1 Corinthians 6:12

Scripture: 1 Cor. 6:12 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.

Teaching: Paul transitions from his reminder of how the Corinthians, like all believers, have been called out from the sin and darkness of their former lives to a discussion on Christian liberty. At hand is this question: “What is permissible for me to do as a Christian?” The Mosaic Law made this much easier in a sense, as it spelled out exactly what an Israelite could and could not do. That is how law works. Since Christ fulfilled the Law and the New Covenant is one of grace, not adherence to the Law, we see the apostles teaching in the book of Acts, and in other Pauline letters, on Christian liberty. They teach that all foods are permissible, that Gentiles need not adhere to Jewish Law, festivals, or circumcision among other teachings. Why? Because salvation is not of works (following a Law) but rather by grace through faith.

The challenge of this new reality that the Corinthians, and even us today, face is in determining what is permissible under graceful salvation. However, what Paul is teaching here is that the question should not be “What is permissible?” but rather “what is profitable?”

Takeaway: What profits our relationship with Christ is obedience to His Word. He tells us repeatedly that His sheep know His voice, that those who love Him obey His Word, and that those who live in Christ abide in Christ. The world is a tempting place and we are bombarded daily with marketing, ideologies, and political slogans designed to interrupt our daily lives, and frankly, take captive our minds for a time. Think of the well-placed advertisement that induces you to buy something you really didn’t need. Think of the crafty ideology that makes us believe we’re owed some reward, rest, or pleasure. Think of the political slogans meant to pull us alongside of a movement that is contrary to Scripture. These kinds of things take captive our mind for seasons of our lives – sometimes longer – and the result is often that our obedience to Christ is what suffers. We cannot serve two masters. When I think of the question “what is permissible?” versus “what is profitable?”, my thoughts go to “Will this profit my relationship, dependence, and enjoyment of Christ, or detract from it?” How we define “profitable” is crucial, as something can be permissible and profitable and still pull us away from Christ – how? When that thing is profitable to us and our desires, not to our relationship with Christ. Considering this question honestly requires something big: that our joy, contentment, and satisfaction in life is in the Lord, not in worldly things. When we truly grasp this, temptations of the world can be rejected as unprofitable because our chief concern is profiting our relationship with Christ. Praise God that this is His desire for us as well, and by His Spirit, He enables us to experience this kind of contented living.