1 Corinthians

Church Discipline

Friday: A Happy Ending

June 12, 2026

I want to look at 2 Corinthians 2 because there we learn how this particular situation concluded. By the time Paul writes 2 Corinthians, a period of time has gone by. The purpose for which Paul had the church deliver this offender to Satan has been accomplished. The man has realized the loss and pain of being separated from the body of Christ. He has demonstrated sorrow and has repented of his sin. Now, when we come to 2 Corinthians, Paul tells the church that he wants them to forgive him and restore him to their fellowship once again.

The Litigious Church

Monday: Problems in Corinth

June 15, 2026

Well as unfortunate as it is that so much litigation happens in the secular world, when this attitude passes into the Church of Jesus Christ it is a great shame. It is not just that we live in a litigious society; we associate with a litigious church. This is the third problem that Paul is dealing with in this very interesting and helpful letter to the church at Corinth.

The Litigious Church

Tuesday: Suing One Another

June 16, 2026

But while there is a legitimate role for the courts, from 1 Corinthians 6 we see that it is quite wrong when such legal appeal takes place in the Christian community against one another. There are several things that were wrong. Paul deals with this problem by talking about the item that was the most evident, and then he traces it back to its cause. Then he takes that cause and traces it to a still further cause. In order to see how he does this, we will start with verse 8 and work in reverse.

The Litigious Church

Wednesday: Giving Up Our Rights

June 17, 2026

Now let me enter a qualification at this point. I believe there is a difference between what you will endure as an individual in this area and how you would approach it on behalf of someone else. When you are the one being cheated it is better to allow such injustice to happen and trust God for the outcome, rather than to pursue it in some way. Count it as a loss and move on in a righteous way from there. That is an entirely appropriate behavior in that case. But if somebody else is getting cheated by another, it is not right for me to stand by and allow it to go on and not try to help the situation get resolved in a correct way. In that case I should enter into the fray in order to try to get justice for the Christian being harmed.

The Litigious Church

Thursday: The Role of the State

June 18, 2026

Pilate recognized that Jesus’ kingdom was in a different sphere. Pilate was not threatened by a kingdom of truth, and so he went out and said to the Jews that he found no fault in Him. But then the religious leaders shifted the complaint by saying that Jesus still ought to die under the Jewish laws against blasphemy because Jesus claimed to be the Son of God (19:7). That statement affected Pilate.

The Litigious Church

Friday: How Christians Must Live

June 19, 2026

But what does Paul say? He expects something so much better of the Corinthian church. He knows that is the sinful background of some of them. He knows that is precisely what some of them were. But by the grace of God they have now been changed and made members of the church. Paul says at the end of verse 11, “But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

Everyones Doing It

Monday: Accommodation

June 22, 2026

In 1984 Francis A. Schaeffer published a book called The Great Evangelical Disaster. It was disturbing to see how evangelicals, even if at times unconsciously, are, nevertheless, tragically compromising some of the great standards of the Word of God. The word Francis Schaeffer uses for it is “accommodation,” which serves as something of the theme of the book. In what areas does Schaeffer observe this accommodation? He mentions a number of areas.

Everyones Doing It

Tuesday: Changes in the Culture

June 23, 2026

The world does not have any objective standard for right and wrong. The world suppresses, and in some cases is ignorant of, the fact that God has given a moral law which is embodied in the Scriptures and does not change. Consequently, it is no wonder that the world shifts from one moral viewpoint to the next. But that accommodation was not present in the Church then as much as it is now. What is a tragedy is when the shifting takes place in the Church of Jesus Christ, who knows there is a God who has revealed Himself in the Bible and who does have an objective moral standard that is true for all people at all times and in all places.

Everyones Doing It

Wednesday: How People View Themselves

June 24, 2026

The second area is in regard to how people view themselves. Before these revolutionary changes, even in countries where most certainly not everyone was a Christian, there was at least something of a Christian ethos. Within that ethos, mankind was seen as the creation of God made in God’s image—and therefore responsible to God and unable to exist and function properly without some relationship to this God who had made him. But when God got pushed out of the picture, people asserted their self-sufficiency, believing that they are a law unto themselves and therefore able to establish their own righteousness without reference to anybody else.

Everyones Doing It

Thursday: Harmful Consequences

June 25, 2026

Our passage from 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 deals with sexual immorality, but I gave this background because we cannot understand properly what is happening in the Church unless we understand that the Church is simply at this point reflecting the culture around us. Jesus said that the Church is to be salt and light in the world (Matt. 5:13-16). But in saying that He acknowledged the possibility that the salt can lose its saltiness or that the light can be hidden. That is what has happened as the Church has reflected the world’s values.

Everyones Doing It

Friday: Honoring the Lord

June 26, 2026

Having made these two points—the first being that not everything we can do is beneficial, and the second being that we should not allow sinful things to master us—Paul then takes them and begins to relate them to God. Sin, specifically sexual immorality, is not only harmful to myself and other people; it also ruins my relationship with God, who is the ultimate point of reference.

