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The Gift of Life

Posted on by korgrocker

“Do not deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. Afterward, you should come together again so that Satan won’t be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control. I say this as a concession, not as a command. But I wish everyone were single, just as I am. Yet each person has a special gift from God, of one kind or another.”
1 Corinthians 7:5-7 NLT

Paul was obviously celibate, unmarried, and single. His dedication to Jesus and his life were all that mattered to him, and he went through terrible times of physical and mental torment on his missionary journeys. But nothing was going to stop him from propagating the Gospel around the towns, cities, and communities of the Middle East. And if that wasn’t enough, he wrote letters that set out important theology referred to today in what we call the New Testament. Paul was an extraordinary man, God’s messenger to many, and foundational to the early church. But in all that, he had a compassionate and pastoral ministry that provided light and hope for a fellowship of early Christians based in Corinth. The culture and society, in many ways, were sex-based, but Paul cut through all of that with advice, Godly advice at that, about the importance of sexual relationships confined to a marriage alone. However, in response to their questions, he agreed with the Corinthians that, for some, it might be better for them to pursue celibacy, becoming as he was. Paul found great freedom in being fully devoted to Christ, without any distractions, particularly of the sexual kind. However, we note that celibacy is not commanded by God because if it were, the human race would quickly die out. Instead, when it came to matters of serving God, Paul “wished” everyone were single, “just as [he] was”. 

Paul wrote, “Yet each person has a special gift from God, of one kind or another”. In the context of this passage of Scripture, he was referring to the gift of singleness, of celibacy, and the gift of marriage. In both cases, this was a God-given gift, but the key is to recognise where God has placed the person involved, who would then have to face the consequences of the decision faithfully. Both marriage and singleness are a calling, and one that should be carefully worked out before God, who supplies the courage and strength required. Paul did not want anyone to try to overcome a God-given desire for sexuality out of a mistaken idea that lifelong abstinence is the best path for every person, in all cases. God has simply given the celibate and the married different gifts, not a lesser purpose. In no way does the Bible suggest unmarried and celibate Christians are more spiritual than married Christians.

This “special gift” referred to by Paul can also be viewed in the context of life itself. Think about it for a moment. Life is granted by God, but when do we thank Him for it? Did we thank Him when we emerged from sleep this morning? Yes, for some, the wakening might be accompanied by pain and suffering, especially if they are struggling with an illness or disability, but life is still there. Nick Vujicic wakes up every morning to face another day without arms and legs. I have a friend who has regular hospital visits for a urological procedure that comes with very painful and debilitating after effects. But God has granted us gifts of life for a reason, because in many ways, life here on this earth is a training ground for what is to come. Paul wrote in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord”. One day, there will be no more sickness and death, but also no more having to consider sexual matters. Jesus said, “For when the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. In this respect they will be like the angels in heaven” (Matthew 22:30). Because there will be no more death after we leave this life (Revelation 21:4, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever“), procreation to repopulate Heaven or the New Earth will not be required. 

We pilgrims have been granted many spiritual and natural gifts, but it is pointless just to leave them still wrapped up and unused. God may have given us a wonderful spouse in the gift of marriage, but He might also have given us a gift of being single. But we mustn’t forget that He has given us the gift of life. Jesus said, “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life” (John 10:10). Through Jesus, we have a wonderful life. Let’s not waste it.

Dear Father God. We thank You for our gifts of life and pray You lead and guide us in the best way to use them for Your glory. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Prayer and Fasting

Posted on by korgrocker

“Do not deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. Afterward, you should come together again so that Satan won’t be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control. I say this as a concession, not as a command. But I wish everyone were single, just as I am. Yet each person has a special gift from God, of one kind or another.”
1 Corinthians 7:5-7 NLT

We remember that this chapter started with a question from the Corinthian believers to Paul about sexual ethics, which even floated, as a possible answer, the concept of celibacy. Paul went on to discuss the subject of marriage and how sexual relations should apply in that context, and he expanded on his theme by saying that the married couple, the husband and wife, should “not deprive each other of sexual relations”, but with one caveat, unless they mutually “agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so [they] can give [themselves] more completely to prayer”. This shows that even the closest human bond must at times give way to seeking God. But Paul warns: don’t stay apart too long, lest temptation creep in. Satan looks for moments of weakness, although unity in marriage protects against this.

The refraining from sexual relations is a form of fasting, which is the voluntary abstention from food or other pleasures for spiritual purposes, aimed at deepening one’s relationship with God, although Scripture does not command Christians to fast. God does not require or demand it of Christians. At the same time, though, the Bible presents fasting as something good, profitable, and beneficial. We see how this is beneficial with Scriptures such as Acts 13:2, “One day as these men were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Appoint Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them””. Another Scripture about prayer and fasting is in Acts 14:23, “Paul and Barnabas also appointed elders in every church. With prayer and fasting, they turned the elders over to the care of the Lord, in whom they had put their trust”. Fasting and prayer are often linked together (Luke 2:37, “Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshipping God with fasting and prayer), but too often the focus of fasting is on the lack of food. Instead, the purpose of fasting should be to take our eyes off the things of this world to focus completely on God. Fasting is a way to demonstrate to God, and to ourselves, that we are serious about our relationship with Him. Fasting helps us gain a new perspective and a renewed reliance upon God.

