Living the Right-Way in a Left-Way World

The Christian's Freedom & Responsibility

•  Our Freedoms & Responsibilities, (I Corinthians 6:12-20)

A. Understanding the Principles of Christian Liberty, (v. 12)

1. ( v. 12 ), “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.”
a. God has designed the world and the things in the world for the enjoyment of mankind.
1) Many people are surprised by this. They believe God is a “Great Kill-Joy!”
2) Yet, ( Gen. 1:31 ), “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very
good.”

b. Yet there are restrictions which every thoughtful and honest person will realize…
1) “All things are lawful” =/= This does not mean sin becomes “lawful.”
( I Jn. 3:4 ), “Whoever practices sin practices lawlessness, and sin is
lawlessness . ”
2) “But not all things are not profitable ( i.e. expedient, advisable, worthwhile ).”
a) A person can eat bushel of apples, or lay around playing video games.
b) While these are allowable, they are not advisable! We need to use
good judgment when determining which non-sinful practices are
“profitable” for us.
3) “I will not be mastered by anything,” i.e., I will not allowed myself to be
enslaved to anything!
a) Man was given control over the earth, ( Gen. 1:26 ), “Let Us make man
in Our own image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over
the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and
over all the earth .”
b) While we are to rule over created things, we must not all them to rule
over us!
1)) Rom. 6:12 , “Do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you
should obey its lust.”
2)) II Pt. 2:19 , “For by what a man is overcome, by this he is
enslaved.”

c. So if we are to use our Christian liberty we must apply good judgment – (as we sin in
#2 above) and also make wise choices (as we see in #3 above).

B. Who is in Control: Our God or Our Desires? (vs. 13-14) Two Examples

1. ( v. 13a ), “Food is for the stomach, and the stomach is for food; but God will do away
with both of them.”
a. Our bodies were not designed to be ruled by our stomach/food. These were designed
to serve us!
1) So we are to be in control of both the stomach and food and not be their slave.
2) ( Phil. 3:18-19 ), “…they are enemies of the cross, whose end is destruction,
whose god is their appetite, whose glory is in their shame, who set their
minds on earthly things.”

b. ( v. 13b ), “Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord; and the Lord is for the
body.”
1) In 1 st Century Corinth, fornication (temple prostitutes) was a normal part of
the societal way of life.
2) You can almost hear them say, “The desires of the body are normal and
natural, which is how God designed us. Thus, satisfying normal functions is
the natural/normal thing for us to do!” We still hear people saying this today

c. ( v. 14 ), “Now God has not only raised up the Lord, and will also raise us up through
His power.”
1) Unimportant things will perish (i.e., “God will do away…,” v. 13) but His
power will raise what's important.
2) Sexual intimacy was God's idea and is proper in a God-ordained family.
( Gen. 2:24 ), “For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother, and
shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”
3) Yet a person who becomes a slave to their sexual desires is lost, ( I Cor. 6:9-
10 ), “Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom
of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor
adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor
drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”
4) “The Myth of Safe Sex,” better known as lies we tell ourselves!
a) “We just fooled around some but did not go all the way.”
b) “We went all the way but we used protection.”
c) “We didn't use protection but it doesn't matter because we love each
other.”
d) Each one of these myths will not hold up on that day when we stand
before God in judgment and recognize that were guilty of fornication!

C. Our Bodies were Designed for a Purpose, (vs. 15-18)

1. ( v. 15 ), ? “Do you not know that ?? your bodies are members of Christ?”
a. “Members of Christ” = (Spiritually) Part of His spiritual body/church.
1) ( Col. 1:18 ), “He is the head of the body, the church.”
2) Thus, how we live our lives says something about all believers in Christ.

b. “Members of Christ” = (Symbolically) Part of His physical body,
1) Christ was pure in all His ways ( I Pt. 2:22 ), “…He committed no sin, nor was
any deceit found in His mouth.”
2) Would we ever expect His hands to steal, lips to lie, feet to hurt others?
3) Then physically, we must never do things with our bodies that He wouldn't
do with His!!
a) A Christian should not watch or listen to anything Jesus wouldn't
watch or hear.
b) Nor should we take anything into their bodies that Jesus wouldn't take
into His.

2. ( vs. 16, 18 ), “ 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 he who joins himself to a prostitute is
one body with her? For He says, ‘The 2 shall become one flesh.' . . . ??Flee immorality. Every
other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the ??immoral man sins against his own
body.”
a. Three reasons why sexual immorality is a sin against our own bodies:
1) It lowers us to the level of an animal (only physical w/o recognizing the
spiritual component).
2) The other person is only a tool to be used to gratify our own desires w/o
concern for them.
3) This sin corrupts the mind more than any other sin.
a) Sexual intimacy stimulates the median forebrain (“Hedonic Highway”)
which is filled with receptors for the neurotransmitter Dopamine.
b) Dopamine production (also caused by kissing, smoking, pornography,
etc.) produces a drug-like high similar to that caused by crack cocaine.
c) Additionally, bonding hormones such as oxytocin and vasopressin are
released at the climax of intimacy.
d) These contribute to establishing a lasting emotional attachment to
whomever or whatever you happen to be with at the time. The more
occurrences of intimacy the greater the attachment.
4) ( Pro. 5:18-19 ), “ Rejoice in the wife of your youth … Be exhilarated always
with her love!”

3. ( v. 17 ), “But the one who joins himself to the Lord is ??one spirit with Him.
a. Thus, the Lord desires for us to see ourselves joined to Him in both body and spirit!
1) Believers realize this same intimacy with Christ on the spiritual plane!
2) ( Eph. 5:31-32 ), “For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother,
and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one. This mystery is
great; but I am speaking in reference to Christ and the church.”
3) Thus, the purpose for our bodies is to enjoy intimacy with our spouse & with
our God.
4) ( Proverbs 5:18-19 ), “ Rejoice in the wife of your youth … Be exhilarated
with her love always.”

D. We must use our freedoms responsibly to glorify God, (vs. 19-20)

1. ( vs. 19-20 ), “Or do your 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 have been bought
with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”
a. Since we have been “bought,” we are slaves of the one who purchased us.
1) For we now belong to Christ, we should strive to do all we can to “Glorify
God in our body!”
CONCLUSIONS:

1. As Christians we have the freedom/right to do many things! But our question should be, “Is it the right
thing to do?”

2. Our relationship with Christ gives us many freedoms. Yet it also carries with it many responsibilities.

•  So while thanking God for our freedoms, we must be wise &and use good judgment in the area of our
responsibilities!

•  Guests: Whose slave are you? Your body; does it become to you, someone else, or to the Lord? Have you been bought with His blood?

•  Quote I Pt. 1:18-19, 22-23; John 3:5; I Peter 3:21!