Introduction: Two weeks ago we learned that we need to have unity
with God by having the Holy Spirit live in our minds. This allows
us to live a Spirit-led life. Last week we learned about spiritual
discernment, judging whether the spirit speaking to us is God or
demonic. If we have these two things down, that we invite God’s
Spirit every morning to live in us, what is next? We need to do
something, right? What is it that we need to do? That is our topic
this week. Let’s dive into our study of the Bible and find out!
- Temple
- Read 1 Corinthians 3:16-17. What should the Holy Spirit
living in us cause us to do? (Pay attention to our
temple.) - What do you think that means?
- Context is always important. Read 1 Corinthians 3:10-15,
the verses that immediately proceed the reference to our
temple. A temple is a building, what kind of building is
discussed here? (A spiritual building.) - What does this suggest about the meaning of the
“temple?” (That Paul is speaking of our spiritual
being – the life of our mind.) - Read Matthew 15:10-12. How does this fit into the idea of
preserving our temple? (We are not talking about what we
eat.) - Read Matthew 15:16-20. If our temple is not a reference
to diet and health, what does this teach us about keeping
our temple in good order? (We need to have right
thoughts.) - Let’s stop a minute here. I thought the Holy Spirit
produced right thoughts. How can we say that having
right thoughts produces a proper place for the Holy
Spirit to live? (We choose whether or not to live a
life in accord with the Holy Spirit.) - What do these verses teach us about reformation? (An
important aspect of reformation is having a suitable
place for the Holy Spirit to dwell.) - Secret Things
- Read 1 Corinthians 4:1. Why are God’s things “secret?” I
thought He wanted everyone to know about the gospel? - Let’s go back and read some verses we skipped. Read 1
Corinthians 3:18-20 and 1 Corinthians 1:18. What does the
world think about the Christian approach to life? What
does God think about the world’s approach to life?(They
are kingdoms on a collision course. The world thinks the
gospel is foolishness and God tells us that the wisdom of
the world is foolishness.) - In light of this, what do you think God means by the
“secret” things of God? (They are secret because
only the followers of God really want to know them.) - Now that we have worked through the “secret,” let’s go
back and continue with 1 Corinthians 4:2-4. What does it
mean to be proven “faithful” with the “secret things” of
God? (This is the reformation part of things. If we have
this link with God: we understand through the power of
the Holy Spirit God’s view of things. That knowledge
causes a change in us – which starts with cleaning up our
temple.) - Read 1 Corinthians 4:6-7. What part of the proper
building of our temple is “don’t go beyond what is
written” in judging others? (We sometimes take and give
credit for things that God gave us: wisdom, good-looks,
and good parents. We need to have God’s view in
evaluating everyone. Deuteronomy 4:2 tells us that we
should not add or subtract from God’s rules. Going
“beyond what is written” also means that we should not
condemn others based on our rules and not congratulate
them based on our rules either.) - What do these verses teach us about reformation? (We need
to use the correct standard, God’s standard, to judge
whether reformation (and proper temple building) is
taking place.) - Dealing With Sin
- Read 1 Corinthians 5:1. Obvious sin occurs in the church,
what should you do as part of reformation? - Read 1 Corinthians 5:2. Why would these people be proud
of sin? (Is it possible that they took pride in not being
judgmental?) - Is the right response to sin to kick obvious sinners
out of church? - Notice the “filled with grief” part. What does that
suggest? (We are sad about the situation, and not
anxious to be judges.) - Read 1 Corinthians 5:4-5. Who should lead in church
discipline issues? (The Holy Spirit.) - What is the goal for this sinner? To be handed over
to Satan? - How will Satan destroy the sinner’s sinful nature?
(Satan does not fight against Satan. Rather, the
idea is that the man will come to his senses when he
is not longer “approved” by the church.) - Do we all need a “wake-up call” from time to time
when it comes to sin? - Read 1 Corinthians 5:6. To what “boasting” is Paul
referring? ( 1 Corinthians 5:1-2, the people are “proud”
about the sexual immorality in the church.) - Aside from giving God a bad name, what is the
problem with this pride? (It influences others. It
represents bad temple-building.) - Read 1 Corinthians 5:9-10. We just considered a difficult
situation in which church members were asked to be
“judgmental.” How do these verses clarify the nature of
our judgment? (We are not called upon to judge the world.
Rather, we are only called to make judgment on those who
claim to be Christians.) - Every church has people who are involved in sexual sins.
Should we toss out every one of them? (Look again at the
context in which Paul writes. This church takes pride in
sexual sin. Paul’s instruction is about the church and
not the world. The concern is about the influence of the
sin. Before we start tossing people out of church, we
need to consider the impact on the church. People who are
involved in sin, but have one foot outside the church,
and who have no influence over the members, don’t seem to
fit the “boot them out” advice very well.) - Read 1 Corinthians 6:18. Are sexual sins in a special
category? (Apparently.) - Read 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. Have we have come back to the
“temple” issue? Are sexual sins especially important
because they are an attack on the body in which the Holy
Spirit is supposed to dwell? - Read 1 Corinthians 6:15-17. How does this help us to
understand the special nature of sexual sins? (Having sex
with someone forms a special bond that goes beyond the
sin. God tells us to form that special bond with our
spouse and with Him through the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit.) - Consider these verses and what they say about
reformation. Is reformation about rooting out sexual
sins? (No. God is concerned about bringing disrepute upon
His church. He is concerned about our temple-building
influence on others. He is concerned about us breaking
our bond with Him and our spouse by forming bonds through
sin.) - Temple Building
- Read Romans 8:1-3. What does Jesus have to do with
reformation? (Jesus fulfilled the obligations of the law
by dying in my place.) - What does it mean that Jesus “condemned sin in
sinful man?” (He showed us the true nature of sin.
Sin kills God. Sin is the enemy of God so it should
be our enemy as well.) - Read Romans 8:4. Jesus is the One who allows the
“righteous requirements of the law” to “be fully met in
us.” That sounds like reformation! How does that happen?
(It happens to those who live in accord with the Spirit
and not their sinful nature.) - Is this a works requirement? We have to live a
certain way to be saved?
- Read Romans 8:5-9. We started out talking about how
important our temple was because it is where the Holy
Spirit dwells. What do you think is the key to
reformation? (Setting our mind on what the Holy Spirit
desires. This is proper temple-building. This is the key
to reformation, making a daily choice to ask the Holy
Spirit to lead us into truth and help us to live in such
a way that we give glory to God.) - Friend, will you ask the Holy Spirit to dwell in you?
Will start down the road to reformation by asking the
Holy Spirit to build your temple to give you unity with
God and a sensitivity to God’s will for you? - Next week: Reformation: The Willingness to Grow and Change.
