July 9

Paul was sold out for the Gospel. He asks the Corinthians if he was not worthy of their financial support. In fact, he spends twenty-four verses covering reasons that he has given up so much in order to win the lost. But he never put anyone on the spot, begging for their financial support for his ministry. J. Hudson Taylor, Missionary to China, famously said, “God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply.”

If that is true, what does that say about the frequent support letters that show up in your mailbox (or your email box)? Could it be that those individuals and ministries that constantly beg for money either aren’t doing God’s work, or they aren’t doing it God’s way? Yes, money is necessary to accomplish God’s work. And God provides those funds so that His work can be done. He provides those funds by moving in the hearts of His people. God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. (Psalm 50:10) Sometimes, we just need to ask Him to slaughter one. But we know that God’s children don’t need to beg for bread. (Psalm 37:25) God promises to supply all of our needs according to His riches and glory. (Philippians 4:19)

Early Nineteenth-century evangelist, George Mueller cared for 10,024 orphans during his lifetime, however, he never asked anyone for support. Whenever he had a ministry need, he prayed. And miraculously, God provided everything he needed when it was needed, sometimes only a few hours ahead of time. For example, one day a milk cart broke down right by the orphanage, and the orphans were given the milk, lest it spoil and be wasted.

Paul says that he had become all things to all people so that by all possible means he might save some. (1 Corinthians 9:22)

Rather than posting a banner stating, “Come and hear!” Paul clearly followed Jesus’ commission to “go and tell”. (Matthew 28:18–20) All too often, churches have taken a “come and hear” approach, expecting the world to come to us and become like us. However, Paul turned this idea on its head. Paul was not only an Apostle, he was also an evangelist. And he was willing to do whatever it took to reach lost people. Paul was willing to change his methods, but never his message so that he could accommodate everyone with the life-changing Gospel.

Application

Do you have a “whatever it takes” attitude toward reaching the lost? What changes in your methods would it take to reach people in your circle of influence? What changes in your church’s methods would it take to reach people in your community? Perhaps you could pray about it, and involve your church’s leadership to join you in praying about how you could partner with God in answering that prayer.

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July 6

Most of us have never encountered a situation like this. But in Paul’s context, it was not unusual. In modern-day Turkey and throughout that part of the world at the time, many people were polytheists who worshiped many gods. As part of their worship, they would offer sacrifices to one of their gods. Later, those sacrifices would sometimes be sold at the market and would be brought home to eat. They might invite a guest to dine in their home, and the host would serve the previously-sacrificed food to the guest.

So what if you were a believer and your neighbor invited you over for dinner? And what if the host told you, “Oh, by the way, I got a good deal on these lambchops at the temple market. What would you do?

Paul acknowledged the fact that meat was commonly sacrificed to idols. But he says that since idols aren’t really gods, believers don’t need to worry about eating that meat. He says, “Food does not bring us closer to God: We are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do. Be careful, however, that your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone with a weak conscience sees you who are well informed eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged to eat food sacrificed to idols? (1 Corinthians 8:8–10, BSB)

Paul was not concerned with eating food sacrificed to idols. However, he was concerned about causing another believer to stumble into sin. If someone grew up as a pagan polytheist and regularly ate food that had been sacrificed, they might see Paul in the idol’s temple, eating sacrificed meat, and assume that Paul endorsed, or at least was tolerant, of their former religion. Paul said that in order to keep that new Christian from stumbling into sin, he would abstain from eating sacrificed food.

Now, Paul is not saying he would abstain from eating sacrificed food if it were to “offend” someone. His concern only had to do with giving a weaker, younger believer an incentive to sin.

Application

Was Paul preaching situational ethics where you change your behavior based on the situation you’re in? Well, yes and no.

Paul said he was free to eat sacrificed food if he wanted to. He said there would be nothing wrong with that. However, he appealed to the greater principle of watching out for other brothers and sisters in Christ. If a host served him food without weaker, younger believers present, he would eat the meat readily. But if a weaker, younger believer was present, he would abstain.

