1 Corinthians 7
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So the last 2 weeks have been good timing seeing as we started the marriage course last Monday, it’s been a good time to speak about how to live righteously as Men & Women.
We need to come to an understanding that this isn’t about legality or the rules, but about relationship. The whole Bible isn’t about a set of rules that we are to follow. It’s about a relationship with a loving Father who has given this word to this world to help us have the best life possible, because he loves us & after all He created us.
He knows every small & big detail about us, He knows our character, what is good, what needs fixing, he knows our gifting, who we should fall in love with, how many hairs on our body not just our heads.
If we look at it that is what the Bible says, then it’s not about someone with a stick dictating to you how to live this life but a parent giving us boundaries to live within to keep us safe we have to remember in
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
2 Peter
God wants that none should perish, it’s not a veiled threat, God wants everyone in Heaven for eternity with Him, that means not losing any to the Kingdom of darkness. That’s why He will always hold out His hand to people even up to their last breath on this Earth.
The Corinthians have asked Paul about marriage.
Should Christians get married?
Is it purer & more Christian to stay single?
Is it better if you don’t have sex?
2 Viewpoints in the Corinth church, 1. sex doesn’t affect your Spiritual life, so you can do whatever you like.
2. Sex is sinful & Christians should avoid it because it is an activity of the Devil.
Paul had to steer his answer between the two.
As we have said before, Corinth was a place where anything goes, you can do what you want, do what you feel & this was a young Church in a place that thought that way.
Paul begins by saying it’s good to be single but only if that is your gift. Paul may have had a wife when he was younger, the Bible doesn’t say but some do believe that he was part of the Sanhedrin.
And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them.
Maybe proof that he was & you had to be married to be a member of the Sanhedrin. Also Paul was an extremely observant Jew & an example among his people.
Philippians 3
though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
In Paul’s day Jews considered marriage a duty to the extent a man reaching 20 without marrying was considered to be in sin, unmarried men were often considered excluded from Heaven & not real men at all. We the church get it wrong when we pressure people who are single in the church together to get married.
So Paul would have had an understanding of married life & singleness, if so Paul would have been well qualified to speak of the relative gifts & responsibilities of both marriage & singleness.
When Paul speaks he’s speaking into the culture of the day, that’s not to say we can’t apply his words to our lives but some of what Paul writes like woman having to wear hats later in .
These were dangerous times, if a Jew became a Christian & it became public knowledge they were kicked out of the Temple which then left them open to having to worship the Roman gods.
Basically being a single Christian meant you could serve God better by not having to worry about family.
For those whose gift is to be married Paul’s prescription is one man & one woman, In the OT there were marriages where one man had more than one wife but there stories are stories of jealousy, rage, cheating & revenge.
Found this from one theologian
“In an immoral society the Christian answer is not to ban sex & avoid marriage”.
Paul advises those who marry to have a wholehearted sex life each knowing that they share their bodies with their partner.
Paul says it’s not super Spiritual to go without sex in marriage, it just opens you up to temptation.
Paul says it’s not super Spiritual to go without sex in marriage, it just opens you up to temptation.
It needs to be a conversation you have with your husband or wife, about your needs, but that’s not just about sex, but your whole relationship, you can’t moan that someone doesn’t meet your needs & yet you have never really sat down & spoke about it. communication is key.
Paul basically says Christian couples are to avoid temptation by having sex, God created sex not just to produce children but for a married couple to enjoy. It’s about intimacy between the couple, if sex is a problem for whatever reason then as a couple you need to find a way to be intimate, close, loving.
MEN & YOUNG MEN STAND. including youth
This isn’t find a wife for yourself so you can have sex, if you have fallen in love & you can’t keep your hands to yourself or keep your pants on then lets get you married, avoid the temptation to have sex before marriage.
If it is you just want sex, you find women attractive, any woman, you Lear, you prowl, Then you need to get this sorted, it isn’t marriage you need but Jesus, your wife will never be enough for you. When your wife should be the example of what beauty is, your eyes won’t, you will have a roving eye & not only will you destroy yourself but your wife & possibly any Children you would have had.
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Pray for Men.
WOMEN STAND.
Some people think Paul is unfair to women. He tells men it’s better to be single. He tells wives to give into their husbands, but Paul is writing to Christians who are living in a society that abuse & debases sex.
In Corinth a woman can be used as a sex slave or trapped in a loveless marriage, it’s no wonder the Corinth Christians wonder whether sex is dirty & marriage is second best.
In the midst of this Paul starts a sexual revolution. He teaches men to give themselves for their wives. No Greek or Roman had had ever heard of such a thing!
He teaches wives that they have the same rights & duties in marriage as their husbands. What a difference this is, up to now they have been treated as part of their husbands property- this still happens today where women have equal status & mutual love & this is what he teaches here.
Pray for women, knowing their identity.
Listen in any relationship we have with people whether it’s God, marriage, children, grandchildren, friends, colleagues, Pastors, leaders.
It’s important to first have God at the centre of it, that’s God honouring, be open & honest with people, be kind, be forgiving, Don’t gossip about people, deal with situations, that communicate, Pray together. there’s a saying those that pray together, stay together.
If your a married couple then pray together, when was the last time you did this?
When was the last time you prayed with someone else. Church we have a lot of prayer meetings a lot of chances for people to pray together, lets make an effort to work on our relationships in church, lets make an effort to make at least one prayer meeting a month so that you get an opportunity to pray with others.