Welcome to
Heaven's Point of View.
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My name is Dr. Senez
Rodriguez and we are discussing
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with Dr. Shepherd from
the university seminary
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as a professor of New
Testament Interpretation,
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on the topic of love,
marriage, sex and divorce
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according to the New Testament.
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So that is our topic for today.
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Now, Dr. Shepherd, last
time you talked a great deal
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about the
problem of premarital sex
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and pornography here
in the United States.
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How do you see 1 Corinthians
6 addressing these issues?
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Okay, last time we noticed
that there have been big shifts
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in the United States
over the last 50 years
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with increasing
levels of premarital sex of--
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we have now unmarried
people living together
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quite openly actually and
the increase in pornography
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especially through the internet.
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And these characteristics
of shifting sexual mores
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has a rather
interesting parallel
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to what was going
on in ancient Corinth.
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And we looked at
the Corinthian church
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and its establishment by
Paul, it was set up by Paul.
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And how the church had so
many problems going on within it
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including such thing
as all kinds of disputes
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or misunderstandings
about doctrinal issues.
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But then there were
also issues of practice
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where they had somebody
living with his father's wife,
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they had, so they had incest,
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they had probably
people going to prostitutes.
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They had some people
who were probably saying
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that sex was something
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that you shouldn't
even do in marriage.
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And just all kinds of
disputes and problems,
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people taking others to court
and really, really sick church.
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So Paul has in
correspondence with this church.
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And 1 Corinthians 6
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is a very
interesting transition point
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in the Book of 1 Corinthians.
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Commentators dispute exactly
what's going on in this chapter
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as we will see particularly
at the end of the chapter.
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But if we start at the
beginning of the chapter,
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the first eight verses
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are about the subject of
lawsuits between believers.
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And Paul is just
appalled by the idea
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that they would
take one another to court
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and he says and that
before the unbelievers.
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So they're exposing
the church to shame by,
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you know, going to a law court
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where one brother
can't get along with another
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and he describes the situation,
the lawsuits that are going on
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and he says, "Don't you
have some people who can,
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you know, take care of
disputes within the church
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without having to go to
people outside the church.
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Then he comes in verses 9 to 11,
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he talks about
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"the unrighteous will not
inherit the kingdom of God."
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And he goes into a
list, we call it a vice list
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where he list off
a groups of people
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that will not be
in God's kingdom,
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he says, "the sexually
immoral, idolaters, adulterers,
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men who practice homosexuality,
thieves, the greedy,
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the drunkards,
revilers, the swindlers."
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He says, "They will not
inherit the kingdom of God."
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And he says, "Some
of you were like that.
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But you were washed, you were
sanctified, you were justified
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in the name of Lord Jesus Christ
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and by the Spirit of our God."
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That's the first section.
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The first two
sections, the lawsuit
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and then this whole thing about
the unrighteous and reminders
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that you have to
be faithful to God
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in order to be in His kingdom.
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Some people
want to give the idea
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that it doesn't matter
what you do in your life,
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God will save everybody,
we call that universalism.
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Well, it's
certainly not a biblical idea.
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It's certainly not
here in Paul's writings.
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In verses 12 to 20,
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Paul comes to the
question of sexual ethics.
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Now the major
issues about this passage
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that we're going to
spend several times,
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several programs looking
at of 1 Corinthians 6:12-20.
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The major issues revolve around
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whether Paul is
attacking Corinthian slogans.
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And, you know, describing those
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or whether he is
expressing his own statements
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and just adding fine
touches to his teaching
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for the Corinthian believers.
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So we're gonna look--
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We're gonna be
Bible detectives today.
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Okay.
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We're gonna look for
clues to try to understand
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just what he is saying.
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But we can easily see that
either way 1 Corinthians 6,
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1 Corinthians 7
deal with sexual ethics
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which is the topic we're
now in our program discussing.
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This passage, 1
Corinthians 6:12-20
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comes at a crucial point
in the Book of Corinthians.
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Paul is shifting his
discussion from matters
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that were
brought to his attention
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by oral reports
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that came to him
to discussing matters
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that he got a
letter from them about.
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So he'd gotten oral reports
about problems in the church
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and he talks
about some of those.
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But in Chapter 7:1, he will say,
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"Now concerning the
matters about which you wrote."
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So this Chapter 6:12-20
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is at the transition point.
