Profitable and Free | 1 Corinthians 6:12-17

All right, we have got quite a journey to go

on together this morning. Let me start with this

question. If I were to say to you, you are free

in Christ, would you understand what I'm referring

to? Would you be able to define what it means

to be free in Christ? Could you explain it to

somebody else? In our world today, in the West,

we usually speak of freedom in terms like this.

Having nobody that we have to answer to. Being

able to choose whatever we want. Being able to

go in any direction or take any path that suits

us. Freedom for us means being able to define

who we are and to follow after whatever desires

well up within us. Now, with that definition

of freedom, we hold up what the Bible says about

freedom and we see that Christian freedom is

not that. It's completely different from that,

right? Because we do answer to a higher power.

Our choices are not just about us, but about

pleasing our Savior. Our path in life is not

to be our will, but to be His will. It's Him,

the Lord Himself, who defines who we are. And

clearly, we're told that we shouldn't just run

after every feeling that comes up within us.

But nevertheless, we are free in Christ. The

scripture tells us that. It bears that out. We

are free in Christ. In fact, it's one of the

most startling and beautiful aspects of the gospel

that God sent his son to come to earth, to take

on flesh, to die in our place, not just to improve

us, not just to make our lives more comfortable,

but to liberate us from slavery, to make us free.

He paid the ransom penalty for our sin. He broke

the power of sin over us. He reconciled us to

the Father and then he gave us his spirit to

guide us and sanctify us through life. So being

free in Christ and first and foremost is freedom

from the penalty of sin, freedom from the power

of sin over us and freedom from the perpetual

anxiety that comes from not knowing whether you've

done enough. to secure God's love and favor.

And we have that freedom. And again, this is

what that freedom of Christ is not. It is not

a wide open permission slip to live for ourselves.

And that's what too many people going to churches

this morning think. It just means we can do what

we want and still claim to know Christ. But that's

not what it is. It's not a blank check for self

-indulgence. To see everything that our flesh

appears to want and then just run after it. It's

actually the opposite of that. Through Christ,

we are delivered from the tyranny of ourselves.

Think about that. We're freed from the tyranny

of ourselves. We're given a whole new inclination

now to live for the glory of God. We're given

new affections. We're given new wisdom for decision

-making. We're given a whole new worldview. And

we're given a whole new reason for living. We're

now free to delight in God's law. Think about

that, in our inner man. Even something that tells

us what we shouldn't do, we're now free to delight

in those things. Free to delight in striving

to observe the commands that Christ has given

to us. And it's not forced drudgery. It's what

we want now. Because God has changed our hearts.

He's brought us alive. He's given us these new

affections. And get this, we are free now to

deny ourselves and to live for others. Does that

sound like an oxymoron? We're free to deny ourselves

and to live to serve others. Everything for us

has changed. When we put our trust in Christ,

we are now free indeed. Now, how that gets fleshed

out is where the struggle comes in, right? How

it practically works its way out in the daily

struggles of life because we're not yet perfected

in our freedom, right? We don't use it as we

should. We're not as practically mature as we

ought to be in our faith. So now as we walk through

life, we are faced with all kinds of choices

and decisions every day. Should I go left or

should I go right? What is wise? What is foolish?

If I'm faced with five things, how do I prioritize

them? In what order? I know I'm free to do this

or that, but should I? Paul has a few things

to say about this in our passage for today. So

grab your Bibles. We are going to go to 1 Corinthians

6. 1 Corinthians 6. And guys, this message really

is, I know I've done this before, part one of

two. So like when we were in chapter five, remember

I made you raise your right hand and promise

to come back next Sunday? I'm doing, I'm kind

of doing, I know it didn't work, but it's okay.

I'm kind of doing that again this morning because

these two messages are going to overlap. We're

covering basically the same passage and they're

going to overlap in the details of each message.

I can't fit them into one. The details of each

message are going to, are going to help you if

you want the full picture of what Paul is saying

in these verses, verses 12 to 20. What I'm going

to try to do today, next week will be as a family

service, so our kiddos will be with us. I'm going

to try to get through as many of the mature themes

in this passage as I can today, while just you

adults are with us. Amen? And spare the kiddos

some of that language for next week. It's not

been easy this week to do this, but I think I've

got it figured out, so we'll see. Now, there's

three words or phrases that dominate this section

of Paul's letter. The first is the Greek word

porneia. And we've seen this many times already

in this letter. It is the Greek word for sexual

immorality. We're going to see it three more

times in our verses for today. Then there's the

word soma in the Greek, which means body. We're

going to see this, what is it, eight times, eight

times in these nine verses. And finally, we're

going to hear Paul say multiple times, do you

not know? As if he's saying to the Corinthians,

why? Haven't you heard me correctly on this issue?

Do you not know this? So let's read the whole

thing as one, verses 12 to 20, and then we'll

start breaking it down. So here's what it says,

beginning in verse 12. Paul says, all things

are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable.

All things are lawful for me, but I will not

be mastered by anything. If you're one of those

people who likes to highlight or underline your

Bible, underline, highlight profitable and mastered.

