From: eric Date: Tue Jan 18 09:11:14 MST 2005
Subject: Jan 18 2005
Jan 10, 2005
Thoughts from last weeks message on 1 Corinthians 6. In the first eight verses, Paul tells the Corinthians to stop taking each other to court. Set into the instruction is an appeal to their identity - if they are truly "saints" and "believers," then they would not be dealing with their problems outside of the community. Saints are people who are called out for a specific purpose, and believers are people who follow Jesus. (What did Jesus do?) . . . Well he taught and he suffered. What are we called out to do? - teach about Jesus and suffer. Paul goes on to suggest that suffering looks like being wronged and defrauded . . . swallowing our pride and working on being humble. The passage continues in verses nine and ten to expand the list of things Jesus followers (Kingdom dwellers) do not participate in. The list basically says -all sexual sin is off limits, being a career thief is not a kingdom occupation, worshipping other gods is bad, and last, but not least, being greedy is not acceptable. We could say that not doing these things is a way of following Jesus, but it is more likely that the opposite of these actions is what the Kingdom of God is all about. The opposite of being a thief is to be someone who is generous with his/her possessions. The opposite of adultery, is not only to stop sleeping with other men or women, but to love my wife in deep and affectionate ways. At the end of verse ten, Paul says that some of us where thieves, robbers, and sexually out of control, but God has washed us, sanctified us, and justified us. In short, God through Christ has given us a rebirth and placed us into his kingdom . . . that is our identity - Outside the Kingdom you are a "doer" . . . Inside the Kingdom you "are."
Thoughts from last weeks message on 1 Corinthians 6. In the first eight verses, Paul tells the Corinthians to stop taking each other to court. Set into the instruction is an appeal to their identity - if they are truly "saints" and "believers," then they would not be dealing with their problems outside of the community. Saints are people who are called out for a specific purpose, and believers are people who follow Jesus. (What did Jesus do?) . . . Well he taught and he suffered. What are we called out to do? - teach about Jesus and suffer. Paul goes on to suggest that suffering looks like being wronged and defrauded . . . swallowing our pride and working on being humble. The passage continues in verses nine and ten to expand the list of things Jesus followers (Kingdom dwellers) do not participate in. The list basically says -all sexual sin is off limits, being a career thief is not a kingdom occupation, worshipping other gods is bad, and last, but not least, being greedy is not acceptable. We could say that not doing these things is a way of following Jesus, but it is more likely that the opposite of these actions is what the Kingdom of God is all about. The opposite of being a thief is to be someone who is generous with his/her possessions. The opposite of adultery, is not only to stop sleeping with other men or women, but to love my wife in deep and affectionate ways. At the end of verse ten, Paul says that some of us where thieves, robbers, and sexually out of control, but God has washed us, sanctified us, and justified us. In short, God through Christ has given us a rebirth and placed us into his kingdom . . . that is our identity - Outside the Kingdom you are a "doer" . . . Inside the Kingdom you "are."