“I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?” (1 Corinthians 3:2-3 NIV) This section of 1 Corinthians should […]
10/31/2020 Daily Devotion – It’s not about the stuff we have!
“[T]hose who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.” (1 Corinthians 7:31 NIV84) Jesus says in the Gospels, “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but forfeits (loses) his own soul?” Quite a rhetorical question […]
10/30/2020 Daily Devotion – Remain Free!
“You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.” (1Corinthians 7:23 NIV84) But I thought any human being who was bought was a slave! If we are “bought with a price,” how can we not be slaves to whomever purchased us? But Jesus, who bought us with His own precious blood, tells us, […]
10/29/2020 Daily Devotion – What really counts?!
“Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commands is what counts.” (1 Corinthians 7:19 NIV84) Have you ever heard Christians state the date of their conversion or baptism or confirmation? In and of itself, there is nothing wrong with that. These are important moments in a Christian’s life. They have direct roots in […]
10/28/2020 Daily Devotion – What’s your vocation?
“Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches.” (1 Corinthians 7:17 NIV84) When I read this verse I remember my studies of Martin Luther on the Christian’s vocation. “Vocation” is […]
10/27/2020 Daily Devotion – The beauty of marriage!
“The wife’s body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband’s body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife.” (1 Corinthians 7:4 NIV84) So far, in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he has made it clear that what we have is […]
10/25/2020 Daily Devotion – We are members of Christ!
“Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself?” (1 Corinthians 6:15 NIV84) In this part of his letter, Paul was telling the Corinthian Christians to be on their guard when it comes to sexual sins because their bodies are not their own. Paul was telling them that they are united with Jesus […]
10/24/2020 Daily Devotion – What to do with disputes between believers?
“I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers?” (1Corinthians 6:5 NIV84) Before we discuss what to do, let’s clearly establish what not to do. Paul was scolding the Corinthian church for taking its disputes before the worldly court system. He […]
10/23/2020 Daily Devotion – Whom do you associate with?
“I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people – not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.” (1 Corinthians 5:9-10 NIV84) Never does Scripture imply that Christians should […]
10/22/2020 Daily Devotion – The kingdom of God is a matter of power!
“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.” (1 Corinthians 4:20 NIV84) Christianity is not merely a philosophical set of presuppositions that one adopts as true, and that’s it. I am not saying that it’s not partially a philosophical worldview but rather that the Christian faith is more. I […]
