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What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
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(Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.)
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but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,
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For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
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Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.
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But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
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The Church and Its Leaders
Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ.
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I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.
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You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?
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If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,
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Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise.
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So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours,
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Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.
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We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored!
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when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.
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And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this?
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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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Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!
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You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
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Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do.
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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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those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep;
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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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In my judgment, she is happier if she stays as she is—and I think that I too have the Spirit of God.
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But not everyone possesses this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled.