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And has a, you know,
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kind of this
important transitional role
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that it plays.
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It actually is
filled with theology,
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this little section
about sexual ethics.
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You think that
perhaps on sexual ethics,
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Paul would just
say, "Don't do that."
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You know, "Don't do
this immoral behavior."
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Do this, don't do that.
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But actually he
fills the whole thing
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with a lot of
theological themes.
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He-- In fact the
theological themes
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look back to
earlier portions of the book
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and they look forward
to later parts of the book.
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So it's very transitional,
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it's very tight to
other aspects of the book.
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It recaps the ideas
and it rings the bells
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that he will
sound later in the book.
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For instance, the
word, the concept of food
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for some reason
comes up in this passage
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we'll look at that, but
it reappears in Chapter 8.
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Members of the body
of Christ appears here.
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He calls them you
were members of Christ body
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that will
reappear in Chapter 12.
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He talks about the Holy Spirit
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that will reappear
in Chapter 12 and 14.
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He talks about the resurrection
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that will
reappear in Chapter 15.
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He talks about
eschatology that we'll talk,
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it'll reappear
in verses 13 to 15.
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So he has some that
goes back earlier in the book
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and he looks also forward.
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So we shouldn't
be surprised actually
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that 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
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contains multiple strands
of very profound theology
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that's applied dynamically
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to one of the most pressing
problems of Paul's church.
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The parallels of
the Corinthian culture
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and the situation to our
day are actually very striking.
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And so this passage
so filled with power,
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this is actually my
favorite passage to talk about
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when I teach the
class on love, marriage,
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sex, and
divorce at the seminary.
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And it is so filled with
power, I'm just overwhelmed
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with how much
Paul has put in here
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and the way that
he's drawn together
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the different lines of theology
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to address a particular problem.
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So we should read the
passage, 1 Corinthians 6:12-20.
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Why don't you read that for us?
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"All things are lawful onto me,
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but all things
are not expedient.
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All things are lawful for me,
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but I will not be
brought under the power of any.
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Midst for the belly
and the belly for midst
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but God shall
destroy both it and then.
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Now the body is
not for fornication
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but for the Lord, and
the Lord for the body.
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And God had both
raised up the Lord
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and will also raise
up us by His own power.
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Now ye know that your bodies
are the members of Christ?
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Shall I then take
the members of Christ
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and make them the
members of an harlot?
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God forbid. What?
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Now ye know that
he which is joined
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to an harlot is one body.
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For two, said he,
'shall be one flesh.'
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But he that is joined on
to the Lord is one spirit.
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Flee fornication.
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Every sin that a man
does is without the body,
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but he that
committed fornication
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sinned against his own body.
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What?
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Now ye know that your body
is the temple of the Holy Ghost
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which is in you,
which ye have of God,
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and ye are not your own.
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For ye were bought with a price,
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therefore
glorify God in your body
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and in your
spirit, which are God's."
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It's a beautiful little passage.
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Beautiful, interesting
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and sometimes
problematic for some people.
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It's true I think
you were telling me
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about on email that
you've gotten on this topic.
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Yes, they were someone
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who wrote on
electronic communication
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discussing the issue of the
law and addressing this passage
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as suggesting that, you know,
everything is lawful to me,
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you know, there
was no problem with,
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there is no law in other words.
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It is up to me to
choose what is good
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or what is not good.
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Very interesting interpretation.
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Sure.
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And that's part of this passage
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that confounds
people as they look at this
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and they try to
scratch their heads.
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Now for those of us
who believe in God's law,
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we might be a little worried
about this passage in saying,
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wait a minute
what does Paul mean,
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all things are lawful for me?
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For those who think
that the laws done away with,
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they look at this passage say
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exactly that's what
Paul is trying to tell us
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that the law has
been done away with, okay.
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So they look at that.
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But when we take a
look at the passage
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a little more carefully
kind of trying to understand
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Paul's argument
in his reasoning.
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The passage we could divide
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and we will in this
series of discussions,
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divide the passage in kind
of two parts topically in a way.
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The other session
we'll spend a lot of time
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looking at these
phrases when Paul says,
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three different times it says,
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"Don't you know,
do you not know."
00:12:06.86\00:12:09.72
That phrase in Paul's writings
00:12:09.76\00:12:12.96
typically refers
to Christian teaching
00:12:12.99\00:12:16.26
that everybody should know
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or just some truth
that everybody should,
00:12:17.87\00:12:20.40
you know, just take for granted.
