The Danger of Becoming a Slave

Intro:

- As we have been making our way through the book of 1 Corinithians, we have made it a point to look at the warnings that Paul was making to the believers in Corinth. Remember that this letter is a corrective letter that Paul was addressing some of the issues that the church was dealing with.

- the main issue was that the church had allowed the spirit of the culture, the practices, the philosophies and habits to enter the church. The church had adopted these things which in turn would begin to deconstruct their faith.

- so everything we have pointed out has been Paul warning the people, but at the same time we are taking on these warnings for ourselves. Because just as much as failing to follow these warnings would lead the people to deconstruction their faith, so too…. if we fail to listen to these warnings in our lives, we will begin the deconstruction process in our lives.

- now last week Jay started looking at chp 6 and he looked at the danger of adopting the wisdom of the world. The practices and dealings of the world with one another.

- today we will pick up where Paul’s train of thought was….. He was addressing how the world around the church acts when a person has wronged them. How the Christian should act different , yet these believers were taking on the wisdom of the world to deal with the person who had wronged them.

- There is a contrast that we are being brought to understand, that the world or non believers act a certain way, and the Christian should act and behave different from the world.

Transition

- and it is with this mindset that Paul jumps from verse 8 to verse 9.

“Do you not know that that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?”. (v.9)

Paul states what is obvious in his mind. That there are 2 types of people. There are those who are unrighteous and the opposite which are the righteous.

- This righteousness that Paul is speaking about our standing before God. There are those who are considered unrighteous who are not in a right standing with God, we would say these are the world, non believers. Then there are those who are considered righteous, who have been made to have a right standing with God.

- Paul tells us that these who are unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God, or in other words, those who do not have a right standing with God will not enter into heaven.

Transition –

Read v. 9-10

- Paul describes some of the works of the unrighteous. It is interesting that Paul connects the sin with the person to describe them. They are the sin they practice. Fornicators, adulterers, drunkards etc.. It is the sin they are practicing that describes the person that they are.

- Now in the beginning of verse 11 tells us that we were such people. We were unrighteous, who may have even practiced these very things. The contrast comes after the word “BUT”….. this signifies a change. And Paul gives us (3) things that signifies the change in us….

- This is important because the change shows that it is not of ourselves but of God. It is not that we stopped sinning, it is not that we are perfect or that God expects our perfection……

But…….

- We were washed- The sin we were committing had direct consequences which is death. Rom. 6:23. Jesus became the spotless lamb who sacrificed Himself on the cross, it was His blood that washed and cleansed me. It covered me and paid the price required by my sins.

- We were sanctified- Jesus pulled us out of this world and set us apart into his family. Eph.1 speaks about this. Set apart to be different and to live different for His purposes. We are to be different from the world and different from who we once were.

- We were justified- This is a legal term meaning to be declared innocent, just as if we had never sinned. It is the blood of Christ that has washed us, taken away our sin/ God looks at us as if we had never sinned because of the work of the Cross and our faith in Jesus and His work.

- This sets the foundation for what Paul is going to speak about next. Knowing that the non believers act in a way that is contrary to the things of God, and knowing that I have been made a new creation and have been cleansed and washed from the things I did before……. My life should therefore be different from the world.

- There is an expectation for me to live differently.

I. Freedom come with Responsibility (v. 12-14)

A. Freed from All things (v.12)

- This verse tells us a lot of what Paul is addressing. He tells us that we have freedom now in Christ (all things are lawful for me)…….

Romans 6:5–7 NKJV

For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin.

- Our old body was crucified with Christ that our body of sin would be “done away with”. That phrase speaks of “rendering in active”.

- In other words our sinful body has been rendered in active, meaning that the flesh, our old self has no longer power in my life. The verse continues to say “that we should no longer be slaves to sin”.

- Paul is making the point in Romans that our old man has been put to death with Christ, the flesh that still lives in us has no power over our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin but we are free.

- We are no longer under the control or bondage to the body of sin, or the flesh…. Unless we allow the flesh to have control over our lives…. Rom. 6:13

- This is important to understand, that you and I am not slaves to sin… what that means is that we don’t have to give in to the desires of our flesh to sin. We will all experience the desire, the temptation to do what is wrong, to lie, to steal, to cuss, to lust, whatever it may be….. and we may think that we have no choice and have to give in….

- Paul is telling us that we are free from the power of that sin, we don’t have to give in to it. 1 Cor.10:13

- But with that freedom, comes a responsibility to stay away from things that will enslaves us again.

- This is what we want to look at today. The danger of becoming a slave. One of the sure ways to deconstruct our spiritual lives, is to surrender the freedom in our lives to be a slave to something other than God.

Transition

- this leads to an important thought, that we are free but we can allow ourselves to be brought under the control of many things. We can willfully bring ourselves to be slaves to certain things, including sin.

- It doesn’t have to be sin, there are things like hobbies and pursuits that can be good that can end up controlling our lives.

- Paul focuses on sin that can enslave us. One of the most foolish things we can think is that because of our freedom and because of God’s forgiveness and grace, that we can do anything knowing that God forgives us (ROM.6:1) …..

