Tag: paul

  • The Idolatry of Baptism – the Idolatry of Communion – 2

    The Idolatry of Baptism – the Idolatry of Communion – 2

    TODAY we continue in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians continuing to apply the communion of the body of Christ as ceremony, community and witness.

    Paul has just compared Moses leading the Hebrews through the sea to baptism in Christ and communion in Christ.


    First Letter of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians 10:

    2 They were all baptized into Moses.. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4and drank the same spiritual drink..

    Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.


    a Contemporary Look at Communion

    And NOW, continuing in Paul's BIBLICAL TEXT, although not as the Apostle sequenced it to his first century Corinthian audience, PLACE yourself in a comfortable contemporary 21st century church for the Apostle's Sunday sermon.

    Picture Paul Podcasting to your Common Era church gathering..

    woman with cell phone
    Today's BIBLICAL references and paraphrases taken mostly from the Berean Standard Bible or New International Readers Version. PLEASE open the BIBLE on your silenced mobile device to 1 Corinthians 10.

    Good morning, beloved saints.

    I’m Paul and have been chosen to be an apostle of Christ Jesus just as God planned. And our brother Sosthenes joins you in person at your local gathering today.

    Today I will begin by addressing you, along with all of the saints sharing in the Lord’s Supper and communion in your community.

    Following my broadcast message for you and your church, Sosthenes will lead you in the breaking of the bread of Holy Communion, along with your beloved local pastor and your fellow saints sharing in the sacrifice of Christ our only Savior.

    I speak to you as reasonable people.

    So judge for yourselves what I say.

    God was not pleased with most of the church of Moses (if you will), because most of them desired the sins of worshipping idols once their GOD-appointed PREACHER Moses went up the hill to receive the LORD’s Holy LAW.

    It is God’s LAW, the LORD’s Commandments meant to sanctify and separate a Holy people from an evil world overflowing in sin from every city and nation.

    YOU have been chosen to separate IN CHRIST JESUS as a Holy People to be in communion with a HOLY LORD GOD – our merciful Father.

    My dear friends, run away from statues of gods. Don’t worship them.

    1 Corinthians 10:14 NIRV


    I know through your own pastors, shepherds of your faith, that most of you do not.

    You don’t have little Buddhas in your home OR place some Pope or Prophet on a pedestal.

    Yet every unholy message on your numerous devices reaches to lure you saints of the Lord into the inclusion of innumerable IDOLS.

    IDOLS of:

    • of self and sport,
    • inner-self and gods of nature,
    • sexual indulgence and sensual entertainment,
    • ageless health and never-to-be mentioned DEATH and then the Judgement.

    Our Lord Jesus, who sent me to YOU with the Gospel urges YOU:

    “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

    Gospel of John 5:24 LSB

    Good NEWS in the palm of your hand.


    GO ahead and LOOK at it on your device
    , (the Apostle would urge you IF he could).

    There’s much MORE

    and not one jot or tittle of the Good News JESUS proclaims is idolatry;

    but rather, Christ speaks truth.


    23 You say, “I have the right to do anything.”

    (After all, you're a FREE CHURCH because of JESUS and the CROSS.)

    But not everything is helpful.

    Again you say, “I have the right to do anything.”

    But not everything builds us up.

    So what’s a Common Era christian to do?


    In fact, my fellow saint of Christ and in Christ, regardless of all of our songs praising SELF – MY god and MY lord and MY royal blessings as part of JESUS’ resurrection —

    I can tell you (AND I SAW THE LORD JESUS AS ONE CALLED – an Apostle to YOU)The Lord did not CALL you to celebrate His Kingdom as your own (as the pagans do when WE wander off to celebrate with their gods at their feasts and festive occasions).

    Christian Evangelism by Example

    24 No one should look out for their own interests. Instead, they should look out for the interests of others.

    Do YOU do that for those the Lord seeks? 

    In fact, as Jesus commanded,

    Do YOU put your fellow saints FIRST in loving one another, even as Christ JESUS has loved US?

    Therefore,

    25 Eat anything sold in the meat market. Don’t ask if it’s right or wrong.

    26 Scripture says,

    “The earth belongs to the Lord. And so does everything in it.” (Psalm 24:1)

    YES, the earth and all creation belong to the Lord’s!

