1 Corinthians 6:12-13

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.

1 Cor. 6:13  “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 

Teaching: Last week we focused just on the implications of verse 12, but this week we will broaden out a bit to see the greater point Paul is making. The Greeks, in their pagan, pre-Christian, culture viewed the body as having little importance in comparison to the mind and soul; so, one could, and to a degree should, do whatever they pleased with their body. Paul then came along and started preaching a gospel of grace, rather than works, where liberty in Christ was permitted. This naturally led to a problem in understanding: if you already believe that what you do with your body doesn’t matter, and someone tells you that you are saved not by works but by faith...you’re likely to interpret that as an encouragement, or at least insignificance, to what you are already doing in the flesh. Thus, when Paul says, “all things are lawful” he is right (because there is liberty in Christ, not bound by the Mosaic Law), but he qualifies it by saying, “but not all things are helpful” (drawing attention to the fact there are detrimental things that to our, and others, walk with Christ).

Paul then uses food as an example of this, as he quotes from a common Greek saying (hence the quotation in verse 13). He says that “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food” – as a sort of functional quip that means if one has the thing to do something with, he should do it. If you have a shovel, dig. If you have a pot, cook, etc. This fits as well with another common saying in Greek hedonistic culture, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die.” As we might say today, “YOLO...you only live once!” Paul extends this same idea to a major issue within the Corinthian church – sexual immorality. These common cultural practices were a result of their belief that the body was of much less importance than the soul, their belief that the body was meant to work as it was functionally able (like food/stomach), and for the Church, their warped understanding of Christian liberty. Paul’s call in verses 12-13 is for them to consider not just what is permissible or functional, but what is profitable to their walk with Christ. In particular, he calls them to understand that the body was made for the Lord, not our own pleasure. Functionality and permissibility are not the standard of expectation for a Christian.

Takeaway: When one thinks of their body as separate from their soul, and sees it purely functionally, then the natural result is this: if your body is weak, strengthen it. If it is hungry, feed it. If it desires sex, engage in it. Give the body what it needs and wants. But the body is, in fact, not separate from the soul, as what we do to our bodies has real impact upon us. While this body will die one day, what we do in it now carries weight during our lives. If the body were not significant, Christ would not have needed to come in the flesh, suffer bodily, and resurrect anew. Even though Scripture tells us that we will receive new bodies one day, when we view our bodies now, we should not view them as unnecessary, irrelevant, or unusable. As Paul says in Romans 12:1, we are “to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God” as this is our true and proper worship. Our bodies were made to give glory to God and we worship Him when we live in such a way the gives him glory. There is so much we can do in this life to glorify God with the strength and breath He is graciously given us. To instead live in such a way as the Corinthians (seeing the body as not much more than a used car in need of constant oil changes, refueling, and maintenance), tramples upon the grace the God has given us in how he has made us. Thus, on this topic of Christian liberty – yes, we have great leeway in how we live, but does it glorify the Lord who has graciously saved us? Who has given us a hope and a future? Our question should not be what is permissible or even how to get the most out of our body, but rather, how can I glorify the Lord with everything that He has given me?