Beyond The Four Spiritual Laws

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1Cor 7:21-22 . . Were you called while a slave? Do not be concerned about it; but if you can be made free, rather use it. For he who is called in The Lord while a slave is The Lord's freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is Christ's slave.

Were this the only life, then slavery would be a terrible fate because there would be nothing better to look forward to; viz: Christian slaves should think of their situation as only a temporary set-back. They're missing out on the best that life has to offer for now, but I'm pretty sure they can look forward to Christ making it up to them in the next life.

The situation of Christians behind bars, without possibility of either release or parole, is little different than that of slaves. However, though their time inside may be for life, it isn't permanent. No, their time inside is just a bump in the road: it's not the end of the road.

As I was watching a prison documentary on NetFlix some time ago, one of the inmates interviewed, an elderly man sweeping with a broom out in the yard, said, in so many words: Guys come in here thinking their life is over. It ain't over, it's just different.

That old guy was a lifer, but he was at peace with his situation-- an amazing attitude for an institutionalized man with no hope of ever again having a normal life on the outside.
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1Cor 7:23 . .You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.

In other words; selling your body is one thing, while selling your soul is quite another; Christ has first dibs on that so don't even think about it.

The point is; whether bonded or free, every believer is indentured to The Lord. But it is his wish that believers remain free rather than make a habit of indenturing themselves to humans primarily because a free man's labor earns him wages: a portion of which can be donated towards The Lord's work; while a slave earns no wages to donate towards The Lord's work. Also; a free man is at liberty to move about and make himself useful to The Lord, while a slave's movements are pretty much limited to their human master's jurisdiction.
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1Cor 7:24 . . Brethren, let each one remain with God in the situation in which he was called.

If you're a slave; don't become a runaway slave. If you're a secretary, don't quit your job and/or abandon your husband to run off and become another Joan of Arc. Stay put; always keeping in mind that whether slave, free, or crusader; will make no difference in your association with God.
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1Cor 7:25 . . Now about virgins: I have no command from The Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by The Lord's mercy is trustworthy.

The koiné Greek word for "virgins" is parthenos (par-then'-os) which basically refers to maidens and/or unmarried daughters.

There's an ancient temple in Greece called the Parthenon; which was at one time a sort of shrine to the goddess Athena (a.k.a. Minerva). Apparently it was common for Athena's followers to donate their young girls to her service.

I'm guessing that the Christians in ancient Corinth, influenced by Greek and Roman culture, were curious whether they were supposed to donate their young girls to Christ's service; viz: make nuns of them; which of course would seal them into celibacy and thus preclude the possibility of ever having a man and a family of their own.

Paul's claim to be "trustworthy" is saying that he could be relied upon to speak as Christ and for Christ on certain issues without having to first inquire his superior's mind about them.

That's a pretty advanced degree of inspiration when somebody is 110% confident that their thoughts on a matter are God's thoughts.

Too many Christians are wishy-washy. They have an annoying habit of pontificating their opinions as the God's truth; when in reality they have neither the confidence nor the integrity to stand up and announce themselves trustworthy, i.e. infallible; the meanwhile quick to call others heretics for disagreeing with them.

NOTE: Be circumspect with your choice of words lest the hapless day arrives when you are forced to eat them. Never call someone a heretic because it just may be that your own beliefs are heretical without your knowing. It's okay to be positive, but for God's sake don't be conceited: leave yourself some room for error.
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1Cor 7:26-28 . . Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for you to remain as you are. Are you married? Do not seek a divorce. Are you unmarried? Do not look for a wife. But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned.

The "present crisis" probably relates to circumstances that make it difficult and/or inadvisable to settle down and raise a family, e.g. Jer 16:1-4 and Matt 24:19-22.

However, marriage, overall, doesn't displease God; and best of all, the Corinthian Christians didn't have to donate their maidens to Christ as nuns; rather, the girls were perfectly at liberty to settle down with a man.
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1Cor 7:36 . . If anyone thinks he is acting improperly toward the virgin he is engaged to, and if she is getting along in years and he feels he ought to marry, he should do as he wants. He is not sinning. They should get married.

We have a saying in America that goes like this: So and so married what's her name and made an honest woman out of her. Well, most grown-ups know what that means without me having to say so. The point is: if a Christian man finds himself on the brink of exceeding the limits of propriety with his best girl; it's time to either break up or tie the knot.

And then too there's the so-called biological clock that stalks women during their productive years. It's cruel, unthinkable, and utterly selfish and psychopathic of a man to keep a girl on hold during those years if and when he's fully aware that she's longing to settle down and have a family of her own. A man who does that has no clue what the word "honor" means.
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1Cor 7:39 . . A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must be in The Lord.

