Marriage & Divorce between Christians - 1 Cor. 7:8-11

Introduction Things often do not always turn out the way we planed them to turn out.  Is your life now what you envisioned it being when you were growing up?  The Scriptures acknowledge the fact that stuff happens and that the ideal doesn't always take place.  Yet, even then we are called to follow Christ.  This passage before us today speaks of divorce: between Christians (10-11) and between a Christian and a non-Christian (12-16).  But before we go into this passage, I would like briefly to present a theology of marriage to help us see the importance of this institution. I.             A Brief Theology of Marriage A.   Marriage is not a human invention. B.   God established, instituted, and ordained marriage at the beginning of human history. C.   Marriage was instituted before civil government and visible church; it is the oldest of God's institutions D.  Since marriage was instituted by God, instead of man, he gets to make the rules. E.   Marriage is foundational for society and for the church because the family (basic unit in Bible) is built around marriage. F.   Therefore, an attack on marriage is an attack on the basic unit that forms the Church and society. G.  Marriage is more than a sexual union H.   A marriage is established when a man and a woman exchange vows before God and each other. I.     Marriage is the best illustration of the Gospel truth of Christ's love for his Church II.          Divorce among Christians, 7-11 A.   In these verses Paul is considering divorce among Christians. B.   Divorce is always the result of sin, 10. C.   Divorce is sin because Christ commands us not to divorce, 10. D.  Paul is also a realist, knowing that some people will go ahead and divorce each other, 11a. E.   Don't complicate the issue even more by marrying again, 11b. Conclusion God calls us to be faithful to him by being faithful to one another in our marriages.  He gives us the grace to be so as the Spirit works in us.

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Marriage - 1 Cor. 7:1-7

Introduction  In this passage, Paul begins to answer a series of questions that the church at Corinth had sent to him. We don't have the questions themselves, but Paul's answers help us to figure out what they were. They were usually introduced by the formula, "Now concerning…"  It seems like these questions were designed, not simply to seek information, but to establish their point of view. In summary, they just wanted Paul to side with their position. Apparently, women in the church who were having struggles with the physical nature of marriage brought the particular questions answered in chapter 7. But the chapter has something for every segment of the church. It provides guidelines for those who are married, were married, wish to be married, and want to be single.  I. The First Question Itself, 1.  A. What the Corinthians were saying was that a man should not touch a woman sexually – This is something that is true, if we add some qualifiers to it.  B. But what they meant by it was that a man and a woman should never have a sexual relationship under any circumstances.  II. Paul's Answer, 2.  A. Yes, men should not touch women sexually… unless they are married.  B. But not everybody is able to live a single life that is not plagued with sexual lust.  C. Thus, marriage is there for those who do not have the gift of singleness, which are all who desire to be married and/or who struggle with sexual desire, 2.  D. Though marriage is a way to deal with sexual desires, this is not all that it is, 3-4.  III. Oneness in Marriage Is Displayed in Selfless Service and Mutual Submission, 3-5.  A. Among other things, marriage is a sexual relationship.  B. The husband and the wife are to serve each other in this area, 3.  C. Both husband and wife are to submit to one another with the purpose of blessing the other person in this aspect of marriage, 4.  D. Do you see how the Holy Spirit puts the husband and the wife at the same level in marriage?  E. We can also extrapolate from the physical relationship that husbands and wives should be looking for ways to selflessly bless and serve each other in general.  IV. The Sexual Relationship between a Husband Must Be Cultivated and Must Be Generally Present, 5-6.  A. Paul implies here that it is not ok to just go through long periods of time neglecting this aspect of marriage.  B. As a matter of fact, he says that being together physically must be the norm of your marriage.  V. It Would Be Better None of Us Struggled, But We Do, 7. A. Here Paul brings things to a biblical balance.  B. Being single is a good thing if you have that gift (more later on 32-35).  C. Desiring a spouse is also a good thing.  D. Being single when you are at a marriageable age and do not have the gift of singleness should be something to work on in God's providence.  Conclusion God gives us what is good. He gave us marriage for our good. He meant it to be a union in which two people become one in virtually all aspects of life including the physical. He calls us to have joyful and fulfilled marriages in this area. It is now up to us to take what he has given us and by faith transform our marriages.

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You Were Bought at a Price - 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 - Pastor Tito Lyro

You Were Bought at a Price - 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 - Pastor Tito Lyro If you find these lessons helpful, or if you have questions please write to us at contact@olympiabp.net. We would love to hear from you and learn how we can serve you.