Marriage and It's Many Problems

Monday: Paul’s Answer Concerning Marriage

June 29, 2026

In the last chapter we saw how the spirit of our times has made the matter of sexual immorality particularly problematic for us, not least because of the many ways in which that sin can be committed. Another area that is also of great concern, to which we come now in 1 Corinthians 7, is that of marriage. For this subject as well, it is another case of the church picking up the mindset and values of the world. Just as we have been seeing how the world was influencing the Corinthian church, so we also know that the same thing happens today. Too often the church reflects the changing patterns of the world around her, rather than acting as that holy city on a hill.

Marriage and It's Many Problems

Tuesday: Each Belongs to the Other

June 30, 2026

The question, therefore, that Paul places before us is simply this: What is that to which God has called you? As I read 1 Corinthians 7, I suspect that there was a division in the church between a Jewish mentality and what we would call a “super spiritual” Greek mentality.

Marriage and It's Many Problems

Wednesday: Separation and Divorce

July 1, 2026

The second category of problems that he deals with are those involving separation. Whereas Paul talks about marriage as good, separation is something that is bad, though there are times when it may be necessary. In verses 10 and 11 we read, “To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.”

Marriage and It's Many Problems

Thursday: Marriage to an Unbeliever

July 2, 2026

But suppose the non-Christian leaves because he or she does not want to be married to a Christian. What do you do then? That is what Paul answers in verse 15 when he says, “But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace.” If the non-Christian decides to go and seeks a divorce, there is nothing the other one can do about it. Divorce becomes inevitable in that situation, and the Christian is no longer bound to that marriage.

Marriage and It's Many Problems

Friday: Being Content

July 3, 2026

What you have to begin with is the will of God and serving Him. You have to recognize that you are not your own, but you have been bought with a price, even the precious blood of Christ. If He calls you to a single life, you should count that all joy to serve Him in a single life. If He calls you to a married life, you should count that all joy to serve in a married life. You need to look at everything from the framework that God is able to use you to bring the fullest measure of blessing in the lives of other people.

Monday: Making the Right Decision

July 6, 2026

If at some point in my past I had had training as a sociologist, or even in statistics or accounting, I perhaps would have made up a list of the different kinds of questions I have been asked over the years as I have spoken in a variety of places. I would have tried to make an analysis of those questions in terms of their frequency to determine what really are the chief problems that concern Christian people. I think if anybody would ask me what is the number one question in whatever form it has been asked, I would say that it is about the will of God.

Tuesday: To Eat or Not to Eat

July 7, 2026

The issue for the Corinthian Christians was whether or not a Christian could lawfully before God eat meat that had been sacrificed to one of the heathen idols. There was a system by which the priests and priestesses were supported. Sacrifices were always part of the worship system in the ancient world. When a worshiper would come with one of these sacrifices and offer it, the basic formula is that the sacrifice would be divided into three parts: one part would go to the priest; another part would be sacrificed and burnt on the altar; and the third part would be sold in the market place, which would also support the priesthood by producing currency they could use for other things. That portion sold in the marketplace would get bought by all kinds of people, just as what happens when anyone can go to a supermarket and buy meat.

Wednesday: The Importance of Knowledge and Love

July 8, 2026

When we talk about knowing God’s will in doubtful situations, that involves a couple of key ideas. It involves, first, the idea of knowledge. What does it really mean to know something? Is it simply a matter of intellectual awareness, or does true knowing involve more? Second, knowing God’s will involves the idea of the situation. What is really going on? What is the background to the issue, and what are the factors involved?

Thursday: Three Necessary Principles

July 9, 2026

Once again he lays down some principles. The first one is that an idol is nothing. It is just a piece of wood or stone or some other material. But in terms of anything spiritual, it is nothing at all. Paul gets this idea, of course, not from the so-called knowledge of the pagan academies, but from the Old Testament. In Isaiah 44 the prophet Isaiah is quoting God, who is challenging the idols of the heathen. The observation is made of a man who cuts down a tree. He uses half of it to build a fire and cook his food, while the other half he dries out and carves out an idol, which he proceeds to fall down and worship. This is utter foolishness! This god cannot do anything.

Friday: Loving Your Brothers and Sisters in Christ

July 10, 2026

What we do affects others, and part of being a Christian is knowing how your brothers and sisters in the Lord are going to take your activity. Now that does not mean that nobody can ever eat any meat that has ever been offered to any idol. Those with weaker consciences cannot use their weakness as a club over those who regard this as a matter of freedom in the Lord. On the other hand, Paul also has some directions for those who feel free to eat. In verse 9 he says, “Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.” He is not saying that you can never exercise your freedom, but be careful that your freedom is not used in such a way so as to offend Christians with weaker consciences.

