Liberty but not Independence

1 Corinthians 6:12

In these verses we will be looking at today, Paul begins establishing spiritual truth that will form the basis for understanding much of what he will be addressing in chapter seven concerning marriage and singleness.

In our last study we looked at verses 9 and 10 where Paul made some pretty strong statements. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”

Paul knew this congregation well and anticipated that the reaction of some of the Corinthians to these strong words could sound something like this: “Now Paul, aren’t you being legalistic about this? Haven’t we been set free from the law? “You yourself taught us that all things are lawful and that we have been set free from Jewish legalism.”

Vs. 12

Twice here in this verse Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit affirms that indeed all things are lawful. This is an affirmation that he repeats twice more in 10:23. What does he mean by the statement that all things are lawful? He is referring to the same truths that are taught in Romans 6 and 7. As we have seen before, 1 Corinthians is a practical application of the theology taught in Romans.

Romans 6:14-15 “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!”

Romans 7:1 says: “Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?”

And then verse 4 continues saying: “Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ . . .”

For nearly twenty years my grandmother has never broken a single law of any kind. In fact, she is completely free from any law. She is under no law at all. That is because my grandmother died almost twenty years ago. The law is powerless over, and entirely irrelevant to, someone who is dead. The Bible says in Romans 7:14 that believers in Jesus have also become dead to the law. When did we die to the law? We died when we were crucified with Christ. When He died, we were in Him and we died. (Romans 6)

Notice that this same truth is clearly stated 4 times between Romans 6:14 and 7:6. 6:14 “You are not under law but under grace.” 6:15 “Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?” 7:4 “. . . you have become dead to the law.” 7:6 “We have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by. . .” Galatians 5:18 reinforces the same truth, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

Just as our literal participation in Christ’s death, burial and resurrection has freed us from the bondage of sin, it has also freed us from the bondage of the law. So what does it mean to be dead to the law and therefore no longer under the law? Like a slave driver, the law makes demands of us and it threatens punishment as a consequence of disobedience. But now we have died to the law - it no longer has authority over me and there can no longer be any punishment for failing to keep the law.

Does this then mean that we are independent creatures, free to do whatever we want? That is what Satan would like us to believe, but it is not true. There is no such thing as freedom to be found independent of God. This is an important distinction that we need to understand. Freedom does not equal independence. Freedom from the law does not mean that I can do whatever I want without consequence. If you choose to indulge in sin you will become enslaved to the power of sin.

Romans 6:15-16 “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! 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?”

Human beings are created to be dependent upon God and mastered by Him. Every one of us is mastered by someone whether or not we know it or are willing to admit it. None of us are independent creatures. When we receive Christ as our Saviour He sets us free to choose who will be our Lord. But he never sets us free to be independent.

A slave is a person who is wholly subject to the will of another person or has come under a power that controls him. We are all a slave of either Jesus Christ or of the power of sin which is an agent of Satan. There are no other options. No one is his own master. (The struggle of Romans chapter seven illustrates how we are powerless to act independently and do what we want to do. When we are not subject to the authority of Jesus Christ we are brought into captivity to the law of sin. 7:23) To choose to be independent and obedient to no one is to become by default a slave to sin. In light of this truth it is significant to know that independence is the doctrine of the Satanic Bible and its greatest commandment is to “Do what you want.” (Hells Bells)

Now our flesh is unwilling to acknowledge that it is a slave. We all like to think we are independent, and our western society enshrines independence as a strong and noble attribute to be pursued. We naively think that true freedom is to be independent but that is a lie. To be independent of God is to be in bondage to Satan. That is how Satan duped the human race into becoming his slaves in the first place, by promising Eve that if she ate of the fruit she would not have to depend upon God but she could be independently wise, like God, rather than dependent upon God. Ever since then all of Adam’s descendents have been in slavery to Satan through the agency of sin; all the while wrongly believing that they are free.

