Application to our lives today Lesson 8 1 Corinthians Application to our lives today Lesson 8

Read 1 Corinthians 3:16-17

1 Corinthians 3:16-517 These two little verses are used to justify a LOT of different things No drinking/smoking/drugs Obesity/gluttony is a sin Tattoos and body piercings Some say taking any sort of medication violates these verses Is that really what Paul has in mind here?

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Let’s take a look at this in the context of the letter What is Paul trying to teach the Corinthians in this portion of the letter? What’s been his main focus? Hint: Look back at his thesis statement in 3:1-2

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 In my opinion, many people reverse the way in which Paul intends these verses to be used Paul says don’t destroy the temple (our bodies), so we can’t do X, Y, Z Don’t sin because that destroys the temple of God, which NOW is your bodies

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Put another way, if we continue to wantonly sin not only does that threaten our faith, but it shows that we don’t have the respect for God necessary to want to take care of His dwelling place, which is now our very own bodies

Read 1 Corinthians 3:18-23

1 Corinthians 3:18-23 Getting back to his theme from 1:18-31 These 6 verses are essentially a rehashing of that passage Verse 18: How do you become foolish so you can become wise? Verse 21: How do all things belong to us? Verse 22: Life and death belong to us?!?!

1 Corinthians 3:18-23 Let’s try and figure out what Paul is talking about in these last few verses of 1 Cor. 3 The Corinthians were trying to “belong” to Paul, Cephas, Apollos by saying, “We are of Paul” Instead, Paul reverses that and says, “No, everything belongs to you.”

1 Corinthians 3:18-23 So what does he mean? When God created the world, and then man, what did He tell man? God essentially created the world to serve man, just as man was created to serve Jesus, and Jesus serves God

1 Corinthians 3:18-23 The order of belonging All things  Us We  Christ Christ  God To what end? Not to skip too far ahead, but … 1 Corinthians 10:31