Introduction
After discussing lawsuits (vv.1-8) and issues of licentiousness (9-11), Paul now turns to matters of Christian liberty (12-14) in transitioning to a discussion of sexual immorality (15-20). There are a number of principles to unpack in the second half of this chapter: Christian liberty and its abuse, how eschatology informs our daily life and behavior, the way in which sexuality is to be understood and expressed in relation to union with Christ, and how Christ’s Lordship directs our view of the body and its use in the present world. Each of these topics are rich opportunities for contemplation. The second half of chapter six is densely theological and abundantly practical.
Paul uses almost exactly the same expression twice in this letter: All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any (cf. 10:23). Many modern commentators assume Paul is quoting a saying common among the Corinthians and responding to it. Perhaps it was from Greek philosophy. Perhaps it was a rationalization offered by the more licentious Christians in the church. Some Bible versions will even bracket the first line in each phrase with quotation marks to indicate that Paul is quoting (cf. ESV). But there are no quotation marks in the actual text of 1 Corinthians. This is simply a choice by the editors; it is an interpretation, perhaps a valid one, but certainly not a feature that should be regarded as very important in deciding how the passage is to be understood. Maybe Paul is quoting a saying the Corinthians knew and used, or maybe he is quoting himself. Preachers sometimes use specific phrases and will repeat them periodically in their teaching. The source of the phrase isn’t really important. What’s important is how Paul discusses and applies it.
Even though vv.12-14 are closely connected to the verses that follow, we will spend one lesson looking at the principles found here. This will lay a foundation for the rest of the passage.
All Things are Lawful, Except What Is Not
Paul is speaking of things that are lawful in themselves. Clearly some things are not. He just listed the kinds of people who will not inherit the kingdom of God, so obviously fornication, idolatry, sodomy, and drunkeness are not among those things the apostle describes as lawful. But that isn’t what Paul is saying. He’s not justifying the behavior he just denounced. He is speaking within a different category. He is saying: “Among those things that are lawful….”
The fact that we are forgiven of all things by which we have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory does not mean all these things are, therefore, lawful. Forgivable and lawful are not synonyms. I can be forgiven for murdering my neighbor, but it would not be lawful for me to do so. Similarly, there are many ways in which we may (and do) fall short on a regular basis and be forgiven, but the fact that we are not cut off from divine communion for these things does not mean they are good, right, or lawful pursuits.
There has always been a strain of antinomianism in the Church against which we must be on guard. That does not mean legalism is not also a problem. Of course, it is. But Protestant and Reformed Christians are so aware of the dangers of legalism that we may be less sensitive to and perceptive of the equal, opposite danger of antinomianism. The term means against the law and it refers to a sort of “Christian lawlessness,” the notion that Christ has delivered us from the binding, moral authority of God’s law. Nothing could be further from the truth. Christ delivered us from the condemnation of the law, from our guilt and misery and judgment. He delivered us from the vain attempt to be justified by our works, from trying to be accepted on the basis of our obedience. That is what Christ saved us from. He did not save us from the law’s authority to obligate us.
Some Christians will say, “All things are lawful!” Kind of, sort of, not exactly. Yes, within the category of lawful things, we have tremendous freedom. But that does not mean nothing is outside of the law or God’s permission. We were set free to obey God’s law, not to disregard it.
Some Things are Lawful But Not Helpful
Within the realm of lawful behavior, there is always a danger of making good things into ultimate things or being preoccupied with what is acceptable rather than pursuing what is excellent. A thing may be lawful in itself and yet not helpful. It may be morally permissible but mostly a waste of time. That is the principle at work in these verses.
The question is not merely, “What is wrong with this or that?” The question ought to be, “What is right?” There may not be a prohibition against something, but are we merely seeking what is minimally acceptable or what is spiritual and exceptional? There is nothing unlawful about watching or reading the news, so it should be fine for me to spend all of my time doing that to the neglect of Scripture reading, prayer, and productive labor, right? Many Christians justify wasting time or cherishing heart idols by insisting the Bible does not forbid whatever they are doing.
Scripture commands us to redeem the time, making the most of every opportunity (Eph. 5:16). Legalists will twist and abuse this, condemning and scorning the way other believers spend their time. But the fact the principle can be abused does not mean it does not appear in the Bible. We are to be concerned not only with what is lawful but what is helpful, what edifies (10:23b). That does not mean every moment must be spent in Bible reading or prayer. It does not mean you should feel ashamed to read a novel or watch sports. It does mean that whatever you do, you are to do it in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ (Col. 3:17) and to the glory of God (10:31).
