Untitled Sermon (4)

Scriptural Text: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

If you’ve been with us through this series so far, you know that Paul has been tackling a barrage of different issues that is challenging the Corinthian church.

We’ve heard him address celebrity-like idolatry that led the church towards esteeming some leaders over others even though they are all serving the same God and preaching the same Gospel...

We’ve also heard him address the division that has resulted from that personality-driven idolatry.

Paul spends a great deal of time early on addressing this particular challenge in the church.

However, in the last couple of chapters, he has kind of set off this rapid fire of topics that he’s wanted to address.

In chapter 5 he spoke about the church’s carefree attitude towards a particularly egregious sin of a man sleeping with his father’s wife.

In the early part of chapter 6 he turns his attention to an ongoing conflict between church members that has led to them taking the matters to the civil courts and embarrassing church with the trivial complaints against one another.

Now, in the next couple of verses he turns his attention back towards sexuality…we’ll hear more on the merits of both marriage and singleness later but first, Paul starts with the call AWAY from SEXUAL IMMORALITY, which historic Christian doctrine simply defines as sexual relationships outside of the exclusive covenantal marriage of one man and one woman.

Let’s pick up in verse 12...

1 Corinthians 6:12–14 ESV

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. 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. 14 And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.

The first thing that Paul does here in this text is confront the lies about sex that the Corinthians have heard

Most scholars are in agreement that what is happening here is not Paul making just some new statements about sexuality, but rather he is actually repeating some statements that have circulated around the Corinthian church. They could be in part some misunderstandings that they have taken from Paul’s teaching.

For example, we know Christian teaching puts a lot of emphasis on the reality that we are saved by grace not by our conformity to the law which creates freedom and could possibly lead some to start saying as it’s being said in verse 12 “all things are lawful for me...”

However, these words that the Paul is quoting the Corinthians as saying are probably heard within the broader culture of Corinth and is kind of sexual philosophy.

Either way, Paul chooses not to accept these words as unquestioned truth. Rather, Paul is calling the church to challenge the truthfulness of their culture’s sexual practice and belief in light of their new position as followers of Jesus who have been washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God.

Now, since there are no quotation marks in the Koine Greek, there is a little debate on what part of the text is Paul quoting the culture and what part of the text is Paul correcting the culture…but most people seem to be in agreement that there are three sentences that serve as assumptions given to us by the culture/lies fed to the church:

1. The Culture’s First Assumption: “All things are lawful for me.” This is actually assumption #1 and #2, “All things are lawful for me”

This statement simply means that the Corinthians should not be restricted in any way sexually. If it FEELS good, it IS good!”

The reason that is attractive, saints of God, is because that also SOUNDS GOOD! Sensation without commitment; Pleasure without toil; Intimacy without vulnerability; There’s a sense in which that sounds attractive. The problem is it is not TRUE!

Here’s the culture’s other assumption…the lie...

2. The Culture’s Other Assumption “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food - and God will destroy both one and the other”

This statement is actually another statement ABOUT SEX! It means that sex is to the body like food to the stomach…It’s just a natural appetite that should not be suppressed in any way. When we crave it, we should have it wherever and however...

As Roman author put it, “Provided you keep away from married women, virgins, young innocents, and children of respectable families, love anyone you want.”

One Roman politician commenting on prostitution put it this way: if there is anyone who thinks that young men ought not to visit prostitutes, he is certainly narrow-minded (no doubt about it), and completely out of step with our present liberal thinking. In fact, he has nothing in common with the customs and behaviour of previous generations, who were quite broadminded on the subject.

These cultural assumptions/LIES are communicating that SEX is natural and because it’s natural it should not be restricted or limited in ANY SORT OF WAY…is oppressive and regressive.

That is the voice of the culture around the church of Corinth.

SEX should be unrestricted, unlimited, and to suppress it in any way is to harm oneself...

Sound familiar? It should because its us!

We are the culture that says “if it FEELS good, it IS good!” We dress it in phrases like “follow your heart...” or the “heart wants what it wants” and use these assumptions to give license to every sexual relationship under the sun.

But what does Paul say to these assumptions?

