Bible

In the Bible room today, we continue reading the book of I Corinthians with Session 2, the summaries of chapters 3, 4, and 5.

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I Corinthians

Session 2

Chapter 3. Temple

My fellow believers, before now, I spoke to you as babes in Christ;

• For you did not understand the deeper ways of God;
• And yet today, you still have not grown beyond new believers;
• You are still arguing and being divisive among yourselves,
• Claiming you are following Paul, or another preacher, and
• Behaving like ordinary, non-spiritual men; Paul and Apollos
• Are simply ministers who came and led you to the Lord;
• I started with you by planting the seeds of believing, then
• Apollos watered the seeds, but it was God who brought forth
• The increase in you; The men who have labored among you
• Will receive their own reward, for we are laborers with God,
• And you are the field and the building;
• By the grace of God, I have been given the knowledge of Him
• To become a master builder and to lay the foundation of His
• Building among you; Then another one comes to build upon
• That foundation; But those who follow should be careful of
• How they build upon that foundation, for there can be no
• Other than what has been laid, and that is Jesus Christ;
• Whatever materials are used to build upon that foundation,
• Whether they be of permanent character or temporary, will
• Become evident because the work of each one will be tested in
• The days to come; Those whose work will endure will be
• Rewarded; You should know that you are the temple of God as
• His Spirit lives in you, and God will destroy anyone who would
• Attempt to destroy you, His holy temple;
• Do not be deceived by anyone who would come among you,
• And try to deceive you with the wisdom of this world; The
• Lord knows those who think they are wise, but to Him their
• Wisdom is foolish, and they will be exposed by their own
• Craftiness; But now everything is being made clear to you,
• Whether it is Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life,
• Or death, things present or things to come, everything
• Is yours, you belong to Christ, and Christ to God.

Chapter 4. Patterns

You should consider us as servants of Christ,

• And stewards of the knowledge of God; It is a requirement for
• A steward to be trustworthy, and I would welcome you, or
• Anyone else, to verify that I have been faithful; In fact, I am
• Confident that there is nothing negative that could be said
• About my character; However, this does not put me in right
• Standing with the Lord, for He alone is the one who determines
• That; Therefore, do not be hasty in making judgements before
• The Lord returns, for when He comes everything that has been
• Hidden in darkness will be brought into the light; At that day
• All motives in the hearts of men will be revealed, and God will
• Give all the honors;
• Apollos and I have come to you as patterns for you to follow
• As you conform your lives to the scriptures, and nothing else;
• No one should think of himself as being above another, for
• There are no differences among believers; Does anyone among
• You think they have something special not given to everyone?
• You are already full! Like kings, you already have everything!
• I wish you were kings so that I could be part of your kingdom;
• But I believe God has made us, the apostles, to be like men in
• The theater, condemned, and going to their death;
• Because we have followed Christ, we have been made to look
• Like fools; But Christ has made you to look wise, and to be
• Respected, while we are despised; Even today, we are going
• About hungry and thirsty, poorly clothed, homeless, and
• Mistreated; When we work with our hands, we endure scoffing
• And disdain, treated by the world like so much trash, but we
• Respond to that with blessings and encouraging words;  
• I write these things to you as my children that I love, but I do
• Not want you to feel sorry for me, as I only want to warn you:
• You may encounter ten thousand would-be teachers in the
• World, but I am your only father; I brought you to Christ
• Jesus through the gospel, and I sincerely want you to imitate
• Me; So, for that reason I have sent Timothy to you as he is a
• Spiritual son to me, and he will show you everything you need
• To know about what I teach in all the churches everywhere;
• I have learned that some of you are becoming arrogant, but I
• Will get there as soon as the Lord allows, and show you that
• The kingdom of God is about power, and not about bragging
• Words; So, do you want me to come to you with strong words
• Of discipline, or would you prefer that I come with softer
• Words and more gentleness?

Chapter 5. Pure

It has been reported to me that there is sexual immorality among you:

• Something not even being done by the Gentiles—a man taking
• His father’s wife; And then some of you are flaunting it rather
• Than putting the offender away from you;
• Even though I am not present among you, my spirit is there
• With you, and I have made my decision concerning this matter:
• You must call yourselves into an assembly, and, in the name,
• And power, of our Lord Jesus Christ, you must put this man
• Away from you, where Satan will afflict his body such that he
• Will get his soul ready for the Lord’s return; You cannot
• Tolerate this kind of evil among you; You know how a small
• Amount of yeast can leaven the entire batch; Throw out all the
• Yeast from among you as you are a new batch of unleavened
• Dough; Christ is our Passover as He has sacrificed Himself for
• Us; Therefore, we should observe the feast without any hate or
• Evil in us, but with pure sincerity like bread without yeast;
• In my earlier letter to you I cautioned you not to mingle with
• People who are engaged in sexual immorality, but I was not
• Referring to the people of the world around you, for it is not
• Possible to avoid everyone who may be involved in all kinds of
• Evil activities; But I am telling you not to maintain fellowship
• With, or even have dinner with, someone who calls himself
• Your brother, while he is involved in illicit sexual activities, or
• Worships idols, or practices any other evil behavior;
• In matters concerning the outside world around us, we have
• No authority to judge anyone, God is their judge;
• But inside your fellowship you are the judge of yourselves, and
• You must put away any evil doer from among you.

End of Session 2 of the book of I Corinthians.