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Dr. Manny Arango
Hey, Bible nerds. This is Dr. Manny Arango, and I'm your host for the Bible department podcast powered by Arma. This podcast follows a Bible reading plan we created to help you read the entire Bible in a year. You can head to the show notes or thebibledepartment.com to download our reading plan and join the Journey family. Welcome to our second day in the book of Corinthians. Hey, if you haven't read 1 Corinthians chapter 5, 6, and 7 yet, just pause, go, do the reading for the day, and then come back. We are in first Corinthians chapters five through seven today. And this entire section of Corinthians is all about sex and sexuality. And we're gonna. We're gonna teach you some Greek words today that I think are gonna be interesting, but we'll get into that in just a second. First, let me give you a context clue. Okay. The temple of Aphrodite. Aphrodite is an ancient Greek goddess. So when you think like, avrodesiac, right? Like an aphrodisiac is something that kind of gets the mood going, right? Gets people kind of. Kind of ready to rock and roll. And that that word aphrodisiac is based on this goddess, Aphrodite. And so she was the goddess of love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was actually syncretized with the Roman Venus. So Aphrodite, the act of sacred prostitution within the temple of Aphrodite in the city of Corinth were well known and well spread. Greek writer and philosopher Strabo comments this. He says the temple of Aphrodite was so rich that it owned a thousand temple slaves, courtesans whom both men and women had dedicated to the goddess. And so having sex with the temple prostitutes was a normal and customary way to worship and honor the goddess Aphrodite. And so this is where Paul plants this church. And so, surprise, surprise, people from Corinth are acting like they are from Corinth. There was this Greek word. I'm gonna butcher it. I've tried to pronounce it really well. It's Corinthiazestae. There we go. Corinthiad Zestai. It meant to play the Corinthian. And anytime Corinthians were depicted in ancient plays or theater, they were always drunkards and immoral people. And so word in Greek, Corinthia, zesti means to play the Corinthian, to play someone who is immoral, debauched, lacks morals. And so Paul, of course, in addressing this church in Corinth is going to have to address sex and sexuality. That is a no brainer. And so that's context. That's our context clue for the day. The temple of Aphrodite is the context clue that we need to really understand what's going on. Now 1 Corinthians 5 opens up and here's Paul's opening words. Everybody's talking about the sex scandal that's going on in your community, not least because it's a kind of immorality that even the pagans don't practice. So there's an issue in the church and you guys are, are actually doing something that pagans say is wrong. And what's happening is that a guy is having sex with his father's wife. Now Cicero, this is Cicero is not a Christian. Cicero is just a Greco Roman kind of philosopher. He's part of the Senate, says incest is just the, I mean, the worst possible thing you could actually ever be a part of. Now here's the nerdy nugget for the day. Okay? The nerdy nugget that we all need to understand is that this guy who's having sex with his father's wife is actually breaking the law. This is illegal. And so we need to read the words that Paul says with that nerdy nugget in mind. Says this in 1 Corinthians chapter 5. 1. Pagans don't even do this. It's actually reported that there is sexual, sexual immorality among you and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate. A man is sleeping with his father's wife. And then verse five of chapter five says this, hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord. What does that mean? It means hand him over to the authorities that he should be arrested for what he's doing. This is not like a petty issue in the GREO Roman world. Incest is a massive problem. Not a problem like it's rampant, a problem in that it's dealt with with harsh consequences. And this church is essentially harboring someone who is taking part in illegal activity. And here's the reality, like this is not new. Like churches get caught in scandals all the time. I remember as a young person, this is a formative moment in ministry in my life. I was probably maybe in middle school and our, our pastor stood up in front of our whole church, probably 5,000 people in the church, and said, hey, there's a leader in the church who has been found to be abusing children, molesting children. And I want to let the entire church know that I called that leader to the church and I called the police to the church and I handed this pastor over to the police and he is going to get arrested. I think sometimes in church we call things moral failures when really they're just illegal. It's illegal. It is not up to the church to decide whether or not the church is going to discipline its leaders. Sometimes it's just up to the police. It's up to the law to figure out whether or not this person is going to be disciplined. And sometimes the church tries to take matters into its own hands. And what Paul is addressing here is he's saying, when he's saying hand him over to Satan, he's saying, hand him over to the authorities. This man is doing something that's illegal. Now here's the next big takeaway. 