Assumption #1: “All Things are lawful for me,” BUT NOT ALL THINGS ARE HELPFUL!

Paul’s point…just because you can do something that may feel good doesn’t mean that it IS GOOD!

We argue over whether we can do it but Paul is asking how much time have you contemplating just how helpful it was. Here’s what Pastor and Author John Mark Comer says about this:

“The sexual liberation revolution of the 1960s set in motion a cascade effect: the reversal of the long-standing moral consensus around promiscuity (which separated sex from marriage) worked in tandem with the advent of birth control and the legalization of abortion (which separated sex from procreation), which moved on to the legalization of no-fault divorce (which turned a covenant into a contract and separated sex from intimacy and fidelity), then to Tinder and hookup culture (which separated sex from romance and turned it into a way to “get your needs met”). From there it’s moved on to the LGBTQI+ revolution (which separated sex from the male-female binary), the current transgender wave (which is an attempt to separate gender from biological sex), and the nascent polyamory movement (an attempt to move beyond two-person relationships). Amid the revolution, the questions nobody seems to even be asking are, Is this making us better people? More loving people? Or even happier people? Are we thriving in a way we weren’t prior to our “liberation”? Nobody is really even asking these questions, much less making a serious attempt to research the data.”

The answer? Comer in his research comes away with the following observations...

Happiness levels have been in decline in the US since, interestingly, the ’60s.

In spite of the cultural narratives that state otherwise, we’re learning that divorce is directly tied to the rising number of people who struggle to develop intimate, healthy relationships in adulthood.

Those who cohabitate before marriage are less likely to marry, are more likely to get a divorce if they do, and often develop long-term trust issues.

Research on oxytocin and vasopressin, the two chemicals released by our body during sex that bring our attachment system online and cause us to bond to another person, shows that the more sexual partners you have, the more difficulty your body has in developing relational intimacy.

25 percent of children spend a portion of their childhood without a father in the home, an experience that is damaging to both boys and girls.

He continues on with several other ways in which we are not getting better before he closes with this statement: “These facts are conveniently left out of the discussion, if there even is a discussion.” YES, you CAN do it BUT is it HELPFUL to do it?

Here’s another angle to Paul’s question. When we say “is it helpful”, bear in mind we aren’t just talking about “is it helpful FOR YOU”?! Too often when we discuss the benefit of exercising our freedom the only person we think of when discussing the benefits is us. But more than likely Paul has more than oneself in mind when he asks these questions.

In fact, the next time we hear Paul repeat this statement is in 1 Corinthians 10:23-24 and listen to what he says after it.

1 Corinthians 10:23–24 ESV

23 “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. 24 Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.

All things are lawful but not all things are helpful for you NOR for others! So, in the freedom of your actions, seek the good of your neighbors.

Maybe you’ve convinced yourself that you watching those lustful images/videos aren’t harming anyone but the reality is that you are supporting an industry that thrives on the exploitation of young men and women, trafficked men and women, and broken relationships and marriages lying behind it.

They matter too…Is your free indulgence HELPFUL TO THEM!?

When we exercise our freedom in adultery, it’s not helpful for us but it’s not helpful for others...the spouse we abandon, the children we betray and destroy their trust in us.

You see if everyone is totally free to do what they please in their own eyes, then no one is safe from threat, harm, or exploitation that comes with those unlimited and unrestrained actions.

You see I may be able to shoot a gun into the air in a crowded space, but it doesn’t mean that those bullets aren’t going to land on some people and wound them.

Even in Corinth, the prostitutes situated throughout the town weren’t lifeless. These were mothers and daughters. These were people with emotions and feelings, but in the exercise of this sexual freedom they were only left to be treated as objects to be used and tossed a side, leaving a trail of trauma and tears.

Was the free indulgences of the people HELPFUL TO THOSE prostitutes? Of course not.

Paul is challenging the notion of freedom even sexual freedom and asking is it leading to a higher good? That’s the question we all must ask when tempted to explore that freedom, but that is not the only question because Paul challenges the cultural assumption in another way as well...

Assumption #2: “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything...

One theologian translates this text this way: “All things are in my power, but I shall not be overpowered by anything”

Paul uncovers an undersold result to giving ourselves completely away to something…we run the chance of becoming a slave to it...

