Here is a teaching on part 2 of chapter 7 of the book of 1 Corinthians. If you want to check out previous Bible studies and chapters from now on, join our group here. Once you get added to that Facebook group, you can go to the "units" tab and see all the chapters and their study guides as they are being taught.
I did want to say a quick prayer... LORD, I pray that You lift up every person reading this right now. Please give us knowledge and understanding to know exactly what it is that we are reading and the wisdom to implement it in our daily lives. Please lead, guide, and direct us and help us through every aspect of our lives. Holy Spirit please guide us and help us to see the truth, know the truth, discern the truth, and live by the truth. LORD, I pray that whatever it is that each person is supposed to receive from this Bible study they receive it and implement it in their daily lives. I love You with every ounce of my being. In Jesus' name, Amen.
1 Corinthians Chapter 7 Part 2:
12 "To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. 13 And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. 14 For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.
15 But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. 16 How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?"
Alright, so I am going to stop right there and discuss these verses with you guys here. In verses 12-14, Paul is saying that if a woman decides to marry a man that is not a believer of Jesus Christ, then she must not divorce him and the same goes for a man deciding to marry a woman that is not a believer of Jesus Christ. Like Paul says in verse 14, the unbelieving husband or wife has been sanctified through the believing husband or wife because otherwise if they were to have children, the children would be unclean, if that person wasn't sanctified through the other. But whenever a believer and an unbeliever have children their children are holy because the unbeliever has been sanctified by the believer in that uniting of the flesh.
In verses 15-16, if the unbeliever decides to leave then they can let them leave because they don't know if the person that is an unbeliever that they decide to marry is ever going to actually believe in Jesus Christ. We ourselves can not save anyone, the only one that can save us is Jesus Christ. So if that unbeliever decides to leave then you can let them leave. You are not obligated to make them stay because you don't even know if they will ever believe in Jesus Christ. The most important thing is just making sure that you stand firm in your faith and keep that relationship with God. Whoever He intends for you will be there and whoever He doesn't intend for you will eventually leave.
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17 Nevertheless, each person should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches. 18 Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised. 19 Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commands is what counts. 20 Each one should remain in the situation which he was in when God called him. 21 Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you—although if you can gain your freedom, do so. 22 For he who who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord’s freedman; similarly, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ’s slave. 23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. 24 Brothers, each man, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation God called him to.
Alright, those are all of the verses of part 2 chapter 7 of the book of 1 Corinthians, but I'm going to discuss these verses with you guys here. So in these last verses that I just read here, wherever you were or are as God has called you, whenever you started believing in Jesus Christ and have been called to do certain things by God, remain where you are. Unless you are guided by the Holy Spirit to go somewhere new or do something new, just remain where you are. You don't have to change the situation that you are in right now because you have been called by God. God chose in the time and in the situation that you are in to call you. So when it comes to circumcision and uncircumcision stuff like that doesn't matter, the stuff of the flesh doesn't matter, what counts is doing what God has called you to do, being fully submitted to the will of God, and letting the Holy Spirit guide you. Whatever circumstances you are facing right now, whatever financial situations, wherever it is that you are in life right now is exactly where you are supposed to be at this moment. So it's not important to focus on trying to change your situation or dwelling on materialistic things or different things like that but making sure that you let the Holy Spirit guide you, you are staying fully submitted to the will of God and you are doing everything that He has called you to do. If you don't know exactly what it is that God is calling you to do then it's important to have those conversations with God, dive deep into the Bible and study scripture, pray, have quiet time to listen to God, and let the Holy Spirit guide you. If you feel the tug to do something go ahead and do it, and if it's not the thing that God has called you to do, you will get clarity on it. As long as you continue to let the Holy Spirit guide you and you are continuing to seek guidance from God, you will know if what you are doing is what you have been called to do and certain circumstances or situations will open up for you and certain ones will close for you. But what Paul is saying in these verses here is that it's important to just do whatever it is that God has called you to do, stay in the place you are right now, if He's called you to do something in your workplace, or wherever He's called you to do it, stay where you are, do what God has called you to do, and just let Him guide you to the next things one step at a time.
What Paul says here in verse 21, whenever we are saved by Jesus Christ, we are free in Christ but we are also a servant of Christ. We were bought with the price of having a new life in Jesus Christ and having eternal life in heaven with Him and God the Father but whenever we have that new life in Jesus our life no longer belongs to us but it belongs to God. We have to make sure that we are staying fully submitted to His will, we are seeking to live and have a heart like Jesus, spreading the gospel, and letting other people know about Jesus and how He's changed our lives in hopes that they may be saved and go to heaven also.
In verse 23, we don't want to be slaves of men or do what other people tell us to do or live our lives based on what other people want, but always be fully submitted to the will of God, live our lives for God, and know that this life is not our own and this world is only our temporary home and our true home is in heaven with Jesus and God the Father. Until we go to our true home in heaven, it's important for us to do what God wants us to do and be fully submitted to His will.
In verse 24, we don't want to rush to try and change to go to something new or if we see this person over here doing this so maybe we think it's what we should do, we have to stay where God has called us at the moment. Every step of what God has called us to do we just have to stay faithful to that, and then whenever we get that call from God to move on to the next thing then we can do that. It's important for us to stand firm in our faith, stay faithful, let the Holy Spirit guide us, and make sure that whenever we do go to the next thing it's what God wants us to do and not just what we want to do. A lot of times what God wants us to do and what we want to do are two completely different things. Trust me if I was always wanting to do the things that I wanted to do, I definitely wouldn't be doing the things that I'm doing today. But I know that God's will and His plans for my life are way greater than mine, so I just have to stay faithful to what He's called me to do instead of doing what I want to do.
1 Corinthians part 2 Ch 7 Study Guide
Is a believer obligated to stay married to an unbeliever if the unbeliever wants to leave? Why or why not?
What is the most important thing that we should be doing?
What should we do when God calls us to do something?
What is your biggest takeaway from this Bible study?
So that concludes this Bible study on part 2 of chapter 7 of the Book of 1 Corinthians. Next time we're going to go into part 3 of chapter 7 so make sure that you stay tuned for that.
I love you guys so much.
Never forget to choose faith over fear.
-Lorena Camille (Faith Fuels My Fire)
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Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights