THE FREEDOM TO RESTRICT FREEDOM

I Cor. 8:13 ... "If food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, that I might not cause my brother to stumble."

      When a pagan took an animal to a temple to sacrifice it to the idol that he worshiped, very often only a small portion of the animal was actually burned in the fire. The remainder was taken to the market place where it was sold for fresh meat. When a Christian bought some of this meat, he could think of it simply as a food item to be taken home, cooked, and eaten for the nourishment and the enjoyment thereof. Or, he might think of it as meat that had originally been offered to an idol and, as such, still had the stigma of idolatry attaching to it. To such a person it seemed that to eat of the meat was in some way to involve himself in idolatry and thus to sin. The person, however, who could dissociate the meat from its idolatrous origin and look upon it simply as common food, felt that there was no sin involved in eating it. In Gentile regions, such as Corinth, where Christian communities sprang up, this matter of meat offered to idols constituted a real problem.

      In I Corinthians 8, Paul deals with this problem in a straightforward way. He first points out that since idols are nonexistent, meat offered to them is the same afterwards as before. That is, nothing from what is nonexistent could attach to the meat to make it defiling. Christians who understood this clearly, as Jewish Christians surely did, could eat the meat without a thought in reference to idols. Paul states, however, that "not all men have this knowledge; but some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled," (v.7). Here he is doubtless referring in large part to Christians who had lately been converted from idolatry. The former practices and ideas involved in them were still too vivid and strong. Perhaps their minds, trained by the Gospel, told them that the idols were false and powerless, but their hearts yet felt their influence. When Paul discussed this same problem in Romans 15, he designated as "strong" those who could eat the meat in question without misgivings. Those who felt it sinful to do so he called the "weak." Because they were weak, however, they were no less Christian brethren than those who were strong. Therefore they were to be respected and treated with kind consideration. He cautioned the strong brethren who were enlightened that "knowledge makes (one) arrogant, but love edifies," (I Cor. 8:1). That is, love should be the rule that guides, not a knowledge that dogmatically asserts one's right to do what does not offend himself and cause him to sin. So, in v.9 the apostle advises, "But take care lest this liberty of yours somehow become a stumbling block to the weak." In other words, they must not offend their weaker brothers by eating the questionable meat. Love would help them forbear in order to preserve the fragile consciences of the weaker Christians.

      Today we are not faced with the problems of idolatry as such, but there are numerous situations where things allowable to Christians with greater knowledge are temptations and serious occasions of stumbling to those less enlightened. Our text instructs us that the law of love forbids us to exercise our liberty before our weaker brethren lest we confuse them, trouble them, or perhaps ensnare them in a situation where they will violate their consciences and sin. The liberty is ours to use only when we know that it is troubling no brother or sister in Christ. And before we proceed to engage in that thing, we must be very sure such an influence is not being exerted. We must notice the warning in v.12 that "in wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.

GOD'S WILL FOR THE MARRIAGE BOND

I Cor. 7:10-11 ... "To the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife should not leave her husband (but if she does leave, let her remain unmarried, or else be reconciled unto her husband), and that the husband should not send his wife away."

      In the beginning, so Gen. 1:27 records, "God created man in His own Image, in the Image of God He created him, male and female He created them."  Humans are divided into male and female sexes by the will and creative act of God, not by any design or deed of humans. God took this step to meet a specific need in man, as we are informed in Gen. 2:18, "Then the Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make a helper suitable for him.'" So God proceeded to fashion the woman from a rib He removed from the man and presented her to the man, thus uniting the first man and woman in the state of marriage. In v.24 the Lord then decreed, "For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh." Centuries later Jesus commented upon this verse by saying, "What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate," (Mat. 19:6). These scriptures show that it is God's will for a man to take a woman as his wife and for this marriage union to last for the duration of their lives. When a marriage is contracted, God Himself seals the union and forbids anyone to break the bond. Only one exception (other than death, Rom. 7:2) is allowed, which is revealed in Mat. 19:9, "Whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another commits adultery."

      We have arrived at a very poor state in human affairs where this decree of God is set aside as though God's will is meaningless. About half of current marriages end in divorce, and only a fraction of them are allowed by Scripture under the category "except for immorality." Many years ago civil law was much closer to divine law and allowed divorce reluctantly, but the situation has since been radically changed. The number of causes for which civil law grants divorce varies somewhat from state to state, but it extends to more than twenty. Human law may change to allow many things, but Jesus in Jno. 10:35 declared that "the Scripture cannot be broken." And in the Last Day it is the Divine Scripture by which we all will be judged, not by any human law. God wills that the marriage bond should last until death breaks it, and He allows only one exception, immorality. This statute cannot be changed; therefore, it is our obligation to respect it scrupulously.

