1 Corinthians 7:25-40, Called to Devotion
Theological Proposition/Focus:
Homiletical Proposition/Application: The call of a Christian is a call to devotion. Yes, there are commitments in life, but all commitments should be measured and evaluated through the lens of devotion to Christ.
Introduction:
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Setting the Stage:
At this point in our study of First Corinthians we have learned a lot about our calling.
Paul wrote about marriage, divorce, celibacy, widowhood, slavery, in all cases Paul reminded his readers that our identity must be in Christ.
Today we are going to see how Paul writes to those who are unmarried and have never been married.
Now some of you are in this category, but many of us are not.
Still, the text is applicable because what we learn our undivided devotion to the Lord should influence our every decision.
Body
Devotion to Christ requires that major life decisions be considered through the lens of your Christian identity (25-28).
The inspiration of Scripture demands that we adopt not just the spoken words of Christ but the entire Bible as our authority (25).
Here is reality, there is a lot more to Theology than just the words Christ spoke during his earthly ministry! A lot more.
The Gospels, represent just under 8% of the entire Bible. And the Words of Christ recorded in the Gospels even less.
If we are to live properly we need to base everything on the entire Bible and look at life through a theological lens.
Not every life situation was covered by Jesus.
Paul acknowledged that Jesus had not taught specifically on virgins in this context.
But that did not mean that truth could not be known. The Holy Spirit working through Paul provided both authoritative teaching and a model for answering unanswered questions.
Virgins were those who had never been married
Using the theological principles that had been laid down people would know how to properly handle this case.
Image: Don't fall for the Red Letter Bible Fallacy
Red letter Bibles are something that is popular. After all, the words of Jesus are important right! Yes, they are important, all of them, even the ones not written in red! We need to be careful that we take all of Scripture and apply it to the situations of life. We believe the entire Bible is inspired and so we believe it all speaks to the issues of life. Since we identify as Christ followers is should be the lens through which we view everything.