Those are key words. Verse 13. Food is for the

stomach, and the stomach is for food, but God

will do away with both of them. Yet the body

is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and

the Lord is for the body. Now God has not only

raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through

his power. Do you not know that your bodies are

members of Christ? Shall I then take away the

members of Christ and make them members of a

prostitute? May it never be. Or do you not know

that the one who joins himself to a prostitute

is one body with her? For he, God says, the two

shall become one flesh. But the one who joins

himself to the Lord is one spirit with him. Therefore,

in verse 18, flee immorality. Every other sin

that a man commits is outside the body, but the

immoral man sins against his own body. And again,

that's a reference. to porneia, sexual immorality?

Or do you not know that your body is a temple

of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have

from God, and that you are not your own? For

you've been bought with a price. Therefore, glorify

God in your body. Okay. This could be a whole

sermon series, right? There's so much here, but

let's go back up to verse 12. I wanna look at

what I call the law of spiritual benefit and

the law of spiritual freedom. These are two principles

that are a huge help in how we're to walk through

this life as Christ followers. They're gonna

give us a ton of direction. So let's look at

verse 12. All things are lawful for me, but not

all things are profitable. The law of spiritual

benefit. Now, the first thing we have to determine

with this passage is who is speaking when it

says all things are possible or all things are

lawful. It could mean all things are permissible.

Who is speaking in that? Is that a statement

that is true for Christians? Everything is permissible?

Is that true for us? Of course not. Of course

not. In the verses right before this statement,

Paul gave us a whole list of things that used

to mark our lives, such were some of us. But

now we're not to return to those things. So no,

fornication is not permissible, right, for a

Christian. Idolatry, adultery, homosexuality,

thievery, coveting, drunkenness, that whole list,

that is not okay for those of us who've been

transformed by God's grace to go back to. So

no, not all things are permissible, right? So

why would Paul write this then? All things are

awful. Well, raise your hand if the Bible that

you're looking at right now has quotation marks

around that statement. Anybody? Okay, good. So

you might have an ESV or a CSB or an NIV. And

so you're going to see there quotation marks

around that statement. What does that mean? That

means that the translation committee is not convinced

that that is a Pauline statement. They're convinced

that Paul didn't say it like that statement lays

it out. So it's something of an interpretive

statement that's being made by the translation

committee, which means what's going on is one

of two things. Either that is a false idea that

developed there among the believers in Corinth,

the members of the church basically saying, we

can live as we please. Because we are saved by

grace, we're forgiven of our sins, so our conduct

no longer matters. This is called antinomianism.

Look, I've got my fire insurance. I've trusted

in Christ, so therefore now I can go out and

live as I please because it's all forgiven. Antinomianism,

fancy theological word, just two Greek words,

anti and namas, against the law. And we do see

this attitude in the first century churches in

several different places. People had fallen into

this wrong idea. For example, Paul writes to

the church in Rome. He says, shall we sin because

we're not under law but under grace? May it never

be. We're not to just keep sinning because we've

been given God's grace. Antinomianism. So we

have to get the balance here of law and grace.

We're not justified by keeping the law. We can't

be justified by keeping the law. You know why?

Because we can't keep it. So we're not justified

by law keeping, but being justified by God's

grace through faith does not eliminate our need

to repent of sin and to pursue holiness. So we've

got to get that balance right. So this statement

in verse 12 could be pure antinomianism or, and

I think this is more likely, The Corinthian believers

had taken Paul's correct teaching on freedom

in Christ and twisted it into a self -gratifying

principle. I think this is more likely. It's

like they look around at their culture, and we

understand the culture of Corinth, and they say,

well, it all looks pretty enticing. And you know

what? Paul did say we're free in Christ. So they

begin to twist the meaning of his teaching. And

listen, it's true that you can find statements,

if you isolate passages in the New Testament,

you'll find Pauline's statements that could cause

you to get the wrong impression. If you're looking

to twist his words, and we know people that do

this, right? They want something, they see the

end goal, so they take the scriptures and they

twist it. We just looked at it last week, right?

With homosexuality. They twist it to meet their

agenda. So, for example, in Colossians 2, listen

to the freedom in this passage. Paul says, nobody

is to act as your judge in regard to food or

drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon

or a Sabbath day, things which are a mere shadow

of what's to come. Okay? You have the freedom

to do those things. Nobody should judge you for

it. If you've died with Christ to the elementary

or basic principles of the world, why, as if

you were living in the world, do you submit to

yourself to its decrees such as don't handle,

don't taste, don't touch? Why do you submit to

those things? So again, if you isolate that,

you could go, wow, look, we can handle, touch,

taste everything. And we could twist Paul's meaning

in the freedom of Christ. So it's possible the

Corinthians had just come to the wrong conclusion

about their freedom. Or again, they were looking

for a reason to misunderstand Paul's teaching

and justify their sinful choices. So what Paul's

doing here, I think, is he's bringing the correction.

