Morality in Corinthians and Ephesians

Intro

In Corinthians and Ephesians, "Paul stresses that Christian faith must lead to a Christian lifestyle" (McGrath).
Paul gives guidance to the Corinthians and Ephesians about living a Christian life, and guides them on moral issues such as marriage, lying, cheating, and unwholsome speech.

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In Paul's second prayer, he stresses that Christians should "be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing one another in love".
This is because they have all been united as one in Christ, so should therefore treat eachother and moral and religious equals.
Paul uses the word agape in v2, to refer to the highest form of love hat he wishes the Ephesins to show each another.

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Paul contrasts the morally innapropriate behaviour of the Gentiles with the expected behaviour of Christians as a new creation.
Paul no longer thinks of Christians as Jews or pagans but as he new people of God - therefore their morality should reflect this.
He warns his readers not to act as Gentiles do as "they are darkned in their understanding" which leads to"sensuality... impurity... greed".
Instead, he urges them to put on a "new self" and act morally.
Stott comments how Paul can descend from intense theological debate to "the nitty-gritty of human behaviour"

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Paul uses the metaphor of darkness and light to teach the Ephesians morality; "For you were once in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord".
For example, Paul warns that they should avoid drunkeness, greed, and obscenity.
For Paul, it is not enough that the Ephesians simply avoid immorality, but they also must strive to exemplify morality.
He teaches that light is transformative and everything that is "illuminated becomes a light".

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Paul heard a report of a man in the congregation having an affair with his stepmother.
Paul said "hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed".
Murphy-O'Connor summarises this teaching: "If our bodies are to be raised, we must attach importance to actions perfomed in and through the body".
Therefore, Christians should not engage in sexual immorality.

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For divorce, Paul refers to Jesus' moral teaching, not his own.
He commands Christians not to get divorced at all: "reconcilliation, not estrangement, is the course for Christians" (Bruce).
If divorce does happen, then remarriage should take place as long as the divorced partner is alive.

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Paul heard of a group of Corinthian women not wearing veils during worship.
The moral issue that arose from this was that women's hair was an object of lust.
No veil would "arouse suspicions regarding her moral character" (Guy)
Paul uses the divine pattern of relationships to solve this moral issue.
He explains that God is the head of Christ, Christ is the head of man, and man is the head of woman.
This theory did not grant men superiority, but taught a wife should choose to submit to their husband "as Christ chose to submit to the Father" (Prior).
His overal teaching in this issue of morality is that the women should return to wearing veils to avoid distracting others during worship.

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