2 Corinthians 7 Sex or shiny object?

seekeroftruth

Well-Known Member
2 Corinthians 7:1 Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.
2 Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one. 3 I do not say this to condemn you; I have said before that you have such a place in our hearts that we would live or die with you. 4 I have spoken to you with great frankness; I take great pride in you. I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds.
5 For when we came into Macedonia, we had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn—conflicts on the outside, fears within. 6 But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, 7 and not only by his coming but also by the comfort you had given him. He told us about your longing for me, your deep sorrow, your ardent concern for me, so that my joy was greater than ever.
8 Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while— 9 yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. 10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. 11 See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter. 12 So even though I wrote to you, it was neither on account of the one who did the wrong nor on account of the injured party, but rather that before God you could see for yourselves how devoted to us you are. 13 By all this we are encouraged.
In addition to our own encouragement, we were especially delighted to see how happy Titus was, because his spirit has been refreshed by all of you. 14 I had boasted to him about you, and you have not embarrassed me. But just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting about you to Titus has proved to be true as well. 15 And his affection for you is all the greater when he remembers that you were all obedient, receiving him with fear and trembling. 16 I am glad I can have complete confidence in you.

So... this is from the bible-studys.org site.

The promises spoken of here are that Christians are sons and daughters of God, and that the Spirit of God lives within them. Paul is saying here, taking all of that under consideration, we must clean ourselves up inside and out. Not many people want to talk to you about holiness. Perhaps it is because they do not understand the meaning.​
“Filthiness” is a Greek word which appears only here in the New Testament and was used 3 times in the Greek Old Testament to refer to religious defilement or unholy alliances with idols, idol feasts, temple prostitutes, sacrifices and festivals of worship.
False religion panders to the human appetites, represented by both “flesh and spirit”. While some believers for a time might avoid succumbing to fleshly sins associated with false religion, the Christian who exposes his mind to false teaching cannot avoid contamination by the devilish ideologies and blasphemies that assault the purity of divine truth and blaspheme God’s name.​
"Perfecting holiness”: The Greek word for “perfecting” means “to finish” or “to complete”. Holiness refers to separation from all that would defile both the body and the mind. Complete or perfect holiness was embodied only in Christ; thus, believers are to pursue him.​
Here Paul continues the narrative he left off (in 2:13). When he arrived in Macedonia after leaving Troas, he had no rest for external “conflicts.” The Greek word is used of quarrels and disputes and probably refers to the ongoing persecution Paul faced. He was also burdened by internal “fears”, the concern he had for the church and the anti-Paul faction prevalent there.​
The “Godly sorrow” refers to sorrow that is according to the will of God and produced by the Holy Spirit. True repentance cannot occur apart from such a genuine sorrow over one’s sin.
“Repentance” is at the very heart of and proves one’s salvation: unbelievers repent of their sin initially when they are saved, and then as believers, repent of their sins continually to keep the joy and blessing of their relationship to God.
“Sorrow of the world worketh death”: Human sorrow is unsanctified remorse and has no redemptive capability. It is nothing more than the wounded pride of getting caught in a sin and having one’s lusts go unfulfilled. That kind of sorrow leads only to guilt, shame, despair, depression, self-pity and hopelessness. People can die for such sorrow.
So there was a "faction" in the church in Corinth that didn't like Paul. They said he wasn't a paid preacher. They said he was making compromises to the laws they had lived with their whole lives. They didn't like the way he preached. AND of course, Paul was insulting the leaders of the temple of aphrodite where they were meeting.

When Paul said "stop sinning" he was looking right at the male and female prostitutes employed by the temple itself.... He was also looking at those goodie two shoe Jews who would drop their fight over circumcision if the right hooker winked the right way at them.... so telling them to stop having sex .... well that was dealing in religious persecution of those who worshiped the fake goddess aphrodite....and that was poking the landlord.

I have to remember.... the church in Corinth met in a room in the temple of aphrodite.... the gentiles worshiped the goddess there... in the same building where the Christians were having their church services..... the Christians were renting a place to meet from the pagans who hired humans to have sex during the the pagan worship service..... and Paul was reminding those members of the church [Jews and gentiles both] to refrain from following that example.

I've noticed..... all the way through the Bible.... the descendants of Jacob [now known as Jews] have always been drawn to all kinds of shiny objects. IMHO.... sex with a hooker who serves a goddess [no matter how fake or real] is just the latest shiny object. Now if I was jealous over those humans meeting in that room.... and I wanted to make them aware of just how much their "holier than though" expressions were getting on my last nerve.... and if I were one of those hookers employed for temple service.... I might consider it my duty to wink at those Christians..... naive and ripe for the picking.... one wink and that so called Christian would be just a new convert for the goddess aphrodite.

Today.... far from the hookers in the temple..... the preachers in the modern day church need another bear to poke. So.... they poke anyone they can with this chapter. I once heard a woman quote from this chapter to let her husband know that the church stood behind her demand that he only have sex with her on a specific day of the month and only to procreate. That woman read this chapter and thought God wanted her to stop enjoying sex with her husband!!!!

I can not be perfect. I can not be perfectly holy. I can not stop myself from sinning. I like shiny objects. I love to dream about the next best shiny object. Too many people use this chapter to heap guilt on me. I'll be 70 years old in a couple of weeks.... and I've been warned about thousands of things that I may have carried into my heart from the world..... so I've been battling for almost three quarters of a century with trying to behave. I try to be kind and considerate.

This chapter led me to jump up in the face of a teacher in the elementary school my daughter attended. I asked him if what he did "made his mother proud". Oh brother..... now I think about that sneer on my face..... oh I am an ugly woman when I am being righteous...... know what I mean?

Godly sorrow is a big deal..... God doesn't have anything to be guilty about. God does what is Godly just being God..... I on the other hand..... I can get sorrowful over how horribly I represent Him. If I go online with my online Bible and my online commentary and talk about how everyone should act this way or act that way or condemn this or do that...... and then I go cuss my neighbor or sleep with the pool boy while hubby sits in the corner...... then, when convicted [gotta know the apple came off the wrong tree] I would have Godly sorrow. I would have sorrow because I know I did wrong to God.

IMHO.... it's not about sex.... it's about the next new shiny object.

☕
 
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