Sermons on 1 Corinthians 6:12

… can't see. Well, they can't see our faith, but they can see us fight for faith. And I say that because Paul says two chapters later, 1 Corinthians 6 verse 12, fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called. What does it mean to fight for faith? well it means being prepared to fight a lot of Christians don't want to fight they want Christianity to be easy they want to sit back and they're just going to wait for God to do something but mature Christians they take hold of this life that God has given them in Christ they expect obstacles and opposition to come They know it's going to be hard at times. They make time to meet with God even when it's not convenient, even when they're tired, even when they're working extra shifts at work or when there's deadlines coming for school. They commit to a local church even while they're in college, and then they keep showing up and showing up to serve her in all the ways that they can. …

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… you got to throw out a bunch of stuff. 1 Corinthians 6, verse 12 tells me, and it tells you, I have the right to do anything, you say, but everything is not beneficial. I mean, not everything is beneficial. And this word beneficial literally means expedition. So anything that drags you down from this expedition, this race needs to be thrown out. So encumbrances can become sin. What are the sins we're dealing with. Three sins, basically self, pride. I mean, that's my biggest problem. Obviously sin, and then Satan. I mean, Paul's definitely being straightforward, isn't he? So we need to delight in encouragement, deal with the encumbrances. And then there's another one. we need to be devoted to endurance. Hebrews chapter 12, verse one again, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. You're gonna face persecution. Let me say it again. If you're a student, if you're a single adult, if you're married with 2.3 kids, if you're a grandfather with seven grandkids, you will face persecution. The Bible says we will suffer in this marathon. It's just, it's just, it's just part of it. So we have to understand the, the beauty of endurance because endurance is literally crashing through quitting points. And it is, it is something we have to, to understand that our race is unique and our pace is unique. It's not like the race that others are running outside of Jesus. That's very, very important. You know, there's, there's also a prize. I mean, a crown, the Bible talks about this at the end of this race that, that …

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… Paul is talking about the things that we maybe aren't commanded not to do. He says, all things are lawful for me. All things that are lawful are lawful, if there's not a biblical prescription forbidding it. And there are a lot of things like that in life, a lot of things that the Bible doesn't say are sins. All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. The older translation was expedient. I love the word expedient. It's an English word that has at its core ped, which means feet. And ex, that word literally comes from a root, a Latin root that means to have free feet, to not be bound up. So what he's saying is, there are plenty of things that aren't forbidden, but they're not going to keep me free. They have the potential to bind me. And to what extent? Well, the rest of the verse. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by any. I will not be dominated by any. …

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… relationships, are those loving, are they beneficial for either you or your neighbor? Paul continues. He says, everything is permissible for me, but, Paul counters, I will not be mastered by anything. I will not be mastered by anything. Being freed from the law, he says, does not mean just giving myself over to my sinful desires, whatever my body desires of the moment. You're trying to tell me that just because my body desires something that makes it right? That's crazy talk. If my body says, eat a dozen donuts, which it often does, that does not always mean it's the right decision. If my body feels like violently raging at the person who just cut me off in traffic, as it sometimes does, I should not obey that. Scripture tells me what is right. My mind and my reason tell me what is right, not my bodily urges. That's the least reliable of all the different things informing me about what is right. Verse 13, Paul addresses another Corinthian slogan. Verse 13, food is for the stomach, and the stomach's for food, and God will do away with both of them. Now, unfortunately, the CSB that I'm reading from ends the quotation mark after the word food. But I actually think that's wrong. And by the way, the quotes aren't in the original Greek because they didn't use quotes. So, you know, we added the quotes to help interpret it, all right? But I actually think it's the wrong place to put the quote. And that's because the …

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… STAY IN YOUR LIFE AND THERE'S SOME THINGS THAT HAVE TO GO. YOU REMEMBER WHAT THE APOSTLE PAUL SAID THERE IN FIRST CORINTHIANS CHAPTER SIX VERSE 12? HE SAID, ALL THINGS ARE LAWFUL FOR ME, BUT ALL THINGS ARE NOT EXPEDIENT. WHAT DOES THAT WORD EXPEDIENT MEAN IN THE WAY? IT'S JUST A BIG DOUBLE JOINTED WORD. THINK ABOUT IT. WHAT, WHAT WORD DO YOU HEAR IN THERE? EXPEDITION. WHAT IS AN EXPEDITION? AN EXPEDITION IS A TRIP. WELL, WHAT DO YOU DO ON A TRIP? YOU'RE GOING SOMEWHERE. NOW WHAT THE APOSTLE PAUL SAYS WHEN HE SAYS, ALL THINGS ARE LAWFUL FOR ME, BUT ALL THINGS ARE NOT EXPEDIENT IS THIS, THAT I HAVE A GOAL. I'M GETTING TO THAT GOAL. NOW IF ANYTHING HINDERS ME FROM MY GOAL, EVEN THOUGH IT MIGHT BE LEGAL, IT might be lawful, if it keeps me from getting my goal, then it's got to go in my life. That means any friend, any pleasure, any sleep, any rest, any job, any ambition, any hobby, anything that keeps me from making Jesus Christ number one in my life, it's got to go. Anything, any job, any friend, any love, any hobby, any, any emotion that pushes me this way, it's got to stay. …

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