He says, look, you seem to believe that all things

are permissible, but I'm telling you this, not

all things are profitable. So understand that.

It might be permissible, but is it? Now that

word profitable, some pharaoh in the Greek, can

be translated in a whole number of ways, but

it's all the same idea. Not everything that you

can do or could do is beneficial for you. Not

everything you could do is to your advantage.

Not everything you're allowed to do is good for

you. And we better be self -aware so that we

can answer those questions. I can do it, but

should I do it? That's what Paul's getting at

here. When it comes to things that are good,

profitable, or beneficial, there is a higher

standard for us as Christ followers. It's not,

well, I want to do it, and I can do it, therefore

I will do it. It's much more thoughtful than

that. We have to take into consideration who

we are, who we belong to, and what are my responsibilities

to the people I love before we just dive into

things, right? We have to ask questions. Is this

thing I could do? Is it good for my soul? Is

it good for my body? Does it hinder my walk with

Christ? Does it potentially bring harm to others?

Okay, so look, we're not driven by natural instinct.

We are new creations. We are born again. We're

not animals that just respond instinctively and

say, I can do it, here I go. We stop and we think

biblically. Make sense? So hold those thoughts

for now. Let's look at the second principle,

what I call the law of spiritual freedom. Paul

now, at the second half of verse 12, repeats

the twisted phrase, all things are lawful for

me, and then he brings a second correction. He

says, but I will not be mastered by anything.

I'm not to be mastered, dominated, or enslaved

by anything. Although I'm free to do this thing,

I have to ask the question, if I engage in it,

is it going to take me down a dangerous road

to where I might become enslaved by it? This

is a serious warning, you guys, that we cannot

ignore. If we exercise our freedom in Christ

without wisdom, without caution, it's so easy

for us to start dabbling in stuff that eventually

and subtly and quietly and surprisingly just

grabs hold of us and makes us its slave. Jesus

warned us in Matthew 6, you cannot serve two

masters. So if you profess the Lord is your master,

all other masters have to be set aside. All of

them. In Ephesians 5, Paul gives us this incredibly

sound advice in regard to making choices. He

says, be careful how you walk. In your daily

life. And think about it, as soon as you wake

up, your feet hit the floor, or as soon as your

feet cross the threshold of wherever you live,

stop and think, I need to be careful today about

how I walk. I need to be careful. Notice he doesn't

say, and as you go, avoid the world entirely,

or as you go, say no to everything. Okay, we're

free in Christ. He doesn't say no to, he says

in your freedom. Just be careful how you walk.

Walk with wisdom as a wise man, not an unwise

man. And in other words, and I'm gonna say this

as an older man who often is counseling younger

folks in this church, some of that is just, you

ready? Slow down. Just slow down for a second.

I know y 'all wanna just run off and just don't

be impulsive. Don't just rush into things. Don't

just respond based on your feelings and emotions

and desires. Slow it down. Be careful how you

walk. Think biblically. Be prayerful. Walk in

wisdom. And then Paul goes on. He says, do not

be foolish, but understand what the will of the

Lord is. To do the will of God is always wise.

Always. And always the choice that's going to

bring you true peace and joy and contentment.

We think otherwise in our flesh, right? If I

choose what I want, that's going to bring those

things. No. Choosing God's will is what brings

you peace, joy, and contentment. You've got to

trust the word on that. Now, to choose otherwise

could bring you temporary pleasure. We all understand

this. To choose sin, to choose your own path,

can bring temporary pleasure. But what happens

in the long run? It all has consequences. And

there's a cost to it. Not just to you, but to

others around you when we choose sin. And there's

that long -term threat that it's going to master

you. And so Paul then finishes with this thought

in Ephesians 5. He says, and do not get drunk

with wine, which leads to reckless living, but

be filled with the Spirit. And I know that's

a very specific example, but think bigger. It's

not the wine itself. that is the sin, right?

We know that Jesus and his disciples drank wine.

It's when you allow the wine to do what? To master

you, to control you, to enslave you. And what

does this verse tell you that we should be controlled

by? By the Holy Spirit. When you're filled with

the Spirit and you're walking in the Spirit,

he's going to empower you to resist the things

of the world that want to enslave you. What's

controlling you? When you walk out the door tomorrow

morning, what is controlling you? Who is your

master? Being filled and controlled by the Spirit

of God is the prime example of what it means

to walk carefully in wisdom. Because he's going

to give you the power to do that well. And let

me just say this clearly. Because I know sometimes

we have a reputation in Bible teaching churches

that We're just all about prohibitions. Just

say no to everything and do it with a scowl on

your face. Right? That's sort of our reputation.

But that is not the picture the Bible gives us.

Not only can you enjoy the good gifts that God

gives us, you should enjoy them because they're

from his hand. James speaks of good things and

perfect things that come down to us from the

Father. We should receive those with gratitude

and enjoy them. Ignore the modern -day Pharisees

who try to put you back under a set of moral

guidelines that are really their preferences

but not biblical commands. Those folks are common,

aren't they? They're like, well, this is our

conviction. Now we're going to lay it on you.

