"Flee from Sexual Immorality" (1 Corinthians 6:12-20) A New Episode of the Blessed Hope!
Episode Synopsis:
It has been said that prostitution is the world’s old profession. In reality, tending a garden and naming animals is. But if you lived in first century Corinth you lived in a city well-known for its prostitutes and rampant sexual immorality. This creates a difficult situation for Christians who live there and who have been taught by Paul that sexual relations are limited to marriage.
Paul has learned that some in the Corinthian church justified using the services of prostitutes by contending that Christian liberty allows it–the same excuse some were giving for eating food sacrificed to idols. Yes, the temptations Christians faced were real and many engaged in such behavior before their conversion. But as Paul has taught them, Christians must break with their pagan past and resist the pressure to continue to give into all bodily desires and urges. Yes, Christians are free from law-keeping as a means of justification, but such freedom entails freedom to obey the commands of God, not freedom to indulge in seeking to satisfy every bodily urge.
Paul reminds the Corinthians that they have been bought by a price (the shed blood of Jesus Christ) and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. A Christian is no longer a slave to sin and now is a bond servant of Jesus Christ. Their bodies belong to their creator-redeemer. Paul asks, “how can someone in union with Jesus Christ unite themselves in a sexual union with someone who represents pagan religion and spirituality?” Such a thing is unthinkable for Paul.
Show Notes:
Now that we have completed the first half of 1 Corinthians, I will take a brief break and, Lord willing, return for part 2 of Season Three when we pick up with 1 Corinthians 7:1
Recommended Links:
Carl Trueman on Sexual Immorality and Porn
Line prostitution in Paul’s day, porn is an acceptable sin in ours
Rosaria Butterfield on The Dead End of Sexual Sin
Series Bibliography:
Kim Riddlebarger, First Corinthians --Lectio Continua (RHB, 2024).
F. F. Bruce, Paul: The Apostle of the Heart Set Free. A bit dated but still remains the best biographical study of Paul
Douglas J. Moo, A Theology of Paul and His Letters (2021). A helpful big picture survey of Paul’s theology and epistles.
Thomas R. Schreiner, 1 Corinthians : An Introduction and Commentary, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (2018). A good and modern commentary on 1 Corinthians. If you buy one commentary, this ought to be it.
Charles Hodge, I & II Corinthians, reprint ed (Banner, or the volume on 1 Corinthians published by Crossway. This has long been the Reformed standard commentary on 1 Corinthians. Theologically solid, but badly dated.
Gordon Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, NICNT (1987). Good material, especially on background and context, but charismatic in its orientation.
Roy E. Ciampa and Brian S. Rosner, The First Letter to the Corinthians, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, (2010). A good academic commentary, although there are several solid ones from which to choose.
Music:
(Shutterstock): Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op 92m, second movement, Allegretto (A minor)