We see a similar principle in our church when it comes to celebrating the Lord’s Supper. At the last Passover Meal Jesus celebrated with his disciples, he poured traditional (fermented) wine. Before Pasteurization was invented, all grape juice was fermented because it was impossible to prevent the fermentation process. While the Bible never prohibits drinking wine, it does, however, prohibit drunkenness. Many churches serve wine when they celebrate the Lord’s Supper. And Paul would argue that serving wine would be acceptable.

Today, in Western culture, Pasteurized grape juice is readily available. Our church serves juice instead of wine during the Lord’s Supper. In the event a recovering alcoholic is present, we wouldn’t want the alcoholic to be tempted to sin.

The post Dealing with Food Sacrificed to Idols appeared first on Psalm 34:8.

July 5

Paul begins 1 Corinthians 7 talking about sexual intimacy in marriage. While he prohibits sexual immorality (all sexual behavior outside the context of a one-man-one-woman covenant marital relationship), Paul encourages sexual intimacy within a covenant marital relationship. In fact, he says that giving yourself to your spouse is your conjugal duty. And it’s the duty of your spouse to do the same thing. The word he uses for duty has the connotation of indebtedness. Spouses owe intimacy to each other. He says, “Don’t deprive each other, except for a (limited) time of prayer,” (1 Corinthians 7:5) in order to avoid temptation. God intends for spouses to enjoy each other in physical intimacy. In fact, the marital act glorifies God!

God’s ideal is for believers to be committed to live in a covenant marriage “until we are parted by death” (remember your marriage vows?). Counseling and sometimes separation can be helpful. But Paul says that separation should aim toward a reconciliation. (1 Corinthians 7:11) Again, one important part of marriage is to mirror the relationship between Jesus and his bride, the church. Divorce shatters the mirror. Now, there are some limited situations where divorce is permitted (but not mandated) such as immorality, (Matthew 19:3–9) and I would add abandonment and abuse to those limited situations. As with church discipline, restoration is the ideal goal.

Application

Note, when Paul says to not deprive each other in order to avoid temptation, he is not saying that if a man commits adultery, it’s his wife’s fault for not fulfilling his needs. As we saw over the past two days, adultery falls into the category of sexual immorality.

While it is the duty to give ourselves to our spouse, it is never appropriate to demand or take from our spouse by force. Husbands and wives are called to exhibit mutual love, mutual respect, and mutual submission as we are led by the Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 5:18–25)

Obviously, there are times when physical intimacy is difficult or impossible. But even during those times, a married couple must make it a priority to maintain some form of emotional and spiritual intimacy. We owe it to each other.

The post Sexual Ethics in Marriage appeared first on Psalm 34:8.

July 4

In yesterday’s Bible reading and devotional, we read Paul’s discussion on sexual immorality. He continues to discussion today in 1 Corinthians 6.

But he begins chapter 6 talking about church members litigating against other church members. He says that believers should not take their church disagreements to secular courts. There are two issues here. Paul says that disputes between believers should be handled by the church. He says that someone in the church would be able to arbitrate such matters. Second, he says that these specific matters are trivial. (1 Corinthians 6:2)

So what is a church to do if a situation occurs between the church and an outside party? Again, Paul’s discussion concerns disputes between believers in the church. So, again, how should disputes be handled between, say a church and a shady contractor or an insurance company which denies a claim? If the contractor took money and didn’t complete a job, the obvious answer is to go to the contractor first. And if the issue can’t be resolved after talking with him, Paul’s prohibition does not apply. The same is true if an insurance company refuses to honor a legitimate claim, the church is justified in taking the company to court. Again, Paul isn’t addressing conflicts between a church and a private or corporate party. He’s addressing matters within individuals in the church.