Before we will experience freedom from sin we must come to be thoroughly convinced of this truth, that we are not independent creatures. This is illustrated by a story coming out of the oppressive slavery that once existed in the southern states of America.

At a slave auction a kind and godly gentleman once observed a notoriously cruel and wicked slave owner bidding to buy a young man, barely more than a boy, who was up on the auction block. Out of compassion for the young slave the godly man began bidding against the wicked slave owner for the slave, knowing that the slave would be treated horribly by the wicked slave owner if he bought him. The bids went higher and higher but finally the gentleman won the bid and purchased the slave.

The godly man went over to get his new slave, but instead of taking him with him the man took out a pen and paper and wrote a note and handed it to the slave. The note stated that the slave had been granted total freedom and it bore the signature of the man who had just bought the slave at great personal cost. Then the gentleman wished the slave well, said good bye, turned and walked away.

The young slave stood there and looked around somewhat bewildered, after briefly considering his options the young slave very quickly ran after the man who had purchased him and said, “I gladly use my freedom to choose to be your servant, please take me with you.”

Why would he do this with his freedom? Because, what that slave realized was that in the Deep South there was no such thing as independent freedom for a black man. If he tried going his own way he would be captured and forced into slavery by someone else. This young slave realized that in the southern states at that time there was no such thing as independent freedom for anyone with black skin. The only place he would experience freedom from oppression would be to become a slave to this good man who obviously loved and cared for him.

Likewise, our only true freedom is when we are in submission to the authority of Jesus who purchased our freedom. Only then we will find peace, rest, abundant life, power over sin, victory over evil, fullness of joy and pleasures forever more. Yet to choose to be independent of God, by default will result in us becoming slaves to sin, even though legally we have been set free from sin and belong to Christ. The only way we can enjoy that freedom is by submitting our lives to Him.

Now look back at our text in 1 Corinthians 6:12, “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.” The word “lawful” means permissible, allowable, or technically legal. It means we have the “the right to determine” or “the authority to determine” how we will respond. (Fee, p. 252) In any given situation, we have the right and the authority as children of God to choose how we will act and who we will obey. We are not in bondage, we are not forced to act a certain way and there is no penalty or punishment for making a wrong choice because we are free from the law and therefore also free from the penalty of the law; we are literally free from the authority and the penalty of the law. When I stand before God as a child of God, I will never be punished by God for any sin or violation of the law, because Jesus paid the penalty in full for all of my sin at the cross. I am justified by faith and no longer under the law. “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1) If I have been set free from the law that means I will never be punished for any failure. My penalty has been paid in full by Jesus Christ’s death. (Colossians 2:13-15; Hebrews 10:12, 14, 17) My old man was crucified with Christ and I died with Him once, never to die or be separated from Him again. (Romans 6:9-11; 8:35-39)

Therefore, according to the new covenant we have with God through the blood of Jesus Christ, the law of the Old Covenant no longer has any jurisdiction or authority over me. I am free from the law and so are you as a child of God. But the mistake we must never let Satan deceive us into making is to think that this now means that we are independent to do as we please. That is not an option available to us. We cannot be our own god or master of our own lives. It is simply impossible.

“All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.” The word lawful means that we have been given the authority to determine how we will respond to any given situation. Therefore, unlike a slave to sin who is powerless over sin, we are free to act with authority over sin and authority over our flesh, we are never to let sin and the flesh exercise authority and take power over us as children of God. As God warned Cain in Genesis 4:7, “. . . sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” The only way we can rule over sin rather than letting sin rule over us is to be submitted to the power and authority of Jesus in our lives. The moment we step out from under the authority of Jesus and decide to do our own thing, sin which is crouching at our door like a cat waiting for a mouse to come out of the safety of its hole, pounces on us and over powers us, bringing us into bondage to its tyranny.