No, we're looking at Scripture. What does Scripture

say about prohibitions? There are prohibitions,

right? But we've got to be careful to discern

the difference between a preference and a biblical

command. Only false teachers seek to prohibit

Christians from freely enjoying God's good gifts.

Paul talks about these very people. They were

present back in the first century. 1 Timothy

4 says the Spirit expressly says that in later

times, some will depart from the faith by devoting

themselves, get this now, to deceitful spirits

and teachings of demons. Through the insincerity

of liars whose consciences are seared, who do

what? Forbid marriage. and require abstinence

from foods that God created to be received with

thanksgiving by those who believe and know the

truth. Go back again to the verse I quoted earlier

from Colossians 2. Nobody's to act as your judge

in regard to food or drink or in respect to a

festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day, things

which are a mere shadow of what's to come. If

you have died with Christ to the elementary principles

of this world, why do you do this? As if you

were living in the world, why do you submit yourself

to these fleshly decrees that tell you you're

not allowed to handle that? You're not allowed

to touch that or taste that. And it's interesting,

two verses later, Paul gives us the diagnosis

of this thing. He says, look, he says, these

are matters which have to be sure the appearance

of wisdom. Boy, it looks like you're being so

godly when you say no to everything. It's the

appearance of wisdom in self -made religion.

I've created this list of rules based on my preferences.

You should live by it. It's self -made religion

and self -abasement and severe treatment of the

body. But look at this. They're of no value against

fleshly indulgences. In other words, that brand

of asceticism, right? This idea that we just

say no to everything. It's sort of a misplaced

desire. I have to punish myself. punish myself,

and in doing so, thinking that I'm pleasing God

and I'm impressing other people. But what does

he say? The opposite of this is true. When you

do that, you fail to receive and thank God for

his good gifts. And in the process, all you've

really done is alter your external behavior.

You haven't changed the inner man. It's just

external works. Be careful with asceticism. There's

a place for asceticism in the Christian life

where we say no to things that might harm us,

but be careful that we don't do it for this reason,

right? These moral guidelines that we think impress

God, think please God, but they're just external

things and they don't change the inner man. So

the lesson here is enjoy your freedom in Christ,

enjoy his good gifts. But also heed the warnings,

right? Enjoy these things, but be warned. Things

can happen. Be careful how you walk with your

freedom. Be wise about it. Understand what the

will of the Lord is. Don't engage in things that

you know are going to grab hold of you and make

you a slave. Christ freed you from slavery to

sin, not so that you could go over and become

a slave of something new. Right? Okay. So can

we get really practical now? Ooh, grip your seats.

What are some areas of normal everyday life in

21st century America where we have to apply this?

Where we might engage in something that's permissible

according to our freedom in Christ, but has the

potential to either be unprofitable or enslave

us. What are some things? This week I read a

really great analogy. I forgot who wrote this,

but a really great analogy would be about this

principle. Think about a mighty river in your

mind. Say, I don't know, the Mississippi River,

okay? Is the Mississippi River a good thing?

Yeah, it's a powerful and useful tool. It's a

source of enjoyment as long as it stays within

its banks. Because when it floods, when it goes

outside of its natural boundaries, What happens?

All kinds of chaos and damage. It's a great example.

That's true of our freedom in Christ. Wise and

careful choices, right? They lead us into the

fruit of the Spirit. But choices that go outside

the boundaries that God has laid out for us,

that's where we cause damage, both to ourselves

and to those around us. So just think about that

as we walk through these things. So let's talk

about a few things. How about entertainment?

How many choices of entertainment do we have

today? All right, I'm going to do the old guy

thing. When I was a kid, we had like, I don't

know, six television stations. Dink, dink, dink,

right? That's it. That's it. So many choices

today. And some of it's great, right? Some of

it is wonderful. We can thank God for it. But

there's a lot of it that can lead us down a really

depraved path if we're not walking wisely into

immorality, right? Into just being so overwhelmed

with choices that we can't even focus anymore.

Just drawing us in, enslaving us. So be careful

with your entertainment choices, right? Permissible,

but could be harmful. Amen? Endless social media

scrolling, doom scrolling, or just your phone.

Tanya and I were talking on the way into church

this morning. Try this experiment. Go to a place

where you have to sit and wait for just a short

period of time. Doctor's office, a Starbucks,

you're waiting for your drink. Look around the

room and see if anybody's not on their phone.

And then keep it in your pocket. Just to stretch

yourself. Don't look at it. Again, it's permissible,

but be wise, right? Everybody's looking at their

phone. Have you ever seen the old videos of people

in the 1980s? And nobody had phones? See how

happy people are? You see how they're talking

to each other? They're laughing. It was a great

time. Social media scrolling, how much of it

is truly beneficial? It can make you laugh, sure.

I mean, right? The memes and all that, I get

it. It can give you a respite from the cares

of the world. But man, how many times have we

looked up and said, man, 30 minutes just went

by. And I've wasted so much time. Clearly, social

media can fuel all kinds of things. Our lust,

it can make us envious. It certainly dulls our

spiritual focus. So be careful with that little

computer in your hand. Drinking. In excess or

drinking too often. Now, is alcohol prohibited

in scripture? No, it's permissible. It's permissible.