In 1 Corinthians 7:5, Paul didn’t mention fasting particularly, highlighting prayer as the reason for an abstention from sexual relations, but implicit within the verse is the principle of fasting. We pilgrims should perhaps widen our perspective to include all types of fasting, not just food, but in the process, it is God who leads and guides us. In the end, it is all about Him, not us.

Dear Father God. We want to please You and spend more time with You at every opportunity. Please lead and guide us, we pray, so that all we do is to Your glory. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Marriage

Posted on by korgrocker

“Now regarding the questions you asked in your letter. Yes, it is good to abstain from sexual relations. But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband. The husband should fulfil his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should fulfil her husband’s needs. The wife gives authority over her body to her husband, and the husband gives authority over his body to his wife.”
1 Corinthians 7:1-4 NLT

At the start of chapter 7 in Paul’s epistle, we find that the Corinthian believers had already sent a letter to him containing certain questions. We don’t know what this letter said, it having been lost in the mists of time, but one of the questions must have been concerned with marriage and sexual matters. The way Paul starts this chapter indicates that the letter from the Corinthians might have included a question asking if celibacy was the best way. We know that in this period of Greece’s history, sexual immorality was rampant, with all sorts of deviant behaviour, so for a spiritual believer in that society, total abstinence might have been promoted as being the best response to the many invitations and expectations coming from a society deeply involved in all sorts of sexual acts. But imagine what the impact of being born again, saved to become a believer in Christ, would have had on a new Christian who suddenly realised how the immoral society around him or her looked to God. They must have immediately asked themselves how they could avoid being caught up in such debauchery, particularly as there may have still been some in their fellowship who remained addicted and compliant, attending the orgies and the like. But perhaps some of those new believers had read Psalm 119:9, where the Psalmist asked the question, “How can a young person stay pure? … “, and the same question must have hovered in the hearts and minds of the Corinthian believers. The answer, of course, is in the second half of this verse – “By obeying Your Word” – and I’m sure this is what the believers attempted to do. But was celibacy the right response? Paul continued to set out God’s order for something we call marriage. 

In 1 Corinthians 7:1, Paul wrote, “Each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband”, a simple yet profound definition of marriage. In the Bible, marriage is highlighted as a sacred, lifelong partnership between a man and a woman, which originated in God’s creation and is intended to represent unity and mutual support between the married couple. Marriage is depicted as a partnership where individuals support and strengthen each other, with a strong emphasis on faithfulness, forgiveness, and commitment to one another and to God. It all started in Genesis 2:24, where we read, “This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one“. In the concluding chapter of Hebrews, we read, “Give honour to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery” (Hebrews 13:4). In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul clearly set out that sexual relationships must be between a husband and wife, a man and woman in a marriage-based relationship, where the sexual needs of each person are met in a relationship and atmosphere of mutual love, respect and commitment. 

In today’s society, marriage has, to a certain extent, unfortunately lost its meaning, with the norm being a man and a woman just “living together” without any sort of formal commitment. The general feeling is that if things don’t work out, then either person can just walk away from the relationship. If there are children resulting from the liaison, then the feeling is that one of the couple, usually the mother, will just have to do the best they can, bringing up children without the other partner present. But even marriages today are not honoured in the way that God intended, with divorces recorded from about 38% of marriages here in the UK. 

In Mark 10, we read what Jesus said about divorce and marriage. Jesus had been asked by the Pharisees if a man could divorce his wife, in accordance with the Law of Moses, set out in Deuteronomy 24:1-4. Why did they ask this question? We don’t really know, but perhaps they were trying to trip Jesus up, having found an apparent (to them) contradiction in Scripture. Mark 10:5-9, “But Jesus responded, “He wrote this commandment only as a concession to your hard hearts. But ‘God made them male and female’ from the beginning of creation. ‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together””. The important point to note from what Jesus said is that no one, meaning either the husband or the wife, or anyone else, should attempt to break up the marriage. 

Marriage and divorce can be very contentious subjects, but for now, the Corinthians were more concerned about the situation with the sexual immorality rife in their society, and what they should do about it. Paul’s answer was clear, and as applicable then as it is today – sexual relationships are good, but only in accordance with God’s order for marriage, between a husband and a wife, in a mutually submissive and loving lifelong relationship. 

