Commandments of the Lord...

[ravenloche]

  greetings and shalom my brotheren:

the following verses are some of my favorite pieces of wisdom
when the topic our Lord's commandments is approached.

Ecc 12:12 And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
Ecc 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
Ecc 12:14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Please give specific attention to verse 13. "fear God, and keep
his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man."

Let us examain for a moment then the sumation of the
commandments by our Lord Jesus.

Mat 22:36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

let me add just a few more verse to conclude my disortation:
1Jo 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
1Jo 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

We see in the book of Matt. that all of the commandments are
based upon one thing, love. In the book of 1John we see that
God IS love.

Love is not just a feeling! Love is not just an emotion! Love is
a conscience choice of will to be like God. It is the choice to
let Christ in us our hope of glory reign and rule in our lives.
As we become closer and closer to our savior, and let him
have more and more control of our lives,hearts, and wills; then
we become more like him--ie we become love incarnate.

Ecc 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

Let us pray brotheren that we can do exactly this: for if we
keep his commandments we will learn not only to love, but
also to be love!

respectfully yours in Yeshua
ravenloche

[nChrist]

Oklahoma Howdy to Brother Petro,

Brother, you asked my opinion of 1 Corinthians 5:1-5 and how it relates to Acts 15:19-29. I would first like to quote the portions you asked about and say that the two portions of Scripture are definitely linked together in comparisons, references, links, and purpose. For the comparisons in Acts, especially see Acts 15:20 and Acts 15:29. I don't think that one can get an accurate picture of these portions of Scripture without reading and studying the surrounding Scriptures and putting them all into context with the times and the sins that are being addressed.

1 Corinthians 5:1  It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife.
1 Corinthians 5:2  And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.
1 Corinthians 5:3  For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed,
1 Corinthians 5:4  In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
1 Corinthians 5:5  To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Acts 15:19  Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God:
Acts 15:20  But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.
Acts 15:21  For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.
Acts 15:22  Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren:
Acts 15:23  And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia:
Acts 15:24  Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:
Acts 15:25  It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
Acts 15:26  Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Acts 15:27  We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth.
Acts 15:28  For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;
Acts 15:29  That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.

____________________

First, it was commonly known and reported that fornication and illicit gotcha146 were rampant among the Corinthian Christians. Other writers of the time claimed that Corinthian Christians were living more loosely than the pagans they were trying to win to Christ. The term, "Corinthianize", was used by some to describe living in sexual sin and wickedness. It is also mentioned that many Corinthians may have learned to split hairs in moral matters to condone immorality and maybe even encourage it. The problem is magnified when one looks at the reality of the time and location. There were temples dedicated to Aphrodite, a thousand priestesses, harlots, and brothels being used in the name of religion when Paul wrote this letter.

1 Corinthians 5:1 speaks of incest, a particularly evil form of sexual sin and wickedness within a family.

1 Corinthians 5:2 speaks of conceit in wisdom and knowledge instead of the mourning that should have been the result of such sin and wickedness among them. The mourning Paul speaks of is translated from words indicating mourning in shame or mourning as if for the dead. The person doing these evil deeds was not removed from among them.

1 Corinthians 5:3 Paul says that he has full knowledge of the case, even though he was not present. Paul states he has judged the matter as though he were present and reached a just determination of the offender.

1 Corinthians 5:4 Paul states that the church should assemble together publicly in the Name and Power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul states that his spirit would be with them, indicating his agreement and instruction for public assembly.

1 Corinthians 5:5 The offender should be publicly rebuked and excommunicated from the church to remove an evil influence over others. The Old Covenant punishment would have been physical death. It was thought at the time that public condemnation, rebuke, and excommunication might drive the offender to repentance. "To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh" indicates a heinous sin that should separate the offender from the children of God. It also indicates a horrendous sin that should result in physical destruction, one that did involve a physical death sentence in the Old Covenant.

If you read on in this passage, it becomes apparent that Paul is deeply concerned about poor examples to others and like sins being committed as a contagion or infection in the assembly because the assembly condoned the evil among them and failed to extricate and cast out the evil.

The comparisons between 1 Corinthians 5:1-5 and Acts 15:19-29 are numerous. Acts 15:20 and 29 refer specifically to the sin of fornication that is the primary topic of 1 Corinthians 5:1-5. However, this is just the beginning of the potential comparisons when you look at these portions of Scripture in context and purpose. Pollution of the assembly by sin is really the same as saying Satan is working to pollute the assembly. The pollution of sin and doctrine caused trouble that resulted in division of the assemblies. As an example, Acts 15:24 speaks of subverting souls in obeying Old Covenant Law that were not given as Commandments in the New Covenant. Being assembled in one accord and the avoidance of sin are also common denominators.

Brother, I realize this is a very shallow examination of 1 Corinthians 5:1-5, but I hope it is a fairly accurate brief. A more thorough examination of 1 Corinthians 5:1-5 would obviously involve portions of the Old Testament and many other portions of the New Testament.

Love In Christ,
Tom

[Petro]

BEP,

As I was reading this portion of what you wrote;

First, it was commonly known and reported that fornication and illicit gotcha146 were rampant among the Corinthian Christians. Other writers of the time claimed that Corinthian Christians were living more loosely than the pagans they were trying to win to Christ. The term, "Corinthianize", was used by some to describe living in sexual sin and wickedness. It is also mentioned that many Corinthians may have learned to split hairs in moral matters to condone immorality and maybe even encourage it. The problem is magnified when one looks at the reality of the time and location. There were temples dedicated to Aphrodite, a thousand priestesses, harlots, and brothels being used in the name of religion when Paul wrote this letter.

And I remembered what Jesus said at Rev 2:1-17, concerning the Nicolaitanes, the word fornication is at the center of this warning to both the churches at Rev 2, Ephesus and Thyatira.

Thank you for sharing your insight, into these scriptures.

God Bless,

Petro

[nChrist]

Oklahoma Howdy to Brother Petro,

You are most welcome.

Are we fairly close in opinion about the interpretation of these portions of Scripture? I was just thinking that I should have done more study and spent more time before giving an opinion.

Love In Christ,
Tom