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Post by Josh on Feb 10, 2007 11:38:06 GMT -8
A Needed Check
"not even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed"
"nor... obsenity, foolish talk, or coarse joking"
Those are the things of the "old man", who has no place in God's kingdom.
Ouch.
It's amazing how easy it is to slide into some of these things. But I don't think we should look at these exhortations as too hard to accomplish or too prudish. This is a call to constantly check our behavior with what we say we believe.
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Post by Josh on Feb 15, 2007 17:30:23 GMT -8
12/22/06:
Submit is probably best translated as "to give up one's rights".
Many have put forward reasons why Paul here stresses that women "submit" to their husbands and men "love" their wives. The one I like best has to do with the general phenomenon (note, I'm generalizing) that women are more apt to place emphasis on a loving, tender devotion from their husbands, whereas husbands have a tendency to want to be respected more than 'cherished'.
At least that's a tendency here in the Coles household.
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Post by Josh on Feb 15, 2007 17:31:32 GMT -8
12/26/06:
My Zondervan NIV commentary makes a good point in stating that, "Greco-Roman society held that wives had obligations to their husbands, but not vice-versa. Chrsitianity introduced a revolutionary approach to marriage that equalized the rights of wives and husbands and established the institution on a much firmer foundation than ever before"
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Post by Josh on Feb 15, 2007 17:32:07 GMT -8
12/06:
The end of this chapter stresses a point that every Christian needs to think long and hard on (whether male or female). Christ is our husband, the husband of the Church. He is the one who woos us, who sacrifices for us, who involves us in something not less than an actual romance, but far far more.
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Post by Josh on Feb 15, 2007 17:32:42 GMT -8
12/26/06:
Just want to point out how highly we as Christians should regard marriage. Of course, celibacy is a high calling as well, but in marriage we see a type Christ's dynamic passion for humanity.
In their rush to put celibates on a pedastal (and I think they were some good reasons for that), the later early Church may have missed the sublime calling of marriage portrayed here by the celebate apostle.
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Post by Josh on Feb 15, 2007 17:34:23 GMT -8
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