I want to understand the Apostle Paul’s approach to the principles of practical daily Christian living. Most particularly I want to see how he approached problems, errors and failings when it came to Christians living a godly life set apart from the values and principles of the world. The assembly at Corinth had its fair share of problems. Passionate arguments, divisions and schisms arose from out of spiritual ambition. One Christian was engaging in an outrageous sexual relationship that was shocking even by the worldly standards of ‘outsiders’ and bringing the assembly and the gospel into public disrepute. Christians were going to non-Christian lawyers to settle disputes between themselves. There were issues concerning marriage and the roles of males and females. Christian involvement with regard to other religions was also a cause for concern. There was an element of excessive liberty and permissiveness within the assembly. There were also concerns around the role of females with regard to authority within the assembly. Problems were evident with regard to attitudes towards the Lord’s Supper. Many in the assembly had a misplaced ambition when it came to divine favours or spiritual gifts. There was a degree of disorder in worship meetings. And last of all, some within the assembly were denying the rousing up from out of the dead.
How did the Apostle deal with these matters? It is clear that he presented a foundation of spiritual knowledge - theology - as a basis for Christian behaviour. Sometimes he appealed to ‘what is written’ in the Hebrew Scriptures. Sometimes he pointed to historical examples concerning God’s chosen ethnic group, the Jews. Very occasionally he expressed his personal opinion. He used reason and logical arguments to come to conclusions and establish principles with regard to godly behaviour. He then made practical applications and exhortations in which he sometimes encouraged his Christian readers to likewise think things through for themselves. In the light of such enlightened knowledge, teaching and reasoning things through for themselves, he exhorted Christians to exercise self-control and to be unified in their perspective, behaving in a way that was consistent with what they came to understand as opposed to following their fleshly impulses. ‘Therefore do not let loss and self-forfeiture reign within your mortal body towards attentively listening and obeying under its eager desires’, (Romans 6 v 12). The impetus of a godly Christian life is away from worldly speech and behaviour that God disapproves of, and towards speech and behaviour that is clean and set apart from the world. So the question I am asking is this - in what particular and specific ways did Paul and the other Apostles encourage Christians towards this godly way of living?