00:12:20.44\00:12:22.00
So he's gonna be referring
to Christian teachings,
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you know, but before
we get that to that point,
00:12:24.61\00:12:27.04
we have to look at his,
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particularly his
argument of verses 12 to 14.
00:12:28.61\00:12:32.45
We'll also look down at verse 18
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because there's an
interesting thing there.
00:12:34.22\00:12:36.42
Now if we look
at these passages,
00:12:36.45\00:12:40.92
if we say, he starts off,
let's start with verse 12.
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He says, "All
things are lawful for me,
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but not all things are helpful."
00:12:47.40\00:12:49.10
So what does that
last part suggest,
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the last part of that phrase,
00:12:52.67\00:12:54.24
but not all
things are helpful to me.
00:12:54.27\00:12:57.44
Does that mean that
00:12:57.47\00:12:58.97
what he said at first is true
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or is it is he
modifying it or did you--
00:13:04.91\00:13:08.48
what do you think about that.
00:13:08.52\00:13:09.85
"All things are lawful for me."
00:13:09.88\00:13:12.19
As if everybody can
do whatever they want,
00:13:12.22\00:13:14.79
but I don't think that he is.
00:13:14.82\00:13:16.22
In other words,
you are responsible
00:13:16.26\00:13:18.09
for your own choices.
00:13:18.13\00:13:19.46
So if you decide
to do what you know
00:13:19.49\00:13:23.13
or should know
that it is not correct.
00:13:23.16\00:13:25.97
Well, you are
responsible for that.
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Okay, so you could
do it, you could do it
00:13:27.97\00:13:30.07
but it might not help you.
00:13:30.11\00:13:32.11
Exactly. Yeah.
00:13:32.14\00:13:33.48
And then that the
second part he says,
00:13:33.54\00:13:34.98
"All things are lawful for me,
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but I will not be
enslaved by anything."
00:13:36.75\00:13:39.91
So, you know, again--
00:13:39.98\00:13:41.82
It sounds like a contradiction.
00:13:41.85\00:13:43.65
It does sound a bit
like a contradiction.
00:13:43.69\00:13:45.79
So if it's lawful,
00:13:45.82\00:13:47.89
if it's all things are
lawful then you are free.
00:13:47.92\00:13:51.46
But then he
turns around and says,
00:13:51.49\00:13:53.90
but I won't be
enslaved by anything.
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So are you free?
Are you not free?
00:13:56.30\00:14:00.34
Is he talking about freedom?
00:14:00.37\00:14:03.24
That's not
where the problems end
00:14:03.27\00:14:05.17
when you're trying to
figure this thing out.
00:14:05.21\00:14:07.31
If you go to verse 13 he says,
"Food is meant for the stomach
00:14:07.38\00:14:13.55
and the stomach for food."
00:14:13.62\00:14:15.98
All right, your
says meat I think.
00:14:16.02\00:14:17.82
The word here as
I recall is bro'-mah
00:14:17.85\00:14:20.56
in which is a general word
for food in Greek, all right.
00:14:20.59\00:14:23.46
So what kind of an
idea does that suggested,
00:14:23.53\00:14:26.36
"food for the stomach
and the stomach for food."
00:14:26.39\00:14:29.93
Is as if you could eat whatever
you want doesn't matter,
00:14:29.96\00:14:34.44
but it's like a proverb
that they used to talk about.
00:14:34.47\00:14:38.81
Yeah, it sounds like
some kind of a proverb
00:14:38.84\00:14:41.04
and if you said, "Food
is meant for the stomach
00:14:41.08\00:14:45.15
and the stomach
is meant for food,"
00:14:45.18\00:14:47.65
it's almost as though
there is some kind of a design
00:14:47.68\00:14:53.52
that the two fit
together, I mean it's like
00:14:53.56\00:14:55.56
people will say,
why do you have hands?
00:14:55.59\00:14:57.29
Hands are for shaking. Right.
00:14:57.33\00:15:00.43
Why do you have
ears? Ears are for hearing.
00:15:00.46\00:15:02.53
Why do you have a stomach?
00:15:02.56\00:15:03.90
Well, stomach is
for food, all right?
00:15:03.97\00:15:05.83
So it's an argument
from design, all right.
