Christ's Instructions

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076) 1Cor 7:12-13 . . If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be
pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away. And the woman which hath an
husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave
him.

It's not all that unusual for marriages to start off on common ground, and then
later on to become religiously divided; like for instance when one of the spouses
gets converted at a Luis Palau crusade, or both start out as Christians and one
switches over to Buddhism. As long as the situation doesn't cause intolerable
friction in the home, the couple should stay together.

● 1Cor 7:14-15 . . For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the
unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be
unclean, but now they are holy.

According to Matt 5:32 and Matt 19:9, divorce and remarriage are holy only if one
of the spouses has been unfaithful. So; if a believing spouse divorces their
unbelieving spouse solely on the grounds of religious differences, and remarries;
then as far as the New Testament is concerned, any children produced in the
second marriage will be illegitimate.
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077) 1Cor 7:15 . . But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a
sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace.

In this situation, Christians are neither required, nor encouraged, nor under even
the slightest obligation to attempt reconciliation; rather, "let him depart" strictly
forbids getting back together with the unbeliever.

The unbeliever's departure is a golden opportunity, to permanently escape a
difficult situation that Christ's followers would be foolish to let slip through their
fingers.
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078) 1Cor 7:17 . . But as God hath distributed to every man, as The Lord hath
called every one, so let him walk.

"distribution" is likely talking about spiritual gifts. All of Christ's believing followers
are supposed to have at least one.

"Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of
administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is
the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to
every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit, yada, yada, yada."
(1Cor 12:5-8)

The "call" likely includes the venue where each individual's gift is put to good use
for The Lord and I don't think we need to worry about how to find that venue; it'll
find us. Thing is, stay in your own zone; don't crash somebody else's party and/or
stick your nose into something that's none of your spiritual business, and quite
possibly out of your spiritual depth too.
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079) 1Cor 7:18a . . Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become
uncircumcised.

It was of course impossible to literally reverse circumcision in Paul's day. However,
there did exist a procedure to ceremoniously reverse it. (cf. 1Maccabees 1:15)

● 1Cor 7:18b . . Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised.

The circumcision in question is ritual circumcision; specifically the initiation rite into
Judaism.

Paul's advice is very practical because when men undergo Judaism's circumcision
rite, they obligate themselves to comply with the covenant that Moses' people
agreed upon with God on oath per Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

As a result; they put themselves in danger of God slamming them with the curses
for noncompliance listed at Lev 26:3-38, Deut 27:15-26, and Deut 28:1-69. (cf. Gal
3:10)

All one has to do is research the last 3,500 years of the Jews' history, up to and
including the Holocaust, to see for themselves that God is serious about those
curses.

FAQ: If 1Cor 7:18b is a hard and fast rule, then why did Paul circumcise Timothy at
Acts 16:1-3?

REPLY: The procedure wasn't done to initiate Timothy into Judaism, but rather, so
that the Jews wouldn't make an issue of Paul associating with an uncircumcised
Gentile which, in their minds, would effectively invalidate his message.

A similar problem exists today among Christians fixated on a particular translation
of the Bible. They will not listen to a teacher, not even a Spirit empowered teacher,
unless he quotes from their favorite version. In their minds; all who use any other
version are heretics right from the get-go.
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080) 1Cor 7:20 . . Each one should remain in the situation which he was in when
God called him.

I once knew a really good Christian man who felt guilty never going out as a
missionary to a foreign land to help people less fortunate than himself. Well, I
assured him that somebody has to stay back here in the States and hold down a
job in order to earn the money needed to finance missions already in place.

The ratio of soldiers in the rear compared to the ones at the front is something like
six to one. It takes a massive support base to keep our guys on the line out there
facing off with the other guys; all the way from workers in state-side factories
manufacturing war materiel, to the sailors, soldiers, and airmen moving men and
materiel over land and seas, to the doctors and nurses staffing MASH facilities, to
the guys and girls driving supply trucks to the front. We can't all be in the bush.
Somebody has to be in the rear with the gear.

So take comfort in knowing that if you're involved in the effort, then you're a part
of the effort; and will be rewarded accordingly. (cf. 1Sam 30:1-25 and Matt 20:1-16)
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[Lees]

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079) 1Cor 7:18a . . Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become
uncircumcised.

It was of course impossible to literally reverse circumcision in Paul's day. However,
there did exist a procedure to ceremoniously reverse it. (cf. 1Maccabees 1:15)

● 1Cor 7:18b . . Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised.

