Today’s Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 7-8 GNT

Associate Producers

Anonymous, Michael Haner

Podcast Introduction

his is Epistles Sunday. 1 Corinthians 7-8 I’m calling todays episode, “No Tripping.”

And it’s December 18th, so we’ll hear Christmas Question number 18 sent in by Rob Brousseau.

Our Christmas expert, James Cooper of whychristmas.com has an answer for him.

Today is Sunday, so we will have prayer requests and praises.

S132E078Art1400-falling man — Design: Steve Webb | Photo: Shane Rounce on Unsplash

Comments on 1 Corinthians 7-8

Thoughts on 1 Corinthians 7

Let’s quickly look at a couple of different points from today’s reading. These are things that cause some people to wonder what Paul meant, so I hope I can clear them up for you.

Let’s first tackle the parts where Paul says he is expressing his opinion. Does that mean that we can discount what he says if we don’t like what we hear? No. Those parts don’t somehow become the uninspired Word of God. If they did, then they would not be included in the Bible. What Paul was saying was that there were no scriptures yet in existence that dealt with the issue, so He wasn’t able to quote any verses to support what he was teaching here. But if you look at how he ended the chapter, he was declaring that he was lead by the Holy Spirit. When he says, “I think that I too have God’s Spirit”, he was not expressing doubt. In the language of the day, he was saying, “I am convinced that I have God’s Spirit.” And since that is true, his teaching on the subject is from God.

The next thing that causes some difficulty for many people is where Paul mentions that the unbelieving spouse is made acceptable to God by the believing spouse. Some people mistakenly think that this means that an unbelieving husband or wife gets a free pass to Heaven because they are married to a believing spouse, or the children of a believer get a free pass. Of course that is not true. Each person must accept Christ on their own. There are no coattails upon which you can ride into Heaven.

If you look at the passage again, you’ll see that Paul was talking about divorce. He was saying that if the unbeliever agrees to live with the believer, then their marriage will be recognized by God as a holy, valid marriage. They do not need to be divorced. And since their marriage is acceptable to God, then their children are not deemed as illegitimate, as they would be if their parents were unmarried.

Paul goes on to say that “God has called you to live in peace”. Of course He doesn’t want lives to be turned upside down by divorce over this. And in staying together, the unbelieving spouse might be convinced of the reality of God’s love by the loving example of the believing spouse, and be brought to the cross of Christ.

Thoughts on 1 Corinthians 8

In chapter 8, Paul talks to the Corinthian church about food offered to idols, and whether a believer should eat it. This subject seems sort of strange to us today, but in Greece, where the city of Corinth is, the worship of many different gods and idols was common. And often, certain foods were sacrificed to these idols before it made its way to the marketplace to be sold.

So the question for some in the church of Corinth was whether or not this food should be eaten. Some felt that food offered to idols was tainted or unclean. Certainly the Jews who were there avoided it for this very reason.

Paul’s teaching on this was surprising to those who thought they should not eat this meat. He said, “Look. Idols are nothing. They aren’t gods. They are just inanimate objects. So eating food offered to them will not separate you from God. He said, “Food…will not improve our relation with God; we shall not lose anything if we do not eat, nor shall we gain anything if we do eat.”

But Paul didn’t leave the subject there. There’s more to it than just eating food. Some of the believers in the church in Corinth had previously been idol worshippers. They had participated in offering meat to these false idols. And they felt that this meat was defiled. So, instead of forcing them to violate their consciences, Paul said that believers who would otherwise not have a problem with this meat should not eat it if doing so would cause one of these other brothers or sisters to stumble. Because for these who had been idol worshippers, it was a sin, since it went against their conscience.

Personal freedom is a gift of grace. But if your freedom causes someone to violate their conscience, thus causing them to sin, then you too have sinned.

It’s all about love, my friend. If I love you, I won’t insist on having my way.

James Cooper’s Link

On Christmas Colors

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1 Corinthians 7-8: No Tripping (LSFAB S13E078)

[TEASER – 0:00]
That makes life so much better.

[INTRO S13E078 – 0:09]
Coming to you from Riverside, California, this is the Lifespring Family Audio Bible and podcasting since 2004, I’m your OG Godcaster, Steve Webb. This is the daily podcast where we’re reading through the entire Bible in a year. I’m so glad you’ve joined me. The website is lifespringmedia.com. This is Epistle Sunday, and we’ll read 1 Corinthians 7 through 8. I’m calling today’s episode, “No Tripping,” and it’s December 18th, so we’ll hear Christmas question number 18 sent in by Rob Brousseau. And since it’s Sunday, we will have a time of prayer and praise.

Before we read, let’s pray.

[OPENING PRAYER – O:45]
Our Father, we love you so much. And we thank you for your Word. And we pray that you would bless our time together around it. I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

All right, let’s begin.

[1 CORINTHIANS 7 (GNT) – 0:56
1 Corinthians, chapter 7.

(1) Now, to deal with the matters you wrote about.

A man does well not to marry. (2) But because there is so much immorality, every man should have his own wife, and every woman should have her own husband. (3) A man should fulfill his duty as a husband, and a woman should fulfill her duty as a wife, and each should satisfy the other’s needs. (4) A wife is not the master of her own body, but her husband is; in the same way a husband is not the master of his own body, but his wife is. (5) Do not deny yourselves to each other, unless you first agree to do so for a while in order to spend your time in prayer; but then resume normal marital relations. In this way you will be kept from giving in to Satan’s temptation because of your lack of self-control.

(6) I tell you this not as an order, but simply as a permission. (7) Actually I would prefer that all of you were as I am; but each one has a special gift from God, one person this gift, another one that gift.

(8) Now, to the unmarried and to the widows I say that it would be better for you to continue to live alone as I do. (9) But if you cannot restrain your desires, go ahead and marry—it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

(10) For married people I have a command which is not my own but the Lord’s: a wife must not leave her husband; (11) but if she does, she must remain single or else be reconciled to her husband; and a husband must not divorce his wife.

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S2E078-1 Corinthians 7-8: No Tripping