Freedom Vs Responsibility
1 Corinthians Series
CCCAG September 7th, 2025
Text: 1 Corinthians 6:12–19; 10:23–31 (CSB)
Introduction: The American Idea of Freedom vs. Paul’s Reality Check
If there’s one word that defines American culture, it’s freedom.
For those of us who have served, we believe in freedom up to the point of entering the military. In essence, we said “This we’ll defend, even if it costs us our lives” because we believe that humans live best when humans are free.
From our nation’s founding documents to the way we talk in everyday life, we prize the ability to make our own choices.
The American ethos is summed up in a statement or a slogan we hear people use when someone is acting in a way that we might not thing is desirable -“It’s a free country!” as if that phrase ends every argument.
The Corinthians were no different.
Their slogan was, “Everything is permissible for me.”
This was particularly said within the church in Corinth.
They believed that since Christ had set them free from the law, they were free to live however they pleased.
But Paul pushes back. Twice in this letter he quotes that phrase, and twice he follows it with, “but not everything is beneficial… but I will not be mastered by anything” (1 Cor 6:12, CSB).
Paul is teaching the church in Corinth — and us today — that our freedom in Christ is not a license to sin, nor a selfish right to indulge ourselves. True Christian liberty has limits: it must honor God, respect the body He gave us, and build up others.
So today we’re going to explore two key passages — 1 Corinthians 6:12–19 and 1 Corinthians 10:23–31 — where Paul lays out the tension between moral law and Christian liberty. And we’ll see how to live in a way that balances freedom with responsibility, liberty with love, grace with holiness.
In the first of these examples, Paul is directly addressing the Corinthian systems of worship outside of the church-
The people in Corinth were surrounded by pagan temples where ritual prostitution was part of the worship act.
That’s the background, let Let’s read the scripture- (1 Cor 6:12-20)
12 “Everything is permissible for me,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me,” but I will not be mastered by anything. 13 “Food is for the stomach and the stomach for food,” and God will do away with both of them.
However, the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 God raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. 15 Don’t you know that your bodies are a part of Christ’s body? So should I take a part of Christ’s body and make it part of a prostitute? Absolutely not! 16 Don’t you know that anyone joined to a prostitute is one body with her? For Scripture says, The two will become one flesh., 17 But anyone joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.
18 Flee sexual immorality! Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the person who is sexually immoral sins against his own body.
19 Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body.
Prayer
We see here that Paul uses what to us may seem to be an extreme example of the idea of freedom going too far.
But to the Corinthians, this was just a Monday. For them, going to the pagan temple and participating in the activities there was like us running to the store for eggs.
Imagine telling your wife, “Hey babe, going to the market to pick up a few things. Might stop at the temple on the way home.”
Your wife saying, “Ok honey, love you!” like it’s no big deal.
Paul uses what was common in their culture to point out that while we are free in Christ, that freedom is not an excuse to live in a way that is destructive to our body’s, souls, or spirits.
We often look at the moral law in the bible as a burden we have to shoulder and just grind through.
But what we need to realize is that God’s law is protective, not oppressive.
Even the 613 ceremonial and civil laws seen in Exodus through Deuteronomy was protective to that nation.
Take the prohibition against eating certain food. Let’s take pork for an example.
When God told Moses to institute those laws, we are talking about desert dwellers living in the Bronze age. While they did know how to salt food to help preserve it, pork spoils very quickly and carries parasites that aren’t in the animals considered “Clean” by the law. Even cooking something like pork in a sanitary way was near impossible for them. Household Sanitation was mostly nonexistent, so people’s toilet products were just put into a bowel and thrown outside somewhere.
Not to mention the lack of extra water for personal bathing- water was a precious commodity and not wasted on bathing unless they were next to a large river or ocean.
That’s why God prohibited certain foods that were more susceptible to spoiling. It was so food borne illness didn’t ravage the community.
