SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/1/2018 7:22 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Fornication
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Acts
15:19-21
Message of the verses: "Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, 20 but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood. 21 “For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath."”
John MacArthur writes “Fornication describes sexual sin
in general, and the orgies associated with the worship of pagan gods in particular. Illicit sex was an integral part of the pagan
Gentile worship. Temple priestesses were
often little more than prostitutes. Although
fornication is obviously a moral issue (cf. 1 Cor. 6:15-20), in a broader sense
it is also an issue of consideration to Jews.
In all their marriage relations and conduct with the opposite sex, the
Gentiles were to do nothing offensive to God’s law or Jewish
sensibilities.” 1 Corinthians 6:15-20
15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! 16 Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, "THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH." 17 But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. 18 Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”
The third and fourth practices the Apostles are telling
the Gentiles to avoid are “Abstaining from what is strangled and from blood,
which involved the dietary laws.” The
dietary laws are a part of what God put into His law but we also see this in
Genesis 9:4 “"Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its
blood.” When we talk about blood we are
actually talking about life for life is in the blood and God has much to say
about this in His Word.
We realize that the Apostles were not imposing these
dietary laws on the Gentiles as we see in Acts 10:9-16,
9 On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. 10 But he became hungry and was desiring to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance; 11 and he saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, 12 and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air. 13 A voice came to him, "Get up, Peter, kill and eat!" 14 But Peter said, "By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean." 15 Again a voice came to him a second time, "What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy." 16 This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into the sky.”
MacArthur adds “James set forth these as minimum
requirements for fellowship. As noted
above, freedom in Christ does not grant the right to sin, or to offend another
believer.” So we have finished looking
at the four practices that the Apostles are telling the Gentiles to avoid and
in our next SD we will begin to look at verse 22.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Upon the river Euphrates.”
Today’s Bible
question: Who was king of Judah when
Israel was taken into captivity?”
Answer in our next SD.
4/1/2018 7:44 AM
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