… ALL THINGS ARE LAWFUL FOR ME, BUT I WILL NOT BE BROUGHT UNDER THE POWER OF ANY.
1 Corinthian 6: 12
Some say, “ALL THINGS ARE LAWFUL FOR ME”
YES; BUT NOT EVERYTHING IS GOOD FOR YOU.
I could say that I am allowed to do anything, but I am not going to let anything make me its slave. I MUST BE AN OVERCOMER
Christian teaching about God’s grace can create uncertainty for believers about WHAT IS OR IS NOT ACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOUR.
On one hand, Scripture is emphatic that those who are in Christ are not subject to the law of Moses. Christians are free to eat old-covenant- restricted animals, for instance, and not to participate in all the special holidays required for religious Jews.
Moreover, Apostle Paul has written in the previous verse, 1 Corinthians 6:11, that those in Christ have already been washed of their sins, sanctified in Christ, and declared justified by God.
That transaction is complete. We are saved. Why not continue to do whatever we want, then?
Why not participate in what we call sexual immorality? Why not do whatever comes naturally, whatever our bodies desire?
That’s the question Paul seems to be answering in this and the following verses. In this verse Paul tells us “All things are lawful for me.”
But all things are not helpful: The Corinthian Christians used their “liberty” as a license to sin.
See the reference to the harlot in 1 Corinthians 6:15
1 Cor 6:15 You know that your bodies are parts of the body of Christ. Shall I take a part of Christ’s body and make it part of the body of a prostitute? Impossible!
Corinthian Christians thought they had the liberty to use the services of prostitutes. This was culturally accepted in the city of Corinth.
It is true that nothing- including sin- can ever separate a forgiven Christian from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus
Romans 8: 38- 39 says- 38 For I am certain that nothing can separate us from his love: neither death nor life, neither angels nor other heavenly rulers or powers, neither the present nor the future, neither the world above nor the world below, there is nothing in all creation that will ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is ours through Christ Jesus our Lord.
So does this give the right to justify our actions for sinful activities?
Paul writes this is a wrong standard for believers.
CHRISTIAN LIBERTY IS NOT AN OPEN EXCUSE FOR ANY BEHAVIOUR OR ATTITUDE.
Paul is urging the Christians to live up to who they are now in Christ. He is encouraging all Christians to make this the standard for their choices.
Paul insists that the standard for Christian behaviour must be whether a practice is helpful or enslaving.
Sex is more than a mere bodily function; God designed it to unite two people into one body in marriage. That union with another person includes Christ, to whom we are also united, into union with us. Our bodies will be resurrected and are meant even now to bring glory to God.
I WILL NOT BE BROUGHT UNDER THE POWER OF ANY: In this phrase, Paul is saying I will not be brought under the power of anybody (as in the body of a prostitute).
A PRINCIPLE FOR SEXUAL PURITY AMONG CHRISTIANS IS NOT THE SAME AS FOR FOOD.
“My body wants food, so I eat. My body wants sex, so I hire a prostitute. What’s the problem?”
The body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body:
Paul warns us not to take that slogan, which applies to irrelevant food restrictions, and apply it to sexual immorality.
Because of our lustful sexual appetites, it may seem that God did make our bodies for sexual immorality. But God did not make our bodies that way; sinful Adam did. The body is not for sexual immorality.
Our bodies will be raised up by the Lord at the resurrection. So what we do with our bodies in regard to food does not affect us in the same way as what we do with our bodies in regard to sex.
Sol Dr Gita