Wednesday, November 30, 2016
1 Corinthians 8 NLT
V. Instruction on Questionable Practices (8:1;11:1)
- The Principles Involved (ch. 8)
The Principles Illustrated (ch. 9)A Warning from the History of Israel (10:1-22)The Principles Applied (10:23;11:1)
1 Corinthians 8 NLT
1 Now regarding your question about food
that has been offered to idols. Yes, we know that “we all have knowledge” about
this issue. But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that
strengthens the church.
2Anyone who claims to know all the answers
doesn’t really know very much.
3But the person who loves God is the one whom
God recognizes.
4 So, what about eating meat that has been
offered to idols? Well, we all know that an idol is not really a god and that
there is only one God.
5 There may be so-called gods both in
heaven and on earth, and some people actually worship many gods and many
lords.
6 But for us, There is one God, the
Father, by whom all things were created, and for whom we live. And there is one
Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things were created, and through whom we
live.
7 However, not all believers know this.
Some are accustomed to thinking of idols as being real, so when they eat food
that has been offered to idols, they think of it as the worship of real gods,
and their weak consciences are violated.
8 It’s true that we can’t win God’s
approval by what we eat. We don’t lose anything if we don’t eat it, and we
don’t gain anything if we do.
9 But you must be careful so that your
freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble.
10 For if others see you—with your
“superior knowledge”—eating in the temple of an idol, won’t they be encouraged
to violate their conscience by eating food that has been offered to an
idol?
11So because of your superior knowledge, a weak
believer for whom Christ died will be destroyed.
12 And when you sin against other believers
by encouraging them to do something they believe is wrong, you are sinning
against Christ.
13 So if what I eat causes another believer
to sin, I will never eat meat again as long as I live—for I don’t want to cause
another believer to stumble.
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
1 Corinthians 7 NLT
IV. Instruction on Marriage (ch. 7)
- General Principles (7:1-7)
- The Problems of the Married (7:8-24)
- The Problems of the Unmarried (7:25-40)
1 Corinthians 7 NLT
1 Now regarding the questions you asked in
your letter. Yes, it is good to abstain from sexual relations.
2 But because there is so much sexual
immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her
own husband.
3 The husband should fulfill his wife’s
sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband’s needs.
4 The wife gives authority over her body
to her husband, and the husband gives authority over his body to his
wife.
5 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.
6 I say this as a concession, not as a
command.
7 But I wish everyone were single, just as
I am. Yet each person has a special gift from God, of one kind or
another.
8 So I say to those who aren’t married and
to widows—it’s better to stay unmarried, just as I am.
9 But if they can’t control themselves,
they should go ahead and marry. It’s better to marry than to burn with
lust.
10 But for those who are married, I have a
command that comes not from me, but from the Lord. A wife must not leave her
husband.
11 But if she does leave him, let her
remain single or else be reconciled to him. And the husband must not leave his
wife.
12 Now, I will speak to the rest of you,
though I do not have a direct command from the Lord. If a fellow believer has a
wife who is not a believer and she is willing to continue living with him, he
must not leave her.
13 And if a believing woman has a husband
who is not a believer and he is willing to continue living with her, she must
not leave him.
14 For the believing wife brings holiness
to her marriage, and the believing husband brings holiness to his marriage.
Otherwise, your children would not be holy, but now they are holy.
15 (But if the husband or wife who isn’t a
believer insists on leaving, let them go. In such cases the believing husband
or wife is no longer bound to the other, for God has called you to live in
peace.)
16 Don’t you wives realize that your
husbands might be saved because of you? And don’t you husbands realize that your
wives might be saved because of you?
17 Each of you should continue to live in
whatever situation the Lord has placed you, and remain as you were when God
first called you. This is my rule for all the churches.
18 For instance, a man who was circumcised
before he became a believer should not try to reverse it. And the man who was
uncircumcised when he became a believer should not be circumcised now.
19 For it makes no difference whether or
not a man has been circumcised. The important thing is to keep God’s
commandments.
20Yes, each of you should remain as you were
when God called you.
21 Are you a slave? Don’t let that worry
you—but if you get a chance to be free, take it.
22 And remember, if you were a slave when
the Lord called you, you are now free in the Lord. And if you were free when
the Lord called you, you are now a slave of Christ.
23 God paid a high price for you, so don’t
be enslaved by the world.
24 Each of you, dear brothers and sisters,
should remain as you were when God first called you.
25 Now regarding your question about the
young women who are not yet married. I do not have a command from the Lord for
them. But the Lord in his mercy has given me wisdom that can be trusted, and I
will share it with you.
26 Because of the present crisis, I think
it is best to remain as you are.
