Adult Bible Study – 1st Corinthians
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church
This chapter could be labeled “about conduct unbefitting the kingdom of God.” The conversation starts with a discussion about legal matters – in fact, law suits. Everyday matters of life were not being settled among the members of the church, but church members were bringing law suit against other members of the church in civil courts. Paul’s criticism is not that they are having disputes or that there are matters that require working through – but that the members of the church are not able to work them out among themselves.
As a special note, one of the possible problems seems to be present in the Corinthian church, as it appears today in our culture also, a matter of the disparity between the rich and the poor. The rich were able to hire expensive advocates – orators – to argue their cases before the magistrates. This was not a possibility for those of lower economic levels. They were relatively defenseless in the legal system; therefore, the wealthy were winning their cases against the poor leavening the poor with less than they had to begin with. These class distinctions will appear again in this letter.
Paul’s argument against the use of magistrates is, in part, based upon the old teaching that “the saints” will have a part in the judgment of the world in the end time. Paul here reflects upon the statement that the saints will be responsible to judge the angels. Given such a future responsibility it does not equate with why they are not able to settle their own disputes and impart justice among themselves. A second criticism implies, though not states directly is the social justice issues – the well to do are taking unjust advantage of the poor. A third criticism has to do with the fact that they are allowing their disputes to be issues among them at all. In his perspective the better option would be to tolerate being wronged in the first place rather than make a legal case out of it. Yet they are not just victims, but many of them they aggressors who are wronging others.
Wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God. This is one of the many instances where in Paul’s formal education as a Pharisee become apparent. The prescriptions that he lists under the area of wrongdoers come directly from the laws of Deuteronomy. As we peruse the list there are those wrongful deeds that we can feel better about because we can say, I’ve never done that. Yet, there are those listed under which we may easily find ourselves accused. In this Pauline way of thinking the lines are very well drawn. Yet, we would be missing something very important if we fail to see the good news contained in those statements just the other side of the lines that Paul draws. He is talking to people who have already crossed over a fundamental line. They have been “washed,” they have been “sanctified” – that is, made holy; they have been already “justified” in the name of Jesus Christ; they have already been partnered with the Holy Spirit Paul’s point is that God’s activity upon them has already taken place. They have been transported into the kingdom of God along with all who have been baptized into Christ Jesus. Now their behavior must be brought into line with those who belong to the kingdom of God.
There is an important distinction made here; Paul is not advocating that they change their behavior so that they may enter the kingdom of God; Paul is advocating for their behavior to change because they have already been made part of the kingdom of God as part of God’s action in Christ Jesus. In the Pauline way of thinking, it is important to note that he is saying that once we have been brought into the kingdom behavior that are unacceptable must stop. His understanding is that they can stop because they are simply a matter of choice to do or not to do.
“All things are lawful for me, but not all things are beneficial . . . but I will not be dominated by anything.” Paul makes some deep sweeping statements based on what he believes has happened to him – and to anyone who have been transformed by Christ – washed, sanctified, justified in the name of Jesus. There is a certain freedom that has taken place. There was a feeling in the world of Corinth that all of the things on Paul’s list were open and available to them. Paul’s implication in talking about freedom has a great deal to do with the fact that our way of dealing with God is no longer based on the “doing of the law” as was the premise of the old covenant. We don’t find our way to God’s grace by doing the law. Paul’s teaching is that we do the law because we have been brought into God’s grace by the death of Christ. The law is just not our way of dealing with God. Grace is, instead God’s way of dealing with us and faith is our response from which then proceed our doing of the law.
Paul enters us now into the area of ethics with the reminder that what must be taken into consideration in our actions is “what is or is not beneficial;” but further consideration is given to the issue of being dominated by anything. How are we dominated? Any conversation about addiction takes to the idea of being dominated by something. Paul takes his teaching about freedom and further teaches that freedom entail also the though process of what the deed-to-be-done will imply afterwards.
His conversation about ethics – that is, what we do and the ramifications for others and ourselves – takes a turn in these verses 12-20. Paul talks about ownership. The first is based on his analogy of food and the stomach. The food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food. He then leads to the deeper implications – the body is not meant for fornication or any other such thing. The body is meant for the Lord and the Lord for the body.
In much Greek philosophical thinking the body was held in much dispute. In Plato’s philosophy the body was simply refuse that contained the real life, the spirit. This is where we have come to believe in the dichotomy of soul and body. It’s Greek thinking that you could do anything that you wanted to the body because it was going to be discarded eventually anyway. This is not the teaching of either the Old or New Testaments. Biblical belief is that the body is sacred. The body is the creation of God. Our Christian theology has seen God verify the sanctity of the body, but himself becoming incarnate in human flesh and blood. He argues further that God owns these bodies of ours. They have been purchased at the price of the death of Christ. They belong to God. Will you therefore, take what is God’s and join it to a prostitute? That’s the question of morality and the use of the body. Just as husband and wife become one flesh (join together as one) in the sexual union in marriage – will you “become on flesh” with a prostitute? Will you join God’s property to a prostitute?
Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Here Paul makes his final argument in this matter. These bodies of ours which belong ultimately to God are place of God’s dwelling with mortals. God has housed his spirit within the physical framework of each of his people. We have been joined with Christ and made one with him. It’s a “done deal,” therefore, live as one who has been redeemed by Christ and made one with him.
© Copy write held by The Rev. Dr. Kipp W. Zimmermann
Wednesday, November 05, 2003