The Undercover Adventist

  Sabbath School First and Second Corinthians  Sin in the Church Lesson 4 - Friday Further Thought  “Do You Not Know?” Read 1 Corinthians 5–6 Seven times in 1 Corinthians 5 and 6, Paul asks the Corinthians, “Do you not know?” Each question demands an emphatic answer: “Of course you know!” Paul is not asking because the Corinthians lack information. They had heard the truth. They had been taught the gospel. They knew what Christian living required. Their problem was not primarily a lack of knowledge. Their problem was that they were failing to live according to what they already knew. This is an important spiritual lesson for us. Sometimes we think we need more information when what we really need is obedience. Paul's repeated questions reveal his deep concern for the condition of the church. The Corinthians were tolerating serious sin, bringing lawsuits against one another, failing to understand their future responsibility as God's people, compromising their bodies throu...

  Sabbath School First and Second Corinthians  Sin in the Church Lesson 4 - Thursday Fleeing Sexual Immorality Read 1 Corinthians 6:19–7:9 Paul's command is direct: “Flee from sexual immorality” (1 Cor. 6:18, ESV). Notice that he does not say to negotiate with sexual temptation, experiment with it, or see how close we can get to sin without actually falling. He says to flee . Sometimes the most spiritual response to temptation is to get away from it. In 1 Corinthians 6:19–20, Paul gives the foundation for this command: our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, and we do not belong to ourselves. We have been bought with a price. Therefore, we are to glorify God in our bodies. This truth provides the motivation for sexual purity. Christians do not avoid sexual immorality simply because they are afraid of punishment. We seek purity because we belong to God. Our bodies are gifts from Him, redeemed by Christ, and inhabited by the Holy Spirit. Fleeing Means Taking Temptation Serio...

  Sabbath School First and Second Corinthians  Sin in the Church Lesson 4 - Wednesday Sanctified Bodies, Holy Lives Read 1 Thessalonians 4:1–8 Paul’s message to the Thessalonians is clear: sanctification and sexual purity are inseparably connected. He writes, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality” (1 Thess. 4:3, NKJV). Sanctification is the process by which God transforms us into the likeness of Christ. It is not merely a change in what we believe; it is a change in how we live. The Christian life involves the surrender of every part of ourselves—including our bodies, desires, relationships, and sexuality—to God. Paul says that believers should know how to “possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor” (1 Thess. 4:4, NKJV). Sexual immorality is not simply a private matter without spiritual consequences. It affects our relationship with God, our relationship with others, and our understanding of who we are as peo...

  Sabbath School First and Second Corinthians  Sin in the Church Lesson 4 - Tuesday Sin Is Sin, and Grace Is for All Read 1 Corinthians 5:3, 12, 13 and 1 Corinthians 6:1–13 Paul’s message to the Corinthians is both direct and deeply practical. He teaches the church to take sin seriously within its own fellowship, while remembering that God is the ultimate Judge of those outside the church. He also confronts the believers about their behavior toward one another, especially their practice of taking fellow Christians to court before unbelieving judges. Paul asks, “Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?” (1 Cor. 6:2, NKJV). His point is that believers who will one day participate in God’s judgment should be capable of handling ordinary disputes among themselves with wisdom, humility, and reconciliation. Instead, the Corinthians were allowing conflicts to divide them and were publicly damaging the witness of the church. Paul even says that it would be better to suffe...

  Sabbath School First and Second Corinthians  Sin in the Church Lesson 4 - Monday Discipline That Seeks Restoration Read 1 Corinthians 5:1–13 The situation in Corinth was serious. A man was involved in an immoral relationship with his father’s wife, and the church was tolerating the situation. Paul did not tell the believers to ignore the sin, pretend it was unimportant, or simply hope that the problem would disappear. Instead, he instructed the church to take decisive action. Paul says, “Let him . . . be removed from among you” (1 Cor. 5:2, ESV), and later concludes, “Remove the evil person from among you” (1 Cor. 5:13, ESV). This refers to church discipline. The individual had openly embraced serious sin, and the church’s continued acceptance of his behavior threatened the spiritual health of the entire congregation. Church discipline is not intended to be an act of revenge, humiliation, or personal punishment. It is a serious spiritual responsibility intended to protect th...

