Study Desk

I don't want to believe what I am hearing—that there is sexual sin among you. And it is such a bad kind of sexual sin that even those who have never known God don't allow it. People say that a man there has his father's wife.

I cannot be there with you in person, but I am with you in spirit. And I have already judged the man who did this. I judged him the same as I would if I were really there.

"I am allowed to do anything," you say. My answer to this is that not all things are good. Even if it is true that "I am allowed to do anything," I will not let anything control me like a slave.

I am saying this to help you. I am not trying to limit you, but I want you to live in the right way. And I want you to give yourselves fully to the Lord without giving your time to other things.

I am a free man. I am an apostle. I have seen Jesus our Lord. You people are an example of my work in the Lord.

Others may not accept me as an apostle, but surely you do. You are proof that I am an apostle in the Lord.

But I have not used any of these rights, and I am not trying to get anything from you. That is not my purpose for writing this. I would rather die than to have someone take away what for me is a great source of pride.

It's not my work of telling the Good News that gives me any reason to boast. That is my duty—something I must do. If I don't tell people the Good News, I am in real trouble.

If I did it because it was my own choice, I would deserve to be paid. But I have no choice. I must tell the Good News. So I am only doing the duty that was given to me.

I am free. I belong to no other person, but I make myself a slave to everyone. I do this to help save as many people as I can.

To the Jews I became like a Jew so that I could help save Jews. I myself am not ruled by the law, but to those who are ruled by the law I became like someone who is ruled by the law. I did this to help save those who are ruled by the law.

To those who are without the law I became like someone who is without the law. I did this to help save those who are without the law. (But really, I am not without God's law—I am ruled by the law of Christ.)

So, am I saying that sacrifices to idols are the same as those Jewish sacrifices? No, because an idol is nothing, and the things offered to idols are worth nothing.

But I am saying that when food is sacrificed to idols, it is an offering to demons, not to God. And I don't want you to share anything with demons.

I do the same thing. I try to please everyone in every way. I am not trying to do what is good for me. I am trying to do what is good for the most people so that they can be saved.

The foot might say, "I am not a hand, so I don't belong to the body." But saying this would not stop the foot from being a part of the body.

The ear might say, "I am not an eye, so I don't belong to the body." But saying this would not make the ear stop being a part of the body.

I may speak in different languages, whether human or even of angels. But if I don't have love, I am only a noisy bell or a ringing cymbal.

I may have the gift of prophecy, I may understand all secrets and know everything there is to know, and I may have faith so great that I can move mountains. But even with all this, if I don't have love, I am nothing.

If you think you are a prophet or that you have a spiritual gift, you should understand that what I am writing to you is the Lord's command.