00:15:05.87\00:15:10.94
But then you say, okay,
00:15:10.97\00:15:12.31
there's an argument from
design, that's interesting
00:15:12.34\00:15:14.48
and why he would
bring food up here
00:15:14.51\00:15:17.35
that seems so little odd maybe.
00:15:17.38\00:15:19.68
But then he says,
"And God will destroy
00:15:19.71\00:15:22.12
both one and the other."
00:15:22.15\00:15:23.49
Well, if its food
is for the stomach,
00:15:26.32\00:15:29.36
and if it's gonna destroy it,
00:15:29.39\00:15:32.66
why does Paul mention
being destroying it, see.
00:15:32.69\00:15:36.87
Now it even gets worse
00:15:36.93\00:15:39.00
as you go into
the rest of verse 13,
00:15:39.03\00:15:41.64
he says, "The body is not
meant for sexual immorality
00:15:41.67\00:15:45.41
but for the Lord and
the Lord for the body."
00:15:45.44\00:15:47.44
He said, wait a minute.
00:15:47.48\00:15:49.21
I thought we were
talking about food.
00:15:49.24\00:15:51.71
Now suddenly he
is talking about sex.
00:15:51.75\00:15:54.55
Why does he, why did he do that.
00:15:54.58\00:15:56.69
And if you notice
at beginning verse 13,
00:15:56.75\00:15:59.39
"the food for the stomach
00:15:59.42\00:16:01.06
or the stomach is
designed for food."
00:16:01.09\00:16:03.76
But then he says,
00:16:03.79\00:16:05.59
"The body is not meant
for sexual immorality."
00:16:05.63\00:16:07.96
But for the Lord just like
00:16:07.96\00:16:09.30
the body is
designed for the Lord.
00:16:09.33\00:16:12.50
And so that seems to go against
what he just said almost,
00:16:12.53\00:16:18.31
it's very strange.
00:16:18.34\00:16:19.67
And then verse 14 he
says, "And God raised the Lord
00:16:19.71\00:16:23.85
and will also raise
up us up by his power."
00:16:23.88\00:16:28.45
Resurrection.
00:16:28.48\00:16:29.85
Now Paul, why are you
talking about the resurrection?
00:16:29.88\00:16:36.29
Why are you bringing that up?
00:16:36.32\00:16:38.16
It seems to have nothing to do
with what he just talked about.
00:16:38.19\00:16:41.96
If you go down to verse
18, read verse 18 again.
00:16:42.00\00:16:46.70
Verse 18 says,
"Flee fornication.
00:16:46.74\00:16:52.61
Every sin that a man
does is without the body,
00:16:52.64\00:16:57.78
but he that
committed fornication
00:16:57.81\00:17:00.85
sinned against his own body."
00:17:00.88\00:17:03.42
All right, so it
starts off and it says,
00:17:03.45\00:17:05.95
"Every sin that a man
commits is outside of his body."
00:17:05.99\00:17:12.53
Right.
00:17:12.56\00:17:13.93
Now my
translation actually says,
00:17:13.96\00:17:15.36
"Every other sin a man
commits or person commits
00:17:15.40\00:17:19.57
is outside the body."
00:17:19.60\00:17:21.80
But actually the word other
is being supplied by translator
00:17:21.84\00:17:26.34
because in Greek
there is no word other,
00:17:26.37\00:17:28.71
it's not there.
00:17:28.74\00:17:30.15
So your translation
presents it correctly,
00:17:30.18\00:17:33.15
"Every sin that a man
commits is outside the body."
00:17:33.18\00:17:36.69
But then he says,
00:17:36.72\00:17:38.55
"But the sexually immoral person
00:17:38.59\00:17:40.66
sins against his own body."
00:17:40.69\00:17:42.02
Now wait a minute, Paul?
You can't have it both ways.
00:17:42.06\00:17:46.80
If the sin is outside the body,
00:17:46.83\00:17:49.26
how can sexual sin
be against the body?
00:17:49.30\00:17:52.63
So that's why some people
want to use the word other there
00:17:52.67\00:17:56.40
and then they'll say,
00:17:56.44\00:17:57.77
well, every other
sin is against the body.
00:17:57.81\00:18:01.28
But the sin, sexual sin
that's worse because it,
00:18:01.31\00:18:06.18
you know, the others
are outside the body,
00:18:06.21\00:18:08.95
but sexual sin
is against the body.