But is it controlling you? Do you have to have

it? I can't tell you how many times I've heard

people go, well, my work's really stressful.

I get home and that glass of wine takes the edge

off of it. Be careful. Be really careful. It

can harm our health. It can weaken our self -control.

Being drunk, drinking too much leads to all kinds

of terrible outcomes, and it often hurts the

people around us. Be careful. By the way, I'm

not going to detail on any of these things. These

could all be a sermon unto themselves. I'm going

to keep moving quickly. How about this? Becoming

overcommitted to hobbies. Our hobbies are, for

the most part, permissible, right? Most are not

impure in and of themselves, but our hobbies

have the potential to dominate our schedules.

right? They can throw off our right priorities.

They can become obsessive. We can end up taking

precious time away from family and friends and

even life in the church. Guard your hobbies carefully.

Luxury spending, racking up debt. Yeah, but I

saw this in a magazine. I saw it on my phone.

I just, I knew I had to have it. I know I really

can't afford it. It's not really in my budget,

but man, it was discounted. I'll never get this

price again, right? And so we stretch and we

rack up debt, right? It has the potential to

promote greed in us and to cause anxiety in us.

You know, you're like, oh man, I have this, but

I don't have that. And pretty soon it's controlling

our thinking. And it can reduce our generosity.

We're like, ah, I spent so much money over here.

Now I can't be generous. Be careful. Immersing

ourselves in political news and commentary. Is

it permissible? Of course. Is it a good thing

to be informed? Yes. Is it good to be able to,

look, I need to know how to respond to the world

around me. That's all good. But can it be obsessive?

Yes, it can. Yes, it can. Just go on Twitter.

No, don't go on Twitter someday. It can become

an obsession. Politics, pretty soon everything,

everything in life gets funneled through the

lens of politics. And it just takes over our

lives. It leads to anxiety. It leads to worry.

It creates anger in us. Be really careful with

politics. Contentious online engagement. Talk

about a waste of time. I know we'd like to change

people's minds about things. I know we'd like

to win hearts. The goal can be noble. It's not

going to happen online, in case you hadn't noticed.

Look at a comment section. It's not going to

happen. It is a waste of your time. Precious

time, right? That you could be doing much more

productive things. Loving your family. Serving

somebody in the body of Christ. This stuff is

just a waste. I wish it weren't true, but it's

true. It's unproductive. Next one. Just taking

on extra work or extra projects. And I get it.

Life in Santa Clarita is expensive. And we're

all looking for ways to try to bring in additional

income. Be careful with your time. Be careful

that you don't bite off more than you should

chew. Taking on more has the potential to enslave

you to income generation. And again, to take

away precious time. You're so now having to focus

on this new project or thing you took on that

you begin to neglect other things. It might be

what you need to do to survive. Just be careful.

Walk wisely with such things. Oh boy, shopping.

Shopping and spending. This is a tough balance

to find, right? Picking up a deal can be good

for the family. It can be fun, it can be challenging,

but is it wise? Is that purchase necessary? Being

able to discern those two things, what's necessary

and what I want is an important part of decision

-making in the Christian life. We can find ourselves

coveting everything that we see, growing more

greedy, putting ourselves into unnecessary debt

because I just had to have that. Be careful with

your shopping. Only three more. And this is just

a partial list. I could do this. Yeah, we could

do this all day. Working out. Permissible? Yeah,

good. Yeah, steward your body. We're going to

look at that more next week. Steward your body.

Take care of this gift that God has given you

in your physical body. But it obviously has the

potential to feed an obsession about how we look.

Vanity, right? How we look. Everything now is

funneled through that lens. Am I losing weight?

You know, am I losing hair, right? I mean, there's

a, yeah, this is real, right? Be careful, right?

And you know what? It can lead to two very opposite

results. Either as I'm working out and I'm feeling

really good about myself, pride and arrogance,

and again, vanity, or my diet's not working and

now I'm into self -loathing. And I'm upset at

myself because I don't look as good as everybody

promised I would look once I did this thing.

It's complex, isn't it? Be careful. Be wise.

Process well. Gaming. Gaming. Man, I'm glad I

didn't grow up in the gaming generation. I kind

of did. It was Pac -Man. Like, you know, it was

Galaga. Tom, yeah, you get it. And look, I get

it. We need rest in life. We need relaxation

at times. Gaming can be a good outlet. What are

the boundaries? What are the boundaries? It has

the potential to cause you to put off your responsibilities,

get engaged in this thing. And man, I forget

everything because I'm so immersed in this little

world on the screen. My responsibilities go out

the window. I waste time. I even destroy relationships

out of neglect because I'm so focused on this

game. Be careful. Last one. This one hits home.

Sports loyalties. Yeah. I could tell you stories.

When Tanya and I first got married, I'm a UCLA

grad. Her family were USC people. It was a recipe

for disaster. We had to work out an agreement.

