Episode 2824 - Lesson 4 - Saturday July 18 - Sin in the Church ⛪

Sabbath AfternoonRead for This Week's Study: 1 Cor. 5:1-13, 2 Cor. 2:5-10, 1 Cor. 6:1-13, 1 Thess. 4:1-8, 1 Cor. 6:19-7:9Memory Text: "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20, NIV).Our brains are like sponges: whatever is brought to them, via our senses, stays in them. We might not be conscious of most of what comes in (we'd be unable to think clearly if we did remember everything), but it's all there, and, to some degree, impacts what we think, feel, and do.That's why it's so easy for us, even as Christians, to be impacted by all the bad things around us. The Christian church, from the start, has struggled with this problem. Where, for instance, did Sunday keeping come from? Did the church just pull it out of the air? Of course not. It came from the culture around it.And we can see this principle unfolding here in Corinth. After an appeal against factionalism (1 Corinthians 1-4), Paul now turns to issues related to sexual immorality, lawsuits, prostitution, marriage, and singleness (1 Corinthians 5-7). The standards of the world affected them extensively. The factionalism portrayed in 1 Corinthians 1-4 opened the door for the moral behavior denounced in the ensuing chapters. How does Paul seek to address this sin in the church, and what lessons can we take from what he wrote?* Study this week's lesson to prepare for Sabbath, July 25.