As those who have been made to be a people belonging to God, Christians should live confidently to fulfill our God given purpose. With the freedom and boldness which Christ brings, can a Christian therefore pursue his life in any manner he might choose?
Sitting in Ephesus, Paul found himself far from Corinth where God had used him to plant a congregation. But now he was troubled as he learned from some of the members of Chloe's household about the problems this young congregation was facing. A letter had to be written to the church before it was too late.
Among his many goals in the letter we know as First Corinthians, Paul sought to teach these relatively young converts that if they set their hearts on evil things their conversion to Christ and their being nurtured by Christ would not protect them from falling. In other words, just being a disciple of Christ did not give them the right nor the liberty to continue to practice idolatry, to engage in sexual immorality, to test the Lord or to grumble. 1 Corinthians 10 is the result.
In the tenth chapter Paul argued that the history of the Israelites provides warnings for God's people today so that we will not be destroyed like many in Israel were. But perhaps one of the startling observations from this text is that Paul found it necessary to warn Christians against being idolatrous! I suspect that most Christians who regularly attend worship services would consider it "impossible" for someone like them self to also be engaged in idolatry. But it is not impossible.
Although some of the Corinthian Christians were tempted to go to the temple of idols as part of their normal social status contact with people, idolatry today in our secular society still thrives since fundamentally idolatry boils down to the greed of serving whatever it might be that someone believes will take care of Self. Paul's message is not only clear but it serves as a warning for us today as well. Since greed is idolatry and Christians can not simultaneously continue in idolatry and worship the Lord, we must put away greed so that we will not fall. If we try to walk hand in hand with greed, the fact that we have been baptized and that we have received nourishment from Christ will not protect us from falling, just as it did not protect them. 1 Corinthians 10:1-7
Other articles which might be of interest
The next article in this series is: "Living for the Master."Lessons from 580 B.C. for the Second Millennium
What Does it Mean to Live as a Christian? Part 1: To Break Down My Idols