The study of the Book of 1 Corinthians chapter 7
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:
I greet you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is my sincere Prayer that you are being Blessed even as you read this email.
Today, we study the Book of 1 Corinthians chapter 7.
7:1, 2.Now concerning (Gr. peri de; see also v. 25; 8:1; 16:1, 12): This recurring formula indicates that Paul is dealing in turn with the issues the Corinthians had raised in their letter. Good (“morally good,” cf 9:15; Matt. 17:4): That the apostle does not intend to teach that marriage is morally wrong as compared with celibacy is clear from verses 2, 7, 9 and 26. See also Genesis 2:18; Romans 7:4; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:28-33; 1 Timothy 4:3.
7:6 Commandment: The apostle does not take sides with the extreme Jewish view that held that if was a sin if a man reached 20 without being married. Instead, he regards the matter as optional.
7:7 Myself: Paul wished his readers were content, not necessarily single. He himself was probably a widower. But that is not the point here. The point is that every man hath his proper gift of God (cf vv. 17, 20, 24 and 27). Both marriage and celibacy are gifts of the Holy Spirit.
7:10, 11 Not I, but the Lord: no doubt the apostle has in mind explicit instruction of our Lord recorded in Matthew 5:32; 19:3-9; Mark 10:2-12; Luke 16:18.
7:12, 13 Not the Lord: This is not to be taken as marking a contrast between inspired Scripture and what Paul is about to say. On the contrary, while on the earth the Lord explicity gave instructions about marriage and divorce. However, He did not make any special reference to the case of a mixed marriage. Thus it is incumbent on the apostle Paul, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to give additional instructions regarding this kind of situation.
Yours in Jesus Christ,
Bishop William B. Caractor
The study of the Book of 1 Corinthians chapter 6 part 2
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:
I greet you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is my sincere Prayer that you are being Blessed even as you read this email.
Today, we study the Book of 1 Corinthians chapter 6 part 2.
6:13,14. Paul’s use of the pronoun us shows that his use of the term body goes beyond its normal usage to signify the whole man. (Note also it s connection with the second personal pronoun in verse 19.) On the destiny of the body, see also 15:15, 20, 35-56; Romans 8:11; 2 Corinthians 4:14; Philippians 3:21; 1 Thessalonians 4:14.
6:15,16. The verb joined is used in Genesis 2:24 of the relationship of husband and wife. It is also used of man’s relationship to God (Deut. 10:20; 11:22; Jer. 13:11).
6:17 One Spirit suggests the highest possible unity between the believer and the Lord. The sheep may wander from the shepherd, the branch may be cut off from the vine, the member may be severed from the body, the child alienated from the father, and even the wife from the husband, but when two spirits blend in one, nothing can part them.
6:18 The present tense of flee in Greek denotes standard procedure for Christians: “Always flee fornication” or “Make it your habit to flee fornication.”
6:19 Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost: Not only is the local church a temple of the Holy Spirit (cf 3:16), but the individual believer’s body itself also is a temple of the Holy Spirit.
6:20 Bought with a price: The blessed fact that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit has two sides: one, that He is ours; the other, that we are His. The believer was purchased on Golgotha’s hill. The price paid was the blood of God’s only Son (Acts 20:28). This has profound significance for the believer (cf 1 Tim. 4:10; 1 Pet. 2:9).
Yours in Jesus Christ,
Bishop William B. Caractor
The study of the Book of 1 Corinthians chapter 6.
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:
I greet you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is my sincere Prayer that you are being Blessed even as you read this email.
Today, we study the Book of 1 Corinthians chapter 6.
6:1 The terms unjust and saints are generic, referring to unbelievers in general as opposed to believers as a group. How incredible that the just should go before the unjust for justice!
6:2, 3 The saints shall judge the world: See Daniel 7:22; Matthew 19:28; Revelation 2:26; 3:21; 20:4. We shall judge angels: See Isaiah 24:21; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6.
6:4 Set them to judge who are least esteemed: In the Greek, this may be taken either as imperative or interrogative. If it is the former, Paul is being sarcastic: “If you are going to go to a civil court, you might just as well appoint your least qualified members as jurors.” If it is a question, it is emphatic, “Are you setting them to judge who are least esteemed (i.e., the heathen) in the church?” This would elicit expression of shock and surprise that they were doing such a thing. The latter seems more in keeping with the context.