Dear Father God. We pray that You would protect our marriages, and for all those who are yet to be married, we pray that You will lead and guide them in Your ways. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Our Bodies

Posted on by korgrocker

“You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. And even though “I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a slave to anything. You say, “Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food.” (This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them.) But you can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies. And God will raise us from the dead by his power, just as he raised our Lord from the dead.”
1 Corinthians 6:12-14 NLT

The Corinthians seemed to have a warped logic. They thought that because of God’s grace, it didn’t really matter what they did, so, consequently, getting involved in any form of sexual immorality would be permissible. Really? But before we say that such a logic wouldn’t happen today, consider how sometimes our human minds take one thought and twist it to apply to something else. We all do it, I’m sure. We make excuses such as “Just one more glimpse at that magazine won’t matter because it’s only for research”. Or, “I’ll watch this film, but if there is any bad language I’ll switch it off”, but never do. Or even, “I’ll just borrow a pen from the office and return it tomorrow”, but somehow the promise is forgotten. The human mind can get involved in convoluted thought processes that somehow do enough to appease a conscience that otherwise is shouting out, “Don’t do it!”.

How do we pilgrims view our bodies? Extraordinary attempts are made by many people here in the West to maximise physical fitness, with a plethora of gyms and leisure centres available and full of all sorts of equipment designed to hone muscles and improve fitness. A professional athlete often dedicates several hours a day, most days a week, to intense, regimented training to gain the stamina, strength, and speed required to succeed. Near where I live, there is a weekly Park Run where the runners do three circuits of the park, puffing and panting in their lycra-clad attire, some giving concern for the health of their hearts. Joggers abound in most towns and cities, pounding the streets to improve their fitness levels. Other people go through processes to lose weight, attending “fat clubs” such as Slimming World and similar. There is a huge market for weight loss jabs and foods designed to reduce calorie and carb intake. People constantly battle between their bodies’ appetites for all the wrong foods and the need to shed the weight they consequently accumulate, for their own longer-term health. And then we have the people who don’t care about their bodies at all, abusing them with smoking, drinking alcohol and taking drugs. Sometimes it is amazing how much punishment a human body can take before it gives way to illness, and death at an early age. In a town in Scotland’s Central Belt there is a particular drug problem, and to go with it, the tragedy of young men and women who find that their lives are cut short through an overdose. One mother I know lost three sons to drug-related deaths. Such a tragedy.

But back to the Corinthians. In this part of his letter, Paul wrote, ” … But you can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies” (1 Corinthians 6:13b). Regarding “sexual immorality“, Paul earlier in the chapter singled out “adultery“, “male prostitution” and “homosexuality” as being “sexual sin”, but Paul contrasts using their bodies for such practices was at odds with the fact that they were “made for the Lord”. Of course, we know that one day everyone’s body will die and end up in a situation that degrades it to the point that it becomes nothing more than dust, given enough time. But from how our body was will come our new bodies because God will raise us “from the dead by His power, just as He raised our Lord from the dead”. Jesus’ new body was recognisable with the crucifixion scars still present, but it was a body with astounding capabilities, being able to walk through walls and locked doors, and travel distances very quickly. And our Heavenly bodies will be like that as well. 

Paul went on to write about a specific problem that was prevalent in Corinth, and that was the use of prostitutes. He wrote, “Don’t you realise that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never! And don’t you realise that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, “The two are united into one”” (1 Corinthians 6:15-16). The Corinthians may have been a bit puzzled by Paul’s scathing tone because how could their bodies be joined to Christ? The answer lies in the truth that one day the Church that Jesus established here on earth will become His Bride. When people, men, women, and children, accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, believing in Him and taking on His righteousness, they became God’s children and part of a great assembly of souls that one day will be the Bride of Christ. Revelation 19:7, “Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honour to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself”. Think about it for a moment. Why were we chosen by God in the first place? Ephesians 1:4, “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes”. Being joined to a prostitute, Paul was saying to the Corinthians, was hardly an act of holiness. How could anyone guilty of sexual immorality of any kind ever be a part of the holy assembly that one day will be living in God’s presence? The same questions hang in the air today, as churches and denominations grapple with sexual sins on a similar scale to what was experienced in Corinth two thousand years or so ago. God has provided a design for correct and holy sexual relationships between a man and woman, involving marriage and sexual faithfulness. Anything else is abhorrent to Him, and as Paul wrote, “Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Don’t you realise that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honour God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:18-20).

