,21, indeed if we look at the whole Bible, we see that God works His power through men and women who are obedient to Him. Our God is able to do immeasurably more that we ask or imaging according to His power at work in us.

Let us look ahead to this year. First of all, thank you to all of you who do read these blogs of mine. The top ten nations in terms of hits are : USA, UK, Russia, Germany, France, Canada, Brazil, Ukraine, Portugal and Poland. It is amazing how things have changed in the thirty eight years since I became a Christian. Now, in at least most, possibly all, of these nations our governments and our societies seem to be doing all they can to jettison all vestiges of our Christian heritage. This is certainly true of my nation, the United Kingdom. If things keep going in the direction they are going it will soon be illegal to proclaim God’s word. But we should not fear, for our God is able to do far more than we imagine or ask according to His power at work in us. As it says in John 1:5

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

We can and should look forward to this year with confidence, for our Lord Jesus Christ is the true light that gives light to everyone (John 1:9) and He has come into the world. Let us expect God to work through us and the churches that we are part of in ways that go far beyond what we imagine.

Our God is able!

Happy New Year

1 Corinthians 6:15-18 Flee from all sexual immorality

6:15

Prostitution was one of the great dangers facing Christians. Of course, it is still a danger today, but prostitution is still generally considered to be sordid, despite attempts by some to legitimise the trade. In the first century it was an integral part of much religion. Here we get further motivation for treating our bodies properly. We are members of Christ, our bodies belong to Him. So to go with a prostitute would be a most terrible thing to do, an unthinkable thing. These theological truths, like our resurrection, and our being part of the body of Christ, are not just esoteric ideas, they are doctrines that, if we think a little about them, will have a profound effect on how we live this life.

6:16,17

Sex is much more than a physical act. When two people join in sexual intercourse they become “one flesh”. Moreover, someone who belongs to the Lord is one spirit with Him. There is something very special about sex, far deeper than the what the world portrays. There is also something very special and deep about our relationship with the Lord. The Corinthians appreciated neither of these things.

6:18

There are those who say sexual sins are no different from other sins. Such ideas are simply wrong, as this verse indicates. This does not mean they are necessarily worse, though they have a deep and profound effect on individuals and on society at large. Why is sex so prone to being used in a sinful manner? Why does the devil use it in temptation so often? Why is there such an attack on sexuality and identity in society today? Because it is so special. God says it is special, here Paul says that sexual sins are different from other sins. And we only need to think a little about the matter to realise the truth of this. No other human act can lead to the production of a new life, and , no matter how much people may sometimes try to deny it, we all know that it is so much more than just a physical thing.