I use that example just to show you that God isn’t being intolerant or mean when HE dictates what we should or shouldn’t do
HE is a Father, looking out for the well being of his children.
That leads us to our first point-
I. Our Freedom is often Misunderstood (1 Cor 6:12–13)
“Everything is permissible for me,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me,” but I will not be mastered by anything. “Food is for the stomach and the stomach for food,” and God will do away with both of them. However, the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. (1 Cor 6:12–13, CSB)
The Corinthians loved slogans. “Everything is permissible for me” was their rallying cry. But the bible points out the flaw. Yes, Christ frees us from the law — but freedom without boundaries quickly becomes another form of slavery.
Think about it:
- Someone says, “I’m free to drink alcohol or use drugs as much as I want.” But addiction soon proves they’re not free at all.
- Someone says, “I’m free to spend however I want.” But crushing debt enslaves them.
- Someone says, “I’m free to indulge sexually however I want.” But broken relationships, broken children, mental illness, and disease ravage your body and prove otherwise.
Here is the deception the enemy uses-
Freedom abused turns into bondage.
This is why the Apostle Paul insists: “I will not be mastered by anything.”
What God is revealing to us this morning is that real freedom means we’re not dominated by sin, substances, desires, or habits. We’re free to say no as much as we’re free to say yes to the true pleasures that God has for us-
Psalms 16:11
11 You reveal the path of life to me; in your presence is abundant joy; at your right hand are eternal pleasures.
There is nothing that the world has or the devil can tempt you with that comes even close to the absolute joy of being filled with the presence of God HIMself through the indwelling presence and baptism in the HOLY SPIRIT.
Everything else is a cheap counterfeit.
The devil’s temptations can be seen as a street hustler in a fur coat standing outside the Rolex store telling you how his watches are so much better than theirs.
Don’t fall for it.
Don’t be a child insisting, “I’m free to play in the street!”
Technically, yes. But step into that traffic and you’ll find out how quickly that “freedom” becomes destructive.
God is a loving Father, and a loving parent sets boundaries — not to limit freedom, but to preserve and give you the best life possible.
The second point here is that-
II. The Body Belongs to the Lord (1 Cor 6:14–19)
Paul takes the argument deeper: I’m going to reread this scripture because it’s so powerful on how we live our lives-
God raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Don’t you know that your bodies are a part of Christ’s body? So should I take a part of Christ’s body and make it part of a prostitute? Absolutely not! Don’t you know that anyone joined to a prostitute is one body with her? For Scripture says, The two will become one flesh. But anyone joined to the Lord is one spirit with him. Flee sexual immorality! Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the person who is sexually immoral sins against his own body. Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body. (1 Cor 6:14–20, CSB)
The Corinthians thought the body didn’t matter — just the spirit. They used that excuse to abuse their bodies and to justify sexual immorality.
But here the bible reminds us that your body is not just yours.
- It belongs to Christ. He paid for it on the cross, and it became HIS when you surrendered to HIM and answered HIS call to follow HIM.
- It’s indwelt by the Spirit. If you are a Christian here today- if you are committed to following Jesus then you have to understand that God lives in you.
That means everything you do in life- God right there.
So when we misuse our bodies, we’re not just hurting ourselves. We’re dragging Christ into our sin. That’s why Paul says, “Flee sexual immorality!”
Don’t flirt with it.
Don’t rationalize it.
Don’t walk slowly away from it, looking backwards at it like Lot’s wife looking at Sodom.
Run.
It should be noted there are 4 sins we are told to flee from in the bible-
Sexual Immorality
Idolatry
Love of Money
Youthful Passions- basically meaning- grow up and embrace maturity.
All of these things leach away our spiritual sensitivity and awareness, replacing it with hollow pleasures that leave us feeling empty when they are over.
WE have to remember, we are not our own.
We were bought with a price, and we have a debt of honor and responsibility to treat that with the highest regard in our lives.
Illustration:
If you borrow a friend’s truck to move furniture
You don’t take it mudding
You don’t slam it into a ditch, or scratch and dent it.
