1 Corinthians 7 – 8

Chapter 7 is the sex chapter, you know the one either the preacher will never touch or have a bunch of fun with. Or sometimes they just focus on the abstain parts and ignore the have sex parts. Either way I am going to just make a comment that sex in a marriage is ok and healthy; outside can get you into trouble. The Biblical idea of the union has been proven in the secular world, just look at how many “just sex” relationship have issues with emotions. That bond is more than just a penis into a vagina; there is an emotional aspect that one cannot escape no matter how cold one may be. It is God’s programming in our lives and why it should never be taken lightly.

Verse 7:19 is key to following Jesus:

You see, whether you are circumcised or not—these outward signs aren’t the issue—the way you live out the commands of God is what really matters.

To a Jew this may seem contradictory since one of the “commands of God” is to be circumcised, but it’s more than outward. He gets into the food laws and basically everything else in pointing out the proper focus. See it’s not what we eat, or how we slice up our pee-pee’s but rather the inward love and thanks for God. If you love God and are thankful for the pork plate before you that is ok, if you abstain from pork to honor God that is fine to. Oddly neither is wrong until you apply the must do this for a proper relationship with God.

I’ll pick on pork since I don’t normally eat it. My belief is pigs are designed to be the processor of waste and toxic stuff in our environment. They produce waste that is purified and can be used as fertilizer for our lands. They also feed our animals. The problem with this is their digestive tract is so simple, the environmental toxins they consume go right to their flesh and eating pork means you’re consuming those toxins. Do I do it because of the Law? No I feel the Law is a guideline for living healthy. If someone serves me pork, I eat it. It’s not going to kill me and I do not want to make a person feel I am pious because of my eating habits.

Paul moves back to marriage and sex and then back to food in chapter 8. Honor God as you feel led, assuming it falls under the fundamental path God has set for us. Don’t become like the Pharisees thinking that your outward acts bring you closer to God while others are not.