    And JESUS IS Lord!

    IF you are a humble saint of His body the Church.


    NOT Mother Nature (who has no realm of wind or fire, NO majesty over seed and sinew from dust).

    NOT some fanciful angelic cherub of erotic love.

    NOT some Bacchus of Mardi Gras beads for debauchery.

    NOT even some dead saint of our own or any Super-PASTOR of the big screen broadcasting christian charity or podcasting christian politics into every cultural corner of the world.


    NO, we worship the One Lord Jesus, God from God, begotten not made and One with the Spirit.

    Let us not test Christ as some of ‘Moses’ church’ did. (And do not grumble as some of them did.)

    And here's your Common Era application little different than with the Corinthians.

    Paul would ask a 21st century christian:

    Are Hindu gods false?

    How about Buddha and a worldly yoga of SELF?

    Would the Mormons Moroni and Smith of the Utahpian christian sect?

    And Mohammed, false prophet veiled in hatred opposing YHWH, Jacob and Christ, with adherents bowing only to their god of Allah?

    Is Mary, mother of our Lord Jesus and James and Jude our mediator before the Holy Spirit?

    Should we plea though dead Saints of the Church already with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ?

    Must you consult and hold high a Pope to interpret God’s Holy Scripture?

    Is God’s Earth your IDOL or the Heavens HE created IN THE BEGINNING?

    Does some philosophy or practice of the past fill your head and weekly routines of this mortal life? Has that become YOUR idol?

    • idolatry – formal sacrificial feats held in honour of false gods
    • of avarice, as a worship of Mammon

    And so too of

    Holy Communion.

    Are not those who eat the sacrifices fellow partakers in the altar?

    1 Corinthians 10:18b BSB

    And allow me to ask you this:
    • Do we saints of Christ LITERALLY drink HIS mystery of cleansing by that shed for us on the CROSS?
    • Must communicates of CHRIST LITERALLY eat a mysterious leaven broken unceremoniously for us on a bloody cross of Calvary?
    • AND is this the purpose of an Apostle to point out a prescribed practice to ‘Do this in remembrance of Jesus as often as we share in the feasts and cup of blessing?

    Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one loaf.

    1 Corinthians 10:17 BSB

    Christ’s Body the Church

    And that BODY is the Church

    of which Christ is the Head — Jew, Greek, Asian, African, American;

    YET ONLY those called to the communion of the saints of Christ Jesus our Lord, whose blood was shed and body broken for us.


    You can’t drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too. You can’t have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons.

    Are we trying to make the Lord jealous? Are we stronger than he?

    1 Corinthians 10:21-23 NIRV

    If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat anything set before you without raising questions of conscience.

    But if someone tells you, “This food was offered to idols,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience—the other one’s conscience, I mean, not your own.

    For why should my freedom be determined by someone else’s conscience?

    If I partake in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?

    1 Corinthians 10:27-30 BSB

    In whatever you do…

    do it all to the glory of God.

    Do not become a stumbling block.. to [worshipers of other religions] or to the church of God—

    Follow my apostolic evangelical example:

    as I also try to please everyone in all I do.

    For I am not seeking my own good, but the good of many,

    that they may be saved.

    Follow my example, just as I follow the example of Christ.

    1 Corinthians 11:1 NIRV

    Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel


  • Am I not free? Religion 1 Corinthians 9

    Am I not free? Religion 1 Corinthians 9

    Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?

    1 Corinthians 9:1 New Heart English Bible

    Freedom and Religion

    Eric Kress outlines two main points of application from the previous chapter of 1 Corinthians 8:

    Paul’s 4 questions intertwined in context and application

    Paul’s four-fold point (in the Apostle’s letter without chapter and verse) begins:

    οὐκ εἰμὶ ἐλεύθερος 

    ‘Not am I free?’ literally begins the Greek text.

    OR the King James begins:

    οὐκ εἰμὶ ἐλεύθερος

    ‘Am I not an apostle?’

    1 Corinthians 9:1 Bibles


    We won’t want to miss that the Apostle’s pivotal questions follow his concern regarding the idolatry of Corinth and communion between the saints of the Corinthian church with the revelers of the city.