This is not the only place where we have heard this from Paul

Romans 6:16 ESV

16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

When we discuss addiction, we often talk about substances (drugs, alcohol, even food), but we leave out one of the most addictive elements in our culture today, sex. 5% of the adult population is addicted to sexual activity in one form or another. They are bound in a way that it is impacting their lives, their time, their wallets, and/or their relationships.

You SEE, FREEDOM without RESTRAINT is often the quickest path to BONDAGE...

Tell a child he can eat as much as heart desires and overeating soon becomes a temptation along with all the troubles that brings...

Tell an adult they can spend as much money as their heart desires and overspending soon becomes a real temptation along with all the trouble that it brings.

FREEDOM without RESTRAINT is often the quickest path to BONDAGE...

John 8:34 ESV

34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.

The only way to experience true freedom is to live within the restraints that God has ordered out of His own wisdom.

Whenever we attempt to remove His yoke, we will without fail take it off and put on a heavier more oppressive one that we’ll eventually come to rule us. Trade in the yoke of Jesus for the yoke of money, power, and/or sex and it will eventually DOMINATE YOU in ways that you don’t even realize.

So, Paul says…the culture is telling you do whatever you feel like doing whenever you feel like doing and I’m telling you that that is neither helpful nor is it true freedom because it will eventually lead to bondage.

What about the last assumption of the culture?

Assumption #3: “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 and God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power

There’s actually two assumptions here.

The first assumption is our bodies are nothing more than cheap desire machine and our job is simply to satisfy those cheap desires. Like a stomach that craves food, you feed it. A body that craves sex must be fed as well. Otherwise, it is being suppressed and harmed.

To that Paul says: The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord and the Lord for the body...

Meaning this…yes, you have a desires but if all you do grab for unrestrained sexuality than you haven’t dug deep enough...

Your heart, mind, and body was created for communion with the TRIUNE GOD of the UNIVERSE!

Ecclesiastes 3:11 (ESV)

11 ...He has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

In us is a longing and craving for deeper fellowship and deeper communion with God but instead of turning towards God, we stop on lesser things and we end up making a deforming their original design and become bound in them because we’re trying to extract something from them that was always intended to be found in God.

Some of you are consuming soooo much and yet find yourself so incredibly empty and you’ve been this way for months or in some cases for years. You’ve turned to TV, you’ve turned to alcohol, you’ve turned to social media, you’ve turned to work, and yes you’ve even turned to sex. YOU’VE CONSUMED, CONSUMED, and CONSUMED to the point where you’ve deformed all of these good things and yet you find yourself empty…YOU’VE CONSUMED, CONSUMED, and CONSUMED to the point where you now you’re bound by many of these things and yet you still find yourself empty.

But it’s because you’ve made gods out of things that were never intended to be God and you’ve never truly turned your focus towards the one who ACTUALLY IS! This morning would be a beautiful time to just turn to the Lord in prayer and say Lord help me fix my eyes on you! Search my heart and root out the sin and the idolatry that turns my attention away.

What about the 2nd assumption here?

There is actually a little debate around whether this statement, “God will destroy both one and the other”, is part of the culture’s statement or actually a part of Paul’s correction to the culture, but I’m inclined to lean towards this being part of the culture’s statement.

For one, this statement that God will destroy both the body and the food are consistent with much of the Greek Philosophy that permeated that day and most likely the city of Corinth. They carried a low view of the body basically saying that since the body was going to perish anyway it didn’t matter what you did with it!

So, they lived how they wanted to live, said what they wanted say, and did what they wanted to do. If they wanted to drink themselves into a silly stupor, they did it! If they wanted to have sex with whomever they felt like having sex with, they did it!

They said “Well, the body is going to be destroyed any way so do whatever you want with it. It is not meaningful...”

This is not just a recipe for recklessness. It’s a recipe for abuse.

One of the most significant ways that sexual immorality, abuse, and exploitation gain a foothold in the life of both believers and non-believers is the devaluing of the life and body...

ILLUSTRATION: The New York Times published an opinion piece in December 4th, 2020 edition of the paper entitled the children of Pornhub.