When people sound-bite a verse like that one out of context, they run the risk of coming to some very false conclusions; and one of those is that Christians can never, under any circumstances, divorce and remarry while their spouses are alive. Well, obviously they can, under certain circumstances (e.g. Matt 5:32).

However, a Christian ex-wife has to be careful not to re-marry outside her faith as that would be like jumping from the frying pan into the fire. (cf. 2Cor 6:14-18)
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1Cor 8:4-13 . .We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

. . . But not everyone knows this. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.

. . . Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.

That passage can be said to be a codicil to the 14th chapter of Romans.

Putting this into a modern context is pretty simple; e.g. here in Oregon we have tavern-style restaurants; viz: a section of the tavern is a bar, and another section is dedicated to dining. The bar sections usually host State-sanctioned gambling machines too and typically off-limits to minors.

Suppose you have Christian friends who sincerely feel it's wrong to dine in a tavern-style restaurant because of the alcohol and the gambling. Though you yourself might be comfortable in your own mind that there is no sin in dining at taverns, your friends are not so sure. So if you were to take them to a tavern, they would be committing sin in compromising their conscience; and you would be committing sin by knowingly leading them in a situation that causes them to make that compromise.

"We may know that these things make no difference, but we cannot just go ahead and do them to please ourselves. We must be considerate of the doubts and fears of those who think these things are wrong. We should please others. If we do what helps them, we will build them up in The Lord." (Rom 15:1-2)

A pertinent example is Hooters; where the waitresses are cute buxom girls filled out in all the right places clothed in short shorts, and clingy tops; so that the situation is a double whammy of babes and alcohol. Supposing your Christian buddy sincerely feels it's wrong for Christians to dine at Hooters? Then you would be wrong in taking him there for a burger even if you were convinced in your own mind there is nothing wrong with Hooters because you would be leading your Christian buddy into a situation that's below him and causes him to feel guilty and/or less of himself.

The Bible says that Christians should accommodate others to their edification (edification means to build someone up as opposed to tearing them down), Well, when we please ourselves to their detriment; that's being selfish. Some guys feel that cute buxom girls and yummy gams are a God-send, while other guys regard them as the Devil in disguise. The correct route here is to accommodate the more sensitive conscience.

This is one of those situations that requires that each individual to be convinced in their own mind whether Hooters is wrong for themselves or okay for themselves (Rom 14:5) and God forbid that Christians should criticize a fellow Christian who frequents Hooters because this is indeed one of those gray areas; and just who are you to legislate the rules for others in gray areas (Rom 14:3-4). It's unfortunate that there are some very imperious, domineering Christians out and about who see nothing wrong with bullying others to compromise their convictions just so long as they get their own way and everybody conforms to their way of thinking.

For example: it is my own personal feelings that Luke 22:35-36 makes it okay for Christ's followers to own guns for self defense. Well; a rather opinionated Christian in one of my Sunday school classes sneered at me for feeling that way and proceeded to pontificate that Jesus' instructions were only "preparatory" for the upcoming confrontation with Judas and the crowd that came with him that night to arrest Jesus. Okay; that's fine with me if that's the way he feels about it; but sneering at me for feeling my way about it was not only thoughtless, but improper too.
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1Cor 9:13-14 . . Don't you know that those who work in the Temple get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? In the same way, The Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.

The covenant that Moses' people agreed upon with God in the Old Testament doesn't allow Levitical priests to own land where they can provide themselves sustenance by working their own farms. It's God's decree that a number of the sacrifices and offerings that the priesthood's constituents bring are dedicated to not just sustaining a friendly association with God, but also to nourishing the priests. (e.g. Ex 29:31-32, Lev 2:1-10, Lev 7:11-15)

Obviously then, 1Cor 9:13-14 is saying that Christian congregations ought to pitch in and help provide their churches' full-time officers with a decent standard of living. This is not optional; no, it's something that "The Lord has commanded."

NOTE: I would say that Christians whose officers rarely, if ever, preach the gospel are exempt, e.g. Martin Luther King Jr routinely used the pulpit for political activism. Congregations are not required to support ordained ministers when they go off-reservation like that.
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1Cor 9:24-25 . . Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

The prize that Olympians won back in those days wasn't much. No medals: just a simple garland for the head consisting of a wreath made with wild olive leaves from a sacred tree near the temple of Zeus at Olympia. In time the leaves dried out and crumbled.

The important thing to note about 1Cor 9:24-25 is that the prize isn't a pass into the kingdom of God. No; the prize is an award rather than a wage; and there is more than one kind; e.g. Phil 4:1, 1Tim 4:8, Jas 1:12, 1Pet 5:4, Rev 14:14.
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1Cor 10:6-7 . . Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to play.