      In our text above, Paul is passing these divine instructions along to the Christians in the church in Corinth. He tells the married woman that she must not leave her husband, but rather must live with him and be the best wife to him that she can be. Sometimes, it may be necessary for a woman to leave her husband for her own safety. Unfortunately, some men are violent and will hurt their wives, even severely. But this is not a Scriptural reason for divorce, for Paul clearly says, "but if she does leave, let her remain unmarried." If the reason that led to the separation can be rectified, the apostle declares that she should "be reconciled unto her husband." Then to the husband he commands that he "should not send his wife away." In other words, although it is left up to each of us to decide if we will marry and whom we shall marry, God does not grant us the option to terminate our marriage. When we seize that option for ourselves and then exercise it, we are transgressing the law of God. And God certainly takes note of it!

SUCH WERE SOME OF YOU

I Cor. 6:11 ... "And such were some of you, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God."

      In Charlotte Elliott's hymn we sing: "Just as I am, and waiting not to rid my soul of one dark blot. To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot, O Lamb of God, I come!" In Rom. 5:8-9 we read: "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him." However it has been possible for man to sin, people have sinned many times over. In the verses just preceding I Cor. 6:11 Paul mentions fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, homosexuals, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers and swindlers.  In other places various New Testament writers extend this list to include quite a number of other sins. All sins are wicked and incur God's wrath and condemnation, but many of them are especially vile, being destructive both to those who commit them and to those who are often their victims. Some sins seem so abominable that human judgment rules them unforgivable. And yet, for all we know God will forgive any sin except the one of which a person will not repent. God gave His Son as the sacrifice sufficient to remove all sin, if people will avail themselves of His most gracious gift.

      Christians who have lived "straight" moral lives may feel that those who practice fornication, homosexual behavior, theft, drunkenness, and the like are so fouled up by wickedness that they can never really be cleansed and converted into the true image of Christ. We may feel that a residue of the sin always remains dormant somewhere, ready to spring to life at the right opportunity, so that the brother or sister can never be trusted. The Corinthian Christians, however, had a background in sinful practices that were nothing short of abominable. Fornication was sanctioned in their native religion, the worship of Aphrodite. Homosexuality was open in society and was defended by influential people as being a higher level of love than the heterosexual type. Drunkenness was also incorporated in Greek religion in the worship of Bacchus, the god of wine. And yet, when Paul preached the gospel of Christ to them, they believed and were baptized into Christ for the remission of all those sins, (Acts 18:8). Looking back upon their conversion, Paul declares, "but you were washed (baptized)." As a result he says that they were sanctified (set apart to serve God) and justified (pronounced not guilty of the sins they had formerly committed many times over). Now Paul says they were saints (I Cor. 1:2) and brethren (I Cor. 1:10).

      While Christians may be reluctant to accept former fornicators, homosexuals, drunkards, and thieves as being truly converted, many of those who continue in these sins refuse to accept what they are doing as being sinful. There are many who see no evil in fornication. They defend same gender sexual behavior as being an "alternate lifestyle" just as moral as heterosexual behavior. Drunkenness is defined as a "disease" rather than a sin, so that the inebriate is "sick" and not sinful. God through the apostle whom He inspired, however, puts all such behavior in the category of "unrighteousness" and declares that those who practice it "shall not inherit the kingdom of God," (v.9). As Christians we must oppose such behavior as unequivocally sinful.  But when someone who lived in it is converted, we must accept him without reservation as "washed, sanctified, and justified," being now a saint of God and a true brother in Christ.                           

IMMORALITY MOST SCANDALOUS!

I Cor. 5:1-2 ... "It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father's wife. And you have become arrogant, and have not mourned instead, in order that the one who had done this deed might be removed from your midst."

      It is believed Paul was at Philippi in Macedonia some 350 miles by land northeast of Corinth when he wrote this epistle to the church there. But even at that distance he had received news that a most shameful situation existed among the Corinthian brethren. Actually, the situation was worse than shameful. It was scandalous! Such immorality even exceeded the depravity of the Gentiles. One of the Corinthian brethren had taken unto himself his step-mother, (the probable meaning of "his father's wife"), and was regularly committing adultery with her. The standard of Christian purity could hardly be more flagrantly violated. But to compound the sin the church had taken no action of itself to admonish the brother and seek to induce him to repent, and if he would not, to expel him from their fellowship. To the contrary, they took pride in defending the liberty of the man to have his way.