We pilgrims also have bodies that are the Temple of the Holy Spirit. He lives within us, gifted by God when we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. So, the question is, how are we treating our bodies? Is it in a way that honours Him? Hmmm…

Dear Father God. We confess that we need to seek Your will and purpose for our bodies daily to ensure that we are honouring You in all that we do. Please help us, we pray. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Law and Grace

Posted on by korgrocker

“You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. And even though “I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a slave to anything. You say, “Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food.” (This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them.) But you can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies. And God will raise us from the dead by his power, just as he raised our Lord from the dead.”
1 Corinthians 6:12-14 NLT

Much of the Bible is devoted to the sinfulness of man and the grace and love of God. This common theme weaves a path through the Bible as though it were a coloured thread, meandering through the warp and weft of a rich Scriptural tapestry, depicting God’s love all the way from Genesis to Revelation. In the Old Testament, the sinfulness of man was exposed by the Law of Moses, but in the New Testament, God’s grace came to the fore. Paul openly wrote about the conflict between God’s Law and His grace in Romans 7, where we read, “Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet”” (Romans 7:7). But then he wrote, “But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good” (Romans 7:12). Jesus Himself exposed the dilemma caused by the Law when He said, “So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:19). But then He went on, saying in the next verse, “But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!” 

Paul wrote much about the law and God’s grace in his letter to the Romans, and Romans 5:20-21 gives a succinct contrast between the two: “God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”. So it is understandable how believers became confused by grace and reached a position where they thought they could do what they wanted because God’s grace would cover their sins. But Paul went on to tell the Romans, “Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?” (Romans 6:1-2). For those who thought that they could keep on sinning, Paul said, “We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin” (Romans 6:6-7). And Paul continued to make his point, writing, “Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! Don’t you realise that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living” (Romans 6:15-16). For anyone confused about the Law and God’s grace, sin and righteousness, they should read and study the Book of Romans until the Holy Spirit instils the contents deep within our souls. 

So, back to the Corinthians and Paul’s letter. He mentioned two specific areas of concern that the believers there seemed to be indulging in, and both pertained to their appetites. Of course, being set free from the Law meant that forbidden foods were no longer off-limits. However, Paul pointed out that not all things that went into their stomachs would be beneficial to them. But we pilgrims know that, don’t we? A diabetic will know the foolishness of eating foods with a high sugar content. An alcoholic will know that wine, beer and spirits are beverages to avoid. But the Law listed certain animals that should be avoided as food as well, practical advice that Moses wrote about in Leviticus 11. However, in Romans 14, Paul tied the consumption of certain foods to honouring and thanking God, providing an emphasis that provided the Holy Spirit the opportunity to bring correction and guidance. And further on in this chapter, Paul advised that what we eat and drink should be sensitive to other believers, who might struggle with what is on offer. So, for example, eating meat in the presence of a vegan believer might introduce difficulties for them, and drinking wine while an alcoholic is present would lack wisdom. 

The other appetite that Paul mentioned concerned sexual immorality. This is a very challenging topic for many believers because it strikes at the very reason for a human being’s inbuilt desire to propagate the human species. Our sexual appetites have been designed by God to provide both children and pleasure in the process. But the enemy has once again taken something good and sacred, and twisted and defiled it in a way that degrades our minds and bodies. About our bodies, Paul wrote, “They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies”. Earlier in the chapter, Paul mentioned sexual sins, adultery, prostitution, and homosexuality, all corruptions of God’s design and sacred order, but more of that in another blog.

It may be theoretically possible to achieve God’s standard of righteousness by following the Law. Still, if the Pharisees failed to achieve the right standard, then no one else could either. God could see the difficulties and struggles that human beings were experiencing with sin, and that was why Jesus came, bringing God’s grace to this earth, grace in the person of the God-Man, Jesus. The simplicity of the Gospel, that Jesus died in our place, taking onto Himself our sins, and in the process allowing us access to God’s presence covered in Jesus’ righteousness, is breathtakingly awesome and mind-boggling. That is God’s grace. Yes, the Law is still there and, as Paul wrote, it will continue to remind us of our sins, but through God’s grace we can bring them in repentance to the Cross, assured of His forgiveness. And as we progress in our Christian lives, the process of sanctification continues, making us more and more like Jesus. Paul wrote, “So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 5:21). Amen and amen.

Dear Heavenly Father. Your grace and forgiveness to a sinful world are beyond understanding, and we know that we haven’t earned it. Once again, we come into Your presence as Your children, deeply grateful for Jesus. Amen.

Cleansed, Holy and Righteous

Posted on by korgrocker

“Don’t you realise that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 NLT

Paul provided a list of sins that, although they were probably very relevant to the Corinthian society at that time, are still also very relevant to today’s society. The sexual sins Paul listed are rampant today, hidden away from public view mostly, but the outworkings are seen in displays such as the Pride parades and the occasional references to sexual harassment in the news. But we also have other sins still with us today, such as thieving. Theft from shops has reached epidemic proportions, and burglaries are mostly unsolved. Our police forces are overstretched and have to consider thieving as a minor crime, down the list of priorities. Abusive people were very obvious in Paul’s day, but in these Internet days, the abusers mostly sit behind a keyboard, tapping their vitriol into social media pages and destroying people and their reputations in the process. But the list of sins is endless, and Paul’s list is by no means exhaustive. So, perhaps an all-round list of sins would be better summarised by defining it as rebellion against God and His laws. 1 John 3:4, “Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God.” Of course, we might try and claim that believers don’t live under the Law anymore, instead living under God’s grace, but Paul dealt with that in Romans 7:6, “But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit”. The reality, though, is that human beings, believers or not, struggle with sin. Paul put this dilemma very well in Romans 7:14-15, “So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate“. He goes on, “I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me” (Romans 7:21-23). And he then provides the answer, “Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death” (Romans 7:24-8:2). 

