We live in a culture that both glorifies sex and abstains from it. We see young people indulge in all kinds of sexual immorality where marriage has become a joke or unnecessary, we also see married couples being indifferent towards each other and it makes everything mechanical between them. In this passage, we see how the gospel has an answer to both singles and married couples in the church.
Sexual Sin or adultery are not something you try to tackle with or negotiate; you just flee from them. If you don’t flee from these sins, they will destroy both your body and soul. Most importantly, we learn from this passage to flee from sexual immorality because they’re also the sins for which Christ was crucified so that we could be saved; our body and soul were bought for a price.
Christians are called to handle conflicts (to whatever extent) in a different way and in a different place called Church. In other words, Christians are forbidden to take their brothers to court. Why are they forbidden? Because of the gospel! In this passage, we learn how the gospel becomes the basis on which we deal with conflicts and forgive one another, regardless of the kind of sin committed.
Last week we considered the importance of Church Discipline in God’s community to maintain the purity of doctrine and purity of life. The greatest obstacle to maintain purity in our lives is our own sin. In this passage, we continue on the same topic and learn the importance of holiness and the danger of sin.
Church Discipline is disciplinary act from the elders of the church to rebuke, correct and restore a person from a sinful lifestyle in order to prevent the soul from further damage. It is a way of bringing back the prodigal into the fellowship of God and believers. In this passage, we learn why and how we need to practice church discipline.
Making disciples is not a commission given to just Apostles only but to every Christian as well. It implies that every Christian’s greatest calling in life is to work for the extension of God’s kingdom by joining with other believers in this endeavor; discipleship is a community project. In this passage, we learn how to make disciples for Christ by first becoming a disciple of Christ.
Suffering is a result of sin and sin dwells in our lives, our hearts and in our minds. Our culture often deals with suffering by trying to avoid it, not knowing the fact that suffering is the inevitable part of life. But the bible actually encourages Christians to face suffering with faith in order to grow in Christ and to draw closer to Him, because only God is the solution for all our sufferings. In this passage, we learn how to depend on the Lord in times of suffering.
God already showed us in scriptures what it means for us to be His children, and what it costs us to follow Him. In many ways, the Cross of Jesus Christ is the way of Christian Life. He humbled Himself to the cross and sacrificed His own life for us, He suffered for our sake, He endured all kinds of rejection from His own people. In this passage, we see how the Cross becomes the model for christian life.
Pastors in the Bible are mainly called to feed God’s sheep i.e His children. In other words, they’re called to be the stewards of God’s household. But how does our culture and our society define the office of a Pastor? Do they have balanced view of Pastors? In this passage, we learn how we can avoid from Idolizing a Pastor and also to prevent ourselves from undermining the calling of a Pastor.
Resurrection is the most important truth of Christianity that sets itself apart from all other religions, because Jesus Christ was risen from the dead (no other religion can make a verifiable claim like this). If we remove this claim from the Bible, we remove any possibility of being saved; there cannot be any hope of eternal life. In this sermon, we learn how the salvation of our lives depend on Jesus Christ’s resurrection.