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For it has been reported to me by Chlo′e’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brethren.
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What I mean is that each one of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apol′los,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.”
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For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
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For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
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and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power,
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that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
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On Divisions in the Corinthian Church
But I, brethren, could not address you as spiritual men, but as men of the flesh, as babes in Christ.
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for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving like ordinary men?
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For when one says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apol′los,” are you not merely men?
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According to the commission of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and another man is building upon it. Let each man take care how he builds upon it.
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So let no one boast of men. For all things are yours,
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But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. I do not even judge myself.
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I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me.
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For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men.
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I urge you, then, be imitators of me.
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Sexual Immorality Must Be Judged
I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with immoral men;
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not at all meaning the immoral of this world, or the greedy and robbers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.
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I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no man among you wise enough to decide between members of the brotherhood,
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Glorify God in Body and Spirit
“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be enslaved by anything.
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“Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
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Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!
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You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men.
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The Unmarried and the Widows
Now concerning the unmarried, I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.
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I mean, brethren, the appointed time has grown very short; from now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none,
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Therefore, if food is a cause of my brother’s falling, I will never eat meat, lest I cause my brother to fall.
