Friday, November 24, 2017

BOOK BY BOOK BIBLE STUDY
larrydalexanderbiblestudies.blogspot.com

BIBLE STUDY LESSON
For the week beginning Sunday November 26, 2017

AVOIDING LAWSUITS WITH CHRISTIANS
1 Corinthians 6:1-8

   The only commandment that JESUS left us as Christians is that we “love one another”, and that we treat each other the way we ourselves wish to be treated by others. It was Roman Empire practice that each ethnic group, who lived within their provinces, handle their own civil disputes among themselves, based on their own traditional national laws. For the Jews, that meant that they were free to handle their disputes based on the laws of GOD (biblical principles), just as they are laid out in the Scriptures.
    Typically in Judaism a panel of three judges were assigned to handle civil and property cases (“pragma echon” in the Greek “lawsuits”), and here in this passage of 1 Corinthians 6, verses 1-8, the Apostle Paul is suggesting that Christians use just such an approach to settle their disputes instead of taking them before a secular court. He correctly believed that it was better for Christians to settle their own disputes, based on biblical principles, rather than on pagan law.
    Paul says that the Scriptures tell us that one day Christians will have to judge the world (v.2) and the angels of darkness (diakrino judgment), so why don’t we as Christians get into the practice of judging ourselves (anakrino judgment) and resolving our own ordinary disputes here on earth, instead of depending on outside, secular judges who don’t even respect GOD, or the Church (Vs.4-5).
    If Christians are to show the world that they really believe that Christianity produces the best men and women in society, we truly need to start by showing that we are wise enough to handle our own disputes, and govern ourselves according the laws of the GOD we say we believe. For a Christian to sue another Christian, right in front of a secular court judge, is a real defeat to the Christian community, and, to the Christian cause (v.7). It is better even to just accept the injustice from each other, than it is to call on secular courts to handle Christian issues, using man’s laws, to judge GOD’s people, who should be trying to live under GOD’s laws.    


