Transcript

Today’s Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 7-8 GNT

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Thoughts

My comments today are on the topic of slavery, which the Apostle Paul mentions in chapter seven. What does the Bible say about slavery? How does God feel about it?

The website referenced in my comments is here.

Transcript

Steve Webb 0:00
This is something that people who don’t understand or who don’t want to accept the Bible and therefore God, love to bring up as a reason for their disbelief in dislike of or hatred of God.

Steve Webb 0:22
Lifespring family Audio Bible episode numbers 77. This is the podcast where we are reading through the Bible in a year. My name is Steve Webb, and I’m your host. I’m really glad you decided to join me today. If you’d like to contact me, my email address is Steve at Lifespring media.com. Today, we’re going to read first Corinthians seven and eight. Also, my comments at the end of today’s show are I think, very important. So please stick around after the reading to listen to what I have to say. If you’d like to know what Bible translation I’m using today, that info is that Bible dot Lifespring media.com Look for episode number 77. This is a listener supported show, please visit Lifespring media.com/support. For more information. Our heavenly Father, as we open Your Word today, I pray that You would speak to each one of us open our hearts, Lord, open our ears to hear open our eyes to see what you have for us today. This I pray in Jesus name, amen. Let’s begin.

Steve Webb 1:29
First Corinthians chapter seven. Now to deal with the matters you wrote about, a man does well not to marry. But because there is so much immorality, every man should have his own wife, and every woman should have her own husband, a man should fulfill his duty as a husband and a woman should fulfill her duty as a wife, and each should satisfy the other’s needs. A wife is not the master of her own body, but her husband is. In the same way. A husband is not the master of his own body, but his wife is do not deny yourselves to each other unless you first agree to do so for a while in order to spend your time in prayer. But then resumed normal marital relations. In this way you will be kept from giving in to Satan’s temptation because of your lack of self control. I tell you this not as an order, but simply as a permission. Actually, I would prefer that all of you whereas I am, but each one has a special gift from God, one person this gift, another one that gift. Now to the unmarried and to the widows, I say that it would be better for you to continue to live alone as I do. But if you cannot restrain your desires go ahead and marry. It is better to marry than to burn with passion. for married people, I have a command which is not my own, but the Lord’s a wife must not leave her husband. But if she does, she must remain single or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife. So the others I say, I myself, not the Lord. If a Christian man has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she agrees to go on living with him, he must not divorce her. And if a Christian woman is married to a man who is an unbeliever, and he agrees to go on living with her, she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband is made acceptable to God by being united to his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made acceptable to God by being united to her Christian husband. If this were not so their children would be like pagan children, but as it is, they are acceptable to God. However, if the one who is not a believer wishes to leave the Christian partner Let it be so in such cases, the Christian partner, whether husband or wife is free to act. God has called you to live in peace. How can you be sure Christian wife that you will not save your husband? Or how can you be sure Christian husband, that you will not save your wife? Each of you should go on living according to the Lord’s gift to you. And as you were when God called you, this is the rule I teach in all the churches. If a circumcised man has accepted God’s call, he should not try to remove the marks of circumcision. If an uncircumcised man has accepted God’s call, he should not get circumcised. For whether or not a man is circumcised means nothing. What matters is to obey God’s commandments. Each of you should remain as you were when you accepted God’s call. Were you a slave when God called you? Well, nevermind. But if you have a chance to become free, use it. For a slave who has been called by the Lord is the Lord’s free person. In the same way, a free person who has been called by Christ is his slave. God bought you for a price so do not become slaves of people. My friends, each of you should remain in fellowship with God in the same condition that you were when you were called. Now concerning what you wrote about unmarried people, I do not have a command from the Lord. But I give my opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is worthy of trust. Considering the present distress, I think it is better for a man to stay as he is, do you have a wife, then don’t try to get rid of her. Are you unmarried, then don’t look for a wife. But if you do marry, you haven’t committed a sin. And if an unmarried woman marries, she hasn’t committed a sin. But I would rather spare you the everyday troubles that married people will have. What I mean, my friends is this, there is not much time left. And from now on married people should live as though they were not married. Those who weep as though they were not sad. Those who laugh as though they were not happy. Those who buy as though they did not own what they bought those who deal in material goods, as though they were not fully occupied with them. For this world, as it is now will not last much longer. I would like you to be free from worry. An unmarried man concerns himself with the Lord’s work because he is trying to please the Lord. But a married man concerns himself with worldly matters, because he wants to please his wife. And so he is pulled in two directions. An unmarried woman or a virgin concerns herself with the Lord’s work, because she wants to be dedicated both in body and spirit. But a married woman concerns herself with worldly matters because she wants to please her husband. I’m saying this because I want to help you. I’m not trying to put restrictions on you. Instead, I want you to do what is right and proper, and to give yourselves completely to the Lord service without any reservation. In the case of an engaged couple who have decided not to marry, if the man feels that he is not acting properly toward the young woman. And if his passions are too strong, and he feels that they ought to marry, then they should get married as he wants to. There is no sin in this. But if a man without being forced to do so, has firmly made up his mind not to marry. And if he still has his will under complete control, and has already decided in his own mind what to do. Then he does well not to marry the young woman. So the man who marries does well. But the one who doesn’t marry does even better. A married woman is not free as long as her husband lives. But if her husband dies, then she is free to be married to any man she wishes. But only if he is a Christian. She will be happier. However, if she stays as she is. That is my opinion that I think that I too have God’s Spirit.

