1 Corinthians 5; 1 Corinthians 6; 1 Corinthians 7; 1 Corinthians 8

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1 Corinthians 5

1 Your own members are aware that there is sexual sin going on among them. This kind of sin is not even heard of among unbelievers--a man is actually married to his father's wife.
2 You're being arrogant when you should have been more upset about this. If you had been upset, the man who did this would have been removed from among you.
3 Although I'm not physically present with you, I am with you in spirit. I have already judged the man who did this as though I were present with you.
4 When you have gathered together, I am with you in spirit. Then, in the name of our Lord Jesus, and with his power,
5 hand such a person over to Satan to destroy his corrupt nature so that his spiritual nature may be saved on the day of the Lord.
6 It's not good for you to brag. Don't you know that a little yeast spreads through the whole batch of dough?
7 Remove the old yeast [of sin] so that you may be a new batch of dough, since you don't actually have the yeast [of sin]. Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
8 So we must not celebrate our festival with the old yeast [of sin] or with the yeast of vice and wickedness. Instead, we must celebrate it with the bread of purity and truth that has no yeast.
9 In my letter to you I told you not to associate with people who continue to commit sexual sins.
10 I didn't tell you that you could not have any contact with unbelievers who commit sexual sins, are greedy, are dishonest, or worship false gods. If that were the case, you would have to leave this world.
11 Now, what I meant was that you should not associate with people who call themselves brothers or sisters in the Christian faith but live in sexual sin, are greedy, worship false gods, use abusive language, get drunk, or are dishonest. Don't eat with such people.
12 After all, do I have any business judging those who are outside [the Christian faith]? Isn't it your business to judge those who are inside?
13 God will judge those who are outside. Remove that wicked man from among you.
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

1 Corinthians 6

1 When one of you has a complaint against another, how dare you go to court to settle the matter in front of wicked people. Why don't you settle it in front of God's holy people?
2 Don't you know that God's people will judge the world? So if you're going to judge the world, aren't you capable of judging insignificant cases?
3 Don't you know that we will judge angels, not to mention things in this life?
4 When you have cases dealing with this life, why do you allow people whom the church has a low opinion of to be your judges?
5 You should be ashamed of yourselves! Don't you have at least one wise person who is able to settle disagreements between believers?
6 Instead, one believer goes to court against another believer, and this happens in front of unbelievers.
7 You are already totally defeated because you have lawsuits against each other. Why don't you accept the fact that you have been wronged? Why don't you accept that you have been cheated?
8 Instead, you do wrong and cheat, and you do this to other believers.
9 Don't you know that wicked people won't inherit the kingdom of God? Stop deceiving yourselves! People who continue to commit sexual sins, who worship false gods, those who commit adultery, homosexuals,
10 or thieves, those who are greedy or drunk, who use abusive language, or who rob people will not inherit the kingdom of God.
11 That's what some of you were! But you have been washed and made holy, and you have received God's approval in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
12 Someone may say, "I'm allowed to do anything," but not everything is helpful. I'm allowed to do anything, but I won't allow anything to gain control over my life.
13 Food is for the stomach, and the stomach is for food, but God will put an end to both of them. However, the body is not for sexual sin but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.
14 God raised the Lord, and by his power God will also raise us.
15 Don't you realize that your bodies are parts of Christ's body? Should I take the parts of Christ's body and make them parts of a prostitute's body? That's unthinkable!
16 Don't you realize that the person who unites himself with a prostitute becomes one body with her? God says, "The two will be one."
17 However, the person who unites himself with the Lord becomes one spirit with him.
18 Stay away from sexual sins. Other sins that people commit don't affect their bodies the same way sexual sins do. People who sin sexually sin against their own bodies.
19 Don't you know that your body is a temple that belongs to the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit, whom you received from God, lives in you. You don't belong to yourselves.
20 You were bought for a price. So bring glory to God in the way you use your body.
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

