"All things are lawful" (and other Christian slogans)

I Corinthians 6:12 All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

The apostle Peter warned against those who would wrest/twist/distort the writings of Paul (II Peter 3:16). I have often made reference to this fact, and I believe that the slogan "all things are lawful" would fall under this category. Many use this passage of scripture as a proof-text of sorts to justify immoral living under the banner of Christian liberty. I use and prefer the Authorized version of the bible (KJV) however it becomes more evident in other translatians that what Paul is dealing with here is a slogan of the Corinthian church. The NIV puts this passage in quotation marks, thus indicating to the reader that Paul is dealing with a common saying/slogan of this church. Even without help from the translators, we can use the context clues of the passage to clearly see that Paul was not advocating a Christian doctrine which makes allowances for immorality. He is clearly teaching within the context of this chapter that the sexually immoral will not inherit the kingdom of God. We must make the important distinction (that the scriptures do as well) between major and peripheral issues. Eating fast food may be lawful for me, but it is definitely not expedient. Drinking 2 cups of coffee each morning may be lawful for me, but definitely not expedient. What becomes obvious in this text though, is that Paul is not trying to expound on the various aspects of Christian liberty (although he does in places like Romans chapter 14) but rather he is showing a fallacy in their line of thinking. Let me further explain: Paul goes on to quote what obviously was another one of their sayings or slogans:

I Corinthians 6:13 Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body

Again, the topic at hand is not dietary laws or meats offered unto idols here (Paul will deal with that in later chapters), but the immediate context is sexual immorality. Perhaps the slogan regarding foods (i.e. "meats for the belly, and the belly for meats") was quoted to show the Corinthians attitude towards sexual purity. Many commentators have made special mention of the fact that immorality was a big part of life in Corinth ,and that there were many rituals involving pagan gods/idols and temple prostitutes. We can discern from this letter to the Corinthians that they were indeed fascinated with knowledge. We know from church history that the Gnostic influence was very strong in the first century. Without going into all the tenets of gnosticism, it can briefly be summarized by a belief that knowledge is superior to obedience. It is possible that gnostic thought had influenced the Corinthians to the place where they had placed moral restraints aside. Paul warned them that "knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth." (8:1) He took great care in preaching to them and his concern that was to know nothing among them but "Jesus Christ and him crucified." Although this truly was a dynamic Charismatic (if I can use that term without conjuring up all types of negative images) fellowship, they had a fundamental flaw. They were more concerned with spiritual knowledge than the love of God and love for each other (refer to chapter 13). Perhaps this slogan ("meats for the belly") is quoted here to show that they (the Corinthians) regarded matters of sexual purity to be in the same category of eating habits. Jesus made it clear that his disciples were not defiled by eating with unwashed hands but rather it is what is within a man's heart that defiles him. It is possible that the Corinthians thought that sexual acts were no different than eating a steak. Paul is very quick to warn them that this is not the case. Let's look at his remarks after their slogans:

I Corinthians 6:14 And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power. 6:15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. 6:16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. 6:18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

So clearly anyone with even limited intelligence can see that Paul was not saying that everything was permissable within the sphere of grace. He pointed out the sin of sexual immorality was not "lawful" for a Christian living under grace. He even went further to suggest that there is a particular stain left behind by this type of sin (notice verse 18). It is not exactly certain as to what the verbiage means in that verse, but suffice it to say that sexual sin carries with it a notably undesirable consequence-that much is clear. With all of the sexually transmitted diseases out there today, it certainly bears witness to the fact that those who live a lifestyle of promiscuity (regardless of what form) are destroying their own bodies- once again proving the scriptures to be absolute truth. Contrary to what many teachers say today- we as Christians do have a responsibility (and an accountability) to glorify God not only in our spirits....but our bodies!

Now we will look at the other usage of the term "all things are lawful" (or as the NIV translates "Everything is permissible") in I Corinthians chapter 10. In chapter six we found that the context was sexual immorality and it's consequences. In chapter 10 we see that Paul was dealing with the issue of idolatry (and food offered to idols). He opens chapter 10 with a powerful reminder of those who wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, never making it to the promised land. He cites the reasons they never made it in: notably the sins of fornication and idolatry (along with murmuring, tempting Christ, lust, et.al). He then appeals to them on the basis of the failures of the wilderness wanderers (verse 14). Paul does not deny the fact that "every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving" (I Timothy 4:4). He also makes it clear that it his not his conscience that is at stake, but that of those who observe him (I Cor 10:29). Having said that however, he does designate instances in which it is not permissible for a Christian to eat meats sacrificed unto idols. Interestingly enough here Paul tells his readers to "flee from idolatry" (10:14) and earlier (as we previously discussed) in chapter 6 he warned them to "flee fornication" (I Cor 6:18). The idea here is rather than seeing how close to temptation we can get, we ought to be running away from this stuff as quickly as possible. When an individual makes the proclamation that meat has been offered unto an idol- the believer is not to partake for the sake of him who offered and those "weak" brethren who may be in attendance. Paul emphatically declares through the Holy Spirit that "Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils" (I Cor 10:21).

The irony of this discussion is that many times those who are perceived as being "champions of liberty" really become enslaved to their liberty. We are warned not to use liberty as an "occasion to the flesh". While it's easy to look at the Corinthians and point our fingers in consternation- we would do well to look in the mirror. We have our own sayings in this modern era which have the appearance of piety, but in reality are a cloak for carnality and lasciviousness. For example, how many times have you heard the slogan "well, I'm just an old sinner saved by grace"? (probably more times than you can remember). Or how about "well, nobody's perfect, we've all fallen short of the glory of God." Or how about those who misquote Paul and say "well Paul was the chief of sinners" or the favorite and oft-used "the bible says don't judge" ? I could go on and on, but I think you get the picture. Going back to the reference of "all things are lawful, but all things are not expedient"- in focusing all of our effort on the first part of that verse- we really miss the spirit of what Paul was trying to tell us. He was not trying to lay out a treatise for demanding and appropriating our Christian liberty but rather showing an attitude that should prevail among Christians which seeks to glorify God in everything that is eaten, said, or done. I think we spend far too much of our time asking the question "is it ok for me to do this?" instead of asking the more important question "will my actions glorify God?"