    Freedom of religion

    Suppose for a moment that most every Sunday you go to some local church with an identifiable ‘christianNAME like:

    • such and such FREE church or
    • Our evangelical denomination brand church
    • City name Christian church
    • Korinthian cathedral and parish?

    Won’t most of the people who know you in town also know that:

    • you claim to be a saint,
      • part of you so-named christian church
    • worshiping some god JESUS
    • preached by some Apostle Paul

    • AND in this church occasionally inviting YOU
      • (of another sect celebrating other gods)
      • to go gather in community with these worshipers of One JESUS Christ their Lord?

    Shouldn’t these Corinthian christians come join our religious feasts and live the life of revelry and worship we do with our gods?

    Why should they?

    As we have learned previously in Paul’s letter, his question is not so much:

    • where the Corinthian saints go join in the community as much as
    • how they exercise their freedom publically as witnesses of Jesus Christ our Lord.

    To the Jews and by the Law food sacrificed to idols would seem to be the unlawful offence against the Lord God. (The Messiah Jesus [Yeshua] after all was hailed as the King of the Jews.)

    Community feasts and festivals were, after all, organized by Jews (a small minority in the city), Roman citizens, Hellenists or perhaps adherents of some other foreign religion.


    In a Common Era context, (perhaps Orthodox or Latin Catholic) religious communions and idolic festivals resemble that of the larger communities of like A.D. first century Roman Corinth.

    Authority of an Apostle

    4 Have we no right to eat and to drink?

    5 Have we no right to take along a wife who is a believer, even as the rest of the apostles, and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?

    8 Do I say these things according to human authority?

    Or does not the Law also say the same thing?

    Paul then quotes the Law of Moses. 

    And without getting into technical reasons why, the more authoritative KJV begins with Paul's apostleship. It then proceeds to freedom. And ALL of Paul's four questions lead us to his authority in personal witness of the risen Christ and the Apostle's ultimate authority over those gathered as the saints of the Corinthian church.

    Paul’s Deuteronomic illustration of the muzzled ox begs the question:

    .. Is God merely concerned about oxen?

    Or is He speaking altogether for our sake?

    Yes, for our sake it was written, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing the crops.

    If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?

    1 Corinthians 9:11 LSB [context vs. 9-14]

    Paul’s Humble Witness of Christ

    If others share this authority over you, do we not more?

    Nevertheless, we did not use this authority, but we endure all things so that we will cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ.

    1 Corinthians 9:12

    NO MAN IS FREE OF AUTHORITY.

    Paul points out that he and Barnabas, as apostles of the risen Jesus Christ, do NOT impose their true authority over the church for their own gain.

    Apostles of the Lord all take on the humility of Jesus for Christ’s sake.

    And Paul points out that community leaders who do have authority over feasts, festivals and cities must not see these ‘CHRISTIANS‘ as a hindrance to Christ — a Korinthian christian who becomes a stumbling block to true faith.


    14 So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel… For woe is me if I do not proclaim the gospel.

    The Religion of Paul’s saints

    Many of Paul's questions are rhetorical, designed to make us think through the logic connecting theology and religion,

    our knowledge of God with our witness of faith.

    Everyone practices religion. A Korinthian will get up early, stretch their mind and muscles, breathe in the life-giving air of mother self — and then go worship her at some celebration of community occasion of feasts in the name of some god of their passions.

    The Apostle knew the religion of Roman sailors and Corinthian guides to the temples of debauchery! So he cautions the saints of Corinth to abstain from such religion in all cases for the sake of Christ.

    Religion defined and maligned

    Men will write for religion, fight for It, die for it; anything but live for it.

    W. Cotton Commentary on James 1:26-27

    • I make myself a slave to everyone – 1 Cor 9:19b
    • To the Jews I became like a Jew v.20
    • To the weak I became weak -v.22

    Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.

    James 1:26 NIV

    Even James writes warnings against hypocrisy; not against the Jews but the Hellenists of every town.

    And like James, the Apostle Paul cautions the saints of Corinth against getting caught up in an inclusiveness of the local religious practices of other religions.

