At the end of 1 Corinthians 6, Paul warns Christians about the dangers of sexual sin. The foundation of his argument is that as believers in Christ, we have been unified with Christ in both spirit and body. To be joined together in sexual union with someone other than your spouse is to defile the union with Christ, as you are "joined with a harlot." Sexual sin is more than just a physical sin; it has a spiritual aspect in that it destroys the picture that the physical union in marriage is supposed to be of the union of Christ and His church (Eph 5:27-32). And then Paul says that sexual sin is unique both in its character and consequences, because it is a sin "against your own body." Ultimately, he reminds us, our bodies are not ours in the first place. They belong to God, since He bought us, and they are the "temple of God's Spirit" who dwells within us. Defiling the temple of our body through fornication is akin to the desolation of abomination that the antichrist will bring into the Temple during the last days. The solution to avoid sexual sin is simply to "Flee fornication." Run away as fast and as far as possible.

Two terms that most Christians are familiar with are Christian liberty and holiness. But it isn't certain whether most Christians have a biblical view of either. As Paul addresses the church at Corinth about their rampant immorality in 1 Corinthians 6, he bases his entire argument on a proper understanding of Christian liberty and holiness, which the Corinthian church had perverted for their own purposes. The issue at the center of it all was whether the physical body, or the outward conduct, was really all that important when it came to holiness, since "man judges by the outward appearance, but God knows our hearts." Many believers, both then and today, put minimal emphasis on the outward expression of holiness, and anyone who does is labeled a "legalist." Yet in 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, Paul reminds us that what we do with our bodies does matter, since our bodies "were made for the Lord" and it is our BODY in which the Holy Spirit of God dwells. Therefore, what we do with our bodies as believers is just as important as what is happening in our hearts as we continue the Christian journey.

Charlie Kirk's death was a clear call by God for Christians to step up and "fill the gap." As we consider Charlie's testimony and life of faith, and bold witness for Jesus Christ we are reminded of several truths that God wants us to learn as believers: 1) Grief and Joy walk hand in hand; 2) The Christian life is a spiritual battle against Satan and his demons, not one against people; 3) God's plan for some Christians is martyrdom and death; and 4) God is calling for individual believers to step up. God has taken one of His own home to heaven, but He is asking, Who will stand in the gap?

The Bible tells us that the Christian life comes with adversity, so the question is not IF but WHEN. And when adversity does explode into our lives, how will we respond as professing believers? Paul explains what our response should be in Philippians 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice." But finding joy in the midst of adversity is more easily said than done...unless our faith is truly fixed in Jesus Christ. Faith is about knowing the truth of God's character and promises, to the point that it affects how we live and respond to circumstances. The Bible tells us five things that we can know that will help us to find joy even in the midst of adversity.

At the end of 1 Corinthians 6, Paul includes a list of sins that define those who will not inherit the Kingdom of God: fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, abusers of themselves with mankind, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, extortioners. What is interesting, though, is that this list is tacked onto the backend of Paul's condemnation of believers suing other believers in court. The principal lesson of that condemnation focuses on unforgiveness, through which Paul is saying that unforgiveness is among the list of sins that define an UNSAVED person if it is the general pattern of their life. Since true believers have experienced the unfathomable forgiveness of God in salvation, they will, by their new nature in Christ, be more willing to forgive than to claim their own rights. This principle is clearly illustrated in Christ's Parable of the Unforgiving Servant.

While most Christians are familiar with the Lord's Prayer, many neglect to practice one of the foundational principles encapsulated in that prayer: forgiveness. We say, "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." It's like Jesus is telling us: "Don't just soak up God's grace—pass it along." Holding onto grudges blocks the very mercy we're craving; letting go brings freedom. And when we pray to be led away from temptation and delivered from evil, we're recognizing that forgiveness shields our hearts and renews our spirit. This simple prayer wraps the gospel into six short lines: worship God, depend on him, extend mercy, and trust him to guide your steps and guard your heart.

The culture of first-century Corinth was defined by three things: immorality, philosophy, and the legal system. All three were considered to be everyday parts of life by the Corinthians, and all three were used as avenues of entertainment. When Paul addresses believers taking other believers to court in 1 Corinthians chapter 6, it is set against this backdrop. The problem was that the Corinthian believers had brought the culture of the world into the church and were proud of it. Paul challenges them with 9 rhetorical questions, all of them stemming from truths that these believers should have already known. The crux of his argument hinges on the fact that secular "unjust" judges are not qualified to execute justice according to God's law, and so Christians should not be relying on the unrighteous of the world to decide civil disputes between believers. Paul goes on to emphasize that the church has been provided with everything we need in Christ to settle these kinds of disputes between brothers, since we have God's truth and the guidance of His Spirit. His conclusion is that true victory in a dispute between brothers is found in a willingness "to be defrauded" as the matter is settled in forgiveness rather than in a court-ordered restitution.

In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul uses the situation of open incest being tolerated by the church at Corinth to emphasize the need for faithful and biblical church discipline. Following the teaching of Christ in Matthew 18, Paul outlines the procedure that should be followed in removing from the fellowship of the church one who is living as an unbeliever. Through delivering them "to Satan for the destruction of the flesh," they might be brought to restoration through repentance. The foundational principle of church discipline is that because God cares about the holiness of His church, so ought we to make it a priority as well, and church discipline is the process of removing "leaven" before it affects the entire church.

At the end of 1 Corinthians 4, Paul tells the Corinthian believers that he will be sending Timothy to them as an example of what he wants them to be in their Christian lives. He goes on to rebuke them for their arrogance in proclaiming themselves to be mature Christians while living without any evidence of the power of God in their lives. In verse 20, he sums his point up perfectly: "For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power." By insisting that the kingdom's heartbeat is evidenced in power, not in words, Paul throws down a personal challenge: if our gatherings, our sermons, and our devotions lack clear evidence of God's presence and might, we have settled for empty religion.

One might assume that a life of ministry guarantees material prosperity, widespread acclaim, and social prestige. Yet in 1 Corinthians 4, the Apostle Paul dismantles this illusion by comparing the ministry to a public procession into the arena—at best a spectacle, at worst prey for wild beasts. He portrays the ordinary experience of a minister of Christ as one marked by hunger and thirst, inadequate clothing, harsh treatment, and homelessness. Far from indicating divine neglect, these trials underscore the very point Paul makes: God's power is most fully manifested in human weakness. And because the essence of ministry has not changed since the apostolic era, those who take up their cross to follow Christ should likewise expect hardship, discomfort, and a total dependence on God's sustaining strength.