6:9, 10 The unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God: There were evidently some in the Christian assembly who had professed Christianity as a system of doctrine, but not as a rule of life. The apostle warns that this is a fatal mistake. Be not deceived: No one who can allow himself the indulgence of known sin in his life can be saved. This passage proves that Paul and James are in basic agreement. Both affirm that genuine faith produces good works (Ephesians 2:8-10), and that the absence of good works indicates the absence of saving faith (James 2:14-16).
6:12 Paul’s principles may be summarized in three words: Lawful, expedient, and power. The first is the principle of liberty. When Paul says “all things,” we cannot take this in an absolute sense. Obviously, what God forbids can never be allowed. Rather, it refers to those things about which the Scriptures are not explicit. Such matters are left to the Christian’s own judgment. The apostle is careful not to weaken the important doctrine of Christian liberty be leading these people back under Judaistic legalism. Rather, his intent is to circumscribe its application through proper restrictions. These are expressed in the principle of “expediency.” Not everything is beneficial. A second restriction is expressed in the words, I will not be brought under power of any. This is the principle of self-control. Certain forms of indulgence become wrong when they bring the person into bondage.
Yours in Jesus Christ,
Bishop William B. Caractor
The study of the Book of 1 Corinthians chapter 5
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:
I greet you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is my sincere Prayer that you are being Blessed even as you read this email.
Today, we study the Book of 1 Corinthians chapter 5.
5:1 Have his father’s wife: One of the members of the church had taken his stepmother (Leviticus 18:8) and had married her (the expression to have a woman always means “to marry,”) Matthew 14:4; 22:28; 1 Corinthians 7:2, 29). Hence, this man’s crime is worse than adultery. It is incest.
5:3-8 Discipline in the early church was perhaps administered in the following manner. The congregation was called together, with an apostle presiding if available, and the person accused was arraigned before them. After the evidence had been heard, and the accused had given a defense of himself, the judgment of the congregation was pronounced. Paul, though absent in prison, yet pictures himself present and presiding in spirit, and he leaves them in no doubt concerning the proper verdict: the offense should be condemned and the offender excommunicated.
5:5 To deliver…unto Satan: Several observations must be made concerning this difficult and obscure passage. (1) It involved excommunication from the church (verse 2). (2) It involved the chastisement of the man. The reference seems to be to the destruction of the physical appetites that prompted this gross immorality. (3) Paul has the ultimate restoration of the offender in view, that the spirit may be saved. This last purpose shows that the phrase destruction of the flesh cannot mean that the person could be brought to death. God does not want him killed; He wants him restored.
5:6 A little leaven leaveneth the whole: No sin can be considered an isolated event. Just as with the sin of Achan (Joshua 7), the sin had to be purged, or else it would contaminate the whole lump. The stress is on the church as a unity.
5:7 Here the old leaven does not signify the sinful man as such, but evil of any kind. The background for this metaphor is Exodus 12:19 and 13:7. The larger scope of the apostle’s imagery here is that he sees Christ as the fulfillment of the Old Testament Passover Feast of Unleavened Bread. The Passover foreshadowed Christ’s vicarious death on behalf of mankind. He is “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). The Feast of Unleavened Bread accompanied the Passover. It involved a period of seven days during which no leaven was to be found in the homes of the Israelites. This was symbolic of the holy life that was to accompany partaking of the Paschal lamb.
5:8 Keep the feast (lit., “go on keeping”): Not surprisingly, the apostle uses the Passover as an illustration here. First Corinthians was written just before the Passover (16:8), and the celebration of the feast is on Paul’s mind.
5:9 I wrote unto you in an epistle: This is the “previous epistle.” This letter is now lost, but we know that at least one subject discussed in this letter was that they were not to keep company with fornicators.
5:1 Not to keep company: The term translated “to keep company” is found only here, in verse 9, and in 2 Thessalonians 3:14. It is a compound of three Greek terms, and means “to mingle together with.” It has the idea of close, habitual association.
Yours in Jesus Christ,
Bishop William B. Caractor