00:18:08.98\00:18:12.02
And this raises a
question that people will raise
00:18:12.05\00:18:14.72
when they'll say the questions
like well, wait a minute.
00:18:14.76\00:18:18.29
What about alcoholism?
What about drug addiction?
00:18:18.33\00:18:20.73
Well, I mean, back
in the ancient world
00:18:20.76\00:18:22.06
the alcohol and
drinking of alcohol.
00:18:22.10\00:18:23.77
What about alcoholism?
00:18:23.80\00:18:25.37
Isn't that a sin
against the body?
00:18:25.40\00:18:27.37
Is that really
less of an addiction
00:18:27.44\00:18:29.70
than sexual addiction?
00:18:29.74\00:18:31.34
Is that worse for you?
Is that less bad for you?
00:18:31.37\00:18:35.58
Then promiscuity has
nothing to do with you,
00:18:35.61\00:18:38.28
it doesn't affect you.
00:18:38.31\00:18:40.05
So these kinds of questions,
00:18:40.12\00:18:42.92
you know, have really got people
00:18:42.95\00:18:44.45
scratching their
heads about this passage.
00:18:44.49\00:18:47.46
And it has led, it has
led a number of scholars
00:18:47.49\00:18:54.00
now actually the
majority of scholars
00:18:54.00\00:18:56.10
to think that there's
something else going on here.
00:18:56.13\00:18:58.47
Because this
additives are confusing
00:18:58.50\00:19:01.10
to some people right
people, like you know.
00:19:01.14\00:19:02.74
Yeah, they don't--
00:19:02.77\00:19:04.51
it doesn't seem to make
sense of what's going on.
00:19:04.54\00:19:06.64
Now the interesting thing
00:19:06.71\00:19:09.44
as the people have
suggested that the--
00:19:09.48\00:19:12.31
what Paul is doing
as he's quoting slogans
00:19:12.35\00:19:15.95
of the Corinthians.
00:19:15.98\00:19:17.82
He's quoting
slogans of the Corinthians
00:19:17.85\00:19:19.65
and then responding to them.
00:19:19.69\00:19:22.52
Quoting them and
then responding to them.
00:19:22.56\00:19:24.93
Of course the problem is
knowing where the quotes are.
00:19:24.96\00:19:31.10
How do you know, you know,
00:19:31.13\00:19:34.27
that Paul was
actually quoting those slogans?
00:19:34.30\00:19:36.64
How do you explain them?
00:19:36.71\00:19:38.04
That's part of the problem
because in the ancient text
00:19:38.07\00:19:41.81
there were no quotation marks,
00:19:41.84\00:19:44.05
in fact there were no chapter
divisions, verse divisions,
00:19:44.08\00:19:47.82
there were even no
divisions between words.
00:19:47.85\00:19:50.39
There were just a
line of capital letters
00:19:50.42\00:19:53.22
that went through it.
00:19:53.25\00:19:54.59
So it really becomes an issue
of interpretation to do this.
00:19:54.62\00:19:59.73
So somebody might say, oh,
that sounds rather squishy,
00:19:59.76\00:20:03.33
that sounds like, you know,
00:20:03.37\00:20:05.03
make it say
whatever you wanted to say.
00:20:05.07\00:20:07.10
No, it depends on the
logic of Paul's presentation,
00:20:07.14\00:20:11.87
he was very logical
in his presentation.
00:20:11.91\00:20:15.08
So that we noticed,
00:20:15.11\00:20:16.71
we were kind of
following the pattern of saying.
00:20:16.75\00:20:19.38
Well, what about
those who take the position
00:20:19.41\00:20:21.25
that this was about
libertinism he is saying.
00:20:21.28\00:20:24.39
These are Paul's
word all things are lawful
00:20:24.42\00:20:26.42
and food for the
stomach, stomach for food
00:20:26.45\00:20:29.02
and every sin is
outside the body.
00:20:29.06\00:20:31.43
When you take
those to be Paul's words
00:20:31.46\00:20:33.96
the problem is that the,
the text doesn't make sense.
00:20:34.00\00:20:39.47
There is no logic to it.
00:20:39.50\00:20:41.57
And you can't assume
that Paul was illogical,
00:20:41.60\00:20:44.57
you have to
start from the concept
00:20:44.61\00:20:45.94
that the writer knows
what he's doing is logically.
