I Corinthians 9: The rights of an apostles

- Background: some people in Corinth are questioning Paul's apostleship
- In this chapter Paul defends his rights , including for food and drink, and to be married (if he wishes to), as an apostle.
- Even though he has the right to get some "perks" from the church, he didn't use it, and instead became a "tent-maker" to support himself.
- In the end, apostles, and God's workers in general, has the right to get some privileges from the church, such as food and housing, but they might / might not take it. If they do take it, the congregation has to respect that.

- Paul also defends his methods for preaching the gospel, which is adapting to the audience's culture.

- 24-26 talks about an analogy about running. Life is a race and in a race there's only one winner, so we have to run to get the prize, which is the everlasting crown of life. This doesn't mean there's competitors in life, but intended as a motivator in the analogy.

- 27. In addition to bringing people to Christ, Paul also has to prepare himself for the "race". You have to act what you preach.

I Corinthians 8 - Food Sacrificed to Idols

- Eating food sacrificed to idols is okay. The wise knows this
- For the sake of people who do not know, you better not eat them
- Knowing is good, but love is more important (do not be a stumbling block for the weak)

I Corinthians 7 - Marriage

7:1-7 "Proper conduct in a matrimony"
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7:1, 7:7. Is celibacy the way to go for everyone?

No it isn't certainly for everyone.
Having said so will contradict God's utterance in:
1. Gen 2:18 ("It is not good for the man to be alone")
2. Gen 1:28 (procreation)
3. Gen 17:7 (God's covenant blessings from generation to generation)

In 7:7, it's rather that (from the red book, page 215):
"... When God removes a person's need for marriage, He will endow such person with the gift of continence (self-restraint in refraining from sexual intercourse). Paul received this gift from the Lord and thus he could rejoice in his condition. But he realizes full well that not every person receives this benefaction..."
"... Finally, we may not label Paul as an ascetic who belittles marriage and glories in his celibacy (the state of being unmarried). This is not the case, for he speaks eloquently about intimate matters of sexuality and marriage..."

7:2. "...But since there is so much immorality.."

this message is written specifically to congregation in Corinth, where there are "so much immorality", so this in no way may apply as a basis of marriage.

Throughout 7:1-7, Paul speaks *about* sexual matters, not about general (boring) marriage stuff.

7:1 ("touch", NIV translated that as "marry" instead, sugarcoat :))
7:2 ("have")
7:3 ("marital duty")
7:5 ("deprive")

Specific to 7:3-4, stated that marriage without sex is not only unnatural, but also forbidden.


Iben's "General Unified Theory"
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Marriage between believers



Mixed marriage



Marriage between non-believers




7:8-11 "Faithfulness and Marriage"
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- if a single person can't stand unmarried ("burning with passion"), he/she should marry


7:12-16 "Believer and Unbeliever"
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7:2. "...has been sanctified.."

John Calvin: "... For the Godliness of the one does more to 'sanctify' the marriage than the ungodliness of the other to make it unclean..."

The red book, page 224:
"... In other words, God's purpose to save his people is much more inclusive than our limited understanding of the process of salvation.."
"... Paul is not saying that an unbelieving husband or wife has been made morally holy through his or her Christian spouse. No, man is unable to sanctify or to save a fellow human being. What the apostle means to say is that an unbelieving spouse who lives intimately with a Christian marriage partner experiences the influence of holiness..."


7:17-24 "Digression"
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7:17. "...(Literally) As the Lord assigned to each, as God has called each, so let him walk..."

this verse have more to do with being content, be a good christian in any situation that we're in, than to retain your current status.

But what is exactly your calling? In what way God may let you know your calling so you can act accordingly?
We believe that as you're getting mature as a christian, as you're walking together with God, your calling will be revealed clearer and clearer. Just remember the parable of talents, don't act passively awaiting for some kind of supernatural call and stuff.

7:20. "... Slave..."
Why the heck Paul didn't condemn slavery as sinful but instead recommending the slaves to be content?
We do not know for sure what slavery like in Paul's time. Probably slavery itself was not as bad back then as we're thinking about the term slavery using our current standard.
Also, from the red book, page 232:
"... Paul is not interested in disturbing the existing structure of society. Christ's gospel will gradually pervade society as yeast permeates a batch of dough... The eventual change in society Paul leaves to the Lord."


7:25-40 "Virgins and Marriage"
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"...26Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for you to remain as you are. 27Are you married? Do not seek a divorce. Are you unmarried? Do not look for a wife..."

Paul talks about Virgin. His opinion, judgment.

Paul's suggestion to remain as you are was due to a present "crisis". He'd like the corinthians to be free of concerns so that they may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the lord, given the situations.