    Adherents of Christian religion are NOT free to practice any anti-Christ religion in order to win someone to Biblical freedom of religion.


    Why is religion most maligned in the name of freedom by preachers from other churches freely claiming Christ?

    Roger@talkofJesus.com

    I urge you, brothers and sisters, saints of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to drill down into thoughtful application of the definition of religion below. - RH 

    Strong’s G2356 – thrēskeia – feminine noun, From a derivative of θρησκός (G2357), adjective, from θροέω (G2360), verb

    θρησκεία – Religion, Worshipping –

    • religious worship
      • esp. external, that which consists of ceremonies
        • religious discipline, religion

    Strong’s G2357 – thrēskos adjective, (Probably from the base of θροέω (G2360): to cry aloud, make a noise by outcry

    religious (apparently from τρέω to tremble; hence, properly, trembling, fearful

    fearing or worshipping God

    to tremble, trembling, fearful


    Religious fear and worship such as this appears throughout the Bible.  (Today however we will not examine several religious encounters with the LORD from Old Testament.) 

    An Apostle claiming Corinthian saints for Christ

    Returning to Paul's first letter to the Corinthians: 

    Paul the Servant to All

    19 Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.

    Imagine that! -- an Apostle and witness of the risen Christ Jesus -- a man with complete religious authority over the church, especially those saints who belong to Christ in places like Corinth to whom the Apostle writes his epistle. 

    23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.

    Paul has already stated clearly:

    For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to proclaim the gospel, not in wisdom of word, so that the cross of Christ will not be made empty.

    1 Corinthians 1:17 LSB

    In the opening of his epistle Paul continues:

    For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.

    Consider that many who CLAIM "FREEDOM OF religion" truly argue for FREEDOM FROM RELIGION, which, of course, is "foolishness," since ALL men and women are religious about certain religious routines of   life and mortal limbs of dust. 

    .. you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.

    Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me.

    1 Corinthians 4:15b-16 LSB

    The Apostle claims the loyal saints of the Corinthian church for himself as their personal, loving father of the faith in Jesus Christ.

    If others share this authority over you, do we not more?

    Nevertheless, we did not use this authority, but we endure all things so that we will cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ.

    1 Corinthians 9:12 LSB

    Are YOU a Korinthian falling down in your faith?

    What is your city of Corinth, with its festivals so licentious that that they call you Korinthian for your sins — what is the life here in Corinth like?

    And where does a saint of Christ Jesus fit into the milieu of these gods and your festivals?

    HOW WILL YOU ever reach the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ when the Lord calls to Himself all of His saints?


    Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize?

    Run in such a way as to take the prize.

    Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline.

    They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable.

    The Apostle, father of the Corinthian saints once again makes an example of his own religion and faith:

    Therefore I do not run aimlessly;

    I do not fight like I am beating the air.

    27 No, I discipline my body

    and make it my slave,

    so that after I have preached to others,

    (And here is Paul's warning of our own witness to our community, neighbors, friends and family..) 

    I myself will not be disqualified.

    1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Berean Standard Bible


    And NEXT, the Apostle to the Gentiles will once again warn the Jews who have come to Christ AND again the local Greeks of the Corinthian Church.


    Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel

  • Commandments of Relationships in the Church 1 Corinthians 7

    Commandments of Relationships in the Church 1 Corinthians 7

    The Apostle clearly states both his authoritative advice AND commandments from the risen Christ Jesus.

    I say this to give you permission. It is not a command.

    1 Corinthians 7:6 ICB

    Commandments for Christians from the Lord

    Now I give this command for the married people. (The command is not from me; it is from the Lord.)
    A wife should not leave her husband.

    1 Corinthians 7:10 International Children’s Bible

    Paul previously has already conceded to those who are single, ‘..because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.’ – 1 Corinthians 7:2 NKJV

    The New King James Version HEADS this section of Paul's Epistle: Keep Your Marriage Vows

    NOW Paul must address how a corinthianized saint of Christ’s Church in Corinth ought to apply such commands of the Lord.

    ‘Do NOT be unequally yoked’ is good pre-marital advice from the Bible.

    Roger@talkofJesus.com

    – referring to Paul’s Second letter to the Corinthians 6:14

    Divorce

    A wife is not to depart from her husband. 11 But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband.

