NEW TESTAMENT 5

LECTURE 3
1 CORINTHIANS 
5:1-7:40
INTRODUCTION
•	Paul continues his indictment of the Corinthians. This is the second part of his task: 
•	FLAGRANT IMMORALITY AND ARROGANCE.
•	So arrogant were these believers that they allowed what even the “heathen” would not allow. 
•	The background seems to be one of a dualism between body and soul. The body might sin without affecting the soul or spirit. 
•	Or this man is so spiritual that even such a sin cannot touch his spirituality…WOW!
The Fornication
•	The woman was clearly not this man’s own mother although the use of ______________ rather than ______________ does not prove this...
•	She may have been divorced or she may be a widow.
5:2
•	Paul’s words about “______________” is not limited to just the attitude toward this man’s sin. It is an attitude that says they were insensitive to sin and the character of their own lifestyles.
•	In reality, the Corinthians did not mourn over the tragic state of their morals.
•	Sorrow could have been the least response they made to the sad story. 
5:3-4
•	Verse 3 tells us Paul’s conclusion about the whole matter. It is an imaginary church courtroom where the man has been tried and found guilty. 
•	How does this relate to Acts 13:8 where Paul used this against Elymas and Acts 5;1 where Peter did this to ______________ and ______________?
5:5
•	Paul wanted expulsion from the church. Persons with such open conduct belonged outside the church with the pagans. This does not mean the man was an enemy (2 Thess 3:14ff). He was to be admonished as a brother. Expulsion is discipline, and the ultimate purpose is to safeguard the influence of the body in its witness to the unbelieving world. Christians should feel more urgency to regain the brother than expel him.
5:6
•	The Corinthians could not have misunderstood Paul.  This was a ______________ in their midst and needed severe and quick operation. Does a little leaven really leaven the whole lump? Get one germ of infection, how does it affect your body?
5:7
•	Can you sense a note of urgency here? The old and decayed ______________ was completely removed and a new stock began. The ideal and normal way of life for the believer ought to be without any leaven at all. 
•	“Paul means that the Lamb was already slain on Calvary and yet you have not gotten rid of the leaven.” 
5:8
•	Paul may have in mind the Jewish Passover, which came just before Pentecost (1 Cor 16:8). If Christians are going to perpetually celebrate it, then leaven must be kept out. There ought to be a season of personal reflection and cleansing. The word “______________, ______________” may mean I judge by the light of the sun, or by holding up to a candle.” The word “______________” comes from two words meaning “______________” not and “______________” meaning, “covered  nor hidden.”
5:9
•	Paul seems to refer to an ______________ written earlier than our 1 Corinthians. It was not preserved for whatever reason. At any rate, Paul had warned them not to associate with such openly, unrepentant wicked men. 
5:10
•	While there is to be separation and isolation,there does not have to be total breaking of communication with such men.
•	To do this one would have to get totally out of the world. Christians do not have to keep ______________ with such people.
•	What does Psalm 1 say?
5:11
•	Social contact with a brother who has adopted such a ______________of the unbelieving world is to be restricted.  
•	He is to be regarded as an outsider. One is not even to eat with such a one.
5:12-13
•	Paul makes it clear that it was not his place to make such ______________ on those outside the church or body of Christ. To be sure, they could never have a lifestyle like Paul’s without having a new birth, without knowing the Christ he knows.
•	What about those outside the church? God will judge them.
•	Let the church deal with its own evildoers in its midst.
6: 1
•	Do you sense a note of indignation in this verse? Paul had appealed to Roman law but never when it involved a brother in Christ. Surely this shows that the Christians can’t keep their own house in order. A rabbinical prohibition said, “It is ______________ to bring a matter of right before idolatrous judges…who ever does so,is impious and is the same as if he blasphemed and curse…”
6:2-3
•	The reference to the saints who will judge the world involves the future eschaton (Acts 1:6). The belief was that saints would share in the ______________ of the ______________ and______________ ______________ or the angel-guardians of pagan nations. Paul wanted Christians to have a life style above those who were outside the community of faith.
6:4
•	It would be idealistic to think that there would never be disputes in the family of God. But they should be handled within the body.  This is Paul’s premise. The verb kathizete may be an imperative, which would imply that the Corinthians would be better off asking the least capable Christian to solve the problem than go to heathen courts. If it is an indicative, then it would mean “those, who in the ______________, are held of no______________.”.
6:5 
•	In 4:14 Paul said he was not writing to______________ them. Here wants to move them to shame. He wants them to know that the case must be really serious, if no brother can be found to arbitrate the matter. 