1 Corinthians 7

1 Now, concerning the things that you wrote about: It's good for men not to get married.
2 But in order to avoid sexual sins, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband.
3 Husbands and wives should satisfy each other's [sexual] needs.
4 A wife doesn't have authority over her own body, but her husband does. In the same way, a husband doesn't have authority over his own body, but his wife does.
5 Don't withhold yourselves from each other unless you agree to do so for a set time to devote yourselves to prayer. Then you should get back together so that Satan doesn't use your lack of self-control to tempt you.
6 What I have just said is not meant as a command but as a suggestion.
7 I would like everyone to be like me. However, each person has a special gift from God, and these gifts vary from person to person.
8 I say to those who are not married, especially to widows: It is good for you to stay single like me.
9 However, if you cannot control your desires, you should get married. It is better for you to marry than to burn [with sexual desire].
10 I pass this command along (not really I, but the Lord): A wife shouldn't leave her husband.
11 If she does, she should stay single or make up with her husband. Likewise, a husband should not divorce his wife.
12 I (not the Lord) say to the rest of you: If any Christian man is married to a woman who is an unbeliever, and she is willing to live with him, he should not divorce her.
13 If any Christian woman is married to a man who is an unbeliever, and he is willing to live with her, she should not divorce her husband.
14 Actually, the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and an unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise, their children would be unacceptable [to God], but now they are acceptable to him.
15 But if the unbelieving partners leave, let them go. Under these circumstances a Christian man or Christian woman is not bound [by a marriage vow]. God has called you to live in peace.
16 How do you as a wife know whether you will save your husband? How do you as a husband know whether you will save your wife?
17 Everyone should live the life that the Lord gave him when God called him. This is the guideline I use in every church.
18 Any man who was already circumcised when he was called to be a Christian shouldn't undo his circumcision. Any man who was uncircumcised when he was called to be a Christian shouldn't get circumcised.
19 Circumcision is nothing, and the lack of it is nothing. But keeping what God commands is everything.
20 All people should stay as they were when they were called.
21 Were you a slave when you were called? That shouldn't bother you. However, if you have a chance to become free, take it.
22 If the Lord called you when you were a slave, you are the Lord's free person. In the same way, if you were free when you were called, you are Christ's slave.
23 You were bought for a price. Don't become anyone's slaves.
24 Brothers and sisters, you should remain in whatever circumstances you were in when God called you. God is with you in those circumstances.
25 Concerning virgins: Even though I don't have any command from the Lord, I'll give you my opinion. I'm a person to whom the Lord has shown mercy, so I can be trusted.
26 Because of the present crisis I believe it is good for people to remain as they are.
27 Do you have a wife? Don't seek a divorce. Are you divorced from your wife? Don't look for another one.
28 But if you do get married, you have not sinned. If a virgin gets married, she has not sinned. However, these people will have trouble, and I would like to spare them from that.
29 This is what I mean, brothers and sisters: The time has been shortened. While it lasts, those who are married should live as though they were not.
30 Those who have eyes filled with tears should live as though they have no sorrow. Those who are happy should live as though there was nothing to be happy about. Those who buy something should live as though they didn't own it.
31 Those who use the things in this world should do so but not depend on them. It is clear that this world in its present form is passing away.
32 So I don't want you to have any concerns. An unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord, [that is,] about how he can please the Lord.
33 But the married man is concerned about earthly things, [that is,] about how he can please his wife.
34 His attention is divided. An unmarried woman or a virgin is concerned about the Lord's things so that she may be holy in body and in spirit. But the married woman is concerned about earthly things, [that is,] about how she can please her husband.
35 I'm saying this for your benefit, not to restrict you. I'm showing you how to live a noble life of devotion to the Lord without being distracted by other things.
36 No father would want to do the wrong thing when his virgin daughter is old enough to get married. If she wants to get married, he isn't sinning by letting her get married.
37 However, a father may have come to a decision about his daughter. If his decision is to keep her [at home] because she doesn't want to get married, that's fine.
38 So it's fine for a father to give his daughter in marriage, but the father who doesn't give his daughter in marriage does even better.
39 A married woman must remain with her husband as long as he lives. If her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but only if the man is a Christian.
40 However, she will be more blessed if she stays as she is. That is my opinion, and I think that I, too, have God's Spirit.
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

1 Corinthians 8

1 Now, concerning food offered to false gods: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes people arrogant, but love builds them up.
2 Those who think they know something still have a lot to learn.
3 But if they love God, they are known by God.
4 Now about eating food that was offered to false gods: We know that the false gods in this world don't really exist and that no god exists except the one God.
5 People may say that there are gods in heaven and on earth--many gods and many lords, as they would call them.
6 But for us, "There is only one God, the Father. Everything came from him, and we live for him. There is only one Lord, Jesus Christ. Everything came into being through him, and we live because of him."
7 But not everyone knows this. Some people are so used to worshiping false gods that they believe they are eating food offered to a false god. So they feel guilty because their conscience is weak.
8 Food will not affect our relationship with God. We are no worse off if we eat [that food] and no better off if we don't.
9 But be careful that by using your freedom you don't somehow make a believer who is weak in faith fall into sin.
10 For example, suppose someone with a weak conscience sees you, who have this knowledge, eating in the temple of a false god. Won't you be encouraging that person to eat food offered to a false god?
11 In that case, your knowledge is ruining a believer whose faith is weak, a believer for whom Christ died.
12 When you sin against other believers in this way and harm their weak consciences, you are sinning against Christ.
13 Therefore, if eating food [offered to false gods] causes other believers to lose their faith, I will never eat that kind of food so that I won't make other believers lose their faith.
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.