NOT EVERYTHING IS FOR
ME
1 Corinthians 6:12-20
1 Corinthians 6:9-11
9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom
of God
10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers
nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom
of God
11 And that is what some of you were. 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.
NIV
Apostle Paul listed the sins of the world. We were born into
this environment and at
one time took on some of the habits of the world. We were unaware
of the righteousness of God and we were powerless to make a change.
The Lord Jesus saved us from these sins and equipped us with
the power of the Holy
Spirit to resist the temptations of the world. Having been
released from the bondage of
sin, we should not place ourselves back into our previous
state.
V:12 "Everything is permissible for me"-but not
everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"-but I
will not be mastered by anything."
A. We have free will
and we can do what we want to do.
1. One of the
beauties about God the Father is, He made us in His own image.
2. He did not
make us to be puppets, but to exercise our minds to make proper
decisions.
3. God equipped
us with a mind to know right from wrong.
4. God gave us
His Word, to guide our thoughts and actions.
5. God has given
all believers the power of the Holy Spirit to resist the
temptations
of sin.
B. The Apostle Paul
made the conclusion that some things that he could do, were not
profitable for
him to do.
1. We can walk
across a busy street, but that may not be the best thing to do.
2. We can go to
an all you can eat buffet, but all you can eat is not good for
your body.
C. We should not
allow the liberties that we have to control what we do.
1. Just because
we can do a thing, we should not be moved to do it if it is
not
beneficial to us.
2. We cannot allow our fleshly desires to control our actions.
3. God is the
only control for our lives.
a. Life will
present us with all kinds of temptations.
b. We should
be responsible enough to let the Word be our guide.
V:13 "Food for the stomach and the stomach for
food"-but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual
immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body."
A. The Corinthians
had a popular saying that food is for the stomach which
they used as
justification to commit all sorts of immoral acts.
1. The Church at Corinth
2. Those who joined
themselves to Christ are in a marriage with Christ.
3. Christ is the
Bridegroom and the Church is the Bride.
B. God intended that
man be married to one woman.
1. The two are
to become one flesh.
2. Sex is the
duty of man and the wife to each other.
3. Sex outside of
the marriage is a sin
C. When God created
Adam and Eve, He commanded them to be fruitful and multiply
to fill the
earth.
1. God created
sex between man and His wife for His glory.
2. Through
sexual relationships between married couples, the earth was to be
populated.
3. Adam and Eve were made to become one flesh
in marriage.
V:14. " By his power God raised the Lord from the dead,
and he will raise us also. "
A. Our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ died on the cross to atone for the sins of all
mankind.
1. One of the
sins that Christ died for was sexual immorality.
2. Christ was
raised from the dead and is seated at the right hand of the Father
making intercessions for us.
making intercessions for us.
3. We were
baptized into His death and raised into a new creation with Christ.
4. We are
purified with the cleaning blood that Christ shed on the cross.
5. Should we
make a practice of making ourselves unclean through sexual sin so
that His
blood can continue to cover our sins? No.
B. At the second
coming of Christ we who are saved, will be raised with Christ and
have to give an
account of our sins.
1. Sex is the
pleasure of the marriage and should not be violated.
2. Since we are
joined with Christ, we must uphold the sanctity of the marriage.
V:15. " Do you not know that your bodies are members of
Christ himself? Shall I then
take the members of
Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! "
A. Our bodies are
the temple of the Lord.
1. We no longer
belong to ourselves, we belong to the Lord.
2. Sex outside
the marriage, makes the temple of the Lord a prostitute.
B. In the city of Corinth
1. It was an
acceptable practice for men of the pagan religion to enjoy sex with the
temple
prostitutes.
2. Many of the
Corinthian converts had been involved in pagan religions.
a. They
brought some of their pagan practices into the body of Christ.
b. The Apostle Paul took this opportunity explain
that Christians are joined
in holy
union with Christ Jesus.
c. What was
normal in the pagan religion is sin in the Christian faith.
3. The Church
must practice sexual morality for the world to see.
4. Our righteous
behavior is the role model for the world.
V:16. " Do you not know that he who unites himself with
a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, "The two will become
one flesh."
A. Our sexual
appetites should glorify the Lord.
1. Our sins
grieve the Holy Spirit.
2. Grieve not
the Holy Spirit who has sealed us until the day of redemption.
B. Fidelity in the
marriage keeps the family one with Christ Jesus.
1. If we join
ourselves to someone outside the marriage, we break the bond that
God has
committed us to maintain.
2. We have
liberty in the marriage, but none outside the marriage.
a. We cannot
join our bodies with a prostitute and be one with Christ.
b. The worst
thing we can do is to break the bond of unity with Christ.
V:17. " But he who unites himself with the Lord is one
with him in spirit."
A. Now that we have
accepted Christ as our personal savior, we are one with Christ.
1. We are under
the umbrella of Christ's protection.
2. Since we
belong to Christ, He provides for us and guides our steps in the way of
righteousness.
B. We are one in the
Spirit with Christ.
1. We now have
the privilege of direct communication with Christ.
2. As Christians,
we have benefits of His wisdom.
3. Being one with
Christ, we have peace, love and hope of eternal life.
V:18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits
are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body."
A. Sexual sins are
not only sins before God but it is also destruction to the body.
1. In this day of
Aids and other sexual transmitted diseases, sex can be a death
sentence.
2. Not only do we
violate God's command, but violate the purity of our own bodies.
B. Sex outside the
marriage can destroy the marriage and you in the process.
1. 50 percent of
all marriages end in divorce.
2. When there are
children involved, it's most damaging effects are on the children.
3. Adults can
recover, but the children may be scared for life.
C. God has giving us
this warning against sexual immorality for our physical,
physiological
and spiritual well being.
V:19. " Do you not know that your body is a temple of
the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not
your own."
A. The authority over
your body is Jesus Christ.
1. The authority
to live by is the Word of God.
2. The world
cannot council us on righteous behavior.
B. We know when we
sin, because the Holy Spirit which dwells in us, convicts us.
1. The only way a
Christian can sin is to ignore the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
2. Sin does not
look like the image of God.
3. Since we
belong to Christ, we ought to look like, act like and be like Him.
V:20. " You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God
with your body."
A. The conclusion of
the matter of sexual immorality is to honor God in our
thoughts and
actions at all times.
1. The
Corinthians had come out of the world with bad habits and had to learn
Christian
behavior.
2. We also have
come out of the world with learned habits which can be changed[M1]
with a knowledge of the Word of God.
B. God has released
us from the bondage of sin with the death of His Son on the
cross.
cross.
1. We should be
careful not to reenter that bondage with our willful sinful
behavior.
behavior.
2. We must
remember that we are all recovering sin addicts and must stay on God's
program of
redemption.
NIV
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