Recognize your Status in Christ

Autoimmune diseases (of which there are more than 100) are conditions that make your immune system attack your body by mistake. Under normal circumstances, your immune system protects you from viruses and bacteria. As soon as it detects these invasive pathogens, it’ll send out a battalion of cells to wipe them off the face of the earth.

Any healthy immune system has no trouble differentiating between your own cells and those that are invading. That said, for those with autoimmune disease, the immune system will think that the skin, joints, or another part of your body are actually a foreign entity.

It then releases proteins that will attack these healthy cells since they are under the impression that they are invasive pathogens looking to cause the body harm. Some autoimmune diseases will target a specific area of the body like how type 1 diabetes attacks the pancreas whereas other diseases such as lupus could attack the entire body.

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) immune system attacks joints causing stiffness, soreness, redness and joint problems, Can develop in people as young as 30.

Psoriasis, Lupus, Thyroid disorders like Hypo and Hyper thyroidism and Hashimotos disease.

Type 1 diabetes in which the immune system damages the insulin producing cells of the pancreas.

Like autoimmune diseases, of which we are just beginning to understand, there is much about the Corinthian situation we do not know, but what we do know, is that like an autoimmune disease, it was wreaking havoc on the body of Christ and as a devoted follower of Jesus Christ Paul could not just stand by and watch.

In his message last week Leroy unpacked the licentious lifestyle that some in Corinth had come to partake of. They had a view that

Because the body doesn’t matter have sex with whoever you want (1 Cor 5-6). They were never content.

In this weeks portion of scripture we see the the other end of the spectrum. The view of some was that

Because the body doesn’t matter don’t have sex at all (1 Cor 7). They rejected the good gift they’d been given and did not receive it with contentment.

Polarization, Pendulum swing, Teeter Tooter effect, Extremism

1 Timothy 6:6–7 (CSB)

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out.

1. Rejoice in your Situation in Christ (7:1-16)

1 Corinthians 7:1–7 CSB

1 Now in response to the matters you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” 2 But because sexual immorality is so common, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman should have sexual relations with her own husband. 3 A husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise a wife to her husband. 4 A wife does not have the right over her own body, but her husband does. In the same way, a husband does not have the right over his own body, but his wife does. 5 Do not deprive one another—except when you agree for a time, to devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again; otherwise, Satan may tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6 I say this as a concession, not as a command. 7 I wish that all people were as I am. But each has his own gift from God, one person has this gift, another has that.

You have been given the gift of sex (to those married)

married (2-6)/unmarried

Sex is good. It was created by God. One of the things Satan, the adversary of all things good and godly has done is to corrupt our view of the body, bodily functions, sex, and how we related to each other.

Sex is marriage should be celebrated and encouraged.

Sex is mutually deserved through mutual submission to one another IN CHRIST. Sex is both a privilege of marriage and a duty of marriage. Paul deals with the idea of mutualilty between husbands and wives 12 times in this one chapter of Scripture.

Sex is only to be withheld in the case of mutual agreement for a season of prayer.

The First Epistle to the Corinthians A. No Abstinence within Marriage (7:1–7)

For Paul the marriage bed is both unitive (cf. 6:16) and an affirmation that the two belong to one another in total mutuality.

You have been given the gift of singleness (to those not married)

1 Corinthians 7:7–9 CSB

7 I wish that all people were as I am. But each has his own gift from God, one person has this gift, another has that. 8 I say to the unmarried and to widows: It is good for them if they remain as I am. 9 But if they do not have self-control, they should marry, since it is better to marry than to burn with desire.

There is an entire body of literature that explores and tries to explain the Apostle Paul’s theology in light of the rest of Scripture. Some think he ‘rewrites the stars’ as it were, others find more continuity. Regarding our text today, the question becomes how does Paul’s promotion of singleness fit with God’s original mandate to “be fruitful and multiply” in Genesis 2.18, 24?

When we look to the Gospels we also see Jesus promoting singleness to some degree as there will be no marriage in heaven (Matt 22.30) and some are eunuchs, either of their own choosing or forced.

Paul’s promotion of singleness seems to be primarily grounded in his eschatology; that Jesus was returning soon and thus everything about ‘normal life’ needed to be put on the back burner to expand the kingdom. It’s not that Jesus’ message was contrary (see Mat 6.33) but rather it seems to be one of emphasis.

For the Corinthians, who were oscillating between licentiousness and legality, abuse of freedom and anxiety over freedom, Paul is plotting a course, that like Jesus focuses on the Kingdom first. He further unpacks this in 1 Cor 7.25-40.

Freedom retrains itself

Reading 1 Corinthians: A Literary and Theological Commentary 7:32–35

Paul refrains from advising Stoic detachment. Rather, he advises selective “investment” of attention (Barclay 2016).