But back in 1 Corinthians 6:11,  Paul wrote, “But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God”. The people in the Corinthian church were guilty of a long list of sins before they were saved through an encounter with Jesus, sins so bad that they would have been excused from thinking that they were beyond redemption. Imagine their wonder at being told that Jesus had forgiven them of a terrible sin of which they had been found guilty. Regardless of all the sins that they had committed, they were now children of God, cleansed, made holy, and righteous. These sinful people were deeply and fundamentally opposed to the nature of God, but through repentance and the Holy Spirit, they became children of God. In this verse, Paul immediately changed his tone to one of encouragement and love, because for the believers at Corinth, as for all Christians, something dramatic changed when they came to God through faith in Christ. He declared us righteous and welcomed us into His family as His children. He made us heirs to His glory.

The believers in Corinth were cleansed from their sins. Titus 3:4-5, “But— When God our Saviour revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit”. That process in itself has to be the best news any human being will ever hear. It is a timeless statement that has been hanging over successive generations for the last two thousand years or so. This news is so good that we pilgrims can only shake our heads in wonder and awe that the Creator of this universe would give us a new life so rich and sinless that we can be in God’s presence forever. Jesus Himself, as we know, introduced this concept of a new spiritual birth, but it wasn’t just words. It was His gift to a fallen world, and the children God has always desired.

Paul also reminded the Corinthians believers that they had been “made holy”. There is a religious word we use today to describe what being made holy is all about, and that is “sanctification”. It means that we have been set apart from the rest of sinful humanity for God’s purposes, and we are now God’s people. Earlier in this letter, we read, “I am writing to God’s church in Corinth, to you who have been called by God to be his own holy people. He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus, just as he did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours” (1 Corinthians 1:2). Paul knew very well how sinful the Corinthians had been, but he started his letter to them with the reassurance that they were now being sanctified. Hebrews 10:14, “For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy”. We, of course, note that this is an ongoing process. Sanctification doesn’t happen overnight, but God is patient and works out His purposes within us day by day. 

Paul finishes 1 Corinthians 6:11 by stating that the believers in Corinth “were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God”. The wonderful truth is that when we were saved, when we came to the Cross where Jesus took on the punishment for all our sins, He gave us His righteousness, and we became justified before God through our faith in Jesus. 

So, in the light of all this, how should the Corinthians have behaved? Come to that, how should we behave? The answer to that always leads me to Ephesians 4:22-24, “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness“. We can only do that through God’s grace and with the help of the Holy Spirit, but as we journey through life, we will find ourselves becoming more and more like the person we should be. What a wonderful God and Saviour!

Dear Heavenly Father. Thank You for Your many blessings, and Your patience with us. Your grace and loving kindness knows no bounds. Amen.

Inheriting the Kingdom

Posted on by korgrocker

“Even to have such lawsuits with one another is a defeat for you. Why not just accept the injustice and leave it at that? Why not let yourselves be cheated? Instead, you yourselves are the ones who do wrong and cheat even your fellow believers. Don’t you realise that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.”
1 Corinthians 6:7-10 NLT

The Kingdom of God is mentioned much in the New Testament, particularly from the lips of Jesus. The kingdom of God is the spiritual rule over the hearts and lives of those who willingly submit to God’s authority. Those who defy God’s authority and refuse to submit to Him are not part of the kingdom of God; in contrast, those who acknowledge the lordship of Christ and gladly surrender to God’s rule in their hearts are part of the kingdom of God. In this sense, the kingdom of God is spiritual, and we remember that Jesus said His kingdom was not of this world, as we read what He said at His trial before Pilate, “Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world”” (John 18:36). Importantly, Jesus preached that repentance is necessary to be a part of the kingdom of God, “From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near”” (Matthew 4:17).‭‭ In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Paul supplied the Corinthians with a list of sins that would exclude them from the Kingdom of God, and at the end he wrote that people who cheat others would be amongst the company of those outside the Kingdom. This was, of course, particularly relevant to those in the Corinthian church who had been initiating lawsuits against fellow believers. Paul wrote that it was better for them to let themselves be cheated than head for the courts. We note from the list of sins that these fall into three categories: sins against a person’s body, sins committed against others, and sins against God. But they all have one thing in common, in that they will exclude anyone who commits these sins from inheriting the Kingdom of God.