The Bible doesn't provide much detail at Ex 32:1-6 as to what went on in camp while Moses was up on the mountain. But one thing we know for sure is that there was a golden calf; and the "eat and drink" to which the apostle refers was a ritual where people sacrificed to the calf and afterwards consumed the sacrifice as an act of communion with it; sort of like an old fashioned Passover.

"to play" in Ex 32:6 is from the Hebrew word tsachaq (tsaw-khak') which means: merriment; viz: pagan songs and dances dedicated to the calf; a kind of worship revelry; the likes of which in the ancient city of Corinth no doubt culminated in a drunken orgy.

Apparently some of the religions in the Roman world were pretty wild and sensual, and as a result; very popular. In comparison; Christianity was dull and boring. Those pagan religions really gave you your money's worth, while Christianity has very little to offer in the way of entertainment, except maybe for Catholicism. The late-night television comedian David Letterman once remarked they put on a pretty good show.
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1Cor 10:8 . . Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.

That event took place at Num 25:1-9. The fornication he's talking about wasn't believers with believers. It was believers with unbelievers. In other words; Christ's followers need to avoid getting romantic with unbelievers lest unbelievers lead his followers down the primrose path into something shameful and very unbecoming.

"Do not be misled: Bad company corrupts good character." (1Cor 15:33)
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1Cor 10:9 . .We should not test The Lord, as some of them did-- and were slain by snakes.

That event took place at Num 21:5-9.

The obvious lesson is that it's risky to complain about the quality, the quantity, the nature, and/or the absence of God's providence.
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1Cor 10:10 . . And do not grumble, as some of them did-- and were killed by the destroying angel.

That incident took place at Num 14:2-38. The "grumbling" grew into a pretty large anti-God protest. Anon it became violent and within a hair's breadth of culminating in Joshua's and Caleb's assassination. That was a very grave moment in Israel's history.

Anyway, Moses' people were of the opinion that God had led them out of the frying pan into the fire by assigning them an impossible task; one that would result in everybody's deaths had they attempted to obey His orders; viz: a suicide mission. Joshua and Caleb tried to convince them it wasn't a suicide mission; and that with God on their side; they would not only survive; but easily succeed. They refused to listen; and thus became resolutely insubordinate.

Now; the obvious fatal error in their thinking was simply a lack of belief that God would assist them to conquer the land. In point of fact, they didn't believe God was able to in spite of all His amazing displays of supernatural power in rescuing them from Egyptian slavery; and that's what made their unbelief all the more inexcusable. Most of us today have never seen God in action; we've only heard tell of His exploits; but Moses' people were eyewitnesses.

Putting this in a modern context:

New Christians are often led to believe that accepting Christ will improve their mood and remedy their circumstances. Well; apparently somebody neglected to tell them that they would have to fight for it, i.e. in order to obtain the fruit of the Spirit spoken of at Gal 5:22-23 they would have to knuckle down and live a life pleasing to both God and Christ; viz: comply with their wishes. (John 14:23, John 15:11)

I'm sure you can see how easy it would be for a new Christian to become disillusioned, disappointed, and somewhat bitter at being seemingly tricked into something that turns out to be too good to be true-- then they get to complaining that a number of Christ's commandments are too difficult; nobody can keep them so what's the point in even trying.

Well; that complaint is reasonable, I'll admit; but it's also insubordinate; and worse; it's contagious. If they want to give up trying to comply with The Lord's wishes; fine; but they really ought to keep their discontent with his wishes to themselves in order to avoid kindling large-scale rebellion and discontent in the ranks.
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1Cor 10:11-12 . .These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!

Their substandard compliance with God's wishes didn't bring about the return of Moses' people to Egypt; no, "once saved always saved" applied to them as well as to us. However, their conduct did cause them to "fall" that is: fall out of favor with God.

That's a risk even for born-again Christians whose destiny in heaven is a sure thing; iron clad and set in concrete. The good shepherd's sheep will never again be in danger of eternal suffering; but they are always in danger of losing out on the benefits of providence due to conduct unbecoming.

● Rom 8:35-36 . .Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

That's a reference to Psalm 44 which speaks not of damnation, rather, of discipline.
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1Cor 10:14 . .Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.

There's that word "flee" again; which in many of its applications in the New Testament means to run for your life. So you can see that idolatry can have very serious consequences.

There's more to idolatry than just bowing and/or praying to sculpture and art. It's possible to be an idolater without even being especially religious.

"Don't be greedy for the good things of this life; for that is idolatry." (Col 3:5 )

Greed then, is one of the characteristics of an idolater. In other words: idolatry is a personality issue rather than only a religious issue. Even atheists qualify as idolaters if they have a greedy personality; e.g. Wall Street's investment bankers and commodities traders. Their "golden calf" is profit.