27 If you have a wife, do not seek to end
the marriage. If you do not have a wife, do not seek to get married.
28 But if you do get married, it is not a
sin. And if a young woman gets married, it is not a sin. However, those who get
married at this time will have troubles, and I am trying to spare you those
problems.
29 But let me say this, dear brothers and
sisters: The time that remains is very short. So from now on, those with wives
should not focus only on their marriage.
30 Those who weep or who rejoice or who buy
things should not be absorbed by their weeping or their joy or their
possessions.
31 Those who use the things of the world
should not become attached to them. For this world as we know it will soon pass
away.
32 I want you to be free from the concerns
of this life. An unmarried man can spend his time doing the Lord’s work and
thinking how to please him.
33 But a married man has to think about his
earthly responsibilities and how to please his wife.
34 His interests are divided. In the same
way, a woman who is no longer married or has never been married can be devoted
to the Lord and holy in body and in spirit. But a married woman has to think
about her earthly responsibilities and how to please her husband.
35 I am saying this for your benefit, not
to place restrictions on you. I want you to do whatever will help you serve the
Lord best, with as few distractions as possible.
36 But if a man thinks that he’s treating
his fiancée improperly and will inevitably give in to his passion, let him
marry her as he wishes. It is not a sin.
37 But if he has decided firmly not to
marry and there is no urgency and he can control his passion, he does well not
to marry.
38 So the person who marries his fiancée
does well, and the person who doesn’t marry does even better.
39 A wife is bound to her husband as long
as he lives. If her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but
only if he loves the Lord.
40 But in my opinion it would be better for
her to stay single, and I think I am giving you counsel from God’s Spirit when
I say this.
Monday, November 28, 2016
1 Corinthians 6 NLT
III.Moral and Ethical Disorders in the Life of the Church (chs. 5-6)
Laxity in Church Discipline (ch. 5)- Lawsuits before Non-Christian Judges (6:1-11)
- Sexual Immorality (6:12-20)
1 Corinthians 6 NLT
1 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 !
2 Don’t you realize 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?
3 Don’t you realize that we will judge
angels? So you should surely be able to resolve ordinary disputes in this life.
4 If you have legal disputes about such
matters, why go to outside judges who are not respected by the church?
5 I am saying this to shame you. Isn’t
there anyone in all the church who is wise enough to decide these issues?
6But instead, one believer sues another—right
in front of unbelievers!
7 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?
8 Instead, you yourselves are the ones who
do wrong and cheat even your fellow believers.
9 Don’t you realize 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,
10 or are thieves, or greedy people, or
drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the
Kingdom of God.
11Some 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.
12 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.
13 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.
14 And God will raise us from the dead by
his power, just as he raised our Lord from the dead.
15 Don’t you realize 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!
16 And don’t you realize 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.”
17 But the person who is joined to the Lord
is one spirit with him.
18 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.
19 Don’t you realize 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,
20 for God bought you with a high price. So
you must honor God with your body.
Sunday, November 27, 2016
Saturday, November 26, 2016
1 Corinthians 5 NLT
III. Moral and Ethical Disorders in the Life of the Church (chs. 5-6)
- Laxity in Church Discipline (ch. 5)
Lawsuits before Non-Christian Judges (6:1-11)Sexual Immorality (6:12-20)
1 Corinthians 5 NLT
1 I can hardly believe the report about
the sexual immorality going on among you—something that even pagans don’t do. I
am told that a man in your church is living in sin with his stepmother.
2 You are so proud of yourselves, but you
should be mourning in sorrow and shame. And you should remove this man from
your fellowship.
3 Even though I am not with you in person,
I am with you in the Spirit. And as though I were there, I have already passed
judgment on this man
4 in the name of the Lord Jesus. You must
call a meeting of the church. I will be present with you in spirit, and so will
the power of our Lord Jesus.
5 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.
6 Your boasting about this is terrible.
Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the
whole batch of dough?
7 Get rid of the old “yeast” by removing
this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough
made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb,
has been sacrificed for us.
8 So let us celebrate the festival, not
with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity
and truth.
9 When I wrote to you before, I told you
not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin.
10But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who
indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You
would have to leave this world to avoid people like that.
11 I meant that you are not to associate
with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is
greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people.
Don’t even eat with such people.
12 It isn’t my responsibility to judge
outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the
church who are sinning.
13 God will judge those on the outside; but
as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.”
Friday, November 25, 2016
Read Scripture Series: Paul's 1st Letter to the Corinthians
Published on Oct 15, 2015
The Book of 1 Corinthians explained with illustrations
Want to see more?
Our Website: http://www.jointhebibleproject.com
Want to see more?
