College & Career: 3rd Quarter 2014

By Mary Jay Hamilton

College and Career is the young adult quarterly directed toward students ages 18–24. The lessons are designed to address the unique experiences of African- American young adults as they venture into the world of higher education and work.

• Language: English
• Publisher: R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation
• Release date: Apr 23, 2014
• ISBN: 9781589428355

Book preview

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DO NO HARM

Unifying Topic: Glorify God with Your Body

SCRIPTURE: 1 CORINTHIANS 6:12-20

BACKGROUND SCRIPTURE: 1 CORINTHIANS 6:12–7:9

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1 Corinthians 6:12-20

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RESOURCES

The New National Baptist Hymnal, 21st Century Edition #315 (NNBH #365); God’s Promises Bible, 1 Corinthians 6:12-20; Boyd’s Commentary for the Sunday School

Main.Thought

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

(1 Corinthians 6:19, KJV)

INTRODUCTION

This quarter begins with a study of the book of 1 Corinthians. The church at Corinth was established by Paul in A.D. 50. As a result, one can sense Paul’s love and affection for the church throughout his letter. Paul wrote this letter after the church at Corinth sent Paul a letter asking him how its members should deal with different problems within the church. The church was mostly composed of Gentile Christians living in a city known for idol worship and sexual immorality. Many of the Christians in Corinth were unsure about how to live as Christians in such a corrupt city. Many of them wanted to hold on to some of the practices of their former lifestyles prior to conversion. Thus Paul wrote to the Corinthians to explain how Christians are to properly live in a sinful culture.

EXPOSITION

I.     THE BODY BELONGS TO GOD (1 Corinthians 6:12-14)

It was widely believed in Paul’s day that the spirit alone was of value, while the body was not important. Because of this, many people believed they had the freedom to behave in any way they chose. To many people, it was as natural to satisfy their sexual desires as it was to eat. This permissive thinking found its way into the church in Corinth. When it was coupled with Paul’s teaching that Christians are free from the Law’s demands, grave consequences followed. Many believers, for example, took Paul’s teaching out of context and continued to visit prostitutes after their baptism.

Paul reminded the Corinthians that Christian freedom does not mean that Christians are free to sin. Freedom from the Law does not give anyone an excuse to disregard the Law. Rather, it allows Christians to freely exercise their liberty within the scope of the Law. Paul emphasized to the Corinthians that it is wrong to be enslaved to their former ways of life. Christians are not at liberty to do their own thing, seeking to please themselves. Their bodies belong to God, and He desires to redeem them. Just as God raised Jesus from the dead, He will also raise both a Christian’s spirit and body from the dead.

Some of the Corinthians taught that ‘all things [were] lawful’ for them (v. 12, NRSV). They were partially correct. It is true that God made both humanity and the body. He made everything in the world, and all of it is good. All good things are lawful for Christians to partake. But as Paul says, Not all things are beneficial (ibid.). For example, it is beneficial to eat fruit, but it is not so beneficial to eat poisonous berries. It is advisable to rest for the sake of the body, but it is harmful to lie around and be continually inactive. Thus not all permissible actions are beneficial.

Life.Point

Christian liberty is not freedom to sin.

Lesson.Point

Paul advised against participating in a corrupt culture.

Section I

What are some ways you can control your sinful desires?

Section II

What does it mean that your body is a member of Christ?

Any good thing can be turned toward bad ends. The simple fact is that some good things can enslave us and hinder our growth in holiness. To make this point, Paul reworked the Corinthians’ slogan: ‘All things are lawful for me,’ but I will not be dominated by anything (ibid.). We should not be enslaved to anything on earth whether it be food, drink, sexual urges, money, or anything else. Paul focused in particular on fornication and sexual immorality, which were especially common in his day—so much that this type of behavior was rampant even among Christians. Those who defended the practice argued that just as the body desires food and must have food for normal functioning, so the body desires sex and must have sex for normal functioning. The desires of the body, they claimed, were normal and natural. There was no way that it could be wrong to satisfy those