    And a husband is not to divorce his wife.


    Let’s be clear on this command:

    • For most of history ONLY the HUSBAND could sign a certificate of divorce.
    • In this Common Era a WIFE is JUST AS LIKELY to sue her husband for divorce.

    OR a ‘liberated‘ woman may simply leave (or evict) the husband of her vows, rather than seeking to reconcile their marital relationship as commandments of the Lord and scripture clearly state.

    Any Exceptions or Advice?

    (In deference to our own vows before the Lord, sometimes the hardness of a heart is that of our spouse.)

    12 To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her.

    13 If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him.

    The Apostle also makes clear his desire for fidelity in marriage between a CHURCH MEMBER and an unbeliever.

    Scripture is clear: DO NOT commit adultery applies to HUSBAND and WIFE alike.

    What about the kids?

    The husband who is not a believer is made holy through his believing wife.

    And the wife who is not a believer is made holy through her believing husband.

    If this were not true, then your children would not be clean. But now your children are holy.

    1 Corinthians 7:14 International Children’s Bible

    Sanctified, the King James Version instructs.

    ἁγιάζω – Strong’s G37 – hagiazō – From ἅγιος (G40) the same word scripture uses for ‘Holy’ and for ‘saint,’ the name identifying members of Christ’s church.

    • to separate from profane things and dedicate to God
    • to purify by expiation: free from the guilt of sin
    • to purify internally by renewing of the soul

    MARRIAGE is HOLY, ITS TWO SAINTS ONE with each other and with CHRIST.

    The saints of the church are Christ's SANCTIFIED ones, yet are our christian MARRIAGES a HOLY witness of CHRIST?

    The Good News About Marriage also reveals the divorce rate among those active in their church is 27 to 50 percent lower than among non-churchgoers.

    Jeff Feldhahn, husband of Shaunti Feldhahn, marriage researcher in 2019 CBN interview


    Which spouse claiming to be christian while embracing adultery is NOT ACTIVE in worship in their local church?

    So they divorce, often calling themselves, ‘single mom’ or ‘single dad,’ as if they had never been bound to any vow.

    And they witness falsely to the world that they are ‘christians‘ (though in name only) who DIVORCE as FREELY and frequently as the rest of the world, those who vilify Christ our Lord, His Church and every Christian family.


    but IF the ..

    ἄπιστος apistos(note some meaning from various translations)

    [departs, insists on leaving, leaves, separates, wants a divorce],

    χωρίζω chōrizō – let him depart

    .. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace.

    1 Corinthians 7:15b KJV


    ἄπιστος apistos

    And what does the Bible call this person breaking their vows of marriage by divorce?
    • unbelieving or unbeliever, KJV & NKJV
    • the husband or wife who isn’t a believer, NLT
    • unbelieving one, LSB
    • unbelieving partner, AMP & RSV
    • infidelis, VUL
    In fact, since 
    they trouble Christ,
    divide the saints and
    cast chaos into the world of witness in Jesus Christ,
    those church members who DIVORCE become anti-Christs in the eyes of the world.

    Let it be so. – 7:15b NIV

    Concerning Change of Status

    Marital Status form Single, Married, Widowed, Divorced. hand checking Married box - Abide

    When this happens, the brother or sister in Christ is free. God called us to a life of peace. 16 Wives, maybe you will save your husband; and husbands, maybe you will save your wife. You do not know now what will happen later.

    1 Corinthians 7:15c International Children’s Bible

    This is the rule I lay down in all the churches.

    Each of you should continue to live in whatever situation the Lord has placed you, and remain as you were when God first called you. This is my rule for all the churches.

    1 Corinthians 7:17 New Living Translation

    Paul addresses the men - Jewish saints of the church as well as Greek or Roman converts to Judaism, now also saints adopted into Christ.

    Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commands is what counts. 20 Each person should remain [abide] in the situation they were in when God called them.


    This, of course, opens another relational question for women, as well as questions of status of Jews the circumcision, Greek Corinthians and Roman Corinthians, both the uncircumcision.
    Slaves – δοῦλος –doulos

    Rome had slaves.

