Bible Study on 1st Corinthians Session 18

Saint Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians;

A Bible Study Based upon the Homilies of St John Chrysostom (SJC)

Study Guide – September 6, 2022 – 1st Corinthians 6.12-14  Session 18 – Homily 17

Prayer before reading of the Holy Scriptures: Shine within our hearts, loving Master, the pure light of Your divine knowledge, and open the eyes of our minds that we may comprehend the message of Your Gospel. Instill in us also reverence for Your blessed commandments so that, having conquered sinful desires, we may pursue a spiritual life, thinking and doing all those things which are pleasing to You. For You, Christ our God, are the light of our souls and bodies, and to You we give glory, together with Your Father who is without beginning and Your all holy, good and life giving Spirit, always now and forever and to the ages of ages.

TEXT ANALYSIS

Section [1]

  1. There is a good reason for fasting – SJC Here he glances at the gluttons. For since he intends to assail the fornicator again, and fornication arises from luxuriousness and want of moderation, he strongly chastises this passion.
  2. Gluttony is physical slavery – SJC What then is the meaning of, Meats for the belly? Meats, he says, are on good terms with gluttony, and it with them. It cannot therefore lead us unto Christ, but drags towards these. For it is a strong and brutal passion, and makes us slaves, and puts us upon ministering to the belly. 
  3. Our entire being is meant to follow Christ – SJC And therefore he subjoins, Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; for it was not formed for this purpose, to live riotously and commit fornication, as neither was the belly to be greedy; but that it might follow Christ as a Head, and that the Lord might be set over the body. 

Section [2]

  1. Our future resurrection is the prize – SJC You have eaten, hast drunk to excess: and what is the result? Nothing, save only destruction. You have been conjoined unto Christ; and what is the result? A great and marvelous thing: the future Resurrection, that glorious one, and transcending all utterance!

Section [3]

  1. The power of God is proven by the impossibility of the past – SJC For the things which are already past are stranger by far, and fraught with overpowering wonder. Just consider. He took earth and mixed it, and made man; earth which existed not before this. How then did the earth become man? And how was it produced from nothing? And, how, all the things that were made from it?
  2. Using creation to prove God’s power is for unbelievers – SJC These things and such like we say to the Greeks. For to those who are obedient to the Scriptures, I have no occasion to speak at all.
  1. The Devil is the one who wants us to not believe – SJC Do not then disbelieve the Resurrection; for this is a doctrine of the Devil. This is what the Devil is earnest for, not only that the Resurrection may be disbelieved, but good works also may be done away with. For the man who does not expect that he shall rise again and give an account of the things which he has done, will not quickly apply himself to virtue.
  2. Those who deny the resurrection deny the future judgment – SJC Thus when you deny resurrection and judgment, the other for his part will say, Then shall I also not have to render account of my bold deeds.

LIFE APPLICATION: Mortality is not the problem; it is the cure

Section [4]

  1. If there is no future then today is meaningless – SJC If, on the contrary, there is to be no future life, we are in this respect of far meaner account than the things which have been made for our sakes. For both the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and the rivers, are more lasting than we are: and some even of the brutes; since the raven, and the race of elephants, and many other creatures, have a longer enjoyment of the present life. To us, moreover, life is both short and toilsome, but not to them. Theirs is both long, and freer from grief and cares.
  2. If there is no future then today is meaningless – SJC If, on the contrary, there is to be no future life, we are in this respect of far meaner account than the things which have been made for our sakes. For both the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and the rivers, are more lasting than we are: and some even of the brutes; since the raven, and the race of elephants, and many other creatures, have a longer enjoyment of the present life. To us, moreover, life is both short and toilsome, but not to them. Theirs is both long, and freer from grief and cares.
  3. We all sin! – SJC What then, says one, am I to do? Must I perish on his account? I reply, first, It is not on his account: for neither have you remained without sin: though it be not the same sin, at least there is some other which you have committed.
  4. Our will is to blame – SJC Mortality then is not the cause of sin: accuse it not: but the wicked will is the root of all the mischief. For why was not Abel at all the worse for his body? Why are the devils not at all the better for being incorporeal? 
  5. Our body helps control our will – SJC For if we choose, the body is an excellent bridle to curb the wanton sallies of the soul, to pull down haughtiness, to repress arrogance, to minister to us in the greatest achievements of virtue.

SEND OFF! Ignore the devil, and learn to control your will

For this is the Devil’s special work, to make foolish men accuse the body and God and their neighbor, rather than their own perverted minds; lest, having discovered the cause, they get free from the root of the evils.