00:20:45.97\00:20:49.21
When you take
these as quotations
00:20:49.24\00:20:52.95
from the Corinthians,
00:20:52.98\00:20:54.58
suddenly
everything falls into place,
00:20:54.62\00:20:58.29
it's incredible.
00:20:58.32\00:20:59.65
So that's how we should
then interpret that passage.
00:20:59.69\00:21:02.59
Yes, let me
explain how this works.
00:21:02.62\00:21:05.69
Now we have a little, we
have a little table to show
00:21:05.73\00:21:10.43
that kind of illustrates this
00:21:10.47\00:21:11.80
and I put a number of
words they kind of summarizes it
00:21:11.83\00:21:14.20
and you'll be able to
see that on the screen.
00:21:14.24\00:21:16.14
But let me just
walk through this talking
00:21:16.17\00:21:17.67
about these
different verses, okay.
00:21:17.71\00:21:19.54
In verse 12 he says, "All
things are lawful for me."
00:21:19.57\00:21:22.88
That's actually the
Corinthian statement.
00:21:22.91\00:21:27.48
Then Paul responds "But
not all things are helpful."
00:21:27.52\00:21:31.09
"All things are lawful
for me," says the Corinthian.
00:21:31.12\00:21:34.72
"But I will not be
enslaved by anything."
00:21:34.76\00:21:37.49
Now how does that work, okay?
00:21:37.53\00:21:39.79
Usually we think of Paul
being little bit more forceful,
00:21:39.83\00:21:43.33
you know, he's
not gonna say, yes,
00:21:43.40\00:21:44.97
but not everything is helpful.
00:21:45.00\00:21:47.60
You expect him
to be more forceful
00:21:47.64\00:21:49.94
except that he had a problem
with a Corinthian church,
00:21:49.97\00:21:53.41
they didn't get along too well.
00:21:53.44\00:21:55.31
So you can't just tell
them, you have to persuade them.
00:21:55.34\00:21:59.68
So what better
way to persuade them
00:21:59.71\00:22:01.38
than to start with
their own argument.
00:22:01.42\00:22:03.79
You know, if your
take their premise
00:22:03.82\00:22:05.15
and you show
that it doesn't work,
00:22:05.19\00:22:06.96
then you've proved them
wrong to their own satisfaction.
00:22:06.99\00:22:10.33
Right, so, "All
things are lawful for me."
00:22:10.36\00:22:12.13
He says, okay, okay,
00:22:12.16\00:22:13.50
let's just go down
that street for a while,
00:22:13.53\00:22:15.00
that libertine
street that you have.
00:22:15.03\00:22:17.33
That but certainly not
all things are helpful.
00:22:17.37\00:22:21.54
Okay, they might say, okay.
00:22:21.57\00:22:22.90
"All things are
lawful for me" but he said,
00:22:22.94\00:22:24.51
"but I will not be
enslaved by anything."
00:22:24.54\00:22:27.04
You see a
libertine kind of a lifestyle
00:22:27.08\00:22:29.78
leads to the
most abject slavery.
00:22:29.81\00:22:32.15
That's right.
00:22:32.18\00:22:33.52
A libertine lifestyle leads
to the most abject slavery.
00:22:33.58\00:22:35.82
There's old saying in
Chinese, a man takes a drink,
00:22:35.85\00:22:41.06
a drink takes a
drink, a drink takes a man.
00:22:41.09\00:22:44.73
It comes to control him.
All right, we got to press on.
00:22:44.76\00:22:48.23
"Food is meant for the stomach
and the stomach for food"
00:22:48.26\00:22:51.13
and the
continuation of the quote,
00:22:51.17\00:22:52.67
"and God will
destroy them both."
00:22:52.70\00:22:54.70
Okay, now if you look at
the little chart you'll see,
00:22:54.74\00:22:57.04
"All things are lawful for
me was a libertine perspective."
00:22:57.07\00:23:00.71
Paul says, "I'm not
gonna be enslaved by that."
00:23:00.78\00:23:03.01
His theology is a
theology of liberation
00:23:03.04\00:23:05.81
not of libertinism.
00:23:05.85\00:23:07.22
All right.
00:23:07.25\00:23:08.58
Then they say,
"The stomach for food
00:23:08.62\00:23:09.95
and food for the stomach."
