1Cor 6:12-14 - Happily Dying to Get There
12 "All things are lawful for me," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be enslaved 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.
Ah, the errors of "free grace" theology have already reared their ugly little seminal heads, even in the time of the Apostle. There are some in Corinth who take Christian liberty as licence. It is unclear as to whether Paul is harking back here to those who sue each other, or is referring to some who still indulge in the old immoral sexual practices, such as availing oneself of a prostitute, which he is just about to raise.
But let’s not lose sight of the principle. The principle is that of Christian liberty and Christian responsibility in matters "indifferent", as opposed to matters that are, in and of themselves, profane. It would be an easy thing to jump from the utterly true assertion of Paul that those belonging to Christ have been "washed, sanctified and justified" to the idea that they could then carry on as usual because they were home free. What! Shall we sin the more that grace may abound? - May it never be! That was Paul’s retort in Romans. Here the error is more subtle. It is grasping the idea that since God has done all this for us and has assured our eventual glorification with Christ we don’t need to bother ourselves with the details. Thanks for the salvation - see you in heaven!
It is possible, apparently, to be enslaved by something that we would not ordinarily define as sin. Things that are, of themselves, perfectly innocuous can be made sin by the attitude of our hearts. If a neutral thing becomes an idol of itself, or an excuse for self-indulgence - especially the kind that makes another believer to stumble - then that thing has become an object of sin, though it is not sinful of itself. If I can’t do thing in faith, in the light, as unto the Lord, walking in the Spirit - then, regardless of the harmlessness of the action, I am actually in the flesh and am, by definition, found in sin. Walking in the Spirit I cannot commit sin. Obviously! If I am walking in the Spirit I am controlled by the Spirit of God and doing His will. His will is good and perfect and acceptable and cannot, by definition, be sinful.
So, God made food for the body and it is no sin to eat. He also designed the body to be fueled by food. So there is no sin in eating to live. But there can be great sin in living to eat. But whether we are looking at food or at the body - both provided by God in His goodness - both of these items are destined to pass away in their present form. So we ought neither to put ourselves into subservience to food nor to the body, but simply use them in the approved way and to the glory of God, so long as it pleases God to keep us on earth.
Similarly, sex is a good thing. It is at least partly a function of having a body. But this, too will pass and it ought not to be indulged in such a way as to bring a person into subservience to it. Certainly not outside of marriage - and not inside marriage either. It is a gift to be used properly for the purposes intended. Sex is for intimacy, procreation and as an ongoing fruit, a spiritual awareness of the principle of the oneness of distinct persons.
Note the reference to the resurrection past (Christ’s and ours in Him) - and to the resurrection future, which is the inevitable outworking - the result, the fruit, the end, the destiny of all believers. We were raised with Christ (in God’s eyes) and we will be raised at the last. Meanwhile, we are in some sense in the process of being raised, also. We are, through faith in God’s statements about us and our position in Christ due to His finished work alone, being changed from glory to glory as the Day approaches. It does not yet appear what we shall be (though there are foreshadowings and hints and first fruits) but in that Day we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
When Christ was raised from the dead it was indeed finished. He raised us with Him to newness of life; He assured that our bodies themselves will be raised up; He fashioned our entire salvation by His own active and passive obedience unto a penal death suffered in our stead. He took God’s just wrath upon our sin in our place so that we do not have to suffer it. But this salvation is not completely manifested in us as long as we live in the flesh. That final part of God’s decree must be seen to be carried out. We must all die. The principle of death is ordained by God not just for us, but for His Christ. The breaking of His perfect and holy law must always result in death - bodily and spiritual death. But if we believe in Christ, though we die, yet shall we live and whoever lives and believes in Him will never die. How can this be?
It can be because we who believe are now and forever spiritually alive - reborn - because of Christ. We live in bodies that suffer the ravages of sin and for which death is ordained. But the death of the body is but a light thing compared to the everlasting death of not being in Him. Body and soul will be torn asunder, but the life of God in the believer goes on forever from glory to glory. We are saved on account of our union with Him. But the unbeliever will be torn body from soul and cast into hell, from whence he will be summoned to receive a new eternal body that is able to receive everlasting torments.
So the body as it is must go. For us it is a joy to pass into the fullness of God’s loving presence; for the infidel it is the terror that is only the beginning of unspeakable terrors beyond. Knowing, therefore, the transient nature of the body of sin, and anticipating the glorious new body that awaits us, we who believe ought to hold our physical forms and all of their functions lightly and reverently. Like Paul we should be straining eagerly to get to the end, but ready to stay as long as God wills it.
