Teaching
Notes I CORINTHIANS 7 and 8
Hugh
Wood, Atlanta, Georgia
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The
first Quarantine in the USA since 1918 continues. It is Day 29 or something. Today is Good Friday. Friday April 10, 2020. This is the first time in my life when we
cannot go to a dinner at church about Good Friday, cannot congregate about Good
Friday …. and …. Easter April 12, 2020. Perhaps it will have to be virtual this year.
April 8 - 16, 2020 is Passover. I pray that the Angel of Death that is out there "passover" me and my house. Amen.
I
guess being thankful is important. We
were just about out of GByte mobile gas on the Internet when we got the
existing service rebooted.
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"The
grass withers and the flower [fades], but the word of [the Lord] endures
forever.” Isaiah 40:8."
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This
Book, the First Letter to the Church at Corinth, was almost certainly written
by Paul. It is addressed to the church
in Corinth, in Greece. It is in every
early accepted copy of the Bible. It is
likely written by the end of AD 53 or the spring of 54.
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Ancient Corinth, Greece
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I
CORINTHIANS
Chapter
7. Marriage
They
had written asking if. it was Legitimate for Christians to
Marry.
Strange, they were puffed up over the case of Incest,
5:2,
yet they had scruples about Lawful Marriage. Paul advises
Marriage
for those who desire it. Paul himself was not married, 8.
Some
think he may have been a Widower, and lost his wife
while
yet young: for two reasons: one, he Voted in the San
hedrian
Acts 26:10, for which, it is said, Marriage was a nec-
essary
prerequisite: the other reason, this chapter seems
to
have been written by one Who knew something of the in-
timacies
of Married Life.
Chapter
8. Meat Sacrificed to Idols
There
were many Gods in Greece, and much of the Meat offered
for
sale in public market places had first been offered in sacrifice
to
some Idol. The question at issue involved not only the eating
of
the meat, but the matter of participating in social functions of
their
Heathen friends, many of which functions were often
accompanied
with Shameful Licentiousness. The matter is further
discussed
in 10:14-33.
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From
The Bible Project (c)
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1
CORINTHIANS 7 and 8
1
Corinthians 7 New International Version (NIV)
Concerning
Married Life
7
Now for the matters you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual
relations with a woman.” 2 But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should
have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband. 3
The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife
to her husband. 4 The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields
it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over
his own body but yields it to his wife. 5 Do not deprive each other except
perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to
prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of
your lack of self-control. 6 I say this as a concession, not as a command. 7 I
wish that all of you were as I am. But each of you has your own gift from God;
one has this gift, another has that.
8
Now to the unmarried[a] and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay
unmarried, as I do. 9 But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry,
for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
10
To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not
separate from her husband.
11 But if she does, she must remain unmarried or
else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.
12
To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not
a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. 13 And
if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with
her, she must not divorce him. 14 For the unbelieving husband has been
sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified
through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as
it is, they are holy.
15
But if the unbeliever leaves, let it be so. The brother or the sister is not
bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. 16 How do you
know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband,
whether you will save your wife?
Concerning
Change of Status
17
Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the
Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them. This is the rule I lay
down in all the churches. 18 Was a man already circumcised when he was called?
He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called?
He should not be circumcised. 19 Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is
nothing. Keeping God’s commands is what counts. 20 Each person should remain in
the situation they were in when God called them.
21
Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you—although if you
can gain your freedom, do so. 22 For the one who was a slave when called to
faith in the Lord is the Lord’s freed person; similarly, the one who was free
when called is Christ’s slave. 23 You were bought at a price; do not become
slaves of human beings. 24 Brothers and sisters, each person, as responsible to
God, should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.
Concerning
the Unmarried
25
Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as
one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. 26 Because of the present crisis, I
think that it is good for a man to remain as he is. 27 Are you pledged to a
woman? Do not seek to be released. Are you free from such a commitment? Do not
look for a wife. 28 But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin
marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in
this life, and I want to spare you this.
29
What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now on those
who have wives should live as if they do not; 30 those who mourn, as if they
did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as
if it were not theirs to keep;
31 those who use the things of the world, as if
not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.
32 I
would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the
Lord’s affairs—how he can please the Lord. 33 But a married man is concerned
about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife— 34 and his
interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the
Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit.
But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can
please her husband. 35 I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you,
but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.
36
If anyone is worried that he might not be acting honorably toward the virgin he
is engaged to, and if his passions are too strong[b] and he feels he ought to
marry, he should do as he wants. He is not sinning. They should get married. 37
But the man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is under no
compulsion but has control over his own will, and who has made up his mind not
to marry the virgin—this man also does the right thing. 38 So then, he who
marries the virgin does right, but he who does not marry her does better.[c]
39 A
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. 40 In my
judgment, she is happier if she stays as she is—and I think that I too have the
Spirit of God.
Footnotes:
1
Corinthians 7:8 Or widowers
1
Corinthians 7:36 Or if she is getting beyond the usual age for marriage
1
Corinthians 7:38 Or 36 If anyone thinks he is not treating his daughter
properly, and if she is getting along in years (or if her passions are too strong),
and he feels she ought to marry, he should do as he wants. He is not sinning.
He should let her get married. 37 But the man who has settled the matter in his
own mind, who is under no compulsion but has control over his own will, and who
has made up his mind to keep the virgin unmarried—this man also does the right
thing. 38 So then, he who gives his virgin in marriage does right, but he who
does not give her in marriage does better.
1
Corinthians 8 New International Version (NIV)
Concerning
Food Sacrificed to Idols
8
Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.”
But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. 2 Those who think they know
something do not yet know as they ought to know. 3 But whoever loves God is
known by God.[a]
4 So
then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing
at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.” 5 For even if there
are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many
“gods” and many “lords”),
6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from
whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus
Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
7
But not everyone possesses this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed
to idols that when they eat sacrificial food they think of it as having been
sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. 8 But
food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no
better if we do.
9 Be
careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling
block to the weak. 10 For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all
your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to
eat what is sacrificed to idols? 11 So this weak brother or sister, for whom
Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12 When you sin against them in
this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore,
if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat
meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.
Footnotes:
1
Corinthians 8:3 An early manuscript and another ancient witness think they have
knowledge do not yet know as they ought to know. 3 But whoever loves truly
knows.
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New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978,
1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Some content adapted from Halley, Henry H., Bible Handbook, Grayson
Publishing, Minneapolis, MN. © 1927 -
1959, 1964
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Hugh C. Wood, Atlanta, Georgia
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END
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