00:23:09.98\00:23:11.32
That's an argument from design.
00:23:11.35\00:23:13.79
They're arguing
00:23:13.86\00:23:15.19
that the stomach
is designed for food
00:23:15.22\00:23:18.09
and actually this is euphemism.
00:23:18.13\00:23:19.46
They're saying, sexual
organs are designed for sex.
00:23:19.49\00:23:22.96
You should use it for
sex. Paul says, "Wait a minute.
00:23:23.00\00:23:25.43
Now the Lord, the
body is made for the Lord,
00:23:25.47\00:23:28.67
the Lord is for the body
and the body for the Lord."
00:23:28.70\00:23:31.44
So he counters
each of their arguments
00:23:31.47\00:23:34.28
and that's how we recognized
00:23:34.31\00:23:35.64
that what's going on
is that he's quoting them
00:23:35.68\00:23:38.08
and then he's
responding to their arguments.
00:23:38.11\00:23:40.18
His teleology, his
argument from design
00:23:40.22\00:23:42.88
is not hedonistically theirs,
00:23:42.92\00:23:45.22
they say it was
designed for pleasure.
00:23:45.25\00:23:47.66
Paul says, "No, it was
designed for the Lord."
00:23:47.69\00:23:50.29
It was designed
for sanctification.
00:23:50.33\00:23:53.03
They say, this is still
part of their quote probably,
00:23:53.06\00:23:56.23
"God will destroy
both one and the other,
00:23:56.26\00:23:58.03
so they have an eschatology.
00:23:58.07\00:24:00.04
But it's an
eschatology of destruction,
00:24:00.07\00:24:02.07
God's gonna
destroy all these things."
00:24:02.10\00:24:04.31
Paul says, "Waite a minute.
00:24:04.34\00:24:06.24
God raised up the Lord,
he raised up the Lord Jesus
00:24:06.27\00:24:09.21
and He will
raise us up as well."
00:24:09.24\00:24:11.15
So that's an
eschatology of resurrection.
00:24:11.18\00:24:14.35
This is why he talks
about the resurrection,
00:24:14.38\00:24:17.09
he is countering their argument.
00:24:17.12\00:24:19.25
They say like, well, it's
all gonna be destroyed anyway,
00:24:19.29\00:24:21.26
so it doesn't
matter what you do with it.
00:24:21.29\00:24:23.76
And Paul says,
"No, it does matter
00:24:23.83\00:24:25.16
what you do with it."
00:24:25.19\00:24:26.53
Because your body is going
to be raised in the last day.
00:24:26.56\00:24:29.76
See he's a holistic
view of anthropology
00:24:29.80\00:24:33.54
of the human being.
00:24:33.60\00:24:34.94
So he says, "It
will be raised up,
00:24:34.97\00:24:36.34
so it does matter what you do."
00:24:36.37\00:24:38.17
I tell the
students this in class
00:24:38.21\00:24:39.84
kind of blows them away.
00:24:39.87\00:24:41.21
That the resurrection
is one of the great reasons
00:24:41.24\00:24:42.88
for not being
involved in promiscuity.
00:24:42.91\00:24:45.41
Why?
00:24:45.45\00:24:46.78
Because the resurrection
00:24:46.82\00:24:48.15
is what's gonna
happen to your body,
00:24:48.18\00:24:49.52
what you do with
it now has an affect.
00:24:49.55\00:24:51.25
You see and you
mustn't do with that now
00:24:51.29\00:24:52.79
because it will be
raised up in the last day, okay.
00:24:52.82\00:24:55.76
Now the other thing is
down in verse 18 where they say,
00:24:55.79\00:24:59.69
"every sin is the man
commits is outside the body."
00:24:59.73\00:25:02.90
That's their slogan, okay.
00:25:02.93\00:25:05.17
So that's a
harmatology and wonderful word
00:25:05.20\00:25:07.77
meaning a doctrine of
sin, a harmatology of dualism.
00:25:07.80\00:25:12.87
Really doesn't matter
what you do with the body
00:25:12.91\00:25:15.64
because God's gonna,
you know, do away with that.
00:25:15.68\00:25:17.88
And so your actions
don't really affect your soul.
00:25:17.91\00:25:24.49
You can go sleep
around and that's okay
00:25:24.52\00:25:27.19
because it doesn't
really affect your soul.