Steve Webb 7:41
First Corinthians chapter eight. Now concerning what you wrote about food offered to idols, it is true of course, that all of us have knowledge as they say. Such knowledge however, puffs a person up with pride. But love builds up. Those who think they know something really don’t know as they ought to know. But the person who loves God is known by him. So then about eating the food offered to idols, we know that an idol stands for something that does not really exist, we know that there is only the one God, even if there are so called Gods, whether in heaven or on earth. And even though there are many of these gods and lords, yet there is for us only one God, the Father, who was the creator of all things and for whom we live. And there is only one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all things were created, and through whom we live. But not everyone knows this truth. Some people have been so used to idols that to this day when they eat such food, they still think of it as food that belongs to an idol. Their conscience is weak, and they feel they are defiled by the food. Food, however, will not improve our relation with God. We shall not lose anything if we do not eat, nor shall we gain anything if we do eat. Be careful, however, not to let your freedom of action make those who are weak in the faith fall into sin. Suppose a person whose conscience is weak in this matter sees you who have so called Knowledge eating in the temple of an idol, will not this encourage him to eat food offered to idols. And so this weak person, your brother for whom Christ died will perish because of your knowledge. And in this way, you will be sinning against Christ by sinning against other Christians and wounding their weak conscience. So then, if food makes a believer sin, I will never eat meat again, so as not to make a believer fall into sin.

