JOINED To The LORD-I—1Corinthians 6:12-20
Uncontrollable Christians
Attention:
When I was a kid, I used to play in Mr. Trexler’s cow & horse pasture, which was about a football field’s distance away from our house.
I would open up the strands of barbed wire & slip thru & explore the pasture.
In my explorations I noticed some unusual trees. They would have the remnants of old rusty barbed-wire sticking out of both sides of the tree—like somebody threaded them thru the middle of the tree!...very odd looking.
They got that way because many years ago, when the original barbed-wire fence was strung onto the tree when it was much younger. The wire cut into the tree & the tree continued to grow. Eventually the tree grew completely around the barbed-wire, sealing the wire inside!, & overwhelming the barbed-wire’s original purpose. The wire now belonged to the tree!
That’s what God does with us. Jesus totally surrounds our rusty, pointy, dangerous self. He covers us with His blood. He changes our purpose & intentions. He softens our very being by taking our place. His life becomes our life. We become immersed in Him. We are Joined To The Lord & belong to Him.
Need:
1Sam. 15:22-23—“So Samuel said: "Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings & sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity & idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king.””
*The apostle Paul warned the church at Corinth of the inherent danger of sexual immorality.
‘Inherent’= “existing in something as a permanent, essential, or characteristic attribute”
God must be allowed to control our bodies, so...
God’s people must be joined to the Lord.
Why must God be allowed to control our bodies?...& Why must God’s people be joined to the Lord?
4 distinctions emerge from allowing God to control our bodies or from our being joined to the Lord.
1—When you/we are Joined to the Lord...
His MASTERY Emerges(:12)
Explanation:(:12)Control
:12—“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.”
Paul had chastised the Corinthian church for high-mindedly accepting & supporting rank sexual sin in their church(5:1-13).
He had momentarily rebuked the church for their inability to dispel such wanton sexual sin from their midst(6:1-11).
He now(6:12-20) plainly highlights the inherent danger of sexual immorality in general by comparing/juxtaposing it with one’s marital commitment to Christ.
Everything is “lawful” or permissible for Paul. But how can that be?
Given that God’s people are all washed, sanctified & justified by the Spirit of our God(5:11), Paul cannot possibly mean that even those things that offend & oppose God are “lawful” or acceptable for him to commit. He also cannot mean that He is better than another simply because he is an apostle. Paul too operates within the bounds of James’ perfect law of liberty(Js. 1:25, 2:12).
Paul is not bound by law. He is free in Christ Jesus. But he is free only in Christ Jesus! Thus he can say, “All things are lawful for me.”
It is true that every sin is forgiven in Christ Jesus, but that does NOT give a person license to sin against God.
Rom. 5:18-6:2—“Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”
Paul ‘appears’ to borrow a common adage from Corinthian secular society. But he re-interprets it for them thru the sieve of Christian truth. Paul is possibly taking an adage from the Corinthian’s repertoire of errant sayings created to protect, encompass, & encourage their ‘heretical’ belief.
This adage is no doubt similar to our modern-day ‘All things in moderation.’ “When we willingly associate with sin, we will soon come to tolerate it & then to practice it.”—MNTC
However, not all things “lawful” are profitable(“helpful”—sumferw--‘carry with’) for Paul in particular or for any other Christian in particular.
cf.-1Cor. 10:23-24—“All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being.”(Php. 2:3-4).
Paul agrees that he is indeed free from the law, but his love for Christ(common Christian sense) demands that there are some things from which he must refrain. These must be left to themselves because they are simply not “helpful”(‘to carry with’) to himself or to other Christians. Though he is free, he must also very gravely consider how his choices are received by others(the weak, the lost).
The implication here is that anything the child of God enters into or involves him/herself with should be “helpful.” Such “helpfulness” encompasses all that is ‘beneficial’ to both self & others in relation to God’s kingdom. It should be “helpful” in God’s grand all-encompassing scheme of His glory.
Thereby, ‘un-helpful’ things have a potential “power” about them which can dismantle &/or taint one’s commitment to Christ. Indulging those things which are ‘un-helpful’ curtails God’s grand all-encompassing scheme of His glory.
*Paul will not allow himself to be “brought under the power”, or ‘mastered’, or controlled by the ‘lawfulness’ of things. He will rather be mastered by Christ Himself. Paul will not allow himself to be “brought under the power of any” except Jesus.
Gal. 5:13—“For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”
It is a charge & burden upon the individual Christian to ensure that they are never “brought under the power of any” aspect of fleshly sin. It is the Christian’s mandate as a child & slave of God, to be completely given to God’s “power” to the exclusion of any other “power.”
