Instructions of Christian Life – Discussion Questions

Questions for Discussion:

1. While we are not certain precisely what issues Paul is addressing when he speaks of sexual purity, it is quite clear that he commends sexual intercourse within the context of marriage. In our society, for Christians and non-Christians alike the it seems that sexual intimacy does not depend on the marriage vows. Are there ways that we can be honest about the different morals of our society and yet learn from Paul’s deep concern for marriage?
2. How do you understand the relationship between faithfulness to God and the gift and responsibility of labor? How does this affect our vision of a church or a community that can be both loving and rigorous?
3. Paul clearly is deeply concerned with the interdependence within congregations and probably among congregations as well. In your own church, how does your community move beyond polite relations with other Christians and other churches to a deeper and more strenuous commitment?
4. Paul is deeply concerned not only with the claim that Christ will come again but with some of the details of that scenario. It is hard in a world that has waited for that return for two millennia to be as certain as Paul about what God’s triumph in Jesus Christ might look like. Do these details matter? What can you affirm about the Christian hope beyond death?