1 Corinthians 5, 6. Okay, next verse. Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Saying you're boasting in the fact that you have grace for this guy who's doing something that's A, sinful and B, illegal. And you shouldn't be boasting that you have this much tolerance and this much grace. We should be boasting that, that we've actually done the right thing. And again, this is not gone anywhere. This has not disappeared. There are people who definitely, the thing that they're proud of is the fact that they are affirming of everyone, tolerant of everyone. And Paul says, ah, that's not a good thing to boast in. Actually, don't boast in an abuse of grace. You should not be boasting in the fact that someone is abusing grace. You should hand this person over to the authorities. Last big takeaway is this is First Corinthians 6, 9. Now, I'm going to read three different translations of this verse to you because there are two Greek words that are going to get used that are actually hard Greek words. It's malakoi and arsenicoid. Arsenicoides. By the way, we have an entire homosexuality course on the arma platform where I break these words down in full detail. But here's what we got in First Corinthians chapter 6, verse 9. Remember, chapter 5 all the way to chapter 7 is all about sex and sexuality. Here's what the NRSV is going to do with First Corinthians chapter 6, verse 9. Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites will not enter the kingdom of God. So the NRSV is going to translate these words malachoi and arsenicoides as male prostitutes and sodomites. Let's see what the Lexham version does. Lexham is kind of like Logos Bible Software's version of the. Of the Bible. Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither sexually immoral people, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor. Nor passive homosexual partners, nor dominant homosexual partners will inherit the kingdom of God. Okay, so one translation said male prostitutes and sodomites. The next translation says passive homosexual partners, dominant homosexual partners. Here's what the NASB is going to say. It's going to say don't be deceived. Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals will enter the kingdom of God. So what are these Greek words? Malakoi and arsenicoides. Malakoi. It actually means soft. Okay. And would refer to an effeminate male malakoi. I actually think the Lexham version captures it great. The passive homosexual partner. That means the partner that plays the role of the woman that receives sex like a female and then arsenicoitis. So what is, what is that? There are gay affirming theologians that will say that the only thing that Paul's talking about in this passage are going to be homosexual practice that is exploitative. Exploitative would mean prostitution, but also like predatory. So children, and really the translations do a good job of helping us to go. No, here's actually what Paul is saying. He's saying even if there's a prostitute involved, both men are wrong. The, the man that receives sex and the man that gives sex is. They're both wrong. And if it was just exploitative, then only one person would be wrong. And if it was predatory, only one person would be wrong. So there's massive debates about these two words. And this is really like, this is. This is our nerdy nugget for the day. This is. This is Paul really getting into rampant homosexuality in the Greco Roman world. Let me say this. Anyone who thinks that like, man, how can we live as Christians in today's world? It's immoral. You know, there's a transgender agenda. It's in Target. There is a homosexual agenda. It's everywhere. I need you to know this. The Greco Roman world was just as homosexual, if not more than the world that we live in today. And guess what happened, guys? The gospel flourished. Flourished because God is stronger than any stronghold, than any sin, than any addiction, than any power or principality. And is lust real? Is sexual perversion real? Absolutely. But that shouldn't make us scared. That shouldn't make us feel like our churches won't thrive the same way a church can thrive in the Bible Belt, like Texas. A church can thrive in a blue state. Churches thrive, churches grow, the gospel works. And Paul is not afraid to address rampant homosexuality. So when Paul talks about temple prostitution, he's not just talking about men getting women prostitutes. When you talk about temple prostitution in the ancient world, it was women and women, men with men, men with women, women with men, women and everything else in between. A wide spectrum of sexual exploration and sexual, what they would call freedom. And Paul addresses it head on.
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Unknown Co-host
What if I told you that what you're learning in this video was just.
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Dr. Manny Arango
The tip of the iceberg?
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Unknown Co-host
The Bible department is actually powered by arma. What is arma?
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Dr. Manny Arango
I'm so glad you asked.