Monday: Giving Up Rights

July 13, 2026

There is a connection between this subject in chapter 9 and what he was talking about in chapter 8. In that chapter he was answering their question about whether or not to eat meat that had been sacrificed to an idol. He said that because an idol is nothing, eating or not eating such meat is really a matter of indifference as far as your Christian life is concerned. But where other people are involved, it may well be that for them, it is not a matter of indifference because of the meat’s association with a pagan temple.

Tuesday: The Reality of Rights

July 14, 2026

Paul, however, makes a distinction between the rights and the exercising of them. This is where the emphasis of Mabel Williamson’s book comes in. It is a question of laying these aside, of waiving our rights for the sake of something which we believe by the instruction of God is of far greater importance. Here is the way Paul develops it in this chapter. First of all, he talks about himself as an apostle because that is what he has to establish. He wants to show that because of his calling, he has been given certain rights to which he is entitled.

Wednesday: The Rights of an Apostle

July 15, 2026

From other references we understand that two qualifications needed to be met in order to be an apostle. First of all, he had to have seen the Lord. From Acts 1 we see that an apostle was to be a witness of the Lord during the days of His ministry from the time of the baptism of John until His death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven. The second qualification is that an apostle needed to be chosen specifically by Christ Himself. And in the case of Matthias, who replaced Judas, he was numbered among the apostles through the casting of lots, which was used to discern the Lord’s will in the selection.

Thursday: Paul’s Reasons for His Rights

July 16, 2026

Paul gives a number of reasons why he has a right to be supported in his missionary work. First of all, in verse 7 he deals with what I would call a universal principle, which is simply that the laborer is worthy of his reward. He illustrates it in different ways. He talks about a soldier who is serving and therefore has a right to be paid. Next, he talks about a man who keeps a vineyard, and who therefore has a right to eat of its grapes when the harvest comes. Finally, he talks about a shepherd, who has a right to some of the milk of the flock. If an individual is working for a company, that individual has the right to the wages that are commensurate with that job. It is the same in Christian ministry.

Friday: When to Lay Our Rights Aside

July 17, 2026

Of course, that is not at all what Paul is doing. He is certainly not trying to work a situation to his financial benefit. His emphasis is entirely on the other side. Although he has these rights, he has willingly laid them aside in order that he might have the privilege of taking the Gospel to the Corinthians without cost. He does this because he does not want anybody to misunderstand his motivations.

Monday: Dealing with Temptation

July 20, 2026

I do not know of any book of the New Testament that is more practical than 1 Corinthians, at least in terms of the range of subjects that it addresses. Through the first nine chapters Paul has dealt with pride, sexual immorality, marriage, divorce, lawsuits, and how Christian freedom functions in the context of love. But of all those practical matters that are handled in this letter, I suppose the most practical and far-reaching of all is this matter of temptation, which Paul discusses in chapter 10. That is because it affects everybody in a way that the specific issues mentioned above may not. Temptation is an all-inclusive category, and therefore concerns absolutely every person in the human race.

Tuesday: The Necessity for True Identification

July 21, 2026

We need to talk about some of the imagery Paul uses in verses 1-5 because it is both interesting and helpful. The matter of baptism in verse 2 has led to a number of interpretations by commentators.

Wednesday: Israel’s Example

July 22, 2026

And yet, at the very time Moses was up on the mountain receiving the law, recorded in Exodus 32, the people were down in the valley breaking that very commandment. They were making the golden calf, and falling down and worshiping it. At this point, even though they were identified with Moses in the exodus and were numbered visibly among the people of God, they committed adultery and were judged for their sin. The sin of the golden calf led to the sin of sexual immorality because the worship of false gods always leads to a false or debased morality.

Thursday: Temptations Common to All

July 23, 2026

Another thing we need to remember is what Paul tells us in verse 13: “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” This is a verse you should memorize and get in your mind early in the Christian life.

Friday: Resisting Temptations

July 24, 2026

What do you do with sins that come from the world? Paul talks about this in the opening verses of Romans 12, where he writes that we are not to be conformed to the world, but are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. This means that you have to live close to God in the Scriptures, as you grow in the Christian life and allow God to enable you to think increasingly as God thinks rather than as the world thinks. For this to happen we need to draw near to God and allow the Holy Spirit to do that kind of transformation which makes us different people as the new life of Christ comes to fruition within us.

Free to do What?

Monday: Limited Freedom

July 27, 2026

The difficulty with freedom, of course, is that when we try to define it, we discover it is not such an easy thing to do. When most people talk about freedom, they probably have in mind the ability to do anything we want to do. If I have freedom, I should be able to do anything I want. If in some area that desire is restricted, then in that area, at least, I am not free. The difficulty with that understanding is that life is filled with things just like that.

Free to do What?

Tuesday: Fulfilling God’s Purpose for Us

July 28, 2026

In yesterday’s study we concluded by saying that Roger Nicole used a number of illustrations to show what happens when something that has been created for one purpose takes it upon itself to exercise supposed freedom in another area.

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