Right at the start of His conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus said, “ … I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God” (John 3:3). In the next few verses, Jesus explained the process of spiritual rebirth, but did Nicodemus “get” it? He probably did, because we read about his involvement in the burial of Jesus in John 19:38-39, in the company of a man called Joseph. “Afterward Joseph of Arimathea, who had been a secret disciple of Jesus (because he feared the Jewish leaders), asked Pilate for permission to take down Jesus’ body. When Pilate gave permission, Joseph came and took the body away. With him came Nicodemus, the man who had come to Jesus at night. He brought about seventy-five pounds of perfumed ointment made from myrrh and aloes“. Joseph was the wealthy man who loaned Jesus his tomb for the weekend.

But back to the list of sins mentioned by Paul, sins that he said would exclude people from God’s Kingdom. Quite simply, there will be no sinners present anywhere associated with God because wicked people will be barred. It makes sense, really, because God, His kingdom, and everything to do with Him is sinless, pure, and holy. Absolute truth and righteousness will be found there. The Kingdom of God is, and will be eternally, a place where no sinners will be found and won’t be allowed to enter there either. A quote from “gotquestions.org”, “The Christian life is different from that of a non-Christian. Christians struggle against sin but have the God-given ability to overcome it. Unbelievers, who do not have the Spirit of God, remain slaves to their sin. Even if a Christian falls and lapses into sin, he will always eventually return to the Lord, and the struggle against sin will continue. But the Bible does not support the idea that a person who perpetually and unrepentantly engages in sin can indeed be a Christian”. There is little point in analysing each and every category of sin that Paul described, but we should note that there is an almighty battle going on in our times between those who are involved in sexual sins and those who believe what the Bible says about it. In fact, it is now going further, with the “gender wars” where, somehow, the devil has convinced men that they can become women and vice versa. And who would have thought that such a wicked ideology could even have been approved through legislation introduced by our lawmakers? Although not mentioned specifically in the list of sins, implementing such an ideology in a human being’s body is just as much a sin as any other. The sad thing in our days is that it is the secular feminists who are fighting the battle while the church is strangely silent. What a tragedy!

What do we pilgrims think about our inheritance, the Kingdom of God? In a sense, we have inherited it already.  We pilgrims, through the process of being born again, are now God’s children, and there will be an inheritance awaiting us. We are heirs to His Kingdom, and one day we will be in His presence forever. We may be getting weary about all the battles we are facing, but as Isaiah wrote, ” … strengthen those who have tired hands, and encourage those who have weak knees. Say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, and do not fear, for your God is coming to destroy your enemies. He is coming to save you”” (Isaiah 35:3-4). And so we pilgrims encourage our fellow believers, because the Lord will indeed soon come to save us. His Kingdom, the Kingdom of God, is closer than we think, and we are part of it in this life.

Inheriting the Kingdom of God is a given fact for believers, past, present and future, but do we pilgrims feel we have inherited it, or are we unsure? Well, Jesus made it quite clear in John 3:3, 5, “Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, no-one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.’ … Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, no-one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit”. Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:13b-14, ” … When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory”. So all believers who believe in Jesus, have repented, and continue to repent, of their sins, become born-again children of God, with an inheritance guaranteed by the Holy Spirit.

Father God, you are truly our Father, and we are deeply thankful for an inheritance assured by You. We worship You today. Amen.

Judging The World

Posted on by korgrocker

“When one of you has a dispute with another believer, how dare you file a lawsuit and ask a secular court to decide the matter instead of taking it to other believers! Don’t you realise that someday we believers will judge the world? And since you are going to judge the world, can’t you decide even these little things among yourselves? Don’t you realise that we will judge angels? So you should surely be able to resolve ordinary disputes in this life. If you have legal disputes about such matters, why go to outside judges who are not respected by the church? I am saying this to shame you. Isn’t there anyone in all the church who is wise enough to decide these issues? But instead, one believer sues another—right in front of unbelievers!”
1 Corinthians 6:1-6 NLT

Paul made the astonishing statement that one day “believers will judge the world”. And he went on to make another astonishing statement, that believers “will judge angels”. Where did Paul get all this from? I don’t believe for a moment that he made this up, because he must have had a revelation from the Holy Spirit when he wrote it, but Scriptures to confirm this are not exactly plentiful in the Bible. The commentaries point to Revelation 2:26, “To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations”, quoting the words of Jesus to the church in Thyatira. We also read in Revelation other indications that believers will rule and reign with Jesus. In Revelation 20:4-6, John wrote, “I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years“. Earlier in Revelation we also read, “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:10). In Matthew 19:28 we read, “Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel“. I believe Paul had a glimpse through the Holy Spirit of a time to come when believers today will be in a position to judge unbelievers, but how that will be isn’t very clear. Perhaps the reference to judging angels applies to the time when the devil and the fallen angels are judged and then cast into hell (see 2 Peter 2:4).