So what is helpful? The word is a Greek compound whose parts mean to bear with. That is what a helper is, someone or something that comes alongside and helps you carry a burden. Many lawful things can help us bear the burdens of this present life, but they need to be helping us lift and travel in the direction we want to go. Something that helps us travel to hell is not helpful.
Lawful Servants But Unlawful Masters
Lawful things may be wonderful servants in a life which honors God, but they are terrible masters. Good things must not be made ultimate things. Yet we see this all the time. It is treated as an honorable or commendable thing, especially in sports. You can buy a t-shirt that says Train, Eat, Sleep, Repeat for every imaginable sport or discipline. By itself there is nothing wrong with this. But many of us have seen people who have made their career or hobby into their religion.
You see this many times in pastimes like running and jiu-jitsu. “Running saved my life,” and they are telling the truth. People who were addicted, abused, obese, suicidal, and spiraling out of control find new focus, purpose, discipline, and health (mentally, emotionally, and physically) in running or rolling or lifting weights or participating in some kind of community. These things can be amazing tools for personal development, but they are a lousy substitute for Christ. Working up a sweat with friends can be excellent for your state of mind and body, but it cannot save your soul.
Good things must be only goods, not gods. The day we imagine we cannot live without X or that X completes us as a person or that X is how we find contentment and fulfillment is the day we must repent of idolatry. That may or may not mean removing that activity from our life. It most definitely means removing the idol associated with it from our heart.
Christians are to live as free men, not be enslaved to people or things. We are servants of God, and a man can only truly serve one master. Even Christians who were slaves in the first century are commanded in Scripture to do their work like freedmen. Lawful pursuits cease to be lawful when they become controlling. If you cannot live without it, you’d be better off doing so.
If you live for pleasure, it will ultimately elude you. If you live for Christ, you will find the greatest pleasure and fulfillment possible. But you cannot aim at happiness, not because happiness is the wrong goal, but because our sinful hearts will always tend to define it in carnal and selfish ways. Fix your eyes and life on Christ, and you will discover what true happiness entails.
An Eschatological Perspective on Utility
It seems that some of the brethren in Corinth were seeking to draw an analogy between food and sexual promiscuity. The body is made to eat and enjoy food. God did not have to make food taste good. He did not have to bless us with taste buds. Give whatever evolutionary rationale you want. I’ve read them. They don’t work. The fact that fresh fruit tastes sweet and amazing is proof there is a God. God made food for fuel, but he also made it to be enjoyed. It is not unspiritual to do so. You are not more holy if you choose oatmeal on Sundays and not to dip Oreos in coffee.
Food is for the stomach, and the stomach for foods, and neither of them are eschatological in their present configuration. The stomach will be transformed by the resurrection, and so too, presumably, will be the foods made for it. Jesus ate after his resurrection, and we will too. If you think food tastes good here, just wait until you discover what it tastes like in the new heavens and earth! But food serves a utilitarian function, as well as an aesthetic one, in the present age. You can probably see why some wanted to make a comparison to sex, but the analogy fails because it fails to take into account the teleological and covenantal aspects.
Food is not a covenantal category, but interpersonal intimacy is. Food serves to keep our bodies alive and strong so that we might better serve God, but interpersonal union is ultimately aimed at covenantal and eternal union with God in Christ. When evaluating what is lawful and helpful in the present age, we are to think in terms of covenant (our relationship with God under his authority), telos (the purpose a thing serves and how it relates to or furthers our life’s purpose), and eschatology (the final state in which all things will be transformed and renewed by the power of Christ’s resurrection). To simplify this, think about three questions. Is this consistent with a relationship with Christ, i.e. can I do this as a Christian to the glory of God? Does this serve a useful purpose which aids or enhances my life and growth as God’s child? How will the final judgment and the renewal of all things transform this thing or alter my perspective on it?