      When God created the first human couple, He decreed that "a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh," (Gen. 2:24). In Matthew 19, Jesus interpreted this verse to show that it is God's will for one man to be joined to one woman for a lifetime. The only honorable release from this union is the death of one of the members, (Rom. 7:2-3). Only within the bonds of the marriage union does God sanction sexual activity between a male and a female, (I Cor. 7:2-5). Within marriage God blesses sexual intercourse, for it was He who fashioned the male and the female to perform the act in gentleness and in love. The brother in Corinth flaunted the divine will, and his brethren shielded him proudly in his sin. The apostle was appalled when he heard about this and chastised the Corinthians that they had not "mourned," declaring that their "boasting is not good," (v.6). He commanded them at once to "deliver" the man "to Satan for the destruction of his flesh that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus," (v.5). Paul thus demonstrated a radical solution to a radical problem, for the leaven of evil had to be purged without delay to protect the church as a whole, (vs. 6b-9).   

      Our present society has lamentably reached the position where there is little stigma, shame, or scandal associated with the sin of fornication. At least one incidence of fornication occurs in almost every movie and in many television shows. We find entertainment in watching the dramatization of the sex act and exhibit no shame when it is luridly portrayed on the screen. A prophet in the 6th Century B.C. said of his generation, "Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even ashamed at all; They did not even know how to blush," (Jer. 6:15).  It has come to the same thing in our society. We are no longer scandalized by fornication. Many commit it with the full knowledge of their friends, and neither they nor others blush or feel shame. In fact, we have come to accept fornication as near standard behavior for our times. It is far past time for Christians to try to raise the level of morality of our society by stressing that fornication is strictly forbidden in the Bible and by treating it as the black sin which it is. Do we have the courage to proclaim this message?

NOT IN WORDS BUT IN POWER

I Cor. 4:10 ... "The kingdom of God does not consist in words, but in power."

      Corinth was a city of the Greeks,a people who highly valued rhetoric, the art or science of using words effectively in speaking or writing. In the classical age they produced men who developed themselves in rhetoric to the point where they are still remembered today. One of them, Demosthenes, who lived in the 4th Century B.C., was perhaps the greatest orator of them all. In order to perfect his ability, he is said to have filled his mouth with pebbles on the beach and then practiced speaking articulately above the sound of the waves breaking on the rocks. The Greeks valued rhetoric so much, and so many tried to excel in it, that eventually it was overplayed and became somewhat ridiculous. This was the prevalent situation when Paul brought the gospel to Athens, Corinth, and other Grecian cities. The once great art had been degraded to artificial eloquence and mere showiness in language and style. And yet, it was what the people desired and esteemed. They thought that any speaker who did not employ it was unskilled and not worthy of an audience.

      In the Corinthian correspondence, especially, Paul emphasized that the power of God is not dependent upon such displays of speech. In I Cor. 1:21 he stated that, when he brought the gospel to them, he "did not come to you with superiority of speech ... proclaiming to you the testimony of God." In 13:1 he stated that "if I come with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." And in 4:20, quoted above, he contrasts eloquent speech with power, meaning the power of God. It is true that God's power is demonstrated through His word, the gospel, (Rom. 1:16). But that refers to the word of revelation per se and not to the manner in which men speak in their use of phrases, expressions, gestures, tones, and all that might be called "pulpit delivery." The power of God is contained in the word of truth itself, not in the style of vocal presentation. The Corinthians failed to realize that, and their failure is repeated even now.

      When someone today delivers a sermon in a dramatic way from the pulpit, most audiences are very impressed by the artful expressions, vigorous gestures, and dramatic voice projection. The louder and more commanding the voice, the more rapid the speech, and the more energized the personality, the more effective we think the speaker to be. It is just this evaluation that the Spirit, through Paul and other New Testament writers, counsels us to avoid. The power of a sermon or lesson lies in its truth to revelation, its sincerity of purpose, and its honest effort to draw attention to God rather than to the speaker. When a teacher or preacher has done a really superb job, the audience will be awed by God and not by the speaker. We must put our confidence in the power of God, not in the skill of men, to make things work, to build things up, and to establish continuity of success. In I Cor. 3:21-23 we read this: "Let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God." When we go to church to receive a lesson or hear a sermon, we should not go to hear a certain brother but rather an exposition of truth from the word of God. If we put the stress on the speaker and his style of delivery more than on the content of what God has revealed, we are reversing the statement of I Cor. 4:20. We must also consider what we are told in I Cor. 3:7, "So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth."

THE CHURCH, GOD'S TEMPLE

I Cor. 3:16-17 ... "Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are."