It's okay to want the good things in life: after all; God has given us richly all things to enjoy (1Tim 6:17). It's the insatiable desire for good things that makes people idolaters; in other words avarice; which is never content; no, avarice always wants more, more, more, more, and then some. Nowhere is that more rampant than corporate greed which will walk over the dead bodies of its employees if that's what it takes for a better quarterly report.

I'm not exaggerating. Made-in-China goods merchant WALMART used to take out life insurance policies on its employees-- not for the families; but for itself. In other words; it named itself the beneficiary on those employee life insurance policies so that when one died, they recovered some of the wages and benefits they had to pay the employee while they were alive and working for them.

The policies are called COLI (corporate-owned life insurance) policies. But they're better known in the insurance industry as "dead peasant" and/or "dead janitor" policies. WALMART isn't the only big business doing this sort of thing. An attorney for the Hartford Life Insurance Co. estimates that one-fourth of the Fortune 500 companies have them, which cover the lives of between 5 million and 6 million workers. COLI policies seem to me a ghoulish way to make a buck; but then it should surprise no one that idolaters have no sensibilities to speak of seeing as how they revere not God, but rather the power, the prestige, and the comforts of wealth.
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1Cor 10:24 . . Nobody should seek only his own good, but also the good of others.

That's not saying it's wrong to seek your own good; just wrong to seek it at the expense of another's good; viz: selfish ambition might be an acceptable modus operandi in professional sports, politics, and big business; but it's totally unacceptable in one's association with fellow believers. And there is nothing new in that; I mean after all; it's just another way of expressing the so-called golden rule; which states: "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. (Matt 7:12)

It's interesting to note that if people weren't so hard-hearted; there would be no need for laws that force people to do right by their fellow man.

I once took a city slicker friend out shooting in the Oregon woods with a cowboy style six-gun. In typical wrangler fashion he yelled yahoo and fired the six-gun up into the air before I could stop him. It then became necessary for me to remind my friend that bullets eventually come down and can quite possibly hit someone off in the distance; maybe even a child.

Drive-by shooters know this, but they're typically psychopathic so it's to be expected they don't care where their bullets go. However, I should hope no Christian reading this is psychopathic; but will think about their words and actions before those words and actions impact an innocent person's life in a way that's not easily repaired.
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1Cor 10:25-26 . . Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, for the earth is The Lord's, and everything in it.

Seeing as how God owns everything in existence, and answers to no one how He goes about managing it; then what He says goes because nobody can stop Him from making and/or enforcing whatever rules He wishes.

Whether God's rules are loving, moral, just, and/or right and wise is irrelevant. It's as futile to criticize lightening for being so bright, and thunder for being so loud, as it is to criticize God's rules because no matter how much people complain about thunder and lightening; there is nothing they can do to get them abolished.

One of the Greek words translated "lord" in the New Testament is despotes (des-pot'-ace) from which we get our English word despot; defined by Webster's as a ruler with absolute power and authority.

A percentage of the meat sold by vendors in Corinth was either blessed by, or dedicated to, pagan deities. Paul instructed his friends to avoid asking which was which since it doesn't matter to God if the foods Christians ingest are religiously tainted without their knowledge: and since it's The Lord's earth, then if He says it's okay; then it's okay; but again, only if we're unaware of the meat's religious significance.
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1Cor 10:27 . . If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience.

In other words, this is one of those Don't-Ask-Don't-Tell situations.

1Cor 10:27-29 . . But if anyone says to you "This has been offered in sacrifice" then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who told you and for conscience' sake-- the other man's conscience, I mean, not yours.

If you go ahead and dine in someone's home where you know in advance the food is either dedicated to, or blessed by, a pagan deity, or that when they say grace around the table it will be to a god other than your own, or to a sacred personage that you do not accept; then your host is quite possibly going to come to the conclusion that his religion is just as valid as yours if you don't decline.

This is not saying that Catholics and Protestants can't eat together and/or pray together around the table; nor is it saying that Christians and Jews can't eat together and pray together around the table: not when Catholics, Protestants, and Jews are all praying to the same God: just from a different perspective.

I will say this though: if you are a Catholic host, and your guests are either Protestants or Jews; then for God's sake DO NOT pray around the table to Christ's mom and/or to one of Catholicism's many patron saints. That is extremely offensive to Protestants and Jews, and totally unnecessary anyway when you can just as easily say grace to the one supreme being common to you all.
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1Cor 10:31 . . So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

One of the meanings of the Greek word for glory is "honor" which in this case can be defined as doing something out of respect for someone admired and/or held in high esteem.
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