Study Desk

You are so proud of yourselves, but you should be mourning in sorrow and shame. And you should remove this man from your fellowship.

So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth.

But I wasn't talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that.

It isn't my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning.

God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, "You must remove the evil person from among you."

But instead, one believer sues another—right in front of unbelievers!

Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

You say, "I am allowed to do anything"—but not everything is good for you. And even though "I am allowed to do anything," I must not become a slave to anything.

You say, "Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food." (This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them.) But you can't say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies.

But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.

But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband.

But I wish everyone were single, just as I am. Yet each person has a special gift from God, of one kind or another.

But if they can't control themselves, they should go ahead and marry. It's better to marry than to burn with lust.

But for those who are married, I have a command that comes not from me, but from the Lord. A wife must not leave her husband.

But if she does leave him, let her remain single or else be reconciled to him. And the husband must not leave his wife.

For the believing wife brings holiness to her marriage, and the believing husband brings holiness to his marriage. Otherwise, your children would not be holy, but now they are holy.

(But if the husband or wife who isn't a believer insists on leaving, let them go. In such cases the believing husband or wife is no longer bound to the other, for God has called you to live in peace.)

Are you a slave? Don't let that worry you—but if you get a chance to be free, take it.

Now regarding your question about the young women who are not yet married. I do not have a command from the Lord for them. But the Lord in his mercy has given me wisdom that can be trusted, and I will share it with you.

But if you do get married, it is not a sin. And if a young woman gets married, it is not a sin. However, those who get married at this time will have troubles, and I am trying to spare you those problems.