AVOIDING SEXUAL SIN
(Glorify GOD with your body)
1 Corinthians 6:9-20

   In 1 Corinthians 6, verses 9-20, the Apostle Paul shifts gears, and begins to focus his attentions on another major problem that the Corinthians were having a hard time getting a grip on,  the dangers of sexual intercourse outside of marriage (“immoral sexual behavior”). Here he gives his exegesis on the “spiritual link” that is involved in the “physical act” of sexual intercourse, that, most people, even today, are totally ignorant about, not just the Corinthians of the first century.
    Scripture says that those who indulge in sexual sin through, adultery (Exodus 20:14), fornication (1 Corinthians 6:13b), incest (Leviticus 18:6-17), prostitution (Leviticus 19:29), homosexuality (Leviticus 18:22, & 20:13, Deuteronomy 22:5) and beastiality (Leviticus 18:23 & 20:15), will have no share in the kingdom of Heaven (1 Corinthians 6:9-10) unless, of course, they cease their immoral acts and lifestyle, and earnestly repent so that they can be made right with GOD, through the blood of CHRIST JESUS.
    People often say that we are allowed to do anything, but they overlook the fact that everything is not good for them, and everything is not permissible by the laws of GOD. And even though we have “freedom of choice” to do anything we want, GOD says, we must not become a slave to the many offerings of this world. Satan wants each of us to “do what thou wilt”, while GOD wants us to use our bodies in the best way, which is serving HIM and living life the way HE knows that HE made us to live it.  
    Our bodies are not made for sexual immorality, even though many choose to indulge their bodies into it. Our bodies are really made for GOD, and GOD cares very much about what we do in our bodies. That is why HE gives us instructions on how to get the very best out of our bodies for the longest period of time, through obedience to HIS Word.
    Every person who was ever born shares “GOD’s divine nature” from birth (Romans 1:18-20), and as “human beings”, we instinctively know “right” from “wrong” even if we never picked up a bible in our life (Romans 2:14-15). However, as believers, we have to realize that our bodies are actually “one with CHRIST”, and when we engage in sin, especially sexual sin, we are spiritually bringing CHRIST into our mess with us, and in addition, grieving the HOLY SPIRIT, because we are defying GOD’s way of life (1 Corinthians 6:15).
    Whenever we commit our lives to CHRIST we become one with HIM in spirit, inseparable. And since CHRIST is ONE in spirit with GOD and the HOLY SPIRIT, that means that we should all be at one in our thinking and actions with the GODHEAD. Therefore everything we do, we do it as “figurative representatives” (“tselems”, “images” in the Hebrew) of the GODHEAD in spirit, and in truth.
    It has already been put in place by GOD, that, through the act of sexual coition, or the exchange of bodily fluids through sexual orgasm, a man and woman are “consummated” unto each other, and also become one in body and spirit. And the process of “consummation” automatically occurs, whether they are married, or not. That’s right! The act of consummation still occurs, even if it is with a prostitute, or any other person that you’re not married to (v.16).
    It is GOD WHO defines what “consummation” is, and we can’t change its definition, no matter how bad we may want to. Every person that you engage in sexual intercourse with, you automatically become one with them in body and spirit, and that makes a mockery of the sanctity of marriage, and what GOD intended in the relationship between a man and a woman (v.16).