We mustn’t forget, however, that today, in the here and now, we pilgrims are in a position to judge the world. Although Jesus said, “do not judge lest you be judged”, we have to be aware of God’s position on sin and evil. If God has said something is sinful, then we too must agree, and this effectively means that we have to make a judgment about another person’s behaviour, or a situation that has arisen in our society, or even about a law that our secular lawmakers have passed. Such a judgment has to be made in accordance with God’s absolute truth, not the relative truth that the world adopts. Take abortion, for example. Our lawmakers have passed a law legalising the abortion of babies still in their mother’s womb, even though God’s truth is that a new life starts at the point of conception (see Psalm 139). So we believers judge that the very act of abortion is wrong and sinful, because we have God’s authority from His Word to say so. In a similar, less dramatic way, if we see someone “shoplifting”, that is stealing goods from a shop or somewhere, then we have the right to judge this act because the Bible is clear about the fact that theft is a sin. However, Jesus was clear that those who observe such a thing happening must be careful about casting judgement because He said, “For in the same way as you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Matthew 7:2). We must also be careful that we don’t judge someone based on what they look like. For example, if a person looks a bit shifty or is dressed in a way that offends us, then we mustn’t cast judgment on them purely because of their appearance. In John 7:24, Jesus said, “Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly”. A quote from “Gotquestions.org”, “Christians are often accused of ‘judging’ or intolerance when they speak out against sin. But opposing sin is not wrong. Holding aloft the standard of righteousness naturally defines unrighteousness and draws the slings and arrows of those who choose sin over godliness”. John the Baptist got his head chopped off because he called out Herodias for her adulterous relationship with Herod. He may have been silenced, but Herodias and Herod’s sins were clearly written in God’s books; Revelation 20:12, “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books”. 

If we pilgrims find ourselves in a situation where we are judging, then we must be careful about what we judge and how we go about it. Jesus said, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:3-5). We need discernment and courage as we interface with a sinful world. We need to pray, and pray again, to properly receive God’s truth and His recommended course of action, because without it, we might end up in a difficult situation that impacts us directly. We may one day find ourselves in a place where we are judging the world, but today, this is not something we need to concern ourselves about, because perhaps the only person that we should be judging is ourselves.

Dear Heavenly Father. You are Truth, the whole Truth, and everything about You is true. We pray for discernment and a reigned-in tongue, so that we will not speak out of turn, or in error, in judgment in any situation in which we find ourselves. Please lead and guide us, we pray, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Lawsuits

Posted on by korgrocker

“When one of you has a dispute with another believer, how dare you file a lawsuit and ask a secular court to decide the matter instead of taking it to other believers! Don’t you realise that someday we believers will judge the world? And since you are going to judge the world, can’t you decide even these little things among yourselves? Don’t you realise that we will judge angels? So you should surely be able to resolve ordinary disputes in this life. If you have legal disputes about such matters, why go to outside judges who are not respected by the church? I am saying this to shame you. Isn’t there anyone in all the church who is wise enough to decide these issues? But instead, one believer sues another—right in front of unbelievers!”
1 Corinthians 6:1-6 NLT

Paul has finally moved on from the chapters about the man sleeping with his stepmother, and he has now picked up another scandal in the Corinthian church. Apparently, there has been an occasion when a believer and member of the church has taken another believer to court, over some matter, perhaps concerned with business dealings. This would not have been about something illegal, but probably a civil matter to be settled in a secular court. In those days, the courts had a reputation for being corrupt, with bribery of judges and juries commonplace, but it would not just have been about the business dispute. The two parties concerned would have publicly attacked each other’s characters, and estrangement and animosity would have followed. What sort of dispute would this have been? Well, it was perhaps between a builder and a supplier, with one blaming the other for the quality of bricks. Or it could have been between a customer and a supplier of goods, with the dispute over the quantity of what had been ordered. But regardless of what the problem was, Paul was horrified that a dispute between two believers had to be settled in a civil, secular court.

Personally, I know of a believing businessman who was in a business partnership with another man, two men both in the same church. But one man made a poor decision that resulted in the loss of a substantial sum of money on a construction project. Worse, the partnership was consequently dissolved, and one of the men had to choose between taking his partner to court or accepting that he would personally lose a significant sum of money, covering the debt. There was little the church could do to help, although the rights and wrongs of the case were clear. The outcome was that the wronged partner decided to quietly take on board the financial loss, concluding that if the matter had gone to court, the experience would not have been honouring to God or the church of which he was a part.

But back to the Corinthians. How should the dispute have been settled? Paul asked them, “Can’t you decide even these little things among yourselves?” The proper remedy was to settle the matter themselves in a Godly way that would bring a proper resolution and which would not lead to a significant rift between the two believers. If necessary, involving other believers in the process would have been beneficial. We know that God is the Righteous Judge, and any matter brought before Him and in His name would have an eternal significance. There would have been no corruption and no ungodly outcome. Problem resolved.

