Undivided Devotion - 1 Corinthians 7:35

S. 1 Corinthians 7:35 “I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.”

O. Paul is not discouraging marriage. He certainly points out the personal benefits of marriage. However, he is also teaching about the high value of living with undivided devotion to the Lord. That was his personal desire and choice; and he thereby offers that as a virtue to ascribe to.

A. I understand and desire for my life, even though I am married, to be as undivided as possible in serving Christ.

It is true that married couples have each other and family life to consider, but may we in that context still seek the highest level of devotion to the Lord as possible.

P. Thank you Father for Paul’s example of undivided devotion to you. I pray that even in our married life, we might still rise to such a high and pure life of devotion to you.

Judging Within The Church - 1 Corinthians 5:11S.

S. 1 Corinthians 5:11 “But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.”

O. Paul differentiates between a believer’s association with immoral people who are not believers and immoral people who call themselves believers. He places a very high value on maintaining purity in the church.

Christians have a duty to judge those insider the church. In this case, they were to spiritually discipline the man who was sexually immoral (see context of chapter 5). This is just one phase of discipline. The complete process involves repentance, forgiveness and restoration (2. Cor. 2).

This particular situation has a broad application with others in the church who are sexually immoral.

A. I pray that I will always show love and grace at times when having to make such difficult judgments; yet that I will be faithful to the Lord and to His word.

P. Thank you Father for this word. Holy Spirit fill me and guide me to always show love and grace in times when I must also make judgments.

Perfectly United in mind and thought - 1 Corinthians 1:10

S. 1 Corinthians 1:10 “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.”

O. Paul called for unity despite the great divisions of society during his time; Jew vs Gentile, Slave VS free, Men vs Women. In the church as well there were divisions, i.e. people divided over leadership and following various leaders. In this call for unity, Paul uses such words as “appeal”, “agree”, and “no divisions.”

However the word that caught my eye is “perfectly united.” In the Greek this word is “katartismenoi” which is what is referred to as as perfect passive participle of katartizo meaning “to unite completely, to adjust thoroughly, to restore to original purpose, to reinstate.” It’s a passive voice which means that someone else (The Lord Jesus through the ministry of the Holy Spirit) is doing the action; and perfect tense which is an action in the past that is still happening in the present and into the future.

Paul is referring to the fact that Jesus Christ has given us unity in Him! He did this when He secured our salvation. We are complete in Him (Col. 2:10). As we have that completeness in our positional relationship to Christ; so we are then encouraged to make this perfect unity a reality in our experiential relationships with one another. We are to look to the Lord Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit to keep us from allowing things to divide us and to return to the original purposes for which we are now new creatures in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17).

A. As a believer in Christ, I desire Christ Jesus to continue to restore me, to knit me in, to adjust my thinking to that which He has given me through the Holy Spirit and His word. I will allow Christ to adjust my thinking and not allow any thing to divide me from others no matter what the culture screams.

P. Thank you Father for this word today. Holy Spirit fill me and guide me to keep my thoughts directed by your Word. I desire to not allow things in our culture to divide me from others. Further, I desire to walk by the Spirit and to daily experience your work in my life, returning and keeping me to walking according to the purposes you have for me and those you place before me. In Jesus’ name!