Issues: What kind of crisis does Paul talk about?
- Impending persecution by Romans.
- Eschatology - Christ's return. Not likely, based on greek literal interpretation.
- Famine - Not likely (Ben), Could be (Arab).
- Pressure of living a christian life in an immoral/hostile environment. This is probably true, but it depends on the level of harshness of the said environ.
(Arab) I've found this unlikely, I could agree with "hostile environs justified Christians to delay marriage temporarily", but not with "immorality". Saying so will contradict 7:2.
(Aldo) depends on one's crisis. Based on personal judgment (due to natural disaster or losing somebody's special).

"...29What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short..."

Time is short. -- sense of urgency in serving. Paul suggests not to be bound by worldly concerns. This is true in a normal situation, still stays as true in crisis situation, thus the temporary measures that Paul talks about.

"...From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none..."

Don't take this literally of course, taken it literally will contradict all that has been said before. Rather, Paul is suggesting believers to have a broad outlook on life and focus on eternal essentials.

"32-35... free from concern... unmarried man is... a married man is... An unmarried woman or virgin is... a married woman is..."

Note that the intended audience is the unmarried folks, but at the same time the main points stand true also for all member of church.
The term 'concern' can be taken positively (the red book), or negatively (arab's bible commentary). nevertheless this point still stays true:

nowhere in this passage Paul says explicitly that one side is better than the other.
You think caring more for Godly things is better than caring for your spouse/children needs? Take a good look at 1 Tim 5:8!

"...39A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord..."

Vice versa for the guy. Need to upgrade Iben's "General Unified Theory" to a newer version :)


Phew.. finally concluded with this chapter ;D

I Corinthians 6 - Lawsuits Among Believers & Sexual Immorality

1-11
- 'smaller' problems (as opposed to the ones in ch.5; such as property cases) within the congregation better be settled among themselves. This doesn't mean justice is ignored, but rather, the congregation should be able to seek justice by themselves first before including the 3rd party.
- in some situation, it's better to be wronged/cheated than to bring conflict.
- the fact that there are lawsuits within the congregation shows that there's a lack of love within the congregation it.


12-20
- The slogan of "Everything is permissible for me" was famous among the society. The origin of the slogan is not important since it might come from the Greek's philosophers. The big deal is Corinthians used this slogan as an excuse to do whatever they want. Therefore, Paul adds his response "but not everything is beneficial".

- Corinthians seperates their spiritual and physical existence. Paul advices that both is connected. Moreover, Paul mentions that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. It is where the holy spirit resides. By damaging your physical existence, we hinder our spiritual growth.

- Paul also mentions the price that Jesus paid is expensive. Therefore, we require to honor His sacrifice on the cross. It is not something that we can treat lightly.

I Corinthians 5 - Expel the Immoral Brother!

- FLAGRANTLY immoral, greedy, adulators, drunkards, swindlers brothers has to be expelled from the church. (Flagrant = obviously, clearly, noticeably bad)

- this command does not mean to disassociate with ALL people in the world, but only applies to people who claim to be your BROTHERS

- there are some steps that can be taken, however, before actually expelling someone from the church (read Mat 18:15-17)

- the purpose of this command is to maintain the integrity of the church (immoral behavior are contagious, as pictured as a yeast in the illustration, and might give impression that the church approves those kind of immoral behavior if such kind of people stays in the church.)

- "judging" in chapter 5 is different than the one we discussed in Romans. Romans: Paul was referring to differences that exist in a Christian community (stronger faith vs weaker faith: unclean stuff, sacredness of certain days), for all these things we shouldn't judge one another. It's different from the things that are being discussed in Corinthians, here it's a fragrant immorality in the church. For this, we have steps to take, that might end in expulsion.

I Corinthians 4 - Apostle of Christ

1-13
- paul and apollos are just servants of god, entrusted with the secret things of god and to be stewards.
- as servants of christ, they (and we) should not judge (in the context being arrogant) each other (only christ has the right to judge). this is not against being critical / discernment in forming an opinion, but it is reverence to the misconcieved critism against paul.
- life as god's servants are hard, so don't be disrecpetcful


14-17
- father mentioned here doesn't refer to spiritual father, where each christian has one and expected to be one.

practical application:

should we criticize pastors, if yes, how, and how far can we go?
- it's okay, but do it in respectfully and mind your surrounding and with the right motivation


how to handle boring sermons:
- expect to get something when you come
- mind your surrounding (don't do anything disrespectful/distracting)
- get chewing gum (kata kucing)

I Corinthians 3 - Divisions in the church

- the Corinthian congregation are immature, they follows the persons, not the teachings.
- the illustration about building shows that the congregation has the same foundation, which is JC, but the building material (what's taught) can make the difference when tested by fire
- in the illustration of talents (mat 25), all people has different talent (responsibilities/role), each person is expected to use their talent, but faithfulness is what counts, not the amount of work you do.
- jealously and quarreling are signs of "division" in church
- whoever destroys God's temple (in relation with division will be destroyed) -- (16,17)