Outline
I.
Introduction (1:1-9)
A.
The Fact of the
Divisions (1:10-17)
III.
Moral and Ethical
Disorders in the Life of the Church (chs. 5-6)
IV.
Instruction on
Marriage (ch. 7)
V.
Instruction on
Questionable Practices (8:1;11:1)
VI.
Instruction on Public
Worship (11:2;14:40)
VII.
Instruction on the
Resurrection (ch. 15)
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.
1 Corinthians 9 NLT
1 Am I not as free as anyone else? Am I
not an apostle? Haven’t I seen Jesus our Lord with my own eyes? Isn’t it
because of my work that you belong to the Lord?
2 Even if others think I am not an
apostle, I certainly am to you. You yourselves are proof that I am the Lord’s
apostle.
3 This is my answer to those who question
my authority.
4 Don’t we have the right to live in your
homes and share your meals?
5 Don’t we have the right to bring a
believing wife with us as the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers do, and as
Peter does?
6 Or is it only Barnabas and I who have to
work to support ourselves?
7 What soldier has to pay his own
expenses? What farmer plants a vineyard and doesn’t have the right to eat some
of its fruit? What shepherd cares for a flock of sheep and isn’t allowed to
drink some of the milk?
8 Am I expressing merely a human opinion,
or does the law say the same thing?
9 For the law of Moses says, “You must not
muzzle an ox to keep it from eating as it treads out the grain.” Was God
thinking only about oxen when he said this?
10Wasn’t he actually speaking to us? Yes, it was
written for us, so that the one who plows and the one who threshes the grain
might both expect a share of the harvest.
11 Since we have planted spiritual seed
among you, aren’t we entitled to a harvest of physical food and drink?
12 If you support others who preach to you,
shouldn’t we have an even greater right to be supported? But we have never used
this right. We would rather put up with anything than be an obstacle to the
Good News about Christ.
13 Don’t you realize that those who work in
the temple get their meals from the offerings brought to the temple? And those
who serve at the altar get a share of the sacrificial offerings.
14 In the same way, the Lord ordered that
those who preach the Good News should be supported by those who benefit from
it.
15 Yet I have never used any of these
rights. And I am not writing this to suggest that I want to start now. In fact,
I would rather die than lose my right to boast about preaching without
charge.
16 Yet preaching the Good News is not
something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for
me if I didn’t preach the Good News!
17 If I were doing this on my own
initiative, I would deserve payment. But I have no choice, for God has given me
this sacred trust.
18 What then is my pay? It is the
opportunity to preach the Good News without charging anyone. That’s why I never
demand my rights when I preach the Good News.
19 Even though I am a free man with no
master, I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ.
20 When I was with the Jews, I lived like a
Jew to bring the Jews to Christ. When I was with those who follow the Jewish
law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did
this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law.
21 When I am with the Gentiles who do not
follow the Jewish law, I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to
Christ. But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ.
22 When I am with those who are weak, I
share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to
find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some.
23 I do everything to spread the Good News
and share in its blessings.
24 Don’t you realize that in a race
everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!
25 All athletes are disciplined in their
training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an
eternal prize.
26 So I run with purpose in every step. I
am not just shadowboxing.
27 I discipline my body like an athlete,
training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to
others I myself might be disqualified.
1 Corinthians 10 NLT
1 I don’t want you to forget, dear
brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of
them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked
through the sea on dry ground.
2 In the cloud and in the sea, all of them
were baptized as followers of Moses.
3All of them ate the same spiritual food,
4 and all of them drank the same spiritual
water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that
rock was Christ.
5 Yet God was not pleased with most of
them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
6 These things happened as a warning to
us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did,
7 or worship idols as some of them did. As
the Scriptures say, “The people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they
indulged in pagan revelry.”
8 And we must not engage in sexual
immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000 of them to die in one day.
9 Nor should we put Christ to the test, as
some of them did and then died from snakebites.
10 And don’t grumble as some of them did,
and then were destroyed by the angel of death.
11 These things happened to them as
examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the
age.
12 If you think you are standing strong, be
careful not to fall.
13 The temptations in your life are no
different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow
the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will
show you a way out so that you can endure.
14 So, my dear friends, flee from the
worship of idols.
15 You are reasonable people. Decide for
yourselves if what I am saying is true.
16When we bless the cup at the Lord’s Table,
aren’t we sharing in the blood of Christ? And when we break the bread, aren’t
we sharing in the body of Christ?
17 And though we are many, we all eat from
one loaf of bread, showing that we are one body.
18 Think about the people of Israel.
Weren’t they united by eating the sacrifices at the altar?
19 What am I trying to say? Am I saying
that food offered to idols has some significance, or that idols are real
gods?
20 No, not at all. I am saying that these
sacrifices are offered to demons, not to God. And I don’t want you to
participate with demons.
21 You cannot drink from the cup of the
Lord and from the cup of demons, too. You cannot eat at the Lord’s Table and at
the table of demons, too.
22 What? Do we dare to rouse the Lord’s
jealousy? Do you think we are stronger than he is?
23 You say, “I am allowed to do anything”
—but not everything is good for you. You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but
not everything is beneficial.
24 Don’t be concerned for your own good but
for the good of others.
25 So you may eat any meat that is sold in
the marketplace without raising questions of conscience.
26 For “the earth is the LORD ’s, and
everything in it.”
27 If someone who isn’t a believer asks you
home for dinner, accept the invitation if you want to. Eat whatever is offered
to you without raising questions of conscience.
28 (But suppose someone tells you, “This
meat was offered to an idol.” Don’t eat it, out of consideration for the
conscience of the one who told you.
29 It might not be a matter of conscience
for you, but it is for the other person.) For why should my freedom be limited
by what someone else thinks?
30 If I can thank God for the food and
enjoy it, why should I be condemned for eating it?
31 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever
you do, do it all for the glory of God.
32 Don’t give offense to Jews or Gentiles
or the church of God.
33 I, too, try to please everyone in
everything I do. I don’t just do what is best for me; I do what is best for
others so that many may be saved.
1 Corinthians 11 NLT
1 And you should imitate me, just as I imitate
Christ.