What is the difference between settling a civil dispute inside and outside the church? Firstly, there should not have been a problem caused by either the quality or quantity of goods supplied in the first place. As believers, we must work to the highest, righteous standards, to ensure that what we do is beyond the normal expectations of society. This principle is not just about builders and the like, but applies in all areas of our lives. As an example from the 19th century, Hartley’s jam was a market leader in the UK. William Hartley’s deep Christian faith guided his business ethics and practices, influencing his brand’s reputation for quality, and there are many other examples of men and women who put their faith in God before their wealth and business interests.

Was Paul advocating that all civil disputes should be settled within the church? Not necessarily, I think, because it depends on the circumstances. Maybe Paul was just focusing on this one particular situation as being suitable for internal resolution. Or perhaps he was developing a theme that originated in the Corinthian church’s reputation for quarrelling, fearing that there were more potential lawsuits lurking in the wings. Paul wrote, “Can’t you decide even these little things among yourselves“? It would have been a disaster for the church there if even the smallest dispute had to be settled in a secular, civil court.

How do we pilgrims handle a disagreement with another believer? Jesus said, “‘Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny” (Matthew 5:23-26). There we have it – words straight from the Master’s voice.

Dear Father God. Please forgive us when something inside of us rises up and causes dissent and strife, or worse. Help us to resolve matters and keep a clear conscience in matters of both relationships and business dealings. In Jesus’ name. Amen.




Judging the Church

Posted on by korgrocker

“It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.””
1 Corinthians 5:12-13 NLT

Now here’s an interesting Scripture. Paul said that it was the responsibility of the Corinthian congregation “to judge those inside the church who are sinning”. But didn’t Jesus say in Matthew 7:1-2, “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged“? But actually, as we drill down into what Jesus said, we find that there is a standard by which believers will be judged, and that standard is applied to the believers in the church who are sinning. Yes, it is judgment, and the judges, the church believers, will themselves experience the same standards, but applied to themselves. In a previous blog, we considered church discipline, as Jesus laid out in Matthew 18, but how else could this process be followed without judgment being involved? So the guilty person or people have to be removed from their fellowship, as Paul and Moses said, at the behest of the congregation. I suppose that the problem comes if the congregation is split on the issue, some wanting to deal with the sin, and others saying, “let’s give him a chance – after all, everyone sins, don’t they?”

Earlier in 1 Corinthians 5, Paul wrote, “Then you must throw this man out and hand him over to Satan so that his sinful nature will be destroyed and he himself will be saved on the day the Lord returns” (1 Corinthians 5:5). This is another mystery that needs further thought. The man has openly sinned, and presumably, he has refused to change his ways. Incidentally, the stepmother has not been included in Paul’s recommended disciplinary actions, so perhaps she is not a member of the church in Corinth and has been included among the unbelievers outside of it. If this is in fact the case, then Paul wrote that she is outside the jurisdiction of the church and therefore not their responsibility. Paul was clear that it would be God who judges the unbelievers, not the church. But the man himself must be handed over to satan. In other words, he has to be removed from God’s protection in the church because of his sin, and once on the outside with the unbelievers, he will perhaps be attacked and tested in the same way that Job was. We read in Job 1:12, ““All right, you may test him,” the Lord said to Satan. “Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don’t harm him physically.” So Satan left the Lord’s presence“. Other theologians think that this means satan will be given the freedom by God to end the man’s earthly life, either quickly or through a long-term illness. But there is always the hope that God may use satan’s destructive work in the man’s life to lead him to repentance. For the man, the hope is that this action will result in the eternal salvation of his spirit. It is unclear if the man is understood to be a believer who will ultimately be saved by God’s grace or an unbeliever who may come to genuine salvation by this act of removing him from the church. But the goal of church discipline is not retaliation, but rehabilitation: to convict the man of his sin, to encourage repentance and restoration. Galatians 6:1 “Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself”.

There is a doctrine in some evangelical churches that says “once saved, always saved”, and they point to this verse in 1 Corinthians 5, amongst others, as justification. He may be outside the church now, but there was a time when he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Saviour. So, did God’s grace then apply to his situation eternally, and mean that regardless of his subsequent sins, even if he was unrepentant, that he would be saved anyway? Personally, I don’t think so, but there are probably those who do. Thankfully, it is God who is in control, and we pilgrims have faith and trust in Him that He can be trusted to do what is right.

Paul wrote that it is the responsibility of those in the church, the believers, to implement what he has recommended. But sometimes church members are reluctant to get involved, fearful of doing something wrong, or ending up in a situation that might, for them, go very wrong. There is also the incorrect interpretation of what Jesus said about judgment, which bothers some. But we know that through Jesus and by the power of His Spirit, we will access all the wisdom that we need.

Dear Heavenly Father. Please lead and guide us in Your ways as we stumble along through this life. We pray for our leaders and those in our churches, that they will hear Your voice and do what is righteous in Your eyes. In Jesus’ name. Amen.