Text: 1 Cor 6:12-14, Title: OK to Have a Beer? Date/Place:
A. Opening illustration: tell about people offering me alcohol, cussing, and drinking with the preacher in ME
B. Background to passage: not really all that sure about how this flows into the context of the entire letter, except that Paul just brought up sexual sin, and now he wanted to confront another wrong view of the Christian life in Corinth, just as he had done with the “untransformed believer” theology of the last passage. There were obviously those in the church who felt that because they were justified and fully forgiven they could do whatever. It was a very antinomian view. So in a sexually charged city and culture, and with the Greek dualism between the material and spiritual, the Corinthians would quip, “we are saved and secure, all sin past present and future, therefore it doesn’t really matter what we do, so let’s eat, drink, and be merry.”
C. Main thought: so from this text, we will see two things that shape our behavior with matters of sin/liberty
A. Wisdom on lawful things (v. 12)
1. This was a slogan that was going around the church, “all things are lawful for me,” rather than Paul’s own personal testimony. This was a way to justify sexual sin in particular, but probably many other immoral, sinful activities. Probably, looking at the verses that follow, some Christian men in the church were using the services of prostitutes and arguing for the liberty to do so. Explore it theologically: are all sins (past, present, future) already forgiven if we are in Christ? Will we lose our salvation? Did not God give us things in life to enjoy? They’re paid for, right? Well, Paul gives two pieces of advice. 1) First he says that things may be lawful (not expressly forbidden; although sexual immorality and other explicit prohibitions are already ruled out), christian liberties may not be beneficial, helpful, advantageous. The word here is symphero, which means beneficial toward the group, helpful to accomplishing the goal. He says they may not want to do some things that they could do because of their effects on self, others, the kingdom. 2) He also advises them that although all things may be lawful, he/they should not be brought under the authority of any of them. He would not let himself, who had been freed from sin and self, be ruled by, controlled or mastered by anything else—he has but one Master. The word carries the connotation of having something or someone else determine your conduct for you. Paul knew that some permissible things cause addiction or neglect of weightier things.
2. 1 Cor 10:23, 31, Rom 14:14, 2 Sam 12:14, Rom 6:14, 1 Thess 4:3-5,
3. Illustration: alcohol, tattoos, gambling, soap operas, magazines, video games, cigarettes, Facebook, sports, “My liberty as a Christian should always be supremely shackled by the love I am commanded to have towards another.” “True Christian conduct is not predicated on whether or not I have the right to do something, but whether m conduct is helpful to those about me.”
4. None of the sins of those of us who have been born again will be remembered against us related to our salvation. However we will receive reward or loss based on our actions, 1 Cor 3. But his point is that some things not expressly forbidden are just not helpful. 1) So ask the question: Does this action promote my desire for Christ or does it cool it off? Does it aid others in their growth or does it harm them? Does it draw others’ eyes toward the beauty of Christ or give them cause to blaspheme? Will this act help advance the kingdom or hinder its progress? 2) Is this something that could cause dependence to the point that my other responsibilities to family, church, Christ suffer neglect? Is this an action that will cause me to be susceptible to a expressly forbidden action? Is this an action that cause me to sacrifice freedom or usurp Christ’s authority in my life? Are there behaviors, addictions, habits that you are currently under the mastery of? “I can quit whenever I want.” **Now some people think many of these things are sinful, and they may well be “for them.” Now you know that I am not a relativist, but I am also not a legalist, and some of these things, you will have a difficult time proving express prohibition. Therefore some things that you think are sinful on principle, others may not be convicted of such; and that’s OK. Some things that you feel like you can do, others may not feel liberty to do; and that’s OK. Remember, we are not talking about things that are clearly prohibited. Legalism is easy, liberalism is easy, biblical discernment and tolerance is difficult.
B. Worldview on eternal things (v. 13-14)
1. The Corinthians are quoting some sort of local saying. The Greek philosophy in view was that the spiritual has value, and the material/physical does not. They had the idea that one day they would die and be set free from the body forever. And thus the logical conclusion is that anything that is relative to the body is not really that important—“all going to be destroyed in the end anyway.” And the Corinthians just figured that if food was like that, so was sex. “The body was created for sex,” they said, and since all is forgiven, and God is gonna destroy it all in the end, let’s eat, drink, and indulge ourselves in personal sexual gratification. Paul says, whoa, the body is not for sex, it is for Christ; and is destined for the resurrection. Paul also reminds them that death is not the end of the use of the body, God is gonna raise it up. Our bodies will be used for all eternity in a glorified state. So you are not done with it here.
2. Rom 14:17, Philip 3:20-21, Rom 12:1, 2 Cor 5:15, 2 Tim 2:20-21, Rom 8:13
3. Illustration: children don’t take care of things, leave them in the yard, always plan to get another one, not realizing that they are going to need that one later, Robert Murray McCheyne said that he had “killed the horse (his body) and now he couldn’t deliver the message” while he was on his deathbed at 29 years old,
4. God created sex for marriage, but its highest purpose is not personal satisfaction, it is to put on display the glorious bond of unity that Christ has with His church. One day I will do a message on the beauty of God’s design for sex, because all you ever hear from pulpits is the evils of sexual sins; but I will try to give you fair warning on that one. His point for them is: “You were not created for sex; your body was created to give God glory!” Train your mind that your body is the temple of God, He made it, bought it, and owns it. Anything you do to or with your body, you are doing it with Him. And that body has to last you. So ask the question to God: How would you like for me to use my body? For sexual immorality? For abuse of others? For work? Also ask yourself: how can I best use this vessel for honor? How can I purify my body in order to make it most useful to God? What things do I need to begin doing or stop doing? If you have decided that there are things that you are doing that are not bringing honor to God that you want to stop, right them done, pray about them, memorize some scripture specifically related to it, fight it, get some accountability, and put them to death. The Christian life is not a downhill joy ride to paradise; it is a narrow, difficult path, uphill both ways, covered with snow and ice, laden with enemy demons that are attempting to destroy your every godly impulse. BUT you have the mighty Captain of your salvation with you to the end of the age, who will help you and strengthen you, and fight your battles with you! Then one day He will deliver you from this body of death, and transform it into a body of light that will be able to endure the manifest presence of God for eternity, enjoying who He is forever!
A. Closing illustration: The particular place they were sent to serve the Lord did not have access to peanut butter. This particular family happened to enjoy peanut butter a great deal. Rather creatively, they made arrangements with some of their friend sin the States to send them peanut butter every now and then so they could enjoy it with their meals. The problem is they didn’t know until they started receiving their supply of peanut butter that the other missionaries considered it a mark of spirituality that you not have peanut butter with your meals. I suppose the line went something like this: ‘We believe since we can’t get peanut butter here, we should give it up for the cause of Christ,’ or some such nonsense. A basis of spirituality was ‘bearing the cross’ of living without peanut butter.
The young family didn’t buy into that line of thinking. Their family kept getting regular shipments of peanut butter. They didn’t flaunt it, they just enjoyed it in the privacy of their own home. Pressure began to intensify. You would expect adult missionaries to be big enough o let others eat what they pleased, right? Wrong. The legalism was so petty, the pressure go so intense and the exclusive treatment so unfair, it finished them off spiritually. They finally had enough. Unable to continue against the mounting pressure, they packed it in and were soon homeward bound, disillusioned and probably a bit cynical.
B. Recap
C. Invitation to commitment
Additional Notes
• Is Christ Exalted, Magnified, Honored, and Glorified?
