1 Corinthians Week 12

Day 1 

READ 

1 Corinthians 6:12 

¹² You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. And even though “I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a slave to anything. 

Paul writes about Christian liberty. Although a person who trusts in Jesus as Savior is saved by His grace apart from law; this does not mean the person can live like a lawless individual. Before salvation the person was a slave to sin. After salvation he or she should not become a slave to other things. 

REFLECT 

Have you thought of your salvation being a love relationship with the Lord Jesus? You should not want to do anything that would displease Him. 

RESPOND 

With a friend read 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. This passage aids believers in fixing their eyes on that which is eternal rather than just on that which is temporal.  

Day 2 

READ 

1 Corinthians 6:13-14 

¹³ You say, “Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food.” (This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them.) But you can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies. ¹⁴ And God will raise us from the dead by his power, just as he raised our Lord from the dead. 

Paul again warned about sexual immorality. The believer’s body is inhabited by the Holy Spirit and in this sense is “made for the Lord.” The believer can be assured of his or her future resurrection just as God raised Jesus from the dead. Believers serve a miracle-working God.  

REFLECT 

Regardless of what you physically experience in this life, as a believer your body will someday be raised from the dead. In the meantime, honor the Lord with your body. 

RESPOND  

Join with a friend in reading 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. This passage assures believers about someday being raised from the dead.  

Day 3 

READ 

1 Corinthians 6:15-17 

¹⁵ Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never! ¹⁶ And don’t you realize that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, “The two are united into one.” ¹⁷ But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him. 

Paul told why one who is part of Jesus should not become part of one who is not. Paul quoted from Genesis 2:24 in saying that in such a relationship the two become one. That should be reserved for the marriage relationship, in which God intended the uniting of one man and one woman.  

REFLECT 

Notice how often the writers of the New Testament referred to the Old Testament. This indicates both are inspired by God.  

RESPOND 

With a friend examine the passages of 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and 2 Peter 1:20-21. These passages reveal God breathed out the message He wanted the human authors to write. 

Day 4 

READ 

1 Corinthians 6:18-20 

¹⁸ Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. ¹⁹ Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, ²⁰ for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. 

Paul continued to warn about sexual sin and wanted believers to run from it. With the known disease that results from sexual sin it is seen that this is a sin against one’s own body. Paul reminded the believers that their bodies were the temple of the Holy Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit inhabited their bodies, they should honor God with their bodies. 

REFLECT 

Have you known before that the Holy Spirit inhabits your body when you trust in Jesus as Savior? 

RESPOND 

Study the passages with a friend that tells about the Holy Spirit inhabiting the believer’s body. See Romans 8:9 and 1 Corinthians 12:13. Think how the Jews respected the physical temple; it’s an example of the way believers in Jesus should respect their bodies. 

Day 5 

READ 

1 Corinthians 7:1-2 

¹ Now regarding the questions you asked in your letter. Yes, it is good to abstain from sexual relations. ² But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband. 

The Corinthian believers had written a letter to Paul with several questions. One had to do with sexual relations and marriage. 1 Corinthians 7 contains many instructions in answer to this question. It is a passage that is referred to today in counseling single and married people. It is inspired by God and has been of help to many. 

REFLECT 

Think how practical the Bible is in that it deals with problems commonly faced. It is like an instruction book on how to live the Christian life. 

RESPOND 

Recommend 1 Corinthians 7 to people today who have the same questions the believers in Corinth asked the apostle Paul. The apostle not only knew what Jesus had said when He was on earth but also what He had revealed to him after he became an apostle.