      In the ancient world people built temples of stone, brick, or wood and ornamented them with gold, silver and precious stones. They usually sacrificed a significant part of their own wealth and even their means of life to make these structures as elaborate, beautiful and costly as they could. They understood that the temple was the house of the god they worshiped, and they felt they owed the deity the best they could provide. This was true of Israel's temple in Jerusalem. It was called the "house of God" or "temple of God," and God's presence was considered to be perpetually found there. Many times in the Old Testament, when someone is said to "come before the Lord," it meant the person came before the temple, or (previous to the temple), before the tabernacle. As Solomon dedicated the temple, he prayed to God, "I have surely built You a lofty house, a place for Your dwelling forever," (I Kgs. 8:13). God later replied, "I have consecrated this house which you have built by putting My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually." Since God inhabited the temple, it had to be treated with great reverence. No one could enter it unless he had been ritually purified, and things could not be brought into it unless they were authorized and had been sanctified. Conduct within the temple had to be according to the standard prescribed by the Mosaic law.

      When the law of Christ replaced the Law of Moses, the physical temple in Jerusalem ceased to be God's dwelling place on earth. God still has a temple in which He dwells here, but it is not one made of stones, brick and timber. Paul declared in Acts 17:24 that God "who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands." In I Cor. 3:16-17 the apostle states that God's temple now is the church, the community of God's people in Christ. Christians are collectively the "temple of God," and the Spirit of God dwells in them and among them. As members of the church, therefore, people are privileged to live in the presence of God and in close fellowship with God. Since only priests are allowed to enter a temple, and since their duty there is to offer sacrifices, it becomes the lot of every Christian to be a priest and to offer sacrifices. Thus we read in I Pet. 2:5, "You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house  for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." Christians do not need a huge, costly temple as the residence of their God and the fit place to serve Him in worship. We ourselves are that temple, and God dwells within us.

      It is still essential as it was in the time of the physical temple that no one  defile the temple of God. Since the present temple is the church as the community of God's people, the things that would defile it are whatever would disrupt the fellowship among its members or its fellowship with God. In the Corinthian letters Paul deals with a wide variety of things that were weakening the fellowship of the members:  sects identified by human names,  fornication, lawsuits, marriage problems, idolatrous influences, and varieties of false doctrine. As their fellowship with one another was broken down, their fellowship with God was also greatly disrupted. The realization that the church, (not the literal building but the community of Christians), is God's current temple should cause us to hold the church in highest esteem and treat it with the greatest respect we are able. We should be most careful lest we defile its sanctity and offend God.

NOT OF MAN'S WISDOM BUT OF THE SPIRIT

I Cor. 2:4 ... "My message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power."

      The apostle Paul preached the gospel of Christ over a large portion of the Roman Empire, from Israel in the east to Rome (and perhaps even Spain) in the west. Congregations sprang up in country after country, and in city after city, and Christianity as a new religious movement became known to the average citizen in most places. We read such reports as Acts 19:10, "All who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks." In the Macedonian city of Thessalonica the enemies of the Christian missionaries are said to exclaim with alarm, "These men who have upset the world have come here also," (Acts 17:6). Paul and his assistants were preaching the gospel, the power of which was noticeably transforming society, for it contained essential truth able to penetrate people's lives, perfect them in righteousness, and fill them with hope for a better future.

      We might ask today, "What was the nature of the gospel which Paul and others preached to the people of their age?" In the second chapter of First Corinthians especially the apostle tells draws a contrast between human wisdom and divine wisdom. We must not think that formal education in school is a product of our modern age. The ancient world had great schools and academies where instruction was both regular and quite vigorous. Neither must we think that human science and learning were rudimentary then. Both were, in fact, advanced to a degree by the First Century that astonishes most people today when they first learn about it. Paul was evidently well versed in much of this wisdom, at least in the philosophical and literary areas. Yet, as he stood before audiences and proclaimed the gospel, he did not draw from that source to appeal to people to believe in Christ as the Son of God, to accept His doctrine as the standard for their lives, and to obey His plan for being saved from their sins. In vs. 1-2 previous to the text above he confessed, "And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified."

      It seems that many today have chosen to ignore the message of I Corinthians 2. There are congregations that choose only ministers who have doctorate degrees. Those who might know the Holy Scriptures far better, and who might be far more skilled in their interpretation and application, are passed over because they do not have multiple university degrees. One wonders if Jesus, or Peter, or Paul, or John would be allowed to speak from their pulpits, because none of them had academic credentials. There is growing evidence that many today seem ashamed and embarrassed by the content of the Scriptures because they do not incorporate the achievements of human wisdom during the past nineteen centuries. The preacher or teacher who tends to use the Bible less and human philosophy, science, and literature more gains greater recognition and praise than the one whose purpose is "to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified." Do not think this writer is anti-academic. I have seven years of university education, all with superior grades. Also, I spent forty-two years teaching mathematics and physics. Now in retirement I avidly keep busy reading volumes of philosophy, history, social science and theology. And yet, I am very concerned that so many in the church today have come to the place where they seem to honor human wisdom more than the wisdom God has revealed to us in Holy Scripture.