We have been set free from bondage to sin and the law, but that freedom can only be experienced while we abide in Christ. There is no freedom apart from Christ. We are either slaves yielded to Christ, which is to enjoy life and freedom from the power of sin. Or we are enslaved to sin where there is only bondage, destruction and death. But there is no such thing as independence to do what we want. To choose to act independently of God, as Adam and Eve did in the garden, will by default bring us into bondage to sin every time.

Romans 7:6 says: “But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.”

We are now to live by the power and control of the Spirit of God; to let the indwelling life of Christ guide us. Unlike the law which only demanded but never gave us any help or power to do what it demands, Jesus empowers us and gives us everything that is needed for life and godliness. (2 Peter 1:3) Instead of an external list of rules to follow God has put His Spirit inside of us to guide us. (Ezekiel 36:27; Philippians 2:13)

But this can sometimes create a dilemma for Christians. How do we recognize the leading of the Spirit in our lives? Until we mature and have learned to discern the prompting of the Holy Spirit, until we have learned to distinguish the difference between the desires of the Spirit and the cravings of the flesh it is helpful to have some direction or some coaching. That is what Paul is giving here in 1 Corinthians chapter six.

Some say that as Christians living under grace we are to obey the desires that God puts into our hearts, “for it is God who works in you both to will and do for His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13) This is true but we must also realize that our heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. Our desires alone can be very deceitful and misleading. So Paul gives some direction here on how to know if it is the leading of God’s Spirit or the deceitful desires of our heart.

“All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful [profitable, beneficial].” Paul clearly identifies two ways of discerning the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives: First of all. The Spirit of God will not lead us into that which is not for our good. Deuteronomy 6:24 tells us that originally the law was given for our good, that it might go well for us. Now today in the New Testament, the ministry of the Holy Spirit will continue to lead us into those things that are for our good, or helpful to us, that it might go well for us. Therefore, though we are no longer under the law that does not mean that we can now do everything that the law once said not to do. The Spirit of God will not lead us into those things that for our good the law forbade. The same Spirit who gave the Law for our good is still interested in our well being. In other words, the Spirit of truth will never lead us contrary to the word of God.

If a certain behavior is causing harm to ourselves or to others we can be sure that it is not the Holy Spirit leading us into such actions. See 1 Corinthians 10:23-33 “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being . . . “Conscience,” I say, not your own, but that of the other . . . Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God, just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.

1 Cor. 6:12 continues, “. . . All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.”

The second way of discerning the leading of the Spirit in our lives is to know that the Holy Spirit will not lead us into anything that brings us under the control of someone or something other than God. In all things we have the right and the authority to determine how we will act, but in order to remain free from the bondage and destruction that sin brings we must not choose to act independent of God. Because I become a slave (come under the power) of the one I choose to obey. (Romans 6:15)

Therefore the Holy Spirit will not lead us into anything that brings us into bondage. That means the Holy Spirit will not give you desires for something, or lead you into a certain path, if it will lead you or those under your influence to addiction or into debt that cannot be repaid on demand. The Holy Spirit will not lead you into those things that result in brainwashing or that bring your mind under controlling influences that are contrary to the mind of God (mind altering drugs, hypnosis, music or teaching that gets control of your thoughts, etc.).

If I chose a certain path of action because that is the way the Spirit of God is leading it will not result in me coming under the power or the bondage of anything other than God, regardless of how dangerous or risky the path may be. But if I am choose to go down the same path because the lust or cravings of my flesh is prompting me, or because I have seen someone else go that way, but have not been led by the Lord to go that way myself, then I will find myself and/or others around me falling under the power of sin. But when we are following the leading of the Spirit in our lives we will be safe from coming under the power of anything other than God.

So we see that the Spirit of God will only lead us into that which is for our good, never contrary to His word. If it deprives others, or if it is divisive or if it is destructive it is the influence of Satan who comes to steal, to kill and destroy. But the Holy Spirit will lead us only into that which works for the good of us and of those under our influence. And secondly the Spirit of God will never lead us into something that brings us under its power or control. We are all a slave of someone. I choose to be a slave of Jesus Christ. Whose slave are you?

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