Friday · Jul 24
Additional Thought
Read Ellen G. White, “A Message of Warning and Entreaty,” pages 298–308, in The Acts of the Apostles.
In the list of sins in 1 Corinthians 5:10, 11 and 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10 , Paul talks about worshiping statues, getting drunk, and sex sins. As Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:7 (compare with Exodus 32:1–6 ), idol-worshiping feasts were filled with people who ate and drank too much. These things caused people to do sex sins ( 1 Corinthians 10:8 ). Ellen G. White says:
“People who are selfish and eat too much can’t enjoy the blessing of a holy life. . . . God made the human body very strong. We can do terrible things to our health. But the body can continue to correct the suffering we cause it. After a while, our wrong habits will hurt our bodies. We will suffer if we continue to eat and drink too much or if we enjoy the wrong types of food and drink. Then we will have a hard time staying healthy. Our bad habits will cause our minds, bodies, and spirits to become weak.”—Ellen G. White, The Sanctifi ed Life, pages 25, 26, adapted.
“Self must die. You must get rid of every false god from your heart. When your heart is empty, the Spirit of Jesus can fill your spirit completely. People who are filled with the Spirit of Jesus have faith that causes them to show God’s love to other people. This faith washes the heart clean from every sin.”—Ellen G. White, The Home Missionary, November 1893, adapted.
“God wants to change our hearts. He wants us to be clean and holy. That’s why He sends us His Spirit. His Spirit works in us at all times to help us change. . . . We have natural habits that need to be corrected. If the Spirit doesn’t correct these habits, they will destroy us.”—Ellen G. White, Manuscript 12, 1888, adapted.
Discussion Questions:
How do Paul’s questions about the body help us to understand his worries about the church? (Read 1 Corinthians 6:19; 1 Corinthians 5:6; 1 Corinthians 6:2, 3, 9, 15, 16, 19 .) Why should we also care about these same problems today?
Today, many people outside the church think marriage is old-fashioned. How can we show them that marriage is really a gift from God that comes from Eden?