1 CORINTHIANS 6:12 – All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful for me but I will not be dominated by anything.”
THEME OF THE DAY. MAKE WISE DECISIONS. One of the greatest blessings when we become Christians is the spiritual freedom we enjoy in Christ. The bondage to Satan, sin, and self is broken. We are able to sing with loud voices one of the greatest hymns ever penned And Can it Be by Charles Wesley and particularly the third stanza – Long my imprisoned spirit lay, Fast bound in sin and nature’s night; Thine eye diffused a quick’ning ray, I woke, the dungeon flamed with light; My chains fell off, my heart was free; I rose, went forth and followed Thee. However, with such freedom comes responsibility. It is the responsibility the Apostle Paul expounds in today’s scripture.
The Corinthian church was a mess. Division, preference, abuse of the Lord’s table, allowance of sexual sin, and a host of other God-dishonoring attitudes and actions marked this church. One such action was the abuse of God’s grace. These believers were doing exactly what Paul warned the Galatians against – Do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh (Galatians 5:13). And this temptation is real for all Christians. Our fight against temptation and sin is far from over and it is an intense daily war. The area the Apostle Paul identifies is a significant part of the war is in this spiritual freedom we have in Christ. Go back and read today’s scripture. He is basically saying, “I am under grace. I can do anything, but I won’t because not all things are helpful to me and others. Not only that, but I will not do anything which will put me back in bondage.” Here is the greatest Christian ever to live showing spiritual maturing in making wise decisions. We may take away two applications in our Christian lives.
First, we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. When the Lord confronted Cain with the murder of his brother Abel, He asked him the whereabouts of Abel. Cain responded with the flawed self-defense of a lie, “I do not know, am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:8-9). The answer is a resounding “Yes” and in the spiritual realm, we do hold a responsibility for other Christians, and that responsibility is not to do something which would cause them to stumble in their walks with the Lord. The Apostle Paul knew, and so must we, that we are always on display before people – believers and unbelievers – and though all things might be lawful, we will not cause confusion or stumbling to occur with anyone. This means we must say “no” to our freedoms in Christ if there is even a remote chance of confusing the Gospel before unbelievers or leading another believer to stumble.
The second application occurs in the closing verses from which today’s scripture comes – Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Remember we are not our own anymore. Our wills, desires, decisions, and everything else about us was bought by Jesus Christ for Jesus Christ, for the good of His people, and furtherance of His Gospel. Maintaining this mindset empowers us to obey the first application. When we live not for ourselves but for the Lord, His people and His purposes, we find the true meaning of being a Christian and making the wise decisions about lawful things will be empowered as we live aware we are not our own.
Yes, glorious freedom is ours in Christ. Let’s ensure we don’t abuse it by seeking to take back what our Lord bought – ourselves and thus living for ourselves not Him, His people, and purposes.
PRAYER: “Lord, help me not to abuse Your grace and cause others to stumble.”
QUOTE: “Be careful on exercising our spiritual freedom so we don’t cause younger sheep to be confused and stumble.”
In the affection of Christ Jesus,
Pastor Jim