Steve Webb 9:36
Beloved, my comments today might not be suitable for young children. So if you’re listening to this now in their presence, you might want to screen my comments before allowing them to hear. I believe that I have some very important things to say. But I’m going to leave it up to you to determine if they should hear my message. Okay. I’m going to begin my comments in three to one now I’ve addressed this topic before, but I think that in today’s climate here in the late summer of 2020, it would be good to repeat what I’ve said and include an addendum. In chapter seven, Paul said that if a person was a slave when he or she accepted God’s call, he should remain a slave. The Bible mentions slavery in lots of places and it never denounces it. Have you noticed that you probably have. And this is something that people who don’t understand or who don’t want to accept the Bible and therefore, God, love to bring up as a reason for their disbelief in dislike of or hatred of God. We have to understand that our perception of slavery today is colored by the last few 100 years of human history. When we think of slavery, our thoughts are of Africans who were forcibly taken from their homes and brought to America and sold into bondage, or we think of the slave trade of modern times which is monstrously healthy today. Of course, accurate figures are hard to come by since this ugly and immoral trade lives in the shadows. But an internet search will reveal that best guesses put the total number of people who are victims of slavery right now, right now, at some 46 million people. slavery today is defined as the act of recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or obtaining a person for compelled labor or commercial sex acts through the use of force, fraud, or coercion. modern slavery is also known as human trafficking. It’s almost unbelievable that 167 countries still have slavery today. The top six countries have sickeningly high numbers. India is number one on the list with 18 point 4 million, followed by China with 3.4 million. Pakistan with 2.1 million. Bangladesh with 1.5 million is Becca Stan with 1.2 million and North Korea with 1.1 million. India’s 18 point 4 million represents 1.4% of its total population. All forms of modern slavery exists there, including forced child labor, forced marriage, commercial sexual exploitation, bonded labor, and forced recruitment into non state armed groups. Also, the total number of enslaved people there is larger than the population of the Netherlands. Other countries that have high numbers of slaves are Russia, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Egypt, me, Anmar, Iran, Turkey and Sudan. These numbers are from world population review.com. I’ll have a link in the show notes page. All types of slavery in which a person is involuntarily taken are abhorrent to God. And guess what the Bible does vehemently speak against it. In Exodus 2116, the Mosaic Law says anyone who kidnaps another and either sells him or still has him when he is caught, must be put to death. How’s that? Does that speak strongly enough for you? Or you want something from the New Testament, okay? slave traders are in the same category as people who kill their parents, or who murder or who commit adultery and other sexual sins, or who are liars and perjurers. Listen to First Timothy one eight through 10. Now we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly in sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral men who practice homosexuality in slavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine. So yes, the Bible does tell us that God hates the kind of slavery that we typically think of. So what other kinds of slavery is there? Why does the Bible and other references seem to contradict itself? I mean, after all, there are several places where it gives instruction on how slaves are to be treated. To understand this type of slavery, we have to go back to the time when the Bible was written. Back then, slavery was not at all based on skin color or race or nationality. It was more of an economic situation. People would sell themselves into slavery when they could not provide for themselves or pay their debts. Some even sold themselves so that they could have all their needs met by their masters. In those cases, it was actually a voluntary thing. Let me make an aside here, okay. I might ruffle some feathers here, but this is my show, and I think it’s important to say. The United States was founded because our founding fathers wanted freedom, freedom from a tyrannical government, they wanted freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom to pursue happiness in whatever manner they chose. The economic system that grew from their beliefs was capitalism. Capitalism became the engine that lifted more people out of poverty than the world has ever known. It is a system that is a voluntary exchange of goods or services for an agreed upon price, and where each person either succeeds or fails based on their own abilities. Also, each person can succeed or fail as many times as he or she wants. Today, there’s a very violent movement to dismantle capitalism in America and make socialism the norm. Let me be very clear, socialism is nothing more than slavery, enforced by government overlords. Every time it’s been tried, it has failed, economies have been destroyed, lives have been ruined, and even taken, and freedom has died. Every effort must be made to completely squash socialism in America. Remember, God hates the slavery that we typically think of today. And any effort that we can make to end it can only please him. I invite your comments. Write to me at Steve at Lifespring media.com.

Steve Webb 16:30
Tomorrow our scripture reading is Genesis 44 through 47. I hope you’ll be with me and that you’ll invite a friend. Please consider donating to help produce the podcast. You can find out more at Lifespring media.com/support. And anyone who signs up for a monthly donation will receive early access to the podcast. As soon as I post a new episode, you’ll be notified with a link to the show. Now sometimes I post shows days in advance, sometimes just the day before, but if you are a monthly donor, you’ll be notified as soon as the file is put onto my servers. If you’d like to sign up for a monthly donation, you can find out how it Lifespring media.com/support. Well, I hope you’re not too angry at me. If you agree with my comments. I invite you to share this on social media as well. Until tomorrow, may God bless you richly. I’m Steve Webb. Bye

Transcribed by https://otter.ai