    When we marry, and consummate that marriage, we become one with our spouse, one in body, and inseparable in spirit. Therefore, we, our spouse, and the whole GODHEAD are one in spirit, and we must respect it as such. If we as human beings, who are a part of the body of CHRIST, engage in sexual immorality, we are lying in a very crowded bed, all the while thinking it is only with the person, or persons you are engaging in sex with at the time. However, in reality, you are dragging the spirits of all those whom you have ever “become one with” (engaged in sexual intercourse with), to bed with you. If this doesn’t give you a vivid description of what “grieving the HOLY SPIRIT” is, then, I personally don’t know what will.
    In the biblical Greek, the word used for “truth” is “aletheia”, and it is “that which is in harmony with reality”. Nowadays, for example, and, in days gone by, man has always tried to re-define “homosexual sin”, for example, as not being a sin at all, as GOD says, but rather, it is an act that is performed or expressed by a “a race of people” that serves to distinguish them from other people in our society, likening it to an “ethnic group”, or a “national origin”.
    However, in reality, homosexual sin it is still what GOD the CREATOR says it is, sin. In fact, the reason why homosexuality is so detestable to the GOD of the Christian bible is because it is “the personification of one’s defiance of GOD HIMSELF”. Instead of honoring GOD with their bodies they actually deny GOD with every fiber of their being.
    The homosexual lifestyle, be it an effeminate male who submits himself to another man, as a woman would to a man (malakos – v.9), or a male who prostitutes himself out to other males (arsenokoitai – also v.9), is a twenty-four hour a day endeavor, or, “a perpetual state of living in sin”, against the ideology of GOD, and therefore the practitioner lives and breathes defiance of GOD, all day, every day, non-stop. Twenty-four hours a day they tell GOD, through their behavior, that, “GOD, I’m not what you made me. YOU made a mistake GOD, and put me in the wrong body, therefore GOD, it your fault that I’m doing what I’m doing, and living like I’m living, I take no responsibility for my own choices”.    
    Whenever man chooses to go his own way, he automatically moves farther and farther away from GOD, and eventually GOD, in his mind, is reduced to this “obscure figure” WHOM he used to know, and by then, he only seeks to avoid. He doesn’t care anymore, and has grown to be impervious, even to the concept of there even being any such thing as “GOD”.
    Peter C. Craigie once wrote, “When people cease to care, then religion, morally, social customs, and values, all cease to function as mortar that holds together a society, and maintains ancient Faith”. True Christians are one in body with CHRIST, and CHRIST, is one in body with GOD and the HOLY SPIRIT. Whenever we sin, or commit immoral sexual acts, we also cause the whole GODHEAD, WHO is inseparable, to suffer grief because of our offenses.
    Our bodies are a temple to be used by GOD to embody HIS HOLY SPIRIT, WHO will ultimately guide us into the righteousness of CHRIST, if we allow HIM to. And so we now can clearly see the “spiritual link in sexual intercourse” that will continue to exist, whether we like it or not, because GOD says so. Our bodies are the temple of the HOLY SPIRIT, and only the person who is joined to CHRIST, is the person who receives HIM.
    Furthermore, we can’t receive the HOLY SPIRIT until GOD can look into our thoughts (hearts – “kardia” in the Greek) and see HIMSELF. It is then, and only then, that GOD will send us to CHRIST JESUS. And as the scriptures say, JESUS gives eternal life to all those whom the FATHER sends to HIM (John 17:2b), and that, “no one can come to HIM unless the FATHER sends them”. And that’s “GOD’s perspective of salvation”, not man’s.
    I’ll conclude this lesson the same way the Apostle Paul concluded this sixth chapter of his first letter to the Corinthians, where he warns us in verses 18-20 to;

