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To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:
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For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge—
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A Church Divided Over Leaders
I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.
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these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
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The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,
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What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task.
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So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours,
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whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours,
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Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have begun to reign—and that without us! How I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you!
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Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
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not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.
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Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.
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I wish that all of you were as I am. But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.
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Concerning Change of Status
Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches.
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If anyone is worried that he might not be acting honorably toward the virgin he is engaged to, and if his passions are too strong and he feels he ought to marry, he should do as he wants. He is not sinning. They should get married.
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Concerning Food Sacrificed to Idols
Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up.
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So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.”
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yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
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For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols?
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If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.
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Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple, and that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar?
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But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me, for I would rather die than allow anyone to deprive me of this boast.
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To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.
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I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
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The Need for Self-Discipline
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