It did not help my spirit. Let's put it that

way. Okay, so it's okay to have a team. It's

okay to root for them and want them to win, but

it can become an obsession. Trust me. It can

get you worked up. It can get you angry. There

were Saturdays when UCLA would lose in a football

game. I became a different person. Seriously.

And this stuff can really affect you if you're

not careful. Be wise. Be careful. That's just

a partial list, right? Hopefully you see the

pattern. Enjoy good things, permissible things

from the Lord, but be wise and careful. Not all

things that you are free to do are going to end

up being profitable. So we grow in self -awareness

as we process in prayer with the Spirit of God.

Show me more of my heart. Help me to understand

why I react to things the way I do. Help me to

establish good boundaries so that I don't go

outside of what's permissible and end up being...

mastered by something. Okay, we have more to

look at. Look at verse 13. Look at verse 13.

Again, if you have an ESV or a CSB or an NIV,

again, you're gonna see quotation marks around

the first. Again, the translators are telling

you that what we're about to read had become

a common slogan among the church members in Corinth,

and this is likely what it would have looked

like. Look at the screen for a second. It's likely

that this is the way the Corinthian church members

were processing the bodily functions and the

bodily desires that they had. Food is for the

stomach, and the stomach is for food, and likewise,

sex is for the body. and the body is for sex.

Okay? That's what they were thinking. So here

comes Paul again. I need another correction.

First of all, he addresses the food stomach part,

and this isn't wrong. Food is for the stomach,

and God designed your stomach to process the

food that you eat. But then Paul says in the

second phrase, look at this now, but God's gonna

do away with both of them. That's important.

Food. Remember, it's not food that defiles a

man. Under the new covenant, all foods have been

declared clean, but still that doesn't mean that

we should just eat anything that we want or any

amount that we want. Even food can become a stumbling

block, right? Even with food, we should ask the

questions, is this good for me? Is this amount

of food good for me? Could this food or the amount

of it become an issue of slavery in my life?

That's important. But Paul's greater point, if

you look at that statement, is the analogy that

the Corinthians were drawing between food and

sex is not a valid one. It's what we call a category

error that they're making with that statement.

Food belongs to a category of necessary functions

that purely sustain life. If we don't eat, we're

not going to live very long. So eating is part

of an ordinary cycle of life. It is a morally

neutral response. to physical hunger, morally

neutral. That is not the same category as sex,

which we'll get to in just a second. But understand,

Paul's saying, you guys are drawing this analogy.

It's invalid. It's not the same thing. And here

in verse 13, Paul then adds this distinction.

He says, by the way, understand food and your

stomach, they're temporary anyway. There's something

different about sex. But the food is going to

go away. Food and the stomach are part of the

present order that's going to pass away. In the

short term, it's going to pass away because we

die. In the long term, it'll forever pass away

once the eternal state is ushered in. It has

no function in eternity. The necessity of eating,

the digestive processes of the stomach, all of

that is going away. God will do away with it.

But that's not true about your body and sex.

So let's look at verse 13 and let's figure out

how this works. So let me see if I can summarize

this again. So Paul writes, food is for the stomach

and the stomach is for food, but the body is

not for porneia, for immorality. The body is

for the Lord and the Lord is for the body, he

says. He's making the distinction between food

and your body. And the Corinthians would say,

look, I don't understand this, Paul. My body

wants food, so I eat. My body wants sex, so I

go to a prostitute. What's the problem? That's

literally the way they thought in Corinth. And

again, they lived in a culture that just promoted

that. It's a common way of life. And you can

almost picture them justifying, hey, look, Paul,

we live in this city and it's really hard. When

I look out and see all this stuff, it's hard

to resist. And by the way, God made me a sexual

being, so I'm just meeting that physical need.

It's like, I can blame God. He made me this way,

so I just get to go out and meet the physical

need. And then tacking on this perspective, well,

look, my body's going to wear out at some point,

right? Turn to dust. So at the end of the day,

what difference does it make what I do with my

body? After all, you ready for this? It's just

sex. How many times have we heard that in our

culture? That's all it is. It's biology. It's

just sex. And if we're interpreting this context

right, by the way, this helps us to understand.

Remember back in chapter five when Paul said,

hey, hey, you've got a guy in your church family

who is engaged in a sexual relationship with

his mother -in -law and you haven't done anything

about it. Well, here's why. What's the big deal?

Just biology. just meeting physical needs, or

we're going to find out when we get to chapter

11, you've got members of the church showing

up to communion drunk. You're like, how does

that happen? Well, to them, what you do in the

body just doesn't matter that much. It just doesn't

matter. It's just sex. It's just alcohol. They

don't think of the body as being all that important.

You're hungry, you eat. Sexual craving comes

upon you, you go to a prostitute. You're struggling

in life with something. You just hit the bottle

and go to communion. I mean, that shocks our

senses, doesn't it? But if you don't understand

the importance of the body or the gift of the

body that God has given to you, if you don't

steward your body, don't see that it matters,

you might end up in antinomian. Just reacting

naturally and biologically. So the reason why

the Corinthian slogan comparing food to sex is

so off base is the body doesn't seem to have

more relevance to this group of people. But that's

not how God sees it. The sexual capacity of our

bodies transcends biology. Let me say that again.

