2022_05_18 Insight Post- Rusty Coram
This week’s reading- 1 Corinthians 5-6
This week we hit on a seriously tough passage in Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth. As we have seen, Paul is deeply concerned that the Corinthian church was condoning (or at least tolerating) behavior that was not in keeping with God’s character. In chapter 6, Paul gives a list of the things that needed to be seen as out of bounds for God’s children. After chastising them for not dealing with disputes honorably among themselves, Paul goes on, “Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, 10 or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. 11 Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9–11 (NLT)
This seaport city was well known for its “anything goes” approach to morality. Regarding sexual practices, the Corinth christians were all aware of local temples to other gods where ritual prostitution was part of the “worship service.” In this cultural environment, people were hearing about Jesus and many were deciding to follow Him. They were being rescued from living according to their own desires and transformed into new creatures. “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT). The old life included attitudes and behaviors that God does not want us to participate in, including sexual sins. Then, as now, people rationalized their personal desires and tried to build a case that God must be okay with their wishes. This is backward. God is our creator and knows what is best for us. If He says to avoid something, it is because He knows best. He understands our temptations, the lure of our desires, and the cultural pull. Paul’s warning is not about those who struggle with trying to do what God wants but about those who try to justify the things God says is wrong. We have a choice to make, whether we will embrace His will or not. In the church of Corinth, there were those who had surrendered their lives to Christ and experienced the new life, “Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:11 (NLT) The church of today needs to make sure that we are accepting that same cleansing – that we are becoming new creatures in Christ.
Rusty Coram
Senior Pastor