It’s not yours.
You treat it with respect because it belongs to someone else.
In the same way, our bodies belong to Christ — and He calls us to use them for His glory.
That leads us to our third point-
3. Freedom Balanced by Responsibility (Moving to-1 Cor 10:23–30)
Paul returns to the slogan again in chapter 10:
“Everything is permissible,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible,” but not everything builds up. No one is to seek his own good, but the good of the other person. (1 Cor 10:23–24, CSB)
Notice the shift here:
In chapter 6, the danger was being enslaved by sin.
In chapter 10, the danger is wounding others by careless use of freedom.
The issue in Corinth was eating meat offered to idols.
In the pagan temples, they would sacrifice animals. They would then sell the meat from the animals in the market place, where everyone including the Christians living there could buy that meat.
Some Christians believed that we shouldn’t even touch that meat because it had been sacrificed to a false God or demon. Their consciences wouldn’t let them do that.
That’s what Paul is addressing here.
Paul said: technically, it’s fine. Idols aren’t real. But if eating that meat causes distress to your fellow Christian, don’t do it.
Your brother or your sister is worth much more than a steak dinner.
In our human frailty, we can be very myopic and very selfish sometimes in our view of Christian liberty.
Christian liberty isn’t just about me. It’s about us. Our choices affect our brothers and sisters.
Let me give you a modern example-
-One Christian may feel free to post whatever they want on social media.
But Christian liberty, governed by the law of love, means we should ask ourselves before we post something ‘Will this build others up, or will it tear them down?’
Love sometimes means hitting delete, even when I feel free to say it.
Because my freedom doesn’t give me permission to wound my brother or sister in Christ OR to needlessly alienate someone from the central message of the Gospel.
This was a big challenge for me when social media became ubiquitous about 15 years ago. In fact, I created a rule for myself called “Oscar’s Law”
It says, “The number of people whose minds are changed by a social media post will forever remain at zero.”
So why divide over it?
Some other examples of choosing to limit our liberty for the sake of others
- I may be free to watch certain movies or listen to certain music. But if it offends or wounds another believer’s conscience, love says, “I don’t need it.”
- I may be free to spend my money however I want. But love says, “How can I use it to bless others?”
Another way to see this is
Illustration: A strong swimmer may be free to dive into rough waters. But if he’s with weaker swimmers, he chooses not to — not because he can’t, but because he won’t risk others.
That’s Christian liberty: freedom restrained by love.
The last point-
IV. The Goal of Christian Liberty should always be: God’s Glory (1 Cor 10:31–33)
The bible closes the argument with the ultimate standard:
(1 Cor 10:31-33)
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or Greeks or the church of God, just as I also try to please everyone in everything, not seeking my own benefit, but the benefit of many, so that they may be saved. (1 Cor 10:31–33, CSB)
Repeat-
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.
Here’s the filter for every decision: Does this glorify God?
- Does this choice show others what Christ is like?
- Does this action build up the body of Christ?
- Does this liberty reflect gratitude for the price Jesus paid?
Freedom in Christ isn’t about maximum indulgence.
It’s about maximum glory for God. (REPEAT)
And sometimes that means laying down our rights for the sake of others.
Conclusion: Fire in the Fireplace
Christian liberty is like fire. In the fireplace, fire warms the house, cooks food, gives light, and brings joy.
If you light a fire on top of your coffee table, it destroys everything.
Christ has set us free. But our freedom has a boundary: God’s glory, our holiness, and our love for others.
So the bible’s words echo to us today:
- “I will not be mastered by anything.” (6:12)
- “No one is to seek his own good, but the good of the other person.” (10:24)
- “So glorify God with your body.” (6:20)
- “Do everything for the glory of God.” (10:31)
That’s the call: Live free — but live free to glorify Christ. Free to love. Free to serve. Free to say no when love demands it.
Prayer/Altar Call
