1 Corinthians: Part 3 - Ch. 7-9

Diving Into The Details

As Paul continues with his first letter to the Corinthians, we find him diving into the details on specific issues. In chapters 7-9, Paul goes over the idea of marriage, our liberty when it comes to other believers, and our freedom as servants of Christ. The details he provides on these specific issues give much clarity that believers can use and apply today. Understanding how God wants us to view marriage, liberty, and our service to Christ is vital if we are to live as God has called us to live in His Word. When discussing the main idea for the book of 1 Corinthians, The Bible Project beautifully states, “Jesus' resurrection motivates his followers toward unity, sexual integrity, power to love others more than ourselves, and the hope of victory over death.” This is Paul’s goal when communicating all of these points to Corinth. Paul wants God’s people to understand that as Christ-followers, we now have a new life. This means that every aspect of our lives are now changed, from the way we eat to the way we run our marriage, everything is now gospel centered. As we go through these chapters today, make sure to keep this in mind. Paul isn’t trying to be unnecessarily picky about issues that don’t matter, he’s trying to show us that every aspect of our lives should be impacted by the power of the gospel if we have been truly saved. With this in mind, let’s dive in. 

Marriage & Singleness

To begin, Paul starts with a bang in chapter 7 as he addresses not just marriage but singleness as well. Paul is sure to tell the church how a marriage should operate under God’s rules but also goes further to tell those who are single to be satisfied in singleness if at all possible. We see this right away in 1 Corinthians 7:1-3 “Now concerning the things about which you wrote, it is good for a man not to touch a woman. But because of sexual immoralities, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband. The husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise the wife also to her husband.” Paul is clear in his first sentence that it is good for a man to not be with a woman if he can resist sexual immorality. However, becasue of how vast and powerful sexual immorality is, one of the blessings of marriage is to be able to be rid of those temptations because of the partner that God has given us. Paul doesn’t stop there, though. He goes on to say that the husband must fulfill his duty to his wife and the wife likewise to him. This shuts down any argument that a man is over his wife in a valuable sense in God’s design for marriage. God may intend for the man to be the leader of this relationship, but this does not determine the value of the husband or the wife. The husband has duties to fulfill in this relationship just as the wife does as well. 

This passage packs a punch for those who are married because it shows us how while marriage is a blessing, it is still work for each person in the relationship, and that’s how God designed it. We are to put aside our own desires and help fulfill the desires of our significant other. Paul goes even deeper on the singleness issue near the end of the chapter as well. 1 Corinthians 7:32-33 states, “But I want you to be free from concern. One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife,” As much as marriage is a gift from God, so is singleness. God has made it clear that if the desire for a significant other never arises, it is better to remain single so that all of our efforts and desires may be focused on the Lord. When we are married, however, while it is biblical to take care of our spouses, it also divides our time as well. This is why Paul is sure to tell the church that both marriage and singleness are gifts from the Lord and that each has a purpose. In marriage, we are to serve the other just as Christ served the Church, and in singleness, we are to put all of our focus on God just as Christ did as well. We shouldn’t push singles to be in marriage, and we also shouldn’t make singleness sound holier than marriage. We must let each person live as God created them. 

Serving Christ

This leads us right to chapter 8, which has a short yet important point that Paul discussed a bit in Romans as well. Just as we are to take care of our significant others, we are also supposed to take care of the weaker members of the church as well. Paul is specifically discussing how eating food sacrificed to idols isn’t sinful, but some who are new or weak in their faith may not know that. Therefore, don’t eat the food. Paul says it this way in 1 Corinthians 8:9-10 “But take care that this freedom of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone sees you, the one who has knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, will his conscience, if he is weak, not be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols?” This is how we can serve the body of Christ. Yes, ultimately, the goal would be to teach the fellow believer about what is sinful and what is not, but we must be sure not to be a stumbling block to those who are new in their faith. All of this points us to chapter 9, where we can truly see what the goal of all of this is. Functioning in our relationships in the right manner and taking care of those in the faith who are weaker is all done so that we may serve Christ to the best of our ability. This is why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:22-23 “To the weak I became weak, that I might gain the weak; I have become all things to all people, so that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.” This hits the nail on the head. All things we do, we should do for the sake of the gospel. Not just so that we may reach others with it, but so that we may make sure that we are fellow paratkers of it as well. I hope and pray that even while discussing things like marriage and discipleship, you would see how mightily a gospel centered focus changes things. The gospel of Jesus Christ shouldn’t just change the way we view salvation, but it should change the way we view and live our lives. My prayer for you today is that you would realize this as you study this great book as well. 

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Sources

[1] Blue Letter Bible. (n.d.). Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/

[2] Book of 1 Corinthians | Guide with Key Information and Resources. (n.d.). https://bibleproject.com/guides/book-of-1-corinthians/