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You Were Bought at a Price - 1 Cor. 6:12-20

Introduction  The Corinthian culture was not much different than our culture today. Perhaps they were more accepting of some depraved behaviors that are still somewhat taboos in ours, but fundamentally they had an over-sexualized, self-gratifying, hedonistic society.  These ideas found their way into the church. In the church, at least some of the Christians took hold of a concept that Paul likely taught them in a particular context and applied it to whatever they wanted, thereby rationalizing their sin.  We are also naturally very good at rationalizing and justifying our sins. Therefore, it will do us much good to pay close attention to what the Spirit says to the Church.  I. The Problem: Sexual Immorality  A. At least some of the Corinthian Christians were visiting prostitutes, 15-16.  B. Now, Paul uses the broadest word possible to talk about this issue, 18.  II. The Mentality behind the Problem: It Doesn't Matter and God Doesn't Care  A. It seems like that, at some point, Paul taught the Corinthians that Jesus freed them from a legalistic obedience to the Mosaic Law and/or any other man-made laws with the goal of being saved.  B. The Corinthians took that teaching and, like any good sinner worth his wickedness, put it to use in justifying their fulfilling the lust of their flesh.  C. They also twisted Paul's teaching concerning the soul, the body, and the final judgment, 13a.  III. The Reality: God Does Care  A. First, Paul corrects their logic, 13b.  B. Paul explains that God loves the whole human, both body and soul. God demonstrated this love in the resurrection of Jesus, 14c.  C. And God will ultimately demonstrate his love for our bodies in our resurrection at the second coming of Jesus Christ, 14b.  D. God loves our bodies because he purchased us, both body and soul, by the blood of Jesus Christ, 20a.  E. God expects us to love him with our bodies, 15-17, 19, 20b.  IV. The Solution: Flee! 18.  A. It has become popular in Reformed circles to downplay the heinousness of sexual sin.  B. So we are commanded to flee sexual immorality.  Conclusion  Christian, you have been bought at a price and the price was the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Through faith you have been joined with him, both body and soul. You are called to love him, and today you have been particularly called to love him with your body. He who calls you to this good work will also give you the grace and the strength to do it.

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REMINDER: CareNet Baby Bottle Campaign ends this Sunday, Feb 10

REMINDER: CareNet Baby Bottle Campaign ends this Sunday, Feb 10--bring your bottles!

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SAVE THE DATE: Women's Fellowship, Monday, February 11 @ 6:30 PM

SAVE THE DATE: Women's Fellowship, Monday, February 11 @ 6:30 PM

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Such WERE Some of You - 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 - Pastor Tito Lyro

Such WERE Some of You - 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 - Pastor Tito Lyro If you find these lessons helpful, or if you have questions please write to us at contact@olympiabp.net. We would love to hear from you and learn how we can serve you.

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Such WERE Some of You - 1 Cor. 6:9-11

Introduction  The thing we need the most is the grace of God. We cannot live without God's favorable disposition toward us. We know that, but we don't want to do things by God's terms. So, we bargain with God and offer him our terms. Then, we convince ourselves that those are sufficient terms, better yet, better terms than God's. That is exactly what at least some of the Corinthian Christians were doing.  They had convinced themselves that they could live like those who did not believe in Christ while professing faith in Christ. Life and faith were not connected and they dishonored Christ by the way they lived.  "The tendency to divorce religion from morality has manifested itself in all ages of the world, and under all forms of religion." Charles Hodge  Yet at other times they would point to their lives as the reason why God was going to accept them at the last day.  "A moral lifestyle, though admirable, in itself is no evidence of the kingdom of God." Paul Barnett  I. The Unrighteous Will not Inherit the Kingdom of God  A. Who is the unrighteous?  II. Stop Being Deceived, 9b  A. Don't allow this idea that you are ok and being like the world will work out just fine deceive you.  B. Our natural tendency is to be deceived  C. So we need to be on guard against deceit, including self-deceit, in this area because it is the difference between eternal life and eternal damnation.  D. The best way to keep us from being deceived about our condition is to look at ourselves against the standard of God's law.  E. By the time we are done using God's plumb line, we are ready to cry out with the apostle, "O wretched person that I am, who will deliver me?"  F. Paul brings this reality to the Corinthians.  III. Such WERE Some of You, 11.  A. Yes, the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God, but you are not the unrighteous.  B. The fact that we WERE the unrighteous, but we no longer are the unrighteous must govern our thinking in several ways.  Conclusion  But there is all comfort in a true knowledge of Jesus Christ. And there is great hope in a passage like this one. We who were unrighteous are now powerfully, eternally, and securely declared to be righteous, washed by the blood of Christ, set aside of God's glorious purposes.  If you remain in your sins, I challenge you today to come to Jesus and turn your heart to him. Join those who were wretched like yourself, but who are now sons and daughters of the living God.  If you know the sweetness of Jesus Christ in his Gospel of grace, rejoice, for you have life eternal.

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