By Kristen Lee, Interhigh Student, 10th Grade

Why does Apostle Paul list very specifically what the Corinthians used to be? How might they have felt as they heard this list? And, how might they have felt as they heard the words washed, sanctified, justified after hearing the list that described their previous lives?

Apostle Paul seems to list very specifically what the Corinthians used to be, because he wants them to see how much they fell short in their old lives. By no means at all were they holy or perfect—they were wretched sinners just like you and me who did not deserve grace or mercy at all. What we all deserved was judgment and the appropriate punishment—eternal separation from God in hell—for such blatant crimes against our loving heavenly father. We deserved an eternity of regret, of darkness, of bitterness, of no love, of weeping and gnashing of teeth, as we had pushed away a holy God who loved us so much. As they heard the list, they must have felt so guilty, felt like failures, been depressed, dejected, and their heads must have been hanging in shame. However, after hearing the words washed, sanctified, and justified, they must have felt so thankful that their past, their old life was washed clean by the blood of Jesus. They must have felt relief that they were no longer bound to their old life, but they had a brand new start, a clean slate, as Jesus no longer remembered their sins since they were forgiven. Joy and peace must have radiated from their hearts as they experienced the undeserved love and forgiveness of their heavenly Father who picked them up after their shortcomings.

Contrast the bible’s view of the body versus the world’s view of the body. In what ways have I bought into the worldly view of my body?

The bible views the body as a temple of the Holy Spirit. Temples during the times of the Old Testament were holy and sacred. No one except for the priest chosen by God was allowed to enter the inner parts of the temple, and he could only enter after offering up sacrifices upon sacrifices for atonement of his own sins which he had to be cleansed of. The spirit of God, the presence of God which dwelled in the inner parts of the temple, could not stand even a trace or hint of sin in the temple. If this is how the bible views the body, as this kind of a temple of the Holy Spirit, then I shudder to think of how we have been treating it. The world views the body as an object to be put on display for the whole world to see, for the whole world to judge, to criticize, and feast their eyes upon. It’s demeaning and really sad to see how little respect, propriety, and modesty people have for their bodies. People in the world today allow their bodies to be taken advantage of, and use their bodies to indulge in sins of fleshly desires. The views of the bible and of the world regarding our bodies do not match whatsoever. The bible sees the body as a holy, sacred place where the Spirit of God dwells and should be worshiped in—the world sees it as an object used to indulge in sins, an object to use to further our own purposes to gain approval, etc. But it is even sadder to think that I myself have bought the lie of how the world views the body. I myself spend so much time, money, and thought life on my appearance as I went to be impressive and “beautiful” in my appearance. I do not even think of my body as a holy temple, and I do not think of others around me as temples of the Spirit of God either. I find myself constantly judging other peoples’ appearances, and sometimes even basing my friends on simply what I see. By treating my own body in such a way, I am showing that I think of my body with such low standards, such a low perception. In my mind, I have demoted my body from being something as precious and powerful as a temple to a simple object—with not much more worth than a picture or painting.

In what ways am I called to honor God with my body?

As v.19-20 says “…You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body.” We were bought at a price—a heavy price indeed. We were bought back once again by our master, our creator, our Lord. We need to honor Him by now living lives doing the work He intended for us to do from the very beginning—the work of sharing His good, perfect love with all the nations so that they can fall in love with their heavenly Father and enter a relationship with Him. Also, treating our bodies like the sacred, holy vessels they ought to be. Not allowing our bodies to be reduced to simple objects, but showing respect for the works of God’s fingers by being modest in how we dress and carry our bodies, not calling so much attention to just our physical bodies, not acting like our physical bodies are the only things that matter, not judging other people. It is so common now to catch ourselves doing these things—girls left and right at my school are always deeply engrossed about conversations similar to “Ohmygosh he is so cute! Did you see his eyes? They’re gorgeous!” “Ewww she could do with some make up on!” “Why does she look like a cake face today?” “Goodness gracious never ever do your hair like that again!” “Did you see that new girl? She’s so fat!” It’s really silly to that this is all most girls ever talk about now days. However, we can honor our bodies by not talking about such things, by showing respect for our bodies by choosing not to judge in such ways. Saving our bodies for our one spouse in the future is honoring the original plan God had for our bodies as well.