It covered the exploitative nature of one of the world’s largest pornography websites and its complicity in child trafficking.

It accomplished this by sharing the horrific stories of young girls who were victims of that exploitation and trafficking.

One young lady’s world was turned upside down when she started sharing racy photos and videos with her ninth grade boyfriend who unbeknownst to her was sharing them with other boys in the school. Eventually, the situation exploded at the school and the photos found there way on to the pornographic website. She was viciously mocked and teased at school making it hard for her to continue going. Boys were asking her for more videos threatening to send the existing ones to her mother. To keep the photos and videos from her mother’s eyes, she gave the boys more. She eventually attempted suicide and her mother eventually found out and they tried over and over again to get the videos off the site and despite their best efforts, they kept popping back up.

Even though she was a honor student before all of this, her grades plummeted, she started skipping school, a new friend introduced her to meth and opioids, and she became addicted to both.

Eventually the overwhelming shame led to her dropping out of school and she became homeless.

At 16, she advertised on Craigslist and began selling naked photos and videos of herself. It was a way to make a bit of money, and maybe also a way to punish herself. She thought, “I’m not worth anything any more because everybody has already seen my body,” she told me.

The lie that her body is now worthless is the lie that was used to further exploit and abuse her.

One of the most dangerous lies that Satan tells us to keep us entangled in a web of sin, or drive us towards hopelessness in abuse or exploitation is to tell us that your body does not matter or even more insidious YOU DON’T MATTER!

By the way, we see a similar thing happening in Corinth…Remember the issue at hand in 1 Corinthians 6 is not just any old sexual immorality, which it includes that but it is more than that.

It is in particular as we are about to see PROSTITUTION.

So at the height of this sinful practice and system is a group of people saying I’m powerful and free to do whatever I want to do, and this body is going to be destroyed so who cares how many prostitutes I sleep with...

But at the bottom of this sinful practice is a group at the exploited people saying “I’m powerless and bound and my body means nothing to these people so why should it matter to me...

It’s why what Paul why what Paul says in these last 6 verses is so powerful...

We’ll move quickly through them but they are the most important part of the sermon so stick with me for the next 8-10 minutes.

AFFIRMATION #1: YOUR BODY MATTERS

1 Corinthians 6:14 ESV

14 And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.

It will be raised with Jesus...

It belongs to Jesus...

It is not a throwaway body…it doesn’t matter what it has experienced. what it has gone through it is precious to God...

Don’t forget verse 11

1 Corinthians 6:11 ESV

11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

AFFIRMATION #2: YOU ARE UNITED WITH JESUS

1 Corinthians 6:15–17 ESV

15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.

AFFIRMATION #3: YOU ARE A DWELLING PLACE FOR THE SPIRIT

1 Corinthians 6:19 ESV

19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,

Again Paul changes the game on anyone who would say this Body doesn’t matter

Divinity dwells on the inside of you...

Notice Paul makes a point to highlight that the Spirit dwelling in you is Holy.

Also notice that he uses the language of temple.

Think about the sacred nature of the temple in the OT.

Exclusive

Holy

Terrifying and Deadly for those who would tread in and not cleansed.

And now that same HOLY SPIRIT DWELLS IN US!

That is a GREAT and HIGH PRIVILEGE for us to say God dwells in us, but as one theologian puts it with that privilege comes a great responsibility not to desecrate the temple.

AFFIRMATION #4: YOU WERE BOUGHT WITH A PRICE

1 Corinthians 6:20 ESV

20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Jesus declares in Matthew 20:28

Matthew 20:28 ESV

28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

For those who would declare in with the Corinthians in verse 12…We are free to do what ever we want to do…Paul would respond...Jesus paid for you in his very own blood and you are no longer your own you are HIS!!!

The connection to prostitution…Here we have an issue where the church is running wild and taking women who are owned and declaring I’m free to own them…I paid for a night. I’m free to do as I please...

And Paul is saying have you forgot that somebody PAID FOR YOU!

But instead of Paying for you in order to uncover you and exploit you. He has bought you to make Him a part of himself. How can you then turn around and use your freedom and power over them for exploitation when He used His power over you for GLORY and GOODNESS!!!