Unfortunately, some outside individuals and organizations try to take advantage of churches, thinking that they will not be sued based on this passage of Scripture. For instance, insurance companies know that churches, agriculture/dairy, and military families are the least likely organizations to take them to court, so they will routinely deny all claims by those groups.

Paul returns to his discussion about sexual immorality. He says that those who commit such sins will not inherit the Kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9–10) Some may argue that homosexuality is not specifically addressed in the Bible. But the Greek word Paul uses here is clearly homosexual behavior, as he spelled out in 1 Timothy 1:10. Paul is quite specific: idolaters, adulterers, or males who have sex with males. He may be discussing temple prostitution, which was common in pagan worship practices, but the principle still applies.

But it’s not just the sexually immoral that are not fit for God’s Kingdom. He also adds thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers. Sin is sin is sin. And no sin is worse than another. All sin separates us from God. All sin put Jesus on the cross.

Application

Paul’s comments about sexual immorality aren’t just some made-up rule by a prude. These are sins that go against God’s original plan from Genesis 1:22. And God’s plan doesn’t just apply to procreation. Intimacy between married partners is a mirror of Jesus and His bride, the church. (Ephesians 5:22–25)

As we saw yesterday, the Greek word that’s translated as sexual immorality covers all sexual behavior outside the context of a one-man-one-woman covenant marital relationship. That was God’s plan from the very beginning. And God has not altered His plan.

The post Litigation, Also Sexual Immorality, Pt. 2 appeared first on Psalm 34:8.

July 3

Paul says that he is aware that someone in the Corinthian church is unashamedly committing sexual immorality. He says it is worse than the immorality that is tolerated among the Gentiles. Specifically, he says that a man is sleeping with his father’s wife. Paul says, “You should be ashamed of yourselves! You should be grieved by such behavior.” (1 Corinthians 5:2)

Literally, Paul says the man has his father’s wife. This does not mean that the man is engaging in sexual relations with his mother, but rather, his stepmother. Under the Old Testament Law, this man would have been stoned to death. (Leviticus 18:8; 22:11; Deuteronomy. 22:30)

So, what specifically does Paul mean when he says that the man has his father’s wife? The Greek word is πορνεία (porneia). We get the English word pornography from this word. The word describes a wide range of sexually immoral behavior including adultery, incest, lewdness, uncleanness[1], and means to engage in sexual immorality of any kind, often with the implication of prostitution.^[2] In other words, porneia covers all sexual behavior outside the context of a one-man-one-woman covenant marital relationship.

Elsewhere, Paul insisted that someone who is engaged in such behavior should be dismissed. (2 Thessalonians 3:6) He does the same here. Under his Apostolic authority, Paul says that he is with them in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, so they should hand that man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. (1 Corinthians 5:4–5) He says this is a very dangerous situation for the church and for this man and basically says the man would be better off dead than to be allowed to continue living in this sin!

Paul is specific in saying that the believers in the church should avoid those who claim to be a believer and are involved in sexually immoral or are greedy, an idolater, or verbally abusive, a drunkard or a swindler. He says, “Do not even eat with such a person.” (1 Corinthians 5:11) Again, he specifies that they should not associate with those who claim to be a believer, and does not put such a restriction regarding avoiding unbelievers who exhibit those behaviors.

Application

Most churches do not practice church discipline. “Tolerance” seems to be the order of the day, insisting that we be “gracious” toward all sinners. Paul’s extension of grace is toward unbelievers, perhaps for the purpose of evangelism. However, for those who claim to be a believer, such behavior should be unthinkable for those within the household of faith.

It’s crucial to note that the purpose of church discipline is not to simply excommunicate or punish offending believers, but rather to lovingly restore them to the fellowship of believers. (Galatians 6:1)

[1] Mounce, William D. Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words, Zondervan, 2006, p. 1251. Accessed 7/2/26.

^[2] Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains, Electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., vol. 1, United Bible Societies, 1996, p. 770.

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