Run away 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. Or don’t you know 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” (NLT).

A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander 








Friday, November 17, 2017

BOOK BY BOOK BIBLE STUDY
larrydalexanderbiblestudies.blogspot.com

BIBLE STUDY LESSON
For the week beginning Sunday November 19, 2017

PAUL CONDEMNS SPIRITUAL PRIDE
1 Corinthians 5

   The major responsibility of the Christian Church is to show the world, through our behavior, that Christianity really does produce the best men and women. In order to achieve this goal, everyone in the congregation must exercise a high level of “self-discipline” (“engrathia” in the Greek) at all times, and this is especially true for the leadership under CHRIST, who are the “watchmen” for the people of GOD, here on earth.
    The only way a Christian can make the world a better place is through, his or her, own lifestyle and behavior before unsaved humanity. We must fashion our lives according to the way JESUS, the HEAD of the Church, fashioned HIS when HE lived as a 100% human being here on earth, and, we must also be able to focus on HIS instructions as to how we are to be rightly related to GOD and HIMSELF, to Christians, and, to the world at large (John 15:1-16:4).
    In 1 Corinthians chapter 5, the Apostle Paul turns his focus to “Church discipline” and how we as Christians are expected by GOD to watch over, and help preserve and protect each other’s “spiritual well-being”, which is constantly under attack from satan. The very purpose of Church discipline is to preserve the moral purity of the congregation, and sometimes that may require cutting off the sinning believer from fellowship for a while (v.9).
    Jeremiah 21, verses 8-10 kind of helps us to understand the concept of Paul’s belief as to how we have to maintain the purity of the Church by cleansing it of sin, and then, letting the guilty party’s sin run its course ( pay the consequences) before bringing them back into the fold.
    In the Old Testament, concerning GOD’s handling of Israel regarding their sinful behavior, HE would have to, from time to time, remove them from the Holy Land (i.e. to Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon), so that their sins of disobedience could run its course, through various forms of oppression and servitude, before returning them back to their homeland.
    While they were away, GOD would perform a “spiritual cleansing” of the land, freeing it from the curse of disobediences, such as giving worship to demonic idols that should have only been given to GOD, sexual sins, etc. . Once GOD had finished HIS redeeming work on the people and the land, HE would reunite the “purified repentant people” back into the “restored land”.
    That is the same concept that Paul is stressing here to the Corinthians. In the Old Testament, the land of Israel was “set apart” for the people of GOD, and the people of GOD were responsible to keep it holy under GOD. In the New Testament “Church Age” the Christian Church is “set apart” for all those who choose to come to CHRIST and wish to maintain and live lives that are pleasing to GOD. The only way to please GOD is by showing that you have the faith that allows you to be obedient to HIM at all times. Without that faith and trust, it is impossible to please HIM, and when a person become too prideful to live in obedience, say, in the fashion that Lucifer did before he was expelled from Heaven, GOD expects  that person to be removed from the congregation. Any and every person that is guilty of practicing ongoing sinful behavior in the Church, has to be removed from the congregation, before their behavior affects others,  and so that the Church can be restored to purity, and remain pure.  
    Here Paul says that he could hardly believe the reports about the sexual immorality (incest – having sexual intercourse with a close relative) that was going on inside the Church at Corinth. A man who was a member of the Church was “shacking up” (living together while unmarried) with his father’s wife, who apparently wasn’t a member of the Church, because no recommendation of discipline was leveled at her by Paul, only the man in this situation.
    “Incest” was something that wasn’t even tolerated in most of the pagan world in those days, for it was something that was illegal even in the Roman Empire. Yet, the Corinthian Church didn’t even seem to give it a second thought. In fact they were still strutting around, proud of themselves for the spiritual advancements they believed they had made in the LORD since the Church was established five years earlier. And so, while resting on their own laurels, satan was getting ready to take over the congregation with his initial application of “evil yeast” that would threatened to ruin the whole local Church at Corinth.
    In Matthew 18:15-17 JESUS suggests a process by which we can approach a wrongdoing believer in the Church, for the purpose of correcting him or her, so that Christian relationships can get back on the right track following a sinful interruption. There JESUS states that, if another believer sins against you, you should meet privately with the wrongdoer to try and work it out to a GODly conclusion. If the wrongdoer listens, and confesses to his or her fault, the relationship can be restored.
    However, if the first attempt at reconciliation is unsuccessful, then the next step should be to meet again with the wrongdoer, this time taking one or two others with you to act as witnesses to verify your earnest attempt at reconciling the relationship. If the person still refuses to listen and repent of their wrongdoing, then, the matter should be taken to Church. If the church rules in your favor in the matter, and yet, the wrongdoer still does not accept it, you should, from that point forward, treat that person as one who does not wish to conform to the Christian lifestyle, and disassociate yourself from them.
    The rationale behind this process toward discipline and correction is to give a person who has made a mistake, every opportunity to repent of their wrongdoing. It serves as a way to establish whether or not a person’s wrongdoing is unintentional, intentional, or just a blatant disregard for what is right or wrong.
    True believers in the body of CHRIST must be able to realize that even if one person in the Church violates the will of GOD, by showing blatant disrespect to GOD and his or her fellowman, and is not disciplined accordingly, then the door has been left opened for satan to overcome and affect everyone else in the congregation over time (v.6). Paul, who is acting under the authority of CHRIST says that a person of such wickedness must be immediately removed from the Church in order to preserve its purity (v.7).
    Corinth, whose very name is derived from sexual misbehavior (“korinthiazomai” in the Greek, which means “fornication”), was a place that was particularly mired in sexual sin when Paul first arrived there to teach the Gospel five years earlier. He admonished those who chose to join the body of CHRIST, not to continue to indulge in their sexual promiscuity and sinful lifestyles. He reminded them that he was not talking to those who didn’t want to commit to the Church, but rather, he was speaking to those who did wish to commit to the Christian lifestyle.
    Paul goes on to tell the Church at Corinth that it was not his responsibility to judge unbelievers (“krino” judge – judgment of condemnation), but rather, it is his responsibility was to judge believers (“diakrino” judge – judge using the Word of GOD as your guide) (Vs.9-11). And not only was it Paul’s job to judge believers in the Church, Paul says that it is the responsibility of everyone in the Church to do so (v.12). “Spiritual Pride” will cause a person to sin, and, it will also cause a person to ignore the sins of others, even inside the walls of the Church, of which we pledge to CHRIST, to preserve its purity.

A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander





                                 
LARRY D. ALEXANDER- Official Website






Friday, November 10, 2017

BOOK BY BOOK BIBLE STUDY
larrydalexanderbiblestudies.blogspot.com

BIBLE STUDY LESSON
For the week beginning Sunday November 12, 2017

OUT OF THE SPOTLIGHT
(Christian service is humble, not glamorous)
1 Corinthians 4