The First Epistle to the Corinthians Summarizing Note: An Overview of the Chapter, Especially Distinctive Concerns about Marriage and Inferences from the Patristic Posthistory of Chapter 7 for Celibacy

He himself lived a life of sexual asceticism (vv. 7–8), and believed that someone like him [i.e., who had this charisma, 7:7] could … live a more ordered (v. 35), less anxious (v. 32), less troubled (v. 28) and happier life (v. 40).”60 However, Murphy-O’Connor continues, Paul “did not fall into the trap of imagining that what was best for him was best for everyone else.”61

You have been given the gift of Sanctification

1 Corinthians 7:10–16 CSB

10 To the married I give this command—not I, but the Lord—a wife is not to leave her husband. 11 But if she does leave, she must remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband—and a husband is not to divorce his wife. 12 But I (not the Lord) say to the rest: If any brother has an unbelieving wife and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. 13 Also, if any woman has an unbelieving husband and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce her husband. 14 For the unbelieving husband is made holy by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy by the husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is they are holy. 15 But if the unbeliever leaves, let him leave. A brother or a sister is not bound in such cases. God has called you to live in peace. 16 Wife, for all you know, you might save your husband. Husband, for all you know, you might save your wife.

What does it mean to sanctify another?

The Corinthians it seems were more afraid of being contaminated than of being contagious!

We have nothing to fear as believers for 1 John 4.4

1 John 4:4 CSB

4 You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

Paul points out the opportunity to be a light in your own marriage - this was for those who came to Christ after already having been married so they were married as unbelievers, got saved and now find themselves with an unbelieving spouse. Paul says, stay with them. Your very presence can bring them to Christ by how you love them!

Christ was not afraid of being contaminated - no, instead he, being holy was able to touch that which was unholy and make it holy.

Leviticus 13:45–46 CSB

45 “The person who has a case of serious skin disease is to have his clothes torn and his hair hanging loose, and he must cover his mouth and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean!’ 46 He will remain unclean as long as he has the disease; he is unclean. He must live alone in a place outside the camp.

Mark 1:40–45 CSB

40 Then a man with leprosy came to him and, on his knees, begged him, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched him. “I am willing,” he told him. “Be made clean.” 42 Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. 43 Then he sternly warned him and sent him away at once, 44 telling him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go and show yourself to the priest, and offer what Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” 45 Yet he went out and began to proclaim it widely and to spread the news, with the result that Jesus could no longer enter a town openly. But he was out in deserted places, and they came to him from everywhere.

Leviticus 15:19 CSB

19 “When a woman has a discharge, and it consists of blood from her body, she will be unclean because of her menstruation for seven days. Everyone who touches her will be unclean until evening.

Mark 5:25–34 CSB

25 Now a woman suffering from bleeding for twelve years 26 had endured much under many doctors. She had spent everything she had and was not helped at all. On the contrary, she became worse. 27 Having heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothing. 28 For she said, “If I just touch his clothes, I’ll be made well.” 29 Instantly her flow of blood ceased, and she sensed in her body that she was healed of her affliction. 30 Immediately Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” 31 His disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing against you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ” 32 But he was looking around to see who had done this. 33 The woman, with fear and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. 34 “Daughter,” he said to her, “your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be healed from your affliction.”

2. Remain in your Situation in Christ (7:17-24)

1 Corinthians 7:17–24 CSB

17 Let each one live his life in the situation the Lord assigned when God called him. This is what I command in all the churches. 18 Was anyone already circumcised when he was called? He should not undo his circumcision. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? He should not get circumcised. 19 Circumcision does not matter and uncircumcision does not matter. Keeping God’s commands is what matters. 20 Let each of you remain in the situation in which he was called. 21 Were you called while a slave? Don’t let it concern you. But if you can become free, by all means take the opportunity. 22 For he who is called by the Lord as a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called as a free man is Christ’s slave. 23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of people. 24 Brothers and sisters, each person is to remain with God in the situation in which he was called.

You were called in that situation to be made holy

Remain in Your Situation in Christ

circumcised/uncircumcised

slave/free

church, work, neighborhood, school, .....God put you there for a reason....don’t move until he tells you to move.

No need to stress over the situation. What matters is your new situation as part of the koinonia of Christ. This trumps all aspects of your situation. If advances are made available, take them as they are in line with Christ and His kingdom, if not, no worries.

Exceptions to remain as you are...

Slave who has opportunity for freedom —> get freedom

Single who can’t control self sexually —> get married

Married person whose spouse is not a believer and wants to divorce —> let them/no remarriage till dead

Conflict and Community in Corinth: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians A Closer Look: Slavery in Roman Corinth and Paul’s Advice in 7:21

All persons are equally brothers and sisters in Christ regardless of their social station. Paul’s advice is not to evaluate oneself by the larger society’s values. He is even able to say that there is a sense in which a Christian slave is already the Lord’s freedman in terms of freedom from sin, and for that matter the freedman or freedwoman in Christ is actually Christ’s slave. Thus values and status are turned upside down in Christ.