    (Most Bible translations prefer the less-offensive word, servants), but even employee labor is bought by your employer.) Some are slaves to their work. Others, slaves to

    Lose a war, as the Greeks had to the Romans, and your citizens become subject to a government over which you have no control. Jews, whether in Corinth or Jerusalem were also either Roman citizens, free aliens or slaves to a Roman, Greek or other master, their lord.

    doulos

    1. a slave
    2. metaph., one who gives himself up to another’s will those whose service is used by Christ in extending and advancing his cause among men
    3. devoted to another to the disregard of one’s own interests

    For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord.

    Likewise he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ.

    So note here Paul's all-important metaphor:

    You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants [doulos] of men.

    So, brothers, [v.29 meaning ‘brothers and sisters’] in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.

    1 Corinthians 7:23 ESV

    The Apostle uses ABIDE once again in v.23, his fourth of five times in 1 Corinthians 7.

    Marital Status form Single, Married, Widowed, Divorced. hand checking Married box - Abide
    Situation of the unmarried and widowed

    25 Now I write about people who are not married. I have no command from the Lord about this, but I give my opinion. And I can be trusted, because the Lord has given me mercy.

    Remedies for this present distress

    I suppose therefore that this is good because of the present distress—

    Paul's advice is both personal AND circumstantial: to the single (virgins and unmarried men), engaged (betrothed), married, widowed (no longer bound to a spouse), divorced (once again single and unbound to another).
    • 27 Are you pledged to a woman?
      • Do not seek to be released.
    • 28 Are you free from such a commitment?
      • Do not look for a wife.
    • 28 But if you do marry, you have not sinned;
    • and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned.
      • But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.
    The time is short
    We do not have much time left. So starting now... 1 Corinthians 7:29b International Children's Bible

    What’s the historical context of which Paul speaks? (This seems somewhat prophetic, but certainly the handwriting on the wall is whispered in every province of the Empire.)

    AD 55 – Six years ago Caesar Claudius had expelled some of the Jews from Rome. And now Nero has succeeded him as Emperor.

    • Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus was self-indulgent, cruel, and violent as well as a cross-dressing exhibitionist.’
    • Nero planned his mother’s death with great care
    • After Nero and [his second wife] argued late one night (Nero liked to stay out late), he supposedly kicked her in the stomach, killing both her and the unborn child.

    And, of course we know Nero’s evil reputation best from an incident about to take place in the burning of most of Rome just nine years from now [AD 64] and more malicious persecutions of Christ followers, including Paul, who viewed Nero as an anti-Christ.


    ..the time is short, so that from now on

    even those who have wives should be as though they had none,

    • those who weep as though they did not weep,
    • those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice,
    • those who buy as though they did not possess,
    • and those who use this world as not misusing it.

    For the form of this world is passing away.

    Paul’s first Epistle to the Corinthians 7:29-31 NKJV


    Free from earthly cares

    Again, a list from Paul confirming motivations of men and women in their relationships - freedom apart from the commandments of the Law and rules concerning marriage.
    tablet of the 10 Commands from the Pentateuch or Law of Moses received from the LORD in Exodus

    A wife is bound by law as long as her husband lives;

    1 Corinthians 1:39a NKJV
    • The unmarried man is concerned about the work of the Lord, how he can please the Lord. – 1 Cor 7:32b BSB
      • But the married man is concerned about the affairs of this world, how he can please his wife, – v.33
    • The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit:
      • but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. v. 34b KJV

    cautions for your profit and not restraint

    If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his betrothed, if his passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry—it is no sin. – v.36 ESV

    But if he has decided firmly not to marry and there is no urgency and he can control his passion, he does well not to marry. – v.37 NLT

    So then, he who marries the virgin does right, but he who does not marry her does better.

    1 Corinthians 7:38 NIV – Paul’s advice for uncertain times

    .. but if her husband dies, she is at liberty to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.

    1 Corinthians 7:39b NKJV

    Once again, from the KJV, Paul's fatherly Apostolic opinion:

    40 But she is happier if she so abide, after my judgment: and I think also that I have the Spirit of God.


    NEXT: a Corinthian Culinary Conscience



Do you SHARE the Gospel by either email or text?