By Angel Cheng, Interhigh Mentor, Junior @ UC Berkeley

How does engaging in permissible but not beneficial behavior lead to being mastered?
Engaging in permissible but not beneficial behavior brings no purpose and meaning in living a Christian life. Often times we try to push the boundary of “proper behaviors” by saying that “the Blble didn’t say we can’t do such and such.” As a result of following our desires rather than considering from the perspective to please God, our permissible acts become the very thing that separates us from living a loving relationship with Him. Rather than thinking of ways to please Him, we wander around the boundary and think of ways to justify such acts, forgetting the abundance of living an intimate life with God. We try to draw a line between what is permissible and what is not, but we choose to stay at the most distant point from God within which may still be permissible. Eventually we become slaves to these desires, because our center has become whether we can engage in these permissible but not beneficial acts or not.

What are some “permissible” behaviors or habits I am engaged in that may not be beneficial for me?
For me personally, media is a very big source of these permissible but not beneficial acts. One can very well justify that watching worldly movies and drama, listening to secular music, or reading romantic novel to be okay, or certainly not “bad,” but these things constantly feed me with worldly ideas such as casual dating, sex before marriage, or enforcing an unrealistic view of body image on me. Eventually we easily become slaves to these worldly values, subjecting ourselves to fit the distorted standard of this world. Moreover, we miss out on our real life, only to find ourselves mourning over the question why don’t all these things happened in the movies ever happen to us. We end up living an unrealistic life, and finally have no room for God in the picture.

By Sang-a Kim, Interhigh Mentor, Sophomore @ UC Berkeley

Corinthians 6:1-8
How should disputes be handled among believers according to this passage?
If there are disputes among believers, fellow Christians who can serve as judges are needed.

How does having lawsuits among believers represent “complete defeat?”
The church is one body of Christ. It can only be this way when each part embraces a sense of unity with all the other parts and when all the parts of the body work together. Having lawsuits among each other in the church, a community of the believers, means that the church of Corinthians failed to recognize the community as one family or body. The church members each sought after their own individual benefit and did not treat others as their brothers. This represents complete defeat in that they failed to recognize themselves as God’s children, and realize that in God they are all in the same family.

How does the Gospel enable Christians to respond as Apostle Paul suggests – to rather be wronged and cheated?
The Gospel message plainly declares the truth, which is that I am a rotten sinner who deserves punishment and who already stands on condemnation. However, God, who has the just right to punish me, loved me so much that He pardoned my sin by having His own son bear my sin instead. I do not deserve to be forgiven, yet I have been, and I do not deserve to be saved and gain eternal life, and yet I have been saved and gained eternal life. Moreover, I am forgiven and saved not by my work, but solely by God’s grace. I only received this gift of eternal life and salvation. The gospel message is about God’s love and grace and the recognition of my sinfulness.
Knowing how undeserving I was of this gift, I cannot but only be thankful for my salvation. I was – and still sometimes am – offending God by pursuing worldly values which I believed would give me security. I did not recognize the King, my Lord, properly, but instead I hurt him, rejected him, and ignored him. Regardless of my rebellious and absolutely inadequate deeds towards Him, God still forgave me and loved me. Having received this grace, how can I ever be angry at people who have wronged me, and how can I ever claim just judgement and punishment toward those who cheated on me? I do not deserve to be treated justly. I simply do not have right for it. Thus, I cannot be mad at not getting what I do not deserve.
This truth was hard to grasp. I was so deceived and foolish that I believed that I had to be treated nicely if I was nice to somebody. At the beginning of this year, I started reaching out to some of my peers who had not really developed friendships in our college fellowship group, as well as freshman sisters. Whenever I invited them to church events, whenever I called them or sent text messages, and whenever I came up and talked to them, their response were cold sometimes. I expected them to recognize my kind heart and to respond to me with love as well.
Now reflecting on 1 Corinthians 6, I can see that I should bring this issue to my small group leader and talk about it because she is older and wiser, and she is godly and reliable. She can give me good advice. Also, I now see that I do not have the right to get mad at my peers for their rude conduct, because I do not deserve to be treated nicely. I should get over my princess-y thought process and expectations. I also need to recognize the grace I have received from God. As the wretched sinner I am, God still loved me and forgave me. With this grateful heart, I cannot get mad at my friends who were just rude to me. There is no reason for me to always be treated nicely and lovingly by everyone. Having said that we certainly don’t deserve constant appreciation and attention from other people, but on the other hand, it’s not okay for other people to treat us rudely either. I just need to recognize their lost states, and rather grieve over their sins.