Chapter 6 Continuation…… Honouring God with our bodies

v15 Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never!

v17 But anyone who is joined to the Lord is one in spirit with him.

v18-20 Instructions on Sexual Sin:

“Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin AGAINST your own body. Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high PRICE. So you must honor God with your body.”

Chapter 7: Marriage Issues

The husband should fulfill his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband’s needs. 1 Corinthians 7:3 NLT

Do not deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. Afterward, you should come together again so that Satan won’t be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 1 Corinthians 7:5 NLT

**But for those who are married, I have a command that comes not from me, but from the Lord. A wife must not leave her husband. 1 Corinthians 7:10 NLT

**But if she does leave him, let her remain single or else be reconciled to him. And the husband must not leave his wife. 1 Corinthians 7:11 NLT

Now, I will speak to the rest of you, though I do not have a direct command from the Lord. *** If a fellow believer has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to continue living with him, he must not leave her. And if a believing woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to continue living with her, she must not leave him.

1 Corinthians 7:12‭-‬13 NLT

**And if a believing woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to continue living with her, she must not leave him. 1 Corinthians 7:13 NLT

**Don’t you wives realize that your husbands might be saved because of you? And don’t you husbands realize that your wives might be saved because of you? 1 Corinthians 7:16 NLT

Each of you should continue to live in whatever situation the Lord has placed you, and remain as you were when God first called you. This is my rule for all the churches. 1 Corinthians 7:17 NLT

***God paid a high price for you, so don’t be enslaved by the world.

1 Corinthians 7:23 NLT

Time is short:

But let me say this, dear brothers and sisters: The time that remains is very short. So from now on, those with wives should not focus only on their marriage. Those who weep or who rejoice or who buy things should not be absorbed by their weeping or their joy or their possessions. Those who use the things of the world should not become attached to them. For this world as we know it will soon pass away. 1 Corinthians 7:29‭-‬31 NLT

Chapter 8: Food Sacrificed to Idols

v1 Paul emphasizes the importance of LOVE in the church over knowledge on food offered to idols.

– Knowledge makes someone feel important, while love makes us helpful to others.

If anyone imagines that he knows and understands anything [of divine matters, without love], he has not yet known as he ought to know. (8:2 AMP)

v 4:6 Idols are not God’s, for

v6″There is one God, the Father, by whom all things were created, and for whom we live. And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things were created, and through whom we live. ” NLT

v7 Not all believers have this knowledge that idols are not gods.

“………Some are accustomed to thinking of idols as being real, so when they eat food that has been offered to idols, they think of it as the worship of real gods, and their weak consciences are violated.” NLT

v8 “It’s true that we can’t win God’s approval by what we eat. We don’t lose anything if we don’t eat it, and we don’t gain anything if we do.”NLT

v9 – 11Those with this knowledge should not misuse their freedom for the sake of the weak not to stumble.

– When the weak see you eating from a temple of idols they will be tempted to join you against their conscience bringing destruction.

Chapter 9: Rights of an Apostle

v1-3 Argues why he’s an apostle

– He’s Free as other apostles

– He had seen the Lord Jesus

– The Corinthians are a product of his labour

– There were people questioning his authority, and here is Paul’s Answers in questions form:

v4 Don’t we have the right to live in your homes and share your meals?

NLT

v5 Don’t we have the right to bring a believing wife with us as the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers do, and as Peter does? NLT

v6 He wonders why only him and Barnabas had to work for their own upkeep by doing other jobs

unlike the other apostles who were being supported.