The price for dabbling in & entertaining sin is devastating to one’s relationship with Christ & thereby to one’s relationship with his fellow man.
“All” & “All Things”3X—pav—
“Lawful/Permissible”2X—exesti OR exestin—Present Impersonal Active Indicative 3rd Sing.—1) It is lawful. Strong— impersonally--It is right(through the figurative idea of being out in public).
From—third person singular present indicative of a compound of ek/ex & eimi; so also exon; neuter present participle of the same (with or without some form of eimi expressed).
“But”—alla—Conjunction—1) But—1a) Nevertheless, notwithstanding, 1b) An objection, 1c) An exception, 1d) A restriction, 1e) Nay, rather, yea, moreover, 1f) Forms a transition to the cardinal matter. Strong—neuter plural of allov[else, i.e. different]; properly--Other things, i.e. adverbially--Contrariwise(in many relations). RWP—Perhaps, "nevertheless," in spite of the difference just noted.
“Not”2X—ou, ouk, or ouc—Particle—1) No, not; in direct questions expecting an affirmative answer. Strong—a primary word; the absolute negative [compare mh] adverb; No or not.
“Helpful/Expedient/Profitable/Beneficial”—sumferw=‘Carry with’—sumferw—Present Active Indicative 3rd Sing.—1) To bear or bring together; 2) To bear together or at the same time—2a) To carry with others, 2b) To collect or contribute in order to help, 2c) To help, be profitable, be expedient. Strong—To bear together(contribute), i.e. literally--To collect, or figuratively--To conduce; especially(neuter participle as a noun)--Advantage. Used 17X.
From—sun—1) With. Strong—With or together(but much closer than meta or para), i.e. By association, companionship, process, resemblance, possession, instrumentality, addition, etc.—&—ferw—To “bear” or carry(in a very wide application, literally & figuratively).
“Brought under...Power/Mastered/Brought under...Control”—exousiazw—Future Passive Indicative 2st Sing.—1) To have power or authority, use power—1a) To be master of any one, exercise authority over one, 1b) To be master of the body—1b1) To have full & entire authority over the body, 1b2) To hold the body subject to one's will; 1c) To be brought under the power of anyone. Strong—To control. Used 4X.
From—exousia—Privilege, i.e. subjectively--Force, capacity, competency, freedom; or objectively--Mastery; concretely--Magistrate, superhuman, potentate, token of control(wielding delegated influence).
“Any”—tiv—Pronoun—1) A certain, a certain one; 2) Some, some time, a while. Strong—an enclitic indefinite pronoun; Some or any person or object.
Argumentation:
Rom. 14:10-23—“But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written: “As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way. I know & am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God is not eating & drinking, but righteousness & peace & joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God & approved by men. Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace & the things by which one may edify another. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense. It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak. Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.”
1Cor. 8:4-13—“Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, & that there is no other God but one. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods & many lords), yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, & we for Him; & one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, & through whom we live. However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; & their conscience, being weak, is defiled. But food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse. But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? But when you thus sin against the brethren, & wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat[kreav—flesh], lest I make my brother stumble.”
1Cor. 9:24-27—“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body & bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”
Heb. 12:11-15—“Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, & the feeble knees, & make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed. Pursue peace with all people, & holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, & by this many become defiled;”
Gal. 5:16-24—“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, & you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, & the Spirit against the flesh; & these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, & the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions & desires.”
Illustration:
Larger Boats along the Carrabelle river/The boats are 1)Designed around river & ocean travel--in water; 2)Designed around sun exposure; 3)Designed to be docked in intimate association with the continuous movement of the river & ocean/When they are out of the river-ocean it is a major & awkward undertaking(dry dock)/The water-river-ocean has MASTERY over those boats/HIS(God’s) MASTERY
Are you/your kids/your grandchildren ‘workin’ on the ‘Night Moves’ in the back seat of your ’60 Chevy?
Are you/your kids/your grandchildren ‘workin’ on mysteries without any clues?
Or rather has God's MASTERY Emerged in their lives?
Application:
?Is God’s MASTERY(thru Christ) Emergent in you?
?Are you Joined to the Lord?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
A Tree surrounding the barbed wire running thru it.
Action:
When you/we are Joined to the Lord...
1. His MASTERY Emerges(:12)
Pt. 1 only! presented 11/05/2017pm to:
FBC Cbelle
206 Storrs Ave. SW(SE Ave. A)
Carrabelle, FL 32322
