We shall continue the study of First Corinthians of the New Testament.
Theme: This Body is not yours
(1) Because of the rampant immorality in the city of Corinth (its name was synonymous with sexual immorality in those days), some have asked Paul if the best way to avoid this is simply abstinence, even within marriage. What is Paul’s answer and why?
(2) Many couples do not lead a sexually satisfied life often because of refusal (out of revenge or grudges) or disinterest (out of nature) by one of the spouses. What is Paul’s exhortation in this respect and what is the basis of his reasoning?
(3) If there are unresolved problems that lead to such a deprival, what is Paul’s practical advice and the purpose of his advice? Why does he call it a “concession”?
(4) Paul is obviously single (or widowed) and he calls it a gift. What does it mean?
(5) We know that marriage is the most intimate union between a man and a woman, and it should be based on love. But Paul’s advice is based on “passion” or the lack of control. Why?
(6) There was a story about a conversation between US President Grant and the Chinese General, Hung-Cheung Lee about marriage. Grant teased Lee about the lack of love in Chinese marriages in those days; to this Lee retorted, “The western marriage is like a pot of boiling water that cools off over time, but the Chinese marriage is like a pot of cold water put on a burning stove, it boils over time.” Which do you think is closer to the teaching about marriage in the scripture and why?
(7) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply to your life?
Theme: Remain where you are
It is perhaps helpful to remember two things: (1) Paul is likely responding to an earlier letter sent to him by the Corinthian church in which they raised issue after issue and Paul is responding to them here accordingly, and (2) throughout this section, a refrain can be detected in that Paul urges them to “remain” in whatever situation they might be in.
Vv. 10-19—Here, Paul addresses a mixed marriage, where a husband or a wife has become a believer (likely after being married) while the spouse has not.
(1) Paul appeals directly to what the Lord Jesus has said. The fuller version of it is recorded in Matthew 19:4-9. What is Jesus’ command in this respect and what is the basis of His command?
(2) What might be a logical (and spiritual) basis (apart from adultery) for a believing spouse (and it appears that in the Corinthian setting, the Christian wives are the more likely ones) to think of divorcing her spouse?
(3) It is not uncommon even today that a Christian spouse thinks of divorcing his or her non-believing spouse. What have you heard as the likely ground for their thinking?
(4) We know that the Scripture has taught that unless we ourselves
repent and believe in Jesus Christ, we will not be saved. Therefore Paul
is
definitely not talking about “salvation” in v.14, but is using the OT
ceremonial cleansing motif to correct their misapplication of teachings
like in
6:16. Then what might be the meaning of the following?
a. The unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife.
b. Children born within this marriage would not be unclean, but holy.
(Clue: According to Gordon Fee, Paul is using Old Testament terms that are used for ritual cleansing.)
(5) What is the chance of someone with a believing spouse or parent coming to Christ compared to someone living in a totally secular home environment?
(6) Paul challenges the believing wives and asks, “How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband?” How can a wife save her husband? (See 1 Pet. 3:1-6 for believing wives, and 3:7 for believing husbands.)
Vv. 20-24
(7) Isn’t slavery a crime to humanity? On what basis does Paul appeal to Christian slaves not to seek freedom on their own?
(8) Why does Paul say that the Christian slaves are in fact freemen in Christ? Define true freedom within this context.
(9) Why does Paul say that Christians who are not slaves are in fact Christ’s slaves? Define the meaning of Christ’s slaves.
(10) Paul, in admonishing us to remain in the situation God called us to, sets out the following bottom line—be Christ’s slaves not men’s slaves. What does he mean?
(11) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply to your life?
Theme: To marry or not to marry
Vv. 25-28—Remain where you are
(1) Paul appears to favor celibacy. How is it different from asceticism?
(2) Paul appears to lean toward singleness and he gives two reasons for his inclination in this section. What are they?
(3) What kind of crisis (or pressure) did the 1st century Corinthian believers face?
(4) What kind of troubles do married couples face that is unique to them?
(5) Paul makes it clear that his advice is not from the Lord but that he is giving his opinion. Do you agree with his opinion in this section? Why or why not?
Vv. 29-35—Two more suggestions
(6) Time is short: What does Paul mean by "time is short: (the original Greek verb is, “being shortened”)? What is the time that he is referring to?
(7) Because of the shortness of time, he urges the following:a. Be married as if not married
b. Mourn as if not mourning
c. Be happy as if not being happy
d. Having bought as if not having bought
e. Having the use of things as if not needing them
How do vv. 32-35 explain the above reasoning and the purpose of his urging?
(8) What has it to do with “for this world in its present form is passing away”? (v. 31)
(9) How should we apply it to our present life, in your married or single state?
Vv. 36-40
(10) It is indeed hard to imagine given the immorality which had affected the Corinthian church, that some would still take marriage as if it were a sin, but presumably there existed believers in their midst of such excessive spirituality (or perhaps, they were not applying this to themselves, but were using such an erroneous principle in judging those who were or were about to get married). How does Paul skillfully advocate celibacy and yet deny asceticism with these final words on the subject?
(11) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply to your life?
Theme: Freedom to love
The background to this reply to (yet) another question raised by the Corinthians has to do with the prevalent idol worship in Corinth: A concern was over meat that had been sacrificed to idols in temple and then sold in the open market; practises of the temple worship often involved temple prostitutes.
(1) Vv. 1-3—Principle to be used in discernment
a. What two principles are being contrasted by Paul?
b. What is the danger of discernment purely based on knowledge?
c. Should love and knowledge be necessarily mutually exclusive?
d. What does the fact that a person is known by God have to do with being able to "know as he ought to" and to have discernment?