6:6
•	Notice the tragic condition among the Corinthian members. It is twofold: 
•	1) that the ones involved in the dispute are too far away from Christ to settle the dispute themselves.
•	2) They went to______________ courts to settle the issue rather than asking a mature brother to arbitrate.
6:7
•	A ______________ against a ______________ is bad enough, but to try to have it settled and to be vindicated in pagan courts is a shame and really a defeat for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Its better for one to suffer wrong or allow his brother to defraud him, than to pursue such matters in heathen courts. 
•	F. F. Bruce, “There are thus two distinct points: a) Christian cases be tried by Christians, b) there should be no case.”
6:8 
•	Paul has trouble imaging this kind of behavior going on in the house of God. Surely they had heard and maybe read Jesus’ words in the ______________ on the Mount (Mt 5:39-41). There was a better way to handle the situation.
6:9-10
•	These verses go together as Paul stresses the kind of people to be excluded from the kingdom of God.  He is not dealing with just particular sins, but with certain kinds of wrong doing – 
•	______________ – all kinds of sexual sins.
•	______________ – those who violate marriage bed.
•	______________ (______________) when used of garments, meant soft fabrics or clothing. When used of persons, it comes close to meaning those, including boys and men, who allow themselves to be misused homosexually.
6:9-10
•	Paul cautioned the Corinthians about the notion that______________ in one God without a holy life was enough. Paul made one thing clear: the wrong doers (adikoi) were definitely not going to be part of the Kingdom. Nor would there be a place for the soft, voluptuous addicted to the sins of the flesh. Notice that Paul was not limited to the sensually minded alone. He included the covetous and others.
6:11
•	Paul makes it clear that not all are guilty of this life-style.  They may have been guilty of many things in the past, but  now had been “______________…______________…______________”. The first verb is in the middle voice while the last two are in the passive voice. Having been delivered from their past lifestyles, they have been declared righteous by God, and made His holy people.
6:12
•	F. F. Bruce suggests that Paul’s double use of “all things are ______________ for ______________” may have been a slogan of the Corinthians that Paul is using against them.”  There are some things that might be permissible for the believer, but because of the results or the effect on others, should not be done. Morris adds that there is a danger that a man use his Christian freedom to bring himself into bondage. We are out brother’s keeper.
6:13
•	Notice what is said about feeding the body and then applying this to the sexual appetites of the flesh.  Paul says that the Corinthians were misunderstanding the purpose of the body. One cannot treat the two appetites the same way.  The______________ is for the Lord and the ______________ for the body.
6:14-15
•	Notice the thrust of this verse (14). God who raised Jesus will one day ______________ the ______________. This adds dignity to what Paul just said in verse 13.  The body should not be prostituted to sin. What is said in v. 15? Is this shocking? Paul would be staggered to imagine the body of Christ being joined to a harlot. MAY IT NEVER BE! (me genoito!)
6:16-17
•	Paul appeals to creation here. Gen 2:24…the ______________ flesh become ______________ flesh.  Paul says this is true when a man lies with a harlot.  The Corinthians had not realized the implication of their actions.  Paul proves his point by an appeal to scripture and to a well-known fact. The act in verse 16 is voluntary and done by one’s own initiative. In v. 17 it is a passive voice which shows the uniting is the work of the Spirit and accomplished by God.
6:18
•	Paul is repudiating the notion that the soul is independent from the body or imprisoned in the body so that it would not be affected by anything the body did or does.  This is what Paul is combating here.  Here wants the Corinthians to know the ______________ and ______________ are blended into one perfect whole. 
6:13-18
•	Commentators vary on v. 18. But the point of 13-18 is clear. Robertson and Plummer say, “The body has an ______________destiny, to soma to kurio. Fornication takes the body away form the Lord and robs it of its glorious future, of which the Spirit is the present guarantee. In v. 18 we have the practical advice, “Flee fornication!” 
6:19-20
•	Notice how high Paul closes this part out.  The human body becomes the sanctuary (naos) of the HS which dwells in the believer.  The body is the dwelling place of the Christian and offers the only dwelling place for the Spirit of God which lives within the believer.______________and______________ cannot be ______________from each others or regarded as mutually exclusive. How foolish to think that when a Christian commits a sin that his spiritual self is not affected or involved, only the body.
7:1-2
•	 This begins Paul’s answering the questions the Corinthians sent to him in a letter. See 7:1, 7:25, 8:1, 12:1, 16:1. The first question seems to have been about the ______________ ______________ and whether is good or not. 