Ah, the errors of "free grace" theology have already reared their ugly little seminal heads, even in the time of the Apostle. There are some in Corinth who take Christian liberty as licence. It is unclear as to whether Paul is harking back here to those who sue each other, or is referring to some who still indulge in the old immoral sexual practices, such as availing oneself of a prostitute, which he is just about to raise.But let’s not lose sight of the principle. The principle is that of Christian liberty and Christian responsibility in matters "indifferent", as opposed to matters that are, in and of themselves, profane. It would be an easy thing to jump from the utterly true assertion of Paul that those belonging to Christ have been "washed, sanctified and justified" to the idea that they could then carry on as usual because they were home free. What! Shall we sin the more that grace may abound? - May it never be! That was Paul’s retort in Romans. Here the error is more subtle. It is grasping the idea that since God has done all this for us and has assured our eventual glorification with Christ we don’t need to bother ourselves with the details. Thanks for the salvation - see you in heaven!
It is possible, apparently, to be enslaved by something that we would not ordinarily define as sin. Things that are, of themselves, perfectly innocuous can be made sin by the attitude of our hearts. If a neutral thing becomes an idol of itself, or an excuse for self-indulgence - especially the kind that makes another believer to stumble - then that thing has become an object of sin, though it is not sinful of itself. If I can’t do thing in faith, in the light, as unto the Lord, walking in the Spirit - then, regardless of the harmlessness of the action, I am actually in the flesh and am, by definition, found in sin. Walking in the Spirit I cannot commit sin. Obviously! If I am walking in the Spirit I am controlled by the Spirit of God and doing His will. His will is good and perfect and acceptable and cannot, by definition, be sinful.
So, God made food for the body and it is no sin to eat. He also designed the body to be fueled by food. So there is no sin in eating to live. But there can be great sin in living to eat. But whether we are looking at food or at the body - both provided by God in His goodness - both of these items are destined to pass away in their present form. So we ought neither to put ourselves into subservience to food nor to the body, but simply use them in the approved way and to the glory of God, so long as it pleases God to keep us on earth.
Similarly, sex is a good thing. It is at least partly a function of having a body. But this, too will pass and it ought not to be indulged in such a way as to bring a person into subservience to it. Certainly not outside of marriage - and not inside marriage either. It is a gift to be used properly for the purposes intended. Sex is for intimacy, procreation and as an ongoing fruit, a spiritual awareness of the principle of the oneness of distinct persons.
Note the reference to the resurrection past (Christ’s and ours in Him) - and to the resurrection future, which is the inevitable outworking - the result, the fruit, the end, the destiny of all believers. We were raised with Christ (in God’s eyes) and we will be raised at the last. Meanwhile, we are in some sense in the process of being raised, also. We are, through faith in God’s statements about us and our position in Christ due to His finished work alone, being changed from glory to glory as the Day approaches. It does not yet appear what we shall be (though there are foreshadowings and hints and first fruits) but in that Day we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
When Christ was raised from the dead it was indeed finished. He raised us with Him to newness of life; He assured that our bodies themselves will be raised up; He fashioned our entire salvation by His own active and passive obedience unto a penal death suffered in our stead. He took God’s just wrath upon our sin in our place so that we do not have to suffer it. But this salvation is not completely manifested in us as long as we live in the flesh. That final part of God’s decree must be seen to be carried out. We must all die. The principle of death is ordained by God not just for us, but for His Christ. The breaking of His perfect and holy law must always result in death - bodily and spiritual death. But if we believe in Christ, though we die, yet shall we live and whoever lives and believes in Him will never die. How can this be?
It can be because we who believe are now and forever spiritually alive - reborn - because of Christ. We live in bodies that suffer the ravages of sin and for which death is ordained. But the death of the body is but a light thing compared to the everlasting death of not being in Him. Body and soul will be torn asunder, but the life of God in the believer goes on forever from glory to glory. We are saved on account of our union with Him. But the unbeliever will be torn body from soul and cast into hell, from whence he will be summoned to receive a new eternal body that is able to receive everlasting torments.
So the body as it is must go. For us it is a joy to pass into the fullness of God’s loving presence; for the infidel it is the terror that is only the beginning of unspeakable terrors beyond. Knowing, therefore, the transient nature of the body of sin, and anticipating the glorious new body that awaits us, we who believe ought to hold our physical forms and all of their functions lightly and reverently. Like Paul we should be straining eagerly to get to the end, but ready to stay as long as God wills it.
posted by agonizomai at 12:02 am
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