The circumcision in question is ritual circumcision; specifically the initiation rite into
Judaism.

Paul's advice is very practical because when men undergo Judaism's circumcision
rite, they obligate themselves to comply with the covenant that Moses' people
agreed upon with God on oath per Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

As a result; they put themselves in danger of God slamming them with the curses
for noncompliance listed at Lev 26:3-38, Deut 27:15-26, and Deut 28:1-69. (cf. Gal
3:10)

All one has to do is research the last 3,500 years of the Jews' history, up to and
including the Holocaust, to see for themselves that God is serious about those
curses.

FAQ: If 1Cor 7:18b is a hard and fast rule, then why did Paul circumcise Timothy at
Acts 16:1-3?

REPLY: The procedure wasn't done to initiate Timothy into Judaism, but rather, so
that the Jews wouldn't make an issue of Paul associating with an uncircumcised
Gentile which, in their minds, would effectively invalidate his message.

A similar problem exists today among Christians fixated on a particular translation
of the Bible. They will not listen to a teacher, not even a Spirit empowered teacher,
unless he quotes from their favorite version. In their minds; all who use any other
version are heretics right from the get-go.
_

Circumcision and the better translations of the Bible are not 'similar' problems.

Your statement, "They will not listen to a teacher, not even a Spirit empowered teacher, unless he quotes from their favorite version" is full of assumptions and bias.

You present this so called 'spirit empowered teacher' as being correct in what he says and the Bible version he uses. Which is an assumption and bias on your part. As though you are who determines who is 'spirit empowered'.

All you have really said is that you don't use the accepted translation of the Bible. In other words, you are telling everyone not to judge your words by the Bible. To do so, means you are one of those 'close minded' translation Christians. And, oh my, no one wants to be one of those.

So, sorry. I don't listen to you because Scripture is against you.

Lees

 

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081) 1Cor 7:21-22 . . Were you called while a slave? Do not be concerned about it;
but if you can be made free, rather use it. For he who is called in The Lord while a
slave is The Lord's freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is Christ's slave.

Were this the only life, then slavery would be a terrible fate because there would be
nothing better to look forward to; viz: Christian slaves should think of their
situation as only a temporary set-back. They're missing out on the best that life has
to offer for now, but I'm pretty sure they can look forward to Christ making it up to
them in the next life.

The situation of Christians behind bars, without possibility of either release or
parole, is little different than that of slaves. However, though their time inside may
be for life, it isn't permanent. No, their time inside is just a bump in the road: it's
not the end of the road.

As I was watching a prison documentary on NetFlix some time ago, one of the
inmates interviewed-- an elderly man sweeping with a broom out in the yard --said,
in so many words: Guys come in here thinking their life is over. It ain't over, it's
just different.

That old guy was a lifer, but he was at peace with his situation-- an amazing
attitude for an institutionalized man with no hope of ever again having a normal life
on the outside.
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[BruceLeiter]

~
Hello;

There's been times during our +/- 27 years of internet forum activity when we
encountered people wanting to know what they're supposed to do now that they
decided to become a Christian.

A mega Baptist church that we attended back in the decade of the 1970's had a
discipleship program that incorporated an outreach booklet called "The Four
Spiritual Laws" authored in 1952 by Campus Crusade for Christ founder Dr. Bill
Bright.

Those guidelines are helpful as far as they go, but they're pretty elementary and in
our opinion inadequate for taking Christ's believing followers to infinity and beyond,
so to speak.

Some years ago, just for the curiosity of it, we set out compiling a home-spun
catalogue of Christ's instructions from the new Testament that apply to all his
followers regardless of denominational affiliation. In time we realized that his
instructions, accompanied by a little commentary, would make a pretty good
how-to handbook; so here we are.

** We chose to start in the book of Acts because that's pretty much where Christ's
apostles began telling his believing followers what to do in accord with the Lord's
instructions per Matt 28:19-20.

Buen Camino
(Pleasant Journey)
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A pleasant journey to you too! The Four Spiritual Laws were for seekers, not believers to call then to trust in Jesus.

Or you could recommend that new followers read the New Testament over and over again. They should also read the Old Testament as background to the New Testament, because it too is God's Word.

Then, I would recommend to new followers that they join a support/Bible discussion group for further growth along with faithful attendance at church.