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Unknown Co-host
ARMA is an online subscription based platform that we designed to help people, everyday people, learn the Bible for themselves. We started ARMA so that anybody, anywhere could have access to trustworthy and entertaining Bible and theology content. In addition to this podcast, we have over 60 courses on individual books of the Bible, on theology topics, and on some hot topics like homosexuality, tithing and women in ministry. But really, ARMA is a community. A community of people that I've gotten to know. A community where thousands of people are currently finding family, asking questions and nerding.
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Dr. Manny Arango
Out on the Bible together.
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Unknown Co-host
If you want a community to read the Bible with you this year, or if you want to dive into some deeper theological content, or if you want.
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Dr. Manny Arango
More exclusive access to me and the.
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Unknown Co-host
Entire armor team, how about you go to thebibledepartment.com I'll be sure to post the link in the description of this video. Let's make this your year to become a Bible nerd.
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Dr. Manny Arango
I want to get into our timeless truth for the day when we don't have a clear command. We rely on pastoral and spirit led wisdom. And the way Paul communicates in chapter seven specifically is humble, confident and clear. I want to give you two passages that I really think Paul nails it. This is 1 Corinthians 7:12 in 1 Corinthians 7:25 says this in verse 12. To the rest I say this. I, not the Lord. If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. I, not the Lord. You see that distinction? I think a lot of pastors feel a pressure that everything they say needs to be, thus saith the Lord that I've got a word from God for everything. And Paul is mature enough to say, I don't have a word from God, but I've got wisdom. And I'm your pastor and I've got authority. And so Jesus didn't teach about this when he was on the earth. There's no clear command here, but we use the spirit of God that we have and the spirit of wisdom to. To give pastoral advice. But I don't need to manipulate people or try to control people by saying, I've got a word from God for you. No, I could simply say, hey, this isn't the Lord, but it's me. And I think you should trust what I have to say. I've got good, godly biblical advice for you. Here's another passage where Paul does the same thing. 1 Corinthians 7:25 says this. Now about virgins. Paul's still talking about sex and sexuality all the way through chapters five, six, and seven. Now about virgins. I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy, is trustworthy. I have no command from the Lord, but I'm trustworthy. I'm known to give good advice, to give good wisdom. And I think there are a lot of pastors, you know, I'm talking to the pastors. We would learn well to model some of our advice and some of our wisdom after what Paul does here in First Corinthians, chapter 7. This is not the Lord, but it's me. I don't have a command, but I give a judgment. As somebody who is trustworthy, I think that that's clear, I think it's confident, it's full of authority, but it's also humble. And I think that tension, sometimes we lose that tension. So Paul's talking about sex, he's talking about sexuality. Really, when we get into chapter seven, he's talking about all kinds of different. It's almost like a case study, like, hey, if this happens, if that happens, if this happens, and Paul is giving wisdom for that great chapters of scripture, great passages to really start to understand the Christian sexual ethic, that your sex life, sexuality is going to be a huge way that we model a Christian lifestyle. The world, the secular system definitely has a way of going about sex and sexuality. And one of the, one of the most prominent markers through the Book of Acts, like when, when the Jerusalem Council happens and there's a decision that gentiles don't need to be circumcised, the one thing that the Jewish Christians are adamant about is but make sure that they've got a strong sexual ethic, a Judeo Christian sexual ethic, because this area of sex is huge for the human, huge for their soul, huge for their mind. And Paul pastors, these Corinthian ex Gentiles, now Christians in a way that really begins to give them handles on how to live a sexually pure life. All right, I gave you some context clues. I gave you a nerdy nugget. I gave you a timeless truth. 1 Corinthians 5, 7. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant writing and good, just solid teaching on sex and sexuality. I'm proud of you for getting through today's content. I hope this video was a value add to you tomorrow. We got 1 Corinthians, chapters 8, 9 and 10. I can't wait to see you. I am so proud of you for reading the Bible this year. You're not even going to recognize yourself by the end of the year. So, so proud. I love you guys. Peace. Thanks so much for joining us on the Bible Department podcast. You can find us online and learn more about the show at thebibledepartment.com and on Instagram hebibledepartment. If you enjoyed this episode and want to dive deeper into the Bible, you can get free access to our library of courses@thebibledepartment.com we'll see you back here tomorrow.