What's your addiction? I know that's a pretty strong statement but I want us to think about that. Put another way, what controls you? What can you not do without? What, if taken away, would mean your life was over? You might say "I'm not addicted to anything!" If that's true, then halleluiah. But most of us are actually addicted and don't even know if. We are controlled by self-fulfillment. The flesh still controls us too much. Last week we discussed the two reasons we are left on this earth after receiving Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. 1) To be transformed into His character, then 2) reflect that character as a "witness" to those around you in order to encourage them to enter God's kingdom with you.
Sadly, in practice we think the two reasons we are left on earth are 1) to make sure our fire insurance policy is up to date and then 2) now that we are free from sin we can basically do whatever feels good at the moment.
I think this attitude is at the base for much of what Paul had been addressing in the first six chapters. The Corinthians thought they were so mature but in reality were very immature—their flesh was leading them instead of the Holy Spirit into worshipping humans over God, tolerating gross sin in their midst, and fighting it out with other believers in front of the world.
Paul brings home the reason this is a very bad idea in the final verses of Chapter 6.
12
Paul is apparently quoting a local catch-phrase: "Everything is permissible for me." What happens is that we think freedom from sin is freedom to sin. Somehow we think that God's forgiveness means we can just indulge the flesh and it's already "covered" in our fire insurance policy.
We miss the point that we are to be changed into His image. Evil is still evil. Sin is still sin. Things outside the character of God are still outside the character of God. God doesn't require us to be perfect the moment we are saved, but He does send His Spirit inside us to change us.
Paul counters their phrase in two ways:
1) Not everything is helpful (or "beneficial"). For dogs, chocolate is a tasty treat, but it is also highly poisonous. I can speak from firsthand knowledge on that point. We've spent more than one long night after our dog got into chocolate. Chocolate is not beneficial to a dog. So too, just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do something. Ask yourself before you say or do something: "Will this bring more glory to God and enhance my walk with Him or just satisfy my fleshly desires?"
2) I will not be brought under the control of anything.
Romans 6:15-17 What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Absolutely not! 16 Do you not know that if you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of that one you obey—either of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness?
Make no mistake. The flesh still wants to enslave you, whether to sexual sin, alcohol, food, sports, shopping, money, or the feel-good rush of physical exertion. None of those things are bad in and of themselves, but there is a point where they are used wrongly and begin to be the tail that wags the dog.
Speaking of food, Paul uses it as an example next to make another point:
13
This was apparently a second saying the Corinthians used in order to justify their sinful behavior. There was a Greek attitude that the body was disassociated with the spirit. So essentially what happens in the body stays in the body, what happens in the spirit stays in the spirit. It's true that eating is not connected with spirituality and in fact God will do away with the requirement to eat. But Paul says that, especially when it comes to sexual things, the body and the spirit or soul are intertwined in ways we cannot imagine. We were made physically to have to eat to survive, but we were not created for sexual immorality. In fact the word for "body" here, soma, is for the whole person, not just the flesh itself.
Sex is good and was created by God to be expressed between two people in marriage. We were created in God's image and are to be transformed into His character. Another way to say the ending of verse 13 is "God cares about our bodies." God does care what you do physically because it is the outward reflection of the inward reality of your character.
14
We are not always going to struggle with this duality of sinful flesh and redeemed spirit living in the same body. As Jesus was the "firstfruits" (1 Corinthians 15:23 ) of the new creation, we too will share His nature in the resurrection. So why reflect the old nature when it is going to go away?
15 – 17
What we do with our bodies matters. Having intimate relations with someone bonds you in ways more significant and wide reaching than just physically. Paul is using this analogy to say that in a much deeper way still, once we become part of the body of Christ we are joined to Him and He to us—and doing things that are not part of that new nature has effects we can't see but can be really detrimental to our growth and our walk.
That being said—it is important to point out that sexuality outside of the bonds of marriage is more than simply a physical act. It has emotional effects that our over-sexualized society discounts.
18
There is a good reason Paul says to "flee" sexual immorality. Intimacy is a very powerful thing and is just as pervasive today as it was in Corinth. Again, the word for "body" is for the whole person. Other sins also affect our body and our whole person, like alcoholism or gluttony, for instance. But nothing is like intimacy. Satan knows how important this is to us humans and so uses it as a chief tool to enslave the Christian.
19 – 20
When you receive Jesus as Lord, the Holy Spirit takes up permanent residence in your life. In that way you are a "dwelling place" for God (the word "temple" or "sanctuary"). Jesus bought you like a slave at the slave market. We were enslaved to sin but His payment set us free, not to be free-agents but to be His agents. We do not belong to ourselves and so we can't just go and do anything that seems good to us. We need to do those things that will reflect positively on our Lord who bought us!
Conclusions
I guess the big question for us today is to examine our lives to see what rules us. Again, what has mastered you? What can you not get along without? That's how you can tell if you have come under the control of something—would your life go on if that thing was suddenly taken away?
Paul uses the example of sexual intimacy because of its power, but there are many things that can control us. The enemy will use those things to 1) pull us off our main mission to be transformed into his image and used for his kingdom and 2) ruin our witness by accusing us to ourselves (making us weak) or unmasking us to others (to make us ineffective).
So what should we do?
I am not an addiction recovery specialist but I will offer two pieces of advice from the Scriptures and they take this form: Remove and Replace. Remove yourself from that thing that holds you and replace it with something else.
Remove – Get repulsed by sin
Start to think of sin the way God thinks of it—not a part of who He is and repulsive like poison.
• Be discerning (innocent as doves, wise as serpents Matthew 10:16 , "For we are not unaware of his schemes" 2 Corinthians 2:11 )
• Be decisive ("flee from youthful passions" 2 Timothy 2:22 ) – means to run away to safety
• Be dedicated ("put to death the deeds of the flesh" Romans 8:13 )
• Be dead ("Consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ" Romans 6:11 )
Replace - Get addicted to Jesus
This is not, by the way, getting addicted to church attendance or Bible study. Those are great things, but I mean getting addicted to the person of Jesus Christ.
• Fall in Love with Jesus (Eph 3:18 "grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ")
• "Walk in the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh" (Gal 5:16 )
• Pursue Righteousness (2 Timothy 2:22 ) – means to run swiftly after something with the purpose of catching it
Ask yourself two questions based on verse 12: Is this thing I am about to do, think, or say, controlling me or am I controlling it, and 2) will it help me become more like Christ or help others to know Him?
Jude 24-25 Now to Him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless and with great joy, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now, and forever. Amen.
