1 CORINTHIANS 6

UPDATE FOR THE JEREMIAH/CORINTHIAN STUDY.

I have been on a trip to Arizona the past week and did not attend the weekly study last Thursday (4/01/2010). Also, I did not do the Blog for the previous week. Here are the schedules for the next several weeks.

Jeremiah 13-14 4/1/2010
1 Corinthians 7 4/8/2010 (This week)
Jeremiah 15 4/15/2010
1 Corinthians 8 4/22/2010

Two weeks ago, Paul talked about lawsuits within the body and was explaining how the Body belongs to the Lord. Yes, why would two believers ever consider or desire to have a dispute settled by a non-believer? As believers, do we really have a good relationship with the rest of the body in the community where we live? Furthermore, do we have a good relationship with our God? What is Paul saying about the focus of “our lives”? First, are “our lives” really our lives? It is because of a powerful creator that we exist. He, God gives us life. Then He has come to us in many revelations and has made a covenant (an agreement) with us. Do you know what He wants? He says it many times in His word. He wants us to understand that He is our God and we are His people. Actually, He is our God. He made us and we did not make ourselves. He wants us to act like He is our God. But, through out history and even today, we continue to act like we want a different god. We do not act like we are His people. In Jeremiah and 1 Corinthians we hear how sad God is that we try to create false gods. We continue to act like we do not want Him to be our God. We do things like letting unbelievers settle disputes between us and one of our brothers or sisters.

Paul give quite a dissertation about what things are lawful. He is questioning the wisdom of wanting to be lawful and not recognizing The One who created us. Our bodies belong to Christ. We are all members of the Body of Christ. Our bodies, your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. We and our bodies have been bought with a price. We have been brought from death to life by Christ. He died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins and to put to death our sinful nature so that our lives can be based on the Holy Spirit.

Last week in Jeremiah 13-14, we read about many examples of why it is not good to be separated from our God. If we drift away from Him, we will perish. The created world is setup to operate by God’s rules. Not following the teachings of our God will lead to destruction. When we do not stay in close relationship we will automatically head for the sword, famine, pestilence or captivity. One of those dreadful fates will get us. It is written in the creation. Turn away from God and you die by one of these terrible methods. One could easily conclude that the citizens of the United States are currently in a state of captivity. We are letting ourselves be held captive by evil forces because we have turned away from our creator. Our God laments over our current state. He longs for our return. Our hope lies not in a new government. Our hope is defined by God. Turn to Him, hunger and thirst after God and he will take you home according to His will. God did not create the universe without purpose. And, He did not create you without reason. We can be assured, He has great and glorious purposes for each of us. Hope in the Lord and follow Him. Let me know what you think of the writings in Jeremiah and Corinthians.