You Can Do That… (1 Cor. 6:12-20) *All verses in NKJV*
– We have been going through the book of 1st Corinthians on Wednesday nights. We go verse by verse. Therefore, Wednesday night sermons often connect week by week.
– Which means sometimes we preach about similar topics, and sometimes one sermon depends on the groundwork laid by the last sermon. I encourage you to go back and listen to past messages.
– 1st Corinthians is written by the Apostle Paul to the church he planted in Corinth. It is important to know who the scriptures were written for, and the context in which it was written, to understand it.
– Fortunately, or Unfortunately, Corinth is a city much like where we live. A crossroads of commerce and cultures, lots of idolatry and pagan cultural values. Over-sexualized, perverse, and no true moral standards. The church is struggling to have godly values and discipline surrounded by permissible sin.
– 1 Cor. 6:12-20, 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. 13 Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.
15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.” 17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
18 Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
– Paul is saying that even if something is legal to do, many things don’t make your life or future any better, and only end up hurting your physical and spiritual health, and relationships. No profit in it.
– Don’t become a slave to anything! Example: 2017 Kenya, needing “good” coffee that morning…
– Verse 13, The “food for stomach” comment. This was the example the people were using, that Paul is calling them out on. They used the analogy that, for Gentiles, all food is okay to partake in and we are designed to want it and need it. So, in turn, humans need sex, our bodies are designed to want it and need it, and it’s not illegal, so why not?
– They may have even used some scriptures out of context to justify it. Using Paul’s own words….
– Romans 14:3-4a, Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. 4 Who are you to judge another’s servant?
– 1 Tim. 4:3a-4, (Paul speaking about false doctrines, that they) …forbid marriage, and command to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; 5 for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
– That is why you must understand scripture in context! These verses refer to Jewish religious practices around food that we are no longer accountable to, NOT about sexual sin!
– Sexual immorality is set apart, and not the same as other sin. Why? Go back and listen to Kevin’s sermon last month, Why Sex? and it will all become clear. We have preached a lot about this lately.
– Clearly there is a call here to flee from sexual immorality, because it is a huge part of their culture that is widely accepted by society (like it is in ours), and it is an issue for them personally. In fact, NOT participating nor accepting this sin in OUR culture will get you scorned and insulted.
– A better way to look at the food/stomach analogy is that you can eat crappy food and destroy your health, the consumer culture will encourage it. You think it isn’t hurting you, but it is killing you.
– Example: A man saying he is perfectly health then out of nowhere a heart attack. Heart blockages don’t just happen. It takes years of bad diet and lifestyle to get there. Just like sexual immorality can seem fine, everyone is doing it and it is natural, but the consequences are devastating to your relationships and your soul.
1. You must be responsible and accountable to yourself.
– 1 Cor 6:12, 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.
– This speaks to holding YOURSELF accountable to what is right, having self-control and discipline.
– Old BC would always say, “You can do that…”, when someone was going to make a decision that had unintended consequences? It was his condescending way of saying that there is a better way….
– Don’t focus on all the things you CAN do. Focus on what you SHOULD do. On what pleases God!
– 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.
– Paul is correcting them on their mindset and worldview. They are “in the world”, not “of the world.”
– A law not enforced is no law at all. We have removed God from our society, now the culture dictates what is right and wrong, since now there is no moral absolute to build society upon…
– Example: I learned while in Ukraine, cheating is not considered wrong if you can get away with it. Only getting caught is wrong or shameful. It is just ingrained in culture. Communism expelled God from society, and several generations later, the foundation for a moral standard does not exist.
– Example: The U.S. does it too! King 5 news story from Jan. 2022, According to Sound Transit 30-40% of riders are not paying the fair to ride, and it is rising. Some est. it is closer to 70%.
The Sound Transit CEO said that fare evasion isn’t an issue with only one particular community or demographic, the problem is system-wide. The CEO is more concerned with the people who can afford to pay but choose not to. He saw this happen firsthand when attending a Mariners game. He said, “Folks who are paying $60, $80, $100 for a seat, they’re paying $13 a pop for a beer, and then they came down to stadium station and they weren’t tapping on or they weren’t buying tickets, we need to reverse that.” … because THIS IS STEALING!
– The reason is not because they can’t pay. It is because no one is making them pay. No one is holding them accountable, so people need to hold themselves accountable. We have the Holy Spirit.
– If society doesn’t have the Holy Spirit, maybe it is easy from them to say, “Everyone steals, so why shouldn’t I?” For them, avoiding punishment is the only reason to behave, not their conscience.
– We see this in children. When no consequences exist for bad behavior, it just gets worse. “It’s not what you teach, it’s what you tolerate.” If you tolerate sin, it will only get more pervasive.
– Proverbs 14:12, There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.
Your action step today: Listen to the Lord, and not to the world, about how to live your life.
– 1 Cor 6:14, And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.
– 2 Peter 1:3, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,
-Not by our strength but by the Holy Spirit inside us, BUT it still takes action on your part to live a godly life. STOP FOOLING YOURSELF AND JUSTIFYING YOUR OWN BAD BEHAVIOR!
– Some of you live life like a pinball machine and make excuses for why you don’t get anywhere.
– If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten. CHANGE IT UP!
– Example: I’ve never been “rise and shine”, I’ve always been “grind and survive”. I’d get my coffee, check my lists and emails, and try to be productive, but fail to get to what was “most important.” What changed? I started a “morning routine”. Not perfect, just something to help me stay focused.
– Now I start my day with “the One Thing”. Priming my mind to stay grounded and ready.
– Gratitude. Think small. Anti-anxiety bible verses. One worship song, thank and praise Jesus.
– It takes 15 minutes (some other stuff in there too), but makes a huge difference in my day!
– When situations arise that would derail me, I simply remind myself of my morning devo.
– Take responsibility for YOUR life!
- You must be responsible and accountable to your church.
– 1 Cor 6:15, Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not!
– 1 Cor. 6:17, But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
– He says, “your bodies” are members. Plural. He is speaking to them as a group; as a whole church.
– 1 Cor. 12:12-14, For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. 14 For in fact the body is not one member but many.
– As a body of Christ, the church is spiritually joined together, and our actions affect each other.
– You are accountable to the body, and responsible for the spiritual health of the body.
– To be a Christian is to be spiritually joined to Christ in both life and death. The community of believers is the collective body of Christ, joined to Him and joined together.
– Every time you want to rationalize your sin to make it okay to live with, think about how it would affect your family if you brought a prostitute to your home to live there with them. That is how the Lord must feel trying to share your dirty heart with your secret sins!
- You must be responsible and accountable to the Lord.
– 1 Cor 6:19-20, Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
– 1 Cor. 3:16, Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (As a Christian, your body is a sanctuary for the living God. His dwelling place. Claimed by God.)
– We were spiritually purchased by the blood of Jesus on the cross, that paid the debt for our sins.
– Paul started this portion of scripture by telling the church, “You can do that…”, and ends with reminding them that their bodies are a dwelling place for Jesus. Reminding them that they have a spiritual responsibility to live up to. They are accountable to God for how they live their lives.
– I think this rebuke from Paul is a call to righteousness, and to adopt a godly standard, not just accept what society accepts. Hold yourself accountable to a holy standard that honors God, even if the rest of the world isn’t doing it. Change your mindset.
– You have a responsibility to, and accountability for, yourself, your church, and to your Lord.
– You were bought with a price, you are not your own, so live like it!
– Where do you start? Start with “the one thing…”
– Matthew 6:33, But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
– Seek the Lord Jesus. Seek his strength. Seek his forgiveness, find his peace.
– prayer –
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