Free in Christ

Meditations in First Corinthians 

May 18, 2022

Free in Christ

I want you to be free from the concerns of this life.

1 Corinthians 7:32a

Read: 1 Corinthians 7:32-40

I can truly sense the struggle Paul was feeling as he responds to the concerns of the Corinthian church. As I noted yesterday, Paul was trying to help the church navigate their desire to be faithful to Christ, and anticipating his return in Glory, with the conflicts that existed between their life in Christ and the prevailing secular culture.

Similar issues face today’s Christian families. To borrow a phrase from Watchman Nee, the ‘normal Christian life’, as Paul understood it, and as it is still understood by orthodox churches, included participation in worship, regularly receiving the sacrament of Holy Communion, participation in Bible study, and active participation in the spiritual disciplines, or, as Wesley called them, the means of grace. Over and against the ‘normal Christian life’, the Corinthians, and the twenty-first century Christians, were challenged by competing priorities. The pressure to go along to get along in society is always compelling. In today’s family life, children’s sports and other activities frequently trump participation in the life of the church.

My Takeaway: Paul was teaching the church how make the life in Christ their way of life. The Christ life is unconventional; it reconfigures behavior according to Jesus’s teachings in many areas, especially wealth, sex, and power. The first-century church embraced the Christ life and changed the world. So can we. 

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2022 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.