By Sarah Wootten
I used to carry around a small notebook. I filled it with quotes from books, sermons, friends, and songs that were impactful to me. After reading through it often and repeatedly, these quotes became a part of me. When a friend moved away, the words of Winnie the Pooh rang through my ears. When I wanted some motivation to memorize Scripture, I would remember the words of persecuted Christians whom I admired. Or if I ever needed to smile, I could laugh at all the funny things that my friends have said about me. But there are other quotes in my notebook that I would be slightly embarrassed if you read because they reflect a misunderstanding of God’s Word. And yet, I lived by those quotes at some point in my life.
We have to be careful with the teachings that fill our minds. Whatever we meditate on will affect us in some way. If we fill our thoughts with unbiblical ideas, then we should expect sin to follow. This is similar to what was happening to the Corinthian believers. They had a few quotes that they lived by, and these quotes were leading them astray. One of those slogans was “all things are lawful for me,” (1 Corinthians 6:12, 10:23-24, ESV). We don’t know the origins of this slogan, but it’s possible that it came from Paul himself. In some contexts, the quote is perfectly fine because Paul certainly taught that we are no longer a people who live under the Old Testament law, and instead live by grace (Romans 6:14). And Paul taught that we have great freedom as Christians (Galatians 5:1, 13). But does this mean that the Corinthian believers had the right to do whatever they wanted?
Paul doesn’t respond with a simple answer. Instead he gives the Corinthians a few principles to consider. He wants the Corinthians to ask themselves, “Is this profitable? Is this dominating me?” (v. 12). We are such a fast-paced culture that most of the time, we run on autopilot. We don’t take the time to consider if the activities we participate in are profitable or dominating. But autopilot isn’t helpful to our Christian walk. Imagine what our lives would be like if we intentionally filled our minds with thoughts of God and His Word instead of being obsessed with worldly trivialities. Imagine what striving for holiness we would be like if we stopped to consider the sins we actually committed today instead of just flying into tomorrow. But we get so caught up in moments and do the same things we’ve always done. Not all things are profitable. We are far too easily dominated.
In verse 13, Paul brings up another slogan that the Corinthians lived by. It was commonly said, “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food,” (ESV). Read on in the verse and you’ll realize that this second slogan carries innuendo. Paul isn’t talking about food. He is talking about immorality. The believers had apparently used these two slogans to excuse their immorality and do whatever they wanted to do. They were in essence saying, “If Christians are forgiven of sin and this is a physical act for the body, then certainly I can fulfill my immoral desires.”
The believers were abusing God’s grace. This is why Paul is calling for a reset. It was past time for the Corinthians to consider their actions in light of the principles found in Scripture. And Paul is certainly going to give them the command to flee immorality. But he’s going to do much more than that in these verses to come. He’s also going to walk them through a long list of truths that apply to all believers as their motivation to flee immorality. He’s going to discuss the believers’ future bodily resurrection and union with Christ. Paul will remind the Corinthians that their bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and that they were bought with a price.
I pray you’ll keep following along in the weeks to come as we look at some of the principles that Paul considered integral for us to consider as we seek to glorify God in all that we do.
This article originally appeared in The Clarion Newspaper.
Corinth Baptist Church 