Peter Misselbrook's Blog
Apr 7 2020 - 1 Corinthians 7:1-24 – No longer our own

One of the frustrations of reading 1 Corinthians is that for much of it Paul is quite clearly answering specific questions raised by the Corinthians themselves – but we do not know the questions they asked or the specific situations that gave rise to them. It’s rather like listening to one side of a telephone conversation and trying to work out what it’s all about. I’m sure you know just how frustrating that can be and how easily we can jump to unwarranted conclusions. It’s good to take care when dealing with these chapters of 1 Corinthians so that we do not twist any passage or verse to mean what we wish it to mean.

For this reason, I want to focus on what I believe to be the main point that undergirds all of Paul’s practical teaching in the section we are reading this morning.

Twice, in the space of a few paragraphs, Paul tells the Christians at Corinth that they were bought with a price. On the first occasion, in 1 Corinthians 6:20, Paul is urging them to abstain from sexual immorality. What you do with your body matters, says Paul: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. Therefore honour God with your body.”

This principle is then worked out in relation to marriage. We are not our own, we belong to Christ. But if we are married then husband and wife belong to each other. Incidentally, Paul’s equality of language here on the relationship of husband to wife and wife to husband is quite remarkable. Paul here quite clearly undermines the assumed male domination prevalent in the first century – both within Judaism and within the Gentile world. Paul calls his married readers to work out how to live within this tension of belonging both firstly and wholly to the Lord and also wholly to one another.

On the second occasion when Paul uses this phrase, he is addressing the mixture of classes at Corinth (1 Corinthians 7:22-23). Some are slaves and some are free. Paul reminds them all that they have been bought with a price. The slave has been bought by Christ and become his freeman. The free person has been bought by Christ and has become his slave. Whoever we may be, we are called to serve him with body, mind and strength.

Paul’s words in these verses bring to my mind the wonderful first question and answer of the Heidelberg Catechism of 1563. The disciple in the Christian faith is asked, “What is your only comfort, in life and in death?” And the answer which they are to learn and repeat is as follows, “That I belong – body and soul, in life and in death – not to myself but to my faithful Saviour, Jesus Christ, who at the cost of his own blood has fully paid for all my sins and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil; that he protects me so well that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that everything must fit his purpose for my salvation. Therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.”

Now that’s a question and answer well worth learning and loving. We belong to Christ as his purchased possession. We are not our own. This is not only a call to live a godly life, it is also our greatest comfort and joy in life and in death.

Father God, I praise you that I am not my own but have been bought with a price. Help me by your Spirit no longer to live to myself but entirely for him who loved me and gave himself for me.

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Apr 7 2019 - Psalm 40 – Waiting for the Lord

I recently read an Advent book by Paula Gooder. The introduction was an extended reflection on waiting. We do not find waiting easy – at least speaking for myself. We wait in queues to be served. We wait for an appointment with the doctor. Sometimes, we wait for the morning. Rarely do I wait patiently. Paula Gooder, writing as a mother, uses the experience of pregnancy to demonstrate that waiting is not wasted time. The birth cannot be rushed and the waiting is necessary for the growth and development of the expected child. It is fruitful time, full of glad anticipation and of hope.

Psalm 40 begins with the words, "I waited patiently for the Lord." David had been in trouble. No doubt he wanted to be rescued and rescued quickly, but he "waited patiently for the Lord." He knew that only the Lord could help him so he did not rely on his own resources, nor did he turn to anyone else for help. He waited on the Lord with expectation and with hope. He waited in full confidence that the one in whom he placed his hope and trust would answer him and come to his aid.

And this is David's testimony:

He turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
    out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
    and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth,
    a hymn of praise to our God.

At the end of his waiting, God heard, answered and rescued him. David compares his predicament to being in a slimy pit. Not only would it be most unpleasant to be in such a pit, it would also be all but impossible to escape. Every time you tried to get out by your own efforts you'd slip and slide back down to the bottom covered with more mud and mire than ever. But God, says David, lifted him out and set his feet upon a rock. No more slipping and sliding but a firm and solid place to stand. David's mouth is filled with praises to God. The experience was worth the waiting.

David turns his experience into an urgent message to all who will listen: "Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him. Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord… May all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who long for your saving help always say, ‘The Lord is great!'" (vv. 3, 4, 16). The painful experience of waiting is turned into a joyful testimony of deliverance.

Left to ourselves we remain floundering around in the slimy pit of our own sin and helplessness. There is one alone who can help us and that is Christ, who gave himself for our salvation. Maybe it took us many years to come to that conclusion but, having recognised at last that Christ is our help and our hope we realise also that the years of our floundering were not wasted years; they led us at last to him. Now we gladly confess, "On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand." Our experience of our desperate need and of God's gracious response in the Lord Jesus Christ puts songs of praise in our mouths: "Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have done." It fills us with the determination to live in glad obedience to our Saviour (v.8), and encourages us to tell others of God's saving goodness (v.9). There is no-one like our God.

Father God, we thank you for our Saviour, the Lord Jesus, who came down into the slimy pit of our floundering and despair and lifted us up to stand upon the solid ground of his saving work. Gladly we confess that you, O Lord, are great. Help us not to hide away in our hearts the wonderful things you have done for us but to praise you openly and commend your salvation to all who will listen.

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Peter Misselbrook