Our Website: http://www.jointhebibleproject.com
1 Corinthians 4:6 to 21 NLT
1 Corinthians 4 NLT
1 So look at Apollos and me as mere
servants of Christ who have been put in charge of explaining God’s
mysteries.
2 Now, a person who is put in charge as a
manager must be faithful.
3 As for me, it matters very little how I
might be evaluated by you or by any human authority. I don’t even trust my own
judgment on this point.
4 My conscience is clear, but that doesn’t
prove I’m right. It is the Lord himself who will examine me and decide.
5 So don’t make judgments about anyone
ahead of time—before the Lord returns. For he will bring our darkest secrets to
light and will reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one
whatever praise is due.
6 Dear brothers and sisters, I have used
Apollos and myself to illustrate what I’ve been saying. If you pay attention to
what I have quoted from the Scriptures, you won’t be proud of one of your
leaders at the expense of another.
7 For what gives you the right to make
such a judgment? What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if everything
you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift?
8You think you already have everything you
need. You think you are already rich. You have begun to reign in God’s kingdom
without us! I wish you really were reigning already, for then we would be
reigning with you.
9 Instead, I sometimes think God has put
us apostles on display, like prisoners of war at the end of a victor’s parade,
condemned to die. We have become a spectacle to the entire world—to people and
angels alike.
10 Our dedication to Christ makes us look
like fools, but you claim to be so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are so
powerful! You are honored, but we are ridiculed.
11 Even now we go hungry and thirsty, and
we don’t have enough clothes to keep warm. We are often beaten and have no
home.
12 We work wearily with our own hands to
earn our living. We bless those who curse us. We are patient with those who
abuse us.
13 We appeal gently when evil things are
said about us. Yet we are treated like the world’s garbage, like everybody’s
trash—right up to the present moment.
14 I am not writing these things to shame
you, but to warn you as my beloved children.
15 For even if you had ten thousand others
to teach you about Christ, you have only one spiritual father. For I became
your father in Christ Jesus when I preached the Good News to you.
16 So I urge you to imitate me.
17 That’s why I have sent Timothy, my
beloved and faithful child in the Lord. He will remind you of how I follow
Christ Jesus, just as I teach in all the churches wherever I go.
18 Some of you have become arrogant,
thinking I will not visit you again.
19 But I will come—and soon—if the Lord
lets me, and then I’ll find out whether these arrogant people just give
pretentious speeches or whether they really have God’s power.
20 For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot
of talk; it is living by God’s power.
21 Which do you choose? Should I come with
a rod to punish you, or should I come with love and a gentle spirit?
Thursday, November 24, 2016
1 Corinthians 3:5 NLT to 1 Corinthians 4:5 NLT
1 Corinthians 3 NLT
5 After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul?
We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us
did the work the Lord gave us.
6 I planted the seed in your hearts, and
Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow.
7 It’s not important who does the
planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed
grow.
8 The one who plants and the one who
waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their
own hard work.
9 For we are both God’s workers. And you
are God’s field. You are God’s building.
10 Because of God’s grace to me, I have
laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But
whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful.
11 For no one can lay any foundation other
than the one we already have—Jesus Christ.
12 Anyone who builds on that foundation may
use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw.
13 But on the judgment day, fire will
reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a
person’s work has any value.
14 If the work survives, that builder will
receive a reward.
15 But if the work is burned up, the
builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone
barely escaping through a wall of flames.
16 Don’t you realize that all of you
together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?
17God will destroy anyone who destroys this
temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
18 Stop deceiving yourselves. If you think
you are wise by this world’s standards, you need to become a fool to be truly
wise.
19For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to
God. As the Scriptures say, “He traps the wise in the snare of their own
cleverness.”
20 And again, “The LORD knows the thoughts
of the wise; he knows they are worthless.”
21 So don’t boast about following a
particular human leader. For everything belongs to you—
22 whether Paul or Apollos or Peter, or the
world, or life and death, or the present and the future. Everything belongs to
you,
23 and you belong to Christ, and Christ
belongs to God.
1 Corinthians 4 NLT
1 So look at Apollos and me as mere
servants of Christ who have been put in charge of explaining God’s
mysteries.
2 Now, a person who is put in charge as a
manager must be faithful.
3 As for me, it matters very little how I
might be evaluated by you or by any human authority. I don’t even trust my own
judgment on this point.
4 My conscience is clear, but that doesn’t
prove I’m right. It is the Lord himself who will examine me and decide.
5 So don’t make judgments about anyone
ahead of time—before the Lord returns. For he will bring our darkest secrets to
light and will reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one
whatever praise is due.
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