00:25:27.26\00:25:29.56
The body and the
soul are separated
00:25:29.59\00:25:31.36
and the soul is eternal
but the body will pass away.
00:25:31.39\00:25:35.43
Paul says, "Sexual
sin is against the body."
00:25:35.46\00:25:39.40
So he links back into
his anthropology of wholism
00:25:39.43\00:25:43.67
that you don't have
a soul, you are a soul
00:25:43.71\00:25:46.24
which we talk about
is the state of the,
00:25:46.27\00:25:48.08
state of the dead, right.
00:25:48.11\00:25:50.31
But it has characteristics
that link into our life, okay.
00:25:50.35\00:25:54.02
So tit for tat you could
say Paul response to their,
00:25:54.08\00:25:59.35
you know, their take
on the meaning of life,
00:25:59.39\00:26:02.59
they have this little
slogans that they use,
00:26:02.62\00:26:05.09
I can do whatever I want.
00:26:05.13\00:26:07.36
My body is designed for pleasure
00:26:07.40\00:26:09.03
I should use it for that
00:26:09.06\00:26:10.90
and it doesn't
matter what I do with it
00:26:10.97\00:26:12.33
because the sin
doesn't affect my soul.
00:26:12.37\00:26:14.87
So Paul was patiently educating
the church between that
00:26:14.90\00:26:19.34
to see the difference
between the life they had
00:26:19.37\00:26:22.51
and the life that
they are expected to have
00:26:22.54\00:26:24.68
when they accept Jesus Christ.
00:26:24.71\00:26:26.05
Right, when you look it back
at Chapter 6, the beginning,
00:26:26.08\00:26:28.48
from beginning from
Chapter 6, you know,
00:26:28.52\00:26:30.32
he's made these kind of
well, in 6 don't go in lawsuits
00:26:30.39\00:26:34.46
but then you know
this whole vice list
00:26:34.49\00:26:35.99
where you cannot do this
00:26:36.02\00:26:37.43
because that's not gonna
be in the Kingdom of God.
00:26:37.46\00:26:41.00
So he starts to bring together
00:26:41.03\00:26:43.33
a whole series of
theological arguments
00:26:43.37\00:26:46.47
to counter
these false teachings.
00:26:46.50\00:26:48.74
And what we've
seen in this one is
00:26:48.77\00:26:51.31
he has a theology of liberation,
00:26:51.34\00:26:54.34
countered, you know,
00:26:54.38\00:26:56.04
countered to their
theology of libertinism.
00:26:56.08\00:27:00.15
He has a
teleology of sanctification
00:27:00.18\00:27:02.95
countered to their
teleology of hedonism.
00:27:02.98\00:27:05.65
He has an
eschatology of resurrection
00:27:05.69\00:27:08.32
countered to their
eschatology of destruction.
00:27:08.36\00:27:10.86
He has a harmatology of wholism
and anthropology of wholism
00:27:10.89\00:27:14.36
countered to their
anthropology of dualism.
00:27:14.36\00:27:16.87
Dualism.
00:27:16.90\00:27:18.23
So back and forth he goes,
helping these people to see
00:27:18.27\00:27:22.40
that what they were doing
00:27:22.44\00:27:24.31
was so
destructive of Christian life,
00:27:24.34\00:27:26.71
so totally out of step.
00:27:26.78\00:27:28.64
And this helps to give
an answer to the person
00:27:28.68\00:27:30.85
who wrote to you within--
00:27:30.88\00:27:32.75
with a conviction
that it was okay to do,
00:27:32.78\00:27:36.38
you know, whatever they want.
00:27:36.42\00:27:37.92
No, that's not
what Paul is teaching.
00:27:37.95\00:27:40.09
Yeah.
00:27:40.16\00:27:41.49
Well, my friends,
00:27:41.52\00:27:42.86
these has been a pleasure
to have Dr. Shepherd with us.
00:27:42.89\00:27:46.36
Time is very
rapidly running out,
00:27:46.39\00:27:50.13
but we thank you for
paying attention to this series.
00:27:50.17\00:27:54.64
And we invite you
to continue discussing
00:27:54.67\00:27:58.91
and looking at these
interesting presentations
00:27:58.94\00:28:02.94
that are going to be so
helpful to you and to all us.
00:28:02.98\00:28:07.38
Thank you.
00:28:07.45\00:28:08.78