Some Background on The Issue
•	Some heretics wanted to forbid marriage (1 Tim 4:3). But this violates Gen 2:18.  In verse 1 Paul uses the term “______________” rather than “______________”. He is not putting marriage down, but saying that celibacy may be good under certain conditions. In light of the Corinthian situation, Paul would chose marriage over license and polygamy.
7:3-4
•	Paul makes it clear that there are normal physical rights involved in marriage and these should not give way to unnatural abstention on the part of both man and wife.  In ______________, each partners gives exclusive right to his/her body to their partner.  
7:5-6
•	If abstinence is one sided, it may give way to disagreement. Paul’s words, “ to deprive one another” means they should agree on the amount of time and the purpose.  The word concession reflects they are aware of normal human relations. 
7:7-8
•	It seems that Paul’s personal references infer he was not married at this time at least.  Yet, Paul recognizes that each man must decide for himself or each woman for herself.
•	V. 8 – The “______________” here may refer to men only, in light of the fact that later he mentions “virgins and widows” later.
7:9-10
•	Paul does not argue in favor of one position or the other here. He makes his preferences clear and said that there is to be no reproach for which ever position was taken.  He says that it is better for a man to marry than to burn with sexual passion.  Verse 10 he speaks about divorce in absolute terms, “the wife is not to be ______________ from her husband.” 
7:11-12
•	V. 11– In Matt 19:19 it looks as if Jesus, by implication, made allowance for remarriage of the innocent party, but Paul here leaves no room. She is to remain ______________or be reconciled to her husband. He does not deal with circumstances behind the ______________. 
•	V.12 -- Paul deals with the issue of one partner of a marriage becoming a Christian and says he has no particular command from the Lord. It is an issue: 2 Cor 6:14.7
7:13-14
•	Verse 14 Paul gave the reason for the course that a husband is to follow when his wife is an unbeliever and likewise the wife who has an unbelieving husband. Since one of the two are believers, the marriage ______________ is considered ______________. Likewise with the children, who are not to be thought of as illegitimate.  
7:15-16
•	The matter of securing a ______________ on the part of the ______________ partner is no problem. He can have it if he wants. Paul does not make it clear if the believing partner is free to marry after this or not.
7:17-20
•	The point of these verses is to emphasize that liberation of the individual in Christ, so far as ritualism is concerned.  God takes the believer as he is,______________ or ______________ and requires not external action to become a believer. In the church, the natural standing is nothing. Pedigree means nothing.
7:21-24
•	This passage may seem out of line with the rest of ch 7. The believer is now free from sin’s power and death, now and in the eschaton. A man may be a slave in his social position, but in the Lord, he is a ______________. Salvation is a freedom from slavery in one sense and it is a change of ownership as well. See Eph 2:1ff.
7:25-26
•	This language, so far from being a disclaimer of inspiration, is…in no sense a command, but an inspired opinion.” Paul uses enestosan (2nd perfect active of enistemi) and means “______________” or “______________”. The word might mean imminent or pending.  
7:27-28
•	V. 27 – Paul seems to suddenly pass over to the man to illustrate his point. “In this way he can set out from the principle, his own calling, and now, via the unmarried man, apply this principle to virgins.(v.28)  
•	V. 28 – Paul is clear, this is not  a command, but his own thoughts. Those who get married do not sin in this, but may face dark days as the day of the Lord approaches. 
7:29-31
•	Paul is not advising the Corinthians to withdraw from the world, but to be careful in engaging that world.  ______________ needs to be maintained. The closing words of v. 31 are like those preceding it. No one knows the future, so live for today.
7:32-35
•	Here is a real look at the shepherd’s______________ towards the people.  
•	A marriage partner has a two-fold responsibility: to his/her ______________ and to ______________ Paul is pleading for less anxiety on the part of the marriage relationship concerning the world – material things and even care for the mate, often chock out the love for Christ. 
7:36-28
•	There is hot dispute over these verses.  The traditional view: the man is the father of his virgin ______________. It seems from the use of gamein, which to marry, Paul was talking about a father’s duty toward his daughter when she is of age to be married. IF there is no serious reason why the girl should not marry, then let her do it.
7:39-40
•	He deals with ______________ Verse 39 becomes a sort of addendum and talks about the remarriage of widows. See 1 Tim 5:9-13. Here the apostle left it up to the widow as to whether she would marry again. If so, it was to “be in the Lord” or a Christian and not an unbeliever. He boldly says, she would be happier if she did not marry. How do we know these verses and Paul’s position are inspired? He says, “I have the Spirit”.