Pastoral Application: Two Ditches on Lawful Activity
Christian liberty has always been an issue among the people of God, even before those people began to be called Christians. The Israelites were set free from the tyranny of the Egyptians only to fall back into bondage by imitating Egyptian worship at the foot of Mt. Sinai just a few months later. They were free to worship Yahweh at his Tabernacle, but not to burn incense when, where, and however they pleased. They were free to enjoy their wives, but not to take another man’s wife, free to cultivate grapes and drink wine, but not to become drunk on it. In the NT we find Jesus’ most scathing rebukes were directed at the Pharisees who taught the commandments of men as if they were the doctrine of God. Paul is emphatic that it is weak brethren who wish to bind others based upon their own conscience rather than the commandments of Christ.
The whole history of Christian liberty has been a story of tension between legalism and licentiousness, between antinomianism (against law) and neonomianism (the introduction of a new law). Both are wrong. Both are sinful. These are two ditches, and it isn’t any better to crash your car into the one on the right side of the road than it is to end up in the ditch on the left. You’re not better off being a legalistic Pharisee than a licentious playboy. One may be less likely to contract a sexually transmitted disease, but both of them are going to Hell.
Legalists need to hear the first part of Paul’s motto loud and clear: All things are lawful. So stop judging your brethren for things God has not chosen to judge them for. They want to drink wine and beer in moderation, and you don’t want to drink something that tastes like cough medicine. That’s fine. Why are you judging your brother? They want to smoke a pipe or cigar to the glory of God, and you’d rather not put something into your mouth and set it on fire. Let each be convinced in his own mind. If God hasn’t forbidden your brother to enjoy it, then you shouldn’t either. He can thank God as he partakes, and you can thank God that you don’t have to. You are not commanded to indulge in whatever your brother may enjoy, and there is no shame or wrong in establishing your own guidelines for holiness. If you know you can’t handle alcohol in moderation, then don’t try. If you know that certain hobbies quickly become a form of idolatry, be content to live your life without it. But don’t mistake your rules for God’s rules. They apply to you alone.
On the other hand, the licentious person takes every opportunity to use Christian liberty as a justification and cloak for vice. He needs to hear the second half of Paul’s instruction: not all things are helpful, and I won’t be brought under the power of any. Did the Reformed world really have a social media war just a few months ago about the lawfulness of bikinis on the beach? This is the liberty Christ died for: so that our wives and daughters can walk around in public in nothing but their underwear? When I was a child there were still conversations about whether Christians could watch movies or play games that used “spot cards.” Did we settle those debates only so that Christians can now justify watching movies that are basically soft porn? You have the right to drink alcohol; that doesn’t mean it is okay to get drunk and carouse like a pagan. You have the right to play sports and enjoy vacations; that doesn’t mean it is okay to make those activities your religion or disregard the Lord’s Day.
When it comes to Christian liberty, we need to keep it between the ditches. We should not create laws for each other that God did not make, and we should not be foolish about our freedom as if whatever is not forbidden is necessarily good for us. God has commanded the ultimate things that ought to occupy our hearts and lives. He allows us also to enjoy many good things, but these things are not ultimate, only utilitarian. Insofar as they are pleasant and useful, enjoy them and give God thanks. But when they become burdensome rather than a blessing, when they begin to take over rather than support your pursuit of what is good, right, and true, do what is necessary to harness them, or be content to say good-bye to them.
Conclusion
Ultimately things are lawful insofar as they are in harmony with the law of God revealed in Christ. They are helpful insofar as they align with the values and goals of the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. And they are enjoyable insofar as they are consistent with our liberty as Christians and not instruments of evil working to bring us back into bondage.
Christians are both free and capable of enjoying this life and all of its good things in a way that unbelievers never can. Our souls have been delivered from guilt, shame, condemnation, and tyranny by the sacrifice and resurrection of our Savior. We are accepted fully and forever on the basis of his righteousness, not our own. We have been rescued from the kingdom of darkness where we once were bound, and we have been made citizens of the kingdom of life and adopted as sons of God and made heirs of the new heavens and earth.
Everything we do, everything we enjoy, is to be done in light of these realities. We live by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we live in obedience to God’s holy law, and we do whatever we do to his honor and glory by giving thanks for all things in Christ’s Name. We have not been called to sadness, but to gladness. We have not been called to dourness but delight. We have not been called to fearfulness or fretting, but to faith and feasting, now and forevermore.
All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. My soul has been bought with the blood of God’s Son. I am his, and he is mine. You are called to joy, Christian. Do not sacrifice it for lesser things. Amen.
