Corruption of New Testament Time can Protect From Sin

1 Corinthians 5. Avoiding Sin

1.    Read the institute student manual commentary for 1 Corinthians 5:1, 11, “Did Paul Use the Word Fornication As We Use It Today?” (p. 288). Write a few sentences comparing the moral condition of ancient Corinth with the moral condition of our day.

        Fornication in Paul’s time though similar to what we understand about it was different in the fact that this was any extramarital intercourse. We usually only see this as sexual intercourse between an unmarried couple. It using the proper terminology we can see that this actually means that we are not supposed to have any sexual interactions outside of the bonds of marriage like the Law of Chasity states. We need to keep ourselves chase from the rest of the world except for after we are married. One thing that we can see in comparison from Corinth and life today is that there seems to be a lot of promiscuity in both. Corinth was in the center of two major nationalities and was a large city and just as with larger cities today there was a lot of promiscuity. I even thought that it was interesting that in the temple of Aphrodite there were people called priestesses that were more like prostitutes. I think about in all major cities in most areas of the country, if not all, there are some kind of place that could be comparable. A woman dressing in fancy clothes that are risqué and unfortunately in some places it leads to more than that. These are only a few things that compare the world to the time that Paul was there. This is something that we should take into consideration as we read these chapters.

2.    Read 1 Corinthians 5:7–13. Describe in writing what Paul suggested the saints do to be protected against sin. How do the Savior’s teachings in Matthew 5:29–30 apply to these principles?

Paul suggested that the person who is sinning be held accountable to the Law by what they have done. If it be something temporal then they suffer that temporal law and if it be something spiritual then let them be held accountable by the spiritual law. This is done to make sure that the person recognizes just how wrong the sin was as well as protecting others in the church. Paul calls for the excommunication of one man and just like Christ stated it is so that the rest will not go down into Hell. This goes to the basic principle that we hold people responsible for what they have done, and will not risk the life of the rest of the church on one person’s wrong decisions.