One of the wonderful things about the sacraments and ceremonies of the Christian Church is that when they are practiced properly, they recognize the equality of all men and women before God. None of us comes with any special privilege, but rather we all come as sinners in need of the grace of God,
Jesus spoke of Himself as the one who gives freedom, and it is the freedom that comes in the Gospel, of which we read in the written Word of God. As Jesus said in John 8, "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (v. 32). The truth of God is what we find in passages like thes
As Paul moves from the end of chapter 10 to the beginning of chapter 11, we see how the theme of freedom continues with regard to how men and women relate within the church of Jesus Christ and also in marriage. Although Paul is certainly responding to concerns that had been brought to him by the Ch
For these areas that are a matter of indifference, we cannot go back to the Ten Commandments and point out the particular commandment that tells us what we either should or should not do. For matters of indifference we need to think about the principles that are involved for the specific issue, and
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. One was a locomotive, which for the purpose of the illustration i
Whenever we talk about freedom it is obvious that we strike a responsive note in the human heart. In any language the idea of freedom is something that each member of the human race senses he or she is destined for. We celebrate freedom nationally. For example, in the United States we observe the
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
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.
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 th
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. The root word for “baptism,” which is bapto, means “to immerse.” And from that came the word bapti
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 t
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 th
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 se
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 deat
We recognize the reality of rights even in a secular way. In our Declaration of Independence, we talk about the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Every human being has a right to life, yet for some this right is being denied in our time. We believe that liberty is something th
In the late 1950’s, Mabel Williamson, a missionary with the China Inland Mission, now the Overseas Missionary Fellowship, published a book that bore the title, Have We No Rights?1I read that book years ago and was very impressed with it. Early in my ministry, when I was preaching on the Sermon on t
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
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 fr
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
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 w
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 que
The very last portion of this chapter begins with verse 17. Paul talks about what I would call contentment, and he brings in a number of different illustrations. We should be content to abide in whatever calling God has called us. If God has called you to a married state, be content with that and
In yesterday’s study we concluded with Paul’s instructions that if one spouse is a Christian and the other is not, the Christian is not to divorce the unbeliever.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 Pau
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)