(2) Vv. 4-6—Only one God
a. Who is our God and Lord?
b. How does our God differ from idols (or other gods)?
c. If an idol is nothing, what is the implication of food being sacrificed to idols?
(3) Vv. 7-13—The principle of love
a. How does Paul describe those who do not have such theological knowledge (i.e. idols are nothing)?
b. What reasons does Paul give in advising us not to eat meat sacrificed to idols in each of the verses from vv. 8-12?
c. How does the consumption of alcohol today resemble the eating of meat sacrificed to idols?
d. Can you think of any other contemporary example?
e. How can we apply Paul’s advice today?
(4) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply to your life?
Theme: Freedom to serve
(1) In this section, Paul clearly is defending his apostleship. Based on our reading of the preceding
chapters, what are the real reasons that the Corinthians challenged his
apostleship, even though clearly Paul was the one who first brought the gospel
to them and planted the church among them?
What do you think of these reasons?
a. Paul puts down human wisdom which they take pride in.
b. Paul is not as eloquent as Apollo.
c. Paul is too harsh on them, causing them shame with his direct rebuke.
d. Paul did not stay with them but continued his missionary effort elsewhere.
Might there be any reasons that you have observed?
(2) It is also quite apparent that Paul has been mending tents to subsidize his living and taking offerings from the Macedonian churches, but apparently he refused to be supported by the Corinthians. What was the reason given by Paul in v.12? Why would taking money from them be a hindrance to the gospel of Christ (but it is not the case with the Macedonian churches)?
(3) In vv. 3-6, Paul challenges the Corinthians with a series of questions. Can you sense the pain and frustrations behind these challenges? Should Paul vent his frustrations to them? Why or why not?
(4) In v. 7, Paul uses three common-sense analogies to make his case that the ministers of the gospel should be financially supported by the people they serve. What are they? Do they make sense to you? Why or why not?
(5) Paul now resorts to Deuteronomy 25:4 to make his case. Do you think Paul really has to resort to the passage from Deuteronomy to make such a case? Shouldn’t the analogy of priests in v. 13 be sufficient?
(6) It is obvious that the Corinthians did support other ministers of the gospel (v. 15), but Paul “would rather die” than receive support from them. What can you tell about the relationship between Paul and the church in Corinth? What lesson can you learn from this?
(7) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply to your life?
Theme: Everything for the gospel
Vv. 16-18—Preaching of the gospel
(1) Did Paul preach the gospel voluntarily or involuntarily?
(2) Since Paul is not pursuing financial reward, but the reward that “I may offer it free of charge, and so not make use of my rights in preaching it.” (v. 18) , what kind of a reward is it?
(3) Why do you preach the gospel or why don’t you preach the gospel?
(4) If you do, what might be your reward?
Vv. 19-23—All things to all men
(5) What marks Paul’s attitude of becoming all things to all men, according to v. 19?
(6) We know Paul strongly opposes living under the law, yet he is willing to become one under the law. Read Acts 21:17-26 which is one of the examples.
(7) Paul was quick to emphasize that as much as he also became one not having the law as he ministered to the gentiles, he was not free from Christ’s law. Why? (Refer to Gal. 5:14 and 6:2.)
(8) What can you learn from Paul’s attitude toward the gospel?
Vv. 24-27—Running with a clear goal
(9) What is the goal of Paul? What does he do to make sure his goal is met?
(10) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply to your life?
Theme: Be Ye warned
Paul is using the examples of the Israelites in the wilderness to serve as a warning to the Corinthian Christians. Let’s consider what we can learn from them together as well.
Vv. 1-4—The Israelites had special spiritual experiences
(1) Baptism: These people had in fact been baptized, Paul says, into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. The cloud refers to God’s daily presence manifested visibly through the pillar of cloud which stood between the armies of Egypt and the Israelites as they reached the sea (Exod. 14:20). The sea obviously refers to their walking through the parted Red Sea (Exod. 14:21-22)
a. Why would Paul call their experience a baptism?
b. In what way was their experience similar to our baptism today?
(2) Fed spiritually: These people had in fact been fed by food and drink miraculously—the manna and the rock (Exod. 16:4-36 and 17:5-7).
a. Why would Paul say that these were, in fact, spiritual food and spiritual drink?
b. Why would Paul refer to the rock as Christ? (See Note below.)
c. In what way was their experience similar to our being fed today spiritually? (What are we drinking and eating today, spiritually speaking, especially as symbolized by the Lord’s Supper?)
Vv. 5-13—Application
(3) With such spiritual experiences and encounters, Paul follows up in v. 5 with the word, “Nevertheless”. Why?
(4) In alluding to them as examples “to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things”, Paul gives the following applications (concerning evil things):
a. Do not be idolaters (Exod. 32:6)
b. Do not commit sexual immorality (Num. 25:1-9)
c. Do not test the Lord (Exod. 17:2,7)
d. Do not grumble (Num. 16:3, 31-35)
Evaluate each of the above incidents:
- What was the result?
- In what way did their sin invite such a severe punishment?
- Do you think you would commit something similar?
(5) Why does Paul add another warning to us in v. 12?
(6) V. 13 is a promise:
a. In what way does it serve as an encouragement to us?
b. In what way might it serve as a conviction to us?
(7) What is the main message for you today and how may you apply to your life?
Note:
George Beasley-Murray remarks that “According to rabbinic exposition, the rock remained with the people throughout their wilderness journeyings.” (WBC, John, 114)