  Sabbath School First and Second Corinthians  Sin in the Church Lesson 4 - Sunday When “Love” Tolerates What God Condemns Read 1 Corinthians 5:1–13 Paul describes a scandalous situation within the church at Corinth: a man was involved in a sexual relationship with his father’s wife. Paul says that even the Gentiles—those outside the church—did not commonly tolerate such behavior. Yet the Corinthian church was apparently proud rather than grieved. Their attitude toward the situation was deeply disturbing. The problem was not simply that one person had fallen into serious sin. The greater problem was that the church was tolerating open, unrepentant sin within its fellowship. The church had apparently become so focused on its own spirituality, freedom, or acceptance that it had lost sight of the holiness of God. Paul’s response is strong because sin is serious. He tells the church that they must not simply ignore the situation. In verse 6, he warns, “A little leaven leavens the ...

  The Footprints of a Suffering Servant Christian leadership is not ultimately about position, recognition, influence, or comfort. It is about following Jesus—and the footprints of Jesus lead through humility, sacrifice, service, and, at times, suffering. Paul gives us a striking picture of Christian ministry in 1 Corinthians 4. He describes himself and Apollos as “men condemned to death” (1 Cor. 4:9, NKJV). They experienced hunger, thirst, inadequate clothing, beatings, homelessness, insults, persecution, and slander. Paul says they had become “as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now” (1 Cor. 4:13, NKJV). This is a startling contrast to the way many people think about leadership. The Corinthians apparently viewed themselves as “rich,” “kings,” “wise,” and “distinguished” (1 Cor. 4:8, 10). Paul uses irony to expose their pride. They wanted the glory of the kingdom without the humility of the cross. They wanted recognition without sacrifice. But true Chris...

  First and Second Corinthians Lesson 4  Sin in the Church You may use this for presenting and studying the current Sabbath School Lesson. > Download the Notes for Lesson 4 Video Here   (Video is Below)  Lesson 4 Daily Reflections: Sunday: Dissonance Between Faith and Practice    Monday: Dealing With Scandals   Tuesday: Protecting The Church's Identity   Wednesday: Antidote Against Sexual Immorality    Thursday: Marriage and Singleness   Friday Further Thought: Your Bodies are a Temple  More on Lesson 4: When the Church Tolerates Sin   Love Does not Mean Calling Sin Good   When Sin Enters the Church, Love Must Be Courageous   When Should the Church Involve the Police?   Why the Church Must Protect Its Witness   Your Bodies: The Temple of The Holy Spirit   The Wreckage and the Call to Holiness   Sabbath School 3rd Quarter Online: First and Second Corinthians Quarterly  

The Mind of Christ: The Love That Reveals God “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” — Philippians 2:5, NKJV Philippians 2:5–8 takes us to the very heart of the great controversy. The controversy between Christ and Satan is ultimately a controversy over the character of God. What is God really like? Is He self-serving, demanding, and arbitrary—or is He self-giving, humble, and sacrificial? The life and death of Jesus answer that question. Paul writes that Christ Jesus, “being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant” (Philippians 2:6–7). Jesus was fully divine, yet He did not cling to His position and privileges. He willingly humbled Himself for the salvation of humanity. The Creator became part of His creation. The One who deserved worship became a servant. The One who possessed all glory accepted humiliation. The One who was innocent willingly suffered for the guilty. T...

  The Mind of Christ: Servants, Not Celebrities Read 1 Corinthians 4:1–2; 1 Corinthians 2:16. The church in Corinth had a serious problem. Believers were forming factions around human leaders. Some followed Paul. Others preferred Apollos. Still others claimed loyalty to Cephas. Their divisions revealed something deeper than a disagreement about leadership—they revealed spiritual immaturity. Paul had already declared, “We have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16, NKJV). To have the mind of Christ means to learn to think, act, and value things as Jesus does. Yet putting that mindset into practice is not always easy. The world around the Corinthians was filled with competition. Political leaders, philosophers, thinkers, and religious teachers competed for influence and public approval. People often measured greatness by popularity, eloquence, power, education, or the number of followers someone attracted. Unfortunately, the church began to reflect those same standards. That ...