   The greatest characteristic of the “true Christian” is his or her service to GOD, and, their fellowman. True service to the LORD requires a great deal of humility and commitment, and most of the time, our work is not glamorous. It is often very hard work that requires a heart (mind) deeply committed to CHRIST. GOD knows the heart (thoughts) of each of HIS servants, and through HIS omniscience, in an instant, HE can determine who is serving for their own glory, and who is trying to please HIM.
    In 1 Corinthians 4, the Apostle Paul continues on in his explanation of how we are all servants in the body of CHRIST, and how every Christian, especially the leaders, must be faithful to CHRIST, at all times. All “called leaders” have been put in charge of explaining the “secret things” of GOD. In other words, GOD allows a “called leader” to share his wisdom, and they are entrusted with managing HIS message of salvation here on earth. However, a leader must not perform his or her duties as one who is in control, but rather, as one who serves, and is responsible to their superior, GOD. 
    Whether or not a leader is faithful cannot be determined by those “confessed Christians”, who are not thoroughly familiar with the Word of GOD.  GOD expects us to judge our leaders, but only by using HIS Holy Word as the standard for making our determination (diakrino judgment – 1 John 4:1-6). Ultimately, however, sometimes even the conscience of a good leader himself cannot be trusted in these matters, and so GOD always leaves the ultimate judgment (“krino judgment”-judgment of “condemnation) call for HIMSELF to make when HE returns to examine the deeds of our lifetime. When HE does come, HE will bring our deepest secrets to light, and also at that time, HE will reveal our private motives and either reward us, or punish us, accordingly.
    Here in chapter 4, Paul continues to use himself and Apollos to illustrate his message to the Corinthians, and he strongly urges that they stay focused on the Word of GOD so that they don’t become puffed up with pride and begin to brag and pit one leader against the other. Any gift that we have has been given to us by GOD, and knowing this, how can we possibly boast about what we’ve accomplished, as if we had accomplished it in our own strength.
    In verses 8-13 Paul employs the literary device known as “sarcasm”. Here he gives us a vivid description of the “worldly superior” Corinthians, being ensconced in the familiar position of being “spiritually inferior” to the apostles. The division in the Church at Corinth had been born out of the selfish desires of the congregation itself, and those selfish desires had found their roots in the “spiritual pride” of those same individuals.
    Seeking a cure for this destructive “schismata” at the newly founded church, Paul decides to send “his son in CHRIST”, Timothy, to lead the church back into the teaching and doctrine of CHRIST JESUS that, he himself, had imparted to them, just five years earlier. Thinking that Paul would never return, the Corinthians had become arrogant with their fancy speech and oratory skills. Paul was not so sure that they were actually working in the power of the HOLY SPIRIT. He knew only that the Kingdom of GOD was not just fancy talk, and that a “humble posture” is the only manifested attitude that GOD will accept from man in relation to HIM.
    Although Paul loved his Corinthian brothers, he also knew that a loving father would not shy away from discipline, if it were needed. So Paul concludes chapter 4 by presenting the Corinthians with a choice of how they wished for him to return. Would they want him to return with punishment and scolding? Or, would they want him to return with a visit characterized by quiet love and gentleness?
    In a very real sense, that same two-part question is posed to every person on earth, who is in their right mind, and has reached an age of accountability. How do we want CHRIST to return to us personally? In Matthew 25, verses 31-46, concerning the “Final Judgment”, JESUS warns us of just such a coming. There HE gives us “the answers to the test of life”, and tells exactly how HE will grade us, based on our reaction to human need in our lifetime.
    In this passage JESUS tells us that when HE returns, HE will do so as a shepherd who has come to separate his sheep from his goats. The sheep in this passage represent those who have operated in life according to HIS holy directives, and have reacted in the right way to human need. These will be placed on HIS right, and will ultimately receive their “just rewards” in the Kingdom of Heaven.
    On the other hand, the left hand, will be placed, the goats, those who represent the people who did not respond to HIS directives in the right way (obedience), or, did not respond at all. They in turn, will also receive their “just rewards”, however, it will be eternal punishment in Hell, or, the Lake of Fire”.
    The time is always “right now” to make a determination as to which side of JESUS we prefer to be on when that coming “Day of Judgment” arrives. And it is not just a verbal decision that we must make, but rather, it is a behavioral one, based on our humble service to the Almighty GOD, and, to our fellowman, in our lifetime here on earth.

A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander





                                 
LARRY D. ALEXANDER- Official Website