- Paul makes it a point to say that just because we have a freedom, it does not mean that we are to bring ourselves under the control of these sinful things.

- All sin and the works of the flesh will be controlling and act as a master to us. If we are constantly sinning, it reveals that the sin in our lives is our master over our lives, it controls us and we are under it’s power.

Romans 6:16 NKJV

Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?

- This is what Paul was saying we need to avoid. We have put the old man to death and are new creations 2 Cor. 5:17. We should therefore no longer live as we used to under the control of our fleshly sinful self.

B. The Enslavement of Bodily Desires (v. 13-14)

- Paul is addressing the fact that the people in Corinth were acting as their bodies were meant to fulfill the desire and cravings it had. Just like food. If you are hungry , then eat something, satisfy that craving.

- This same thought process was at work within the people in regards to the sexual appetite. Hey my body is desiring certain pleasures so it is acceptable to do whatever it takes to satisfy that craving.

- The sexual perversion that was in the City had made it ways into the practices of the church.

- Paul made it a point to say that the body was not for sexual immorality but tells us that our bodies are meant to glorify God. He would say this again in v. 20.

- This word sexual immorality in the Greek is “pornea” where we get the word pornography from. It is speaking about any form of sexual activity that is outside of marriage.

- Understand that sexual sins are one of the sins that are the most enslaving sins out there. When you get involved with pornography, sex outside of marriage, sexting ….. you bring things into our mind that you can never take out.

Transition - How Addiction works

- There is actually a physical thing that happens in your brain when you watch pornography and engage in sexual things.

- When you engage in sexual things Your brain releases a chemical that is called “dopamine”.

- Dopamine is a hormone that is released and is associated with memory, pleasure & reward.

- Meaning when you engage in sexual immorality….. your brain releases this chemical that triggers the memory and associates this memory with pleasure and reward.

- Your brain will therefore begin to associate the feeling of pleasure with doing this act . whatever it is. Your brain will crave the pleasure and reward and the only way to get this chemical to be released and feel this pleasure again….. is to do the act again,

- That is where the addiction comes in. This happens also with drugs, alcohol and gaming. This is why many people are addicted to porn, to drugs, to alcohol and gaming.

- The only way to break this is by creating new habits that will re-program your brain to associate the reward with doing something else.

- Interesting that Paul understood the addictive side of sexual immorality before the people understood the science that happens in your brain during this activity.

II. The Purpose of Our Bodies

- Part of the thought process of the church in Corinth was that they could do whatever they wanted to do with their bodies. Paul addresses this thought by telling us several things about the actual purpose of our bodies. Considering these things should have realigned their understanding and their practices. This should do the same for us.

Paul’s statements about our Bodies

1. Our body is not for sexual immorality but for God (V.14)

- Paul tells us what the main purpose of our bodies is, it is for God not to satisfy the bodily pleasures and sexual appetite.

2. Our body is a member of Christ (v.15)

- Paul tells us that we are members of Christ. We are individual members that collectively make up the body of Christ , or the church. Paul telling us that we are a part of something bigger than ourselves.

3. Our body is meant to be joined with the Lord (v.16-17)

- Paul is saying that we are meant to be joined to the Lord. We are meant to be one with the Lord. Oneness comes through intimacy.

- Paul is speaking about the temple prostitutes that people would engage with as a way to worship in Corinth. If the people were to engage sexually with these people , they were becoming one with these women.

- The act of sex or sexual intimacy is an act that affects more than just the outside of the body. It affects the heart and the mind. (v.18). It affects what we are connected to.

4. Our body is the temple of God (v.19)

- Paul tells us that our body is an actual temple where God’s spirit dwells. God longs to dwell within our hearts.

- Yet when we are filling our lives , our hearts and minds with the filth of this world, we are filling ourselves with darkness.

- And the bible tells us that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

1 John 1:6–7 NKJV

If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

5. Our body is not our own (v.19)

- We do not belong to ourselves. We were purchased by the blood of Jesus. Acts 20:28.

- Therefore, if we belong to God, we should stop living for ourselves, and start living for God.

6. Our body is meant to glorify God.(V.20)

- We are meant to live in such a way to honors God, that bring glory to him. A way that reflects who He is and what He has done in me.

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III. How to Deal with the Temptation of the Flesh (v. 18)

- Paul tells us that we are to flee from sexual immorality. To literally run from it. Think about the story of Joseph and Potiphors wife. As she tempted him to have relations with him, Joseph literally ran away from her.

this word to “flee” is in the present form which tells us that we are continually to flee or run away from temptation and sin.

- One of the main issues we us not being able to overcome the temptations of sexual sin, is the fact that we don’t run from the things that tempt us. We think we are strong enough to overcome the temptation.

- In Matt. 5:27-30, Jesus spoke about the importance of cutting off anything that is causing us to sin. Paul has the same thought behind what he is saying. We are to run, to cut off, or get rid of anything that is causing us to commit the sexual sin.

- We need to get rid of anything in our lives that either will tempt us or has the potential to tempt us. Maybe social media, your phone, certain movies, maybe certain relationships, certain music that will stir up your mind.

1 Thessalonians 4:3–5 NKJV

For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God;