Sep 21, 2017
In today’s episode, we’re going to be digging into the second half of 1 Corinthians, chapter six, covering verses 12-20. I’ve entitled it, “A Change in Ownership” and it’s going to deal with our freedom in Christ. One of the things Paul found himself dealing with was the Corinthians’ tendency to abuse their newfound freedom in Christ. Sexual promiscuity was a huge problem in Corinth. Decadence and gluttony were also big problems. In fact, just about every one of the seven deadly sins was on the menu in Corinth, including pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed and sloth. And Paul was faced with the unenviable task of having to call the Corinthians to task on virtually every one of them. At the heart of each of these sins is the love of self. And the love of self was the antithesis of the love of Christ that all believers are to exhibit. Christ-like love is selfless and sacrificial. It is other-focused and self-denying. In fact, Jesus told His disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24 NLT). And Paul makes it clear that, as believers, we no longer belong to ourselves. We have been bought out of sin and self-worship by God and the price He paid was the death of His own Son.