1 Corinthians 6: Freedom and Oneness

Since we have received grace, does that free us to do whatever we want? This chapter is all about being free and being bound, or to put it another way, to be in union with another. Paul’s perspective is an assault against the teaching of the environment we swim in. Our environment would teach us that our body and possessions are our own. We can do whatever we want with our body; as long as it doesn’t hurt another person (it can hurt another person as long as there are two mutually consenting adults at the outset). And if someone hurts us, the legal system is available to make restitution for our damages—so that we might personally be made whole again.

Paul’s view of the world is different. Paul views it this way. We have more freedom than anyone in all creation (“Everything is permissible for me” 6:12). That doesn’t mean we are autonomous. No one is autonomous. We are either united to sin and idols or we are united to Christ. And if we are united to Christ, we are inseparably united to the rest of the family of God. These Spiritual realities must reveal themselves in concrete forms.
So what does this look like? Christians must learn to resolve their disputes with one another through one another. To go outside the church would be like asking a soccer referee to umpire a baseball game. They are two different environments and the laws are different inside and outside the church.

Sexual sin is a concrete violation of our union with Christ. Our body is a temple--a physical space united to a heavenly person; A dwelling place for God; A place for worship. Everything we do in our body is an expression of worship. Do we celebrate the goodness of God in food? Do we celebrate marital love? Or, are we mastered by our body and enslaved to it? If we serve the appetites of our body, whether they are physical appetites, emotional, social or sexual appetites, we find ourselves serving them. Service is the best Old Testament word for worship. Whom do we serve? That is where the gospel gives us genuine good news. We should not be mastered by anything because that would betray the basic principle that Jesus Christ is our master and we are united to him.

Posted by Marc