Conflict and Community in Corinth: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians A Closer Look: Slavery in Roman Corinth and Paul’s Advice in 7:21

Apparently, no early Christian, by litigation or by appeal to governing authorities or by revolt, ever tried to change the social fabric of ancient society. It was by means of witness and change within the Christian community that a new worldview was promulgated.

You were chosen for that situation to make others holy

Your status in JC supercedes your situation…so many people still think they need to be “in ministry” to do the works of God

After the great fire of 1666 that leveled London, the world’s most famous architect, Christopher Wren, was commissioned to rebuild St Paul’s Cathedral.

One day in 1671, Christopher Wren observed three bricklayers on a scaffold, one crouched, one half-standing and one standing tall, working very hard and fast. To the first bricklayer, Christopher Wren asked the question, “What are you doing?” to which the bricklayer replied, “I’m a bricklayer. I’m working hard laying bricks to feed my family.” The second bricklayer, responded, “I’m a builder. I’m building a wall.” But the third brick layer, the most productive of the three and the future leader of the group, when asked the question, “What are you doing?” replied with a gleam in his eye, “I’m a cathedral builder. I’m building a great cathedral to The Almighty.” https://sacredstructures.org/mission/the-story-of-three-bricklayers-a-parable-about-the-power-of-purpose/

Conflict and Community in Corinth: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians (A Closer Look: Slavery in Roman Corinth and Paul’s Advice in 7:21)

One’s social status or position is of no major importance and certainly of no eternal significance in Christ.

Remember Your Status in Christ

not marital status

not ethnic status

not social status

not economic status

not education status

not employment status

The First Epistle to the Corinthians (2. The Guiding Principle—Stay as One Was When Called (7:17–24))

The slave is still socially a slave, but in Christ he/she is both free and slave: purchased by Christ so as to be set free by him, one has at the same time come under Christ’s rightful ownership. The free person is still socially free, but in Christ he/she is both slave and free: purchased by Christ so as to belong to him, one has at the same time experienced the freedom that only he can give3. Redeem your Situation in Christ (7:25-40)

The First Epistle to the Corinthians (2. The Guiding Principle—Stay as One Was When Called (7:17–24))

The call to Christ has created such a change in one’s essential relationship (with God) that one does not need to seek change in other relationships (with people)

Ben Edwards, the former CEO and chairman of A. G. Edwards, led his company to become one of the ten largest brokerage firms in the nation. He was also known to be a committed Christian and man of integrity. Whether on or off the job, he lived in line with a higher moral standard, and he found that higher standard in the Bible.

In their excellent book Your Work Matters to God, Douglas Sherman and William Hendricks write:

The key to bringing the culture and the church back together, to renewing the workplace and reforming the church—may well be a movement of people who are known for their hard work, for the excellence of their effort, for their honesty and unswerving integrity, for their concern for the rights and welfare of people, for the quality of the goods and services produced, for their leadership among coworkers—in short, for their Christ-likeness on and off the job. What could an army of such workers accomplish? https://www.theologyofwork.org/the-high-calling/blog/modeling-christ-workplace-through-work-well-done#:~:text=Dorothy%20Sayers%20often%20said%20that%20all%20work%20done,others%20to%20desire%20to%20know%20and%20worship%20God.

3. Redeem your Situation

1 Corinthians 7:25–40 CSB

25 Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I do give an opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is faithful. 26 Because of the present distress, I think that it is good for a man to remain as he is. 27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife. 28 However, if you do get married, you have not sinned, and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But such people will have trouble in this life, and I am trying to spare you. 29 This is what I mean, brothers and sisters: The time is limited, so from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none, 30 those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they didn’t own anything, 31 and those who use the world as though they did not make full use of it. For this world in its current form is passing away. 32 I want you to be without concerns. The unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord. 33 But the married man is concerned about the things of the world—how he may please his wife—34 and his interests are divided. The unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But the married woman is concerned about the things of the world—how she may please her husband. 35 I am saying this for your own benefit, not to put a restraint on you, but to promote what is proper and so that you may be devoted to the Lord without distraction. 36 If any man thinks he is acting improperly toward the virgin he is engaged to, if she is getting beyond the usual age for marriage, and he feels he should marry—he can do what he wants. He is not sinning; they can get married. 37 But he who stands firm in his heart (who is under no compulsion, but has control over his own will) and has decided in his heart to keep her as his fiancée, will do well. 38 So, then, he who marries his fiancée does well, but he who does not marry will do better. 39 A wife is bound as long as her husband is living. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to anyone she wants—only in the Lord. 40 But she is happier if she remains as she is, in my opinion. And I think that I also have the Spirit of God.

Your time is limited

Ephesians 5:16 (CSB)

16 making the most of the time, because the days are evil.

Your treasure/talent is a liability if not used

Called (1.9; 1.17)

Remain (status in Christ > social status)

Crisis (Present)