The sexual capacity that God has given us in

our bodies transcends biology. in the way God

sees things, is not just a physical action. It's

far more than that. In God's good design, sex

between a man and a woman creates a spiritual

union. Right? A spiritual union. The Bible calls

it one fleshness. That's why it's precious. That's

why we put up these sharp guardrails and say,

only within covenant marriage. Because when you

sleep with somebody, you're creating a spiritual

union. Whether you know it or not, you're becoming

one flesh. So it's never just sex from God's

perspective. The world thinks that, but we don't.

Our bodies weren't given to us just so that we

could serve ourselves, so that we could just

get our needs met, to satisfy our personal desires

in an indiscriminate way. The Corinthians came

at it from this worldly perspective. Well, it's

my body. How many times have we heard that? It's

my body. I can do what I want. It's my body.

But that is not true for the believer, is it?

Is your body just your own? If you read on, look

at 1 Corinthians 6 in verse 15 to 17. Paul says,

no, it's not just your body. Do you not know?

Do you not know? Haven't you heard this? Don't

you know this is, Basic Christian teaching that

your bodies are what? Members of Christ. Your

bodies are members of Christ. It's not just your

body. If you're in union with Christ, then your

body belongs to him. Paul goes on, he says, so

then should I take the members of Christ and

make them members of a prostitute? Are you kidding?

May it never be. He says, don't you know that

the one who joins himself to a prostitute is

one body with her? Because the two become one

flesh. Can you imagine sitting, imagine sitting

next to Jesus. He's sitting there next to you

on the couch and you say, hey Lord, I'm gonna

go off now and engage in adultery or pornography

or just plain fornication and I want you to come

with me. Can you imagine? May it never be. Your

bodies are not meant for sexual immorality, Paul

says. They're meant to serve God and bring him

glory. Your sexual capacities were given to you

with a holy function in mind. That's God's design.

And when we wield those capacities correctly,

as God intends, within the boundary of covenant

marriage, it is beautiful, right? It is beautiful

and it is holy. And yes, it's designed for our

pleasure and enjoyment within the boundaries

of the raging river, right? This is one of Paul's

points here in verse 13. Your body is one of

God's most precious gifts to you. I know we all

like, I'm not sure I feel about my body right

now, right? We all have our little hangups. It

is a precious gift to you. You've been fearfully

and wonderfully made, right? You've been designed

by the great artist of creation. You've been

knit together in your mother's womb. And so Paul

says the Lord is for your body. He's pro -body.

He thinks it's really important. And therefore

we ought to steward it well because it's precious

to him. He fashioned it uniquely for you. He's

counted the number of hairs on your head. Your

body is valuable and important to him. The fact

that God the Son took on a human body tells us

that the body matters, right? God the Son took

on a human body. He still has it forevermore.

So the body matters. But look at what Paul says

in verse 14. He references the resurrection.

The greatest proof of all that the body matters

to God and should matter to us is that someday

I'm going to resurrect your body. Your body.

It's not a temporal commodity. Ultimately, these

bodies are not destined just to rot in a grave

somewhere. If you're found in Christ, your body

is someday going to be reconstituted by God and

raised to life. Then it's going to be changed

and glorified, sinless, perfected. It's going

to be transformed into a condition fit for heaven,

but it's still your body. It's still you. So

it matters. And in the meantime, as we await

that glorification, today we realize that God

has given you your unique body as an instrument

of worship. Try to get your mind wrapped around

that. Your body is an instrument of worship.

That's what he means in verse 13 when he says,

your body is for the Lord. It's given to you

for worship. That means we have to be intentional

about devoting our bodies to him, presenting

them to him as what? A sacrifice. This is really

high level stuff, right? And man, it doesn't

fit with what the culture says at all. So understand

these things. It's important. So in order to

be intentional about devoting our bodies to him,

we have to do both of these things. Heed the

warnings in scripture and take practical steps

to guard our bodies. To guard them in multiple

ways. Listen, do not underestimate how dominating

and controlling sexual sin can be. If you underestimate

it, you are signing up to be enslaved. Do you

know how many people today, men and women, by

the way, who are enslaved to sexual sin, pornography

in particular? And beware, it starts very subtly

and slowly. And then it progresses really quickly,

right? You flirt with it, you play around the

edges, and pretty soon your mind gives you permission

to dive all the way in, and boom, you're captured.

Guard your heart. How accurate is James in the

first century? He says this, each person is tempted

when he's drawn away and enticed by his own lust,

by his own desires. Then after lust is conceived,

it gives birth to sin. And when sin is fully

grown, it gives birth to death. Now, why death?

Listen, friends, the persistent engagement in

sexual sin over time will sear your heart. It

will harden your conscience to the point where

you will continue to engage in it, yet no longer

feel the conviction over it. You'll no longer

feel a conviction over something that has actually

mastered you. as its slave. You just harden yourself

against it. Soon your vigilance falls away, your

self -control disappears, and you end up justifying

your sin just like the Corinthians, who we laugh

at and mock, right? But we can become that exact

same thing. If you think you're immune to this,

if you think you're strong enough, are you stronger

than Samson? Samson was physically strong, but

he was not in control of his mind and his body.

He was a slave to his desires, and it came with

a heavy cost. David could tell you a few things

about this, couldn't he? How he failed to discipline

his eyes and his mind and his body and his heart.

And because of his sin, he and his family suffered

so greatly. In Proverbs 7, we come across maybe

the most blunt language about the enticing power

of sexual sin. You have this picture of a naive

young man who wanders through the streets, wanders

near the house of the adulteress. He's just flirting

on the edges. Oh, I'm just walking through the

street. What's gonna happen? Right? And Solomon,

of all people, who knew something about this

subject matter. writes this about the end of

things. He writes this. He follows her, the adulteress,

because she appears to him and comes to him.

He follows her like an ox going to the slaughter.

Like a deer bounding towards a trap, he does

not know it will cost him his life. Warning,

warning. And the chapter ends with this. Here's

the big warning. Now, my sons, listen to me and

pay attention to my words. Do not let your heart

turn aside to her ways, sexual sin. Do not stray

onto her paths, for she has brought many down

to death. Her victims are countless. Her house

is the road to the grave, Sheol, descending to

the chambers of death. Oh, this isn't a big deal.

Look at the language here. So we have to understand

how to control our passions, how to become masters

over our flesh rather than letting our flesh

master us. We're gonna pick up on this next week

for sure. Paul will say in 1 Corinthians 9, I

discipline my body. I make it my slave, not the

other way around. I discipline my body and make

my body my slave. We have to steward our bodies

in ways. that can then be used to glorify God.

We present them to him as living and holy sacrifices.

Consider our call to worship passage from earlier

in the service, from 1 Thessalonians 4. Look

at this. This is the will of God, friends. Your

sanctification, your growing in maturity, your

moving towards control of your body. Your sanctification,

that you abstain from sexual immorality, that

each one of you know how to control his own body

in holiness and honor, not in the passion of

lust like the Gentiles who do not know God. This

will be a big part of next Sunday's message.

How do we do this well? How many of you guys

know who John Owen is? Okay, great Puritan thinker.

He's written some of the best stuff on this subject

of mortifying sin, putting sin to death. Here's

what he writes in one of his most famous statements.

Put to death your sin. Make it your daily work.

Your daily work. Be always at it while you live.

Cease not one day from this work, he says. And

then comes his famous statement. Be killing sin

or it will be killing you. Nothing could be more

true. So this is heavy stuff, isn't it? It really

is. So I'm going to close with good news. As

we saw last Sunday, such were some of you, but

no longer. Sexual sin is not unforgivable. Sexual

sin is not unforgivable. God has the power to

rescue us out of a life of fornication, a life

of adultery, a life of homosexuality, a life

of slavery to things like pornography. But we

have to be intentional about cooperating with

the work of the Spirit in our inner man. That

means we always have to be in the battle. That's

my number one question. Especially young guys,

they'll come to me and go, man, I have this pornography

problem. My first question is, are you in the

battle? Have you given up? Are you in the battle?

You've got to be in the battle. Maybe to your

very last breath, but you've got to be in the

battle. You've got to persevere to the end. walking

by the Spirit and abiding with your Savior. And

he promises to give you the power to overcome

and to get the victory. And I can't tell you

how many times I've fallen myself. I've given

in to sin and I've come back so many times to

1 John 1, 9. Memorize it, put it on your mirror,

whatever you have to do. John says, if we confess

our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive

us our sins. and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

What we can't do is hide from it, right? And

not take it to the Lord because we have the promise.

And if you believe that promise, apply it in

your life. Don't stop trusting in the promise

of cleansing from all unrighteousness. Don't

let the enemy tell you that that sin is unforgivable.

Keep coming back to your Savior. God is for you.

God is for your body. Take him up on it. Amen?

Let's bow our heads. Lord, thank you for your

presence here today. Thank you for just the truth

that you know all of our hearts, our passions,

our desires, our sins, our victories, and that

we can come and we can be honest before you and

lay these things on your throne. What a blessing

it is that we don't have to hide from you. And

so I pray that in the short time that we've had

together today, that this won't be the end of

the matter, but you will continue to draw us

to yourself all throughout this next week as

we bring more of our sin before you, as we bring

more of our requests before you, as we seek to

be in the battle over this issue. Father, I'm

so grateful that you know exactly how to minister

to each one of us. Help us to cooperate with

the work your spirit wants to do in us and bring

us back to your word over and over again. Bring

us back to these promises that you've given us

and help us to trust them more and more. Thank

you for our time together this morning. May we

now respond well in our singing that your name

would be lifted up. In Christ's name we pray,

amen.