1 Corinthians 6:12-17 “Everything is permissible for me” — but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me” — but I will not be mastered by anything. “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. By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. 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! 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.” But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.
Because Christ has paid the price for our redemption and because Christ has set us free from sin and death, EVERYTHING IS PERMISSIBLE FOR US: 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. (1 Corinthians 6:11) Because God's plan does not fall short of completing his work in us, we are free. As Jesus said, So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:36) The harness of the law with it concomitant bit does not have to drop over our heads to direct us for us to please God. No, we are not governed and guided by the work of the law, but by the work of the cross. Faith in Christ's work makes us completely pleasing to God. But Christians must consider who we will serve daily. Do we allow sin to creep into our daily lives or do we place our lives in the Originator of life, Christ himself? This is our choice. As Paul said: Everything is permissible for me. As with Joshua, we choose God: But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD. (Joshua 24:15) Christ alone is our complete holiness, our eternal life. His finished work pleases the Father; allowing us to cry Abba Father, as God's sons and daughters in Christ's image. Paul expresses this eternal truth of a new creature in Christ by alluding to the body's basic function of eating: Food is for the stomach and the stomach for food, but eventually God will destroy them both, for they have no eternal value. They are only worth something on this earth. He then implies that even though we are sexual beings, sexual activity will cease, for it has only temporary, earthly value. However, he warns, illicit, improper sexual activity points to where your heart is as far as serving God. For example, joining yourself to a prostitute illustrates your lack of commitment to the God who has set you free from the works of sin and death. Because we are free from sin and death, we should treat our bodies well, exemplifying the one who has freed us, Jesus Christ. We should not ally ourselves again to what was previously destroying us, the lust of the flesh.
As part of the body of Christ, our redeemed lives are meant to express God to the world. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God raised Jesus from the dead; he will raise us also. Paul tells us we should be cognizant that our bodies are members of Christ himself. Even though we are free because of Christ's completed work, we are obligated not only to appreciate his work in us, but also to dedicate ourselves completely to his authority in our lives. We read in God's word: And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. (Romans 8:11) That life in the Spirit gives us power over sin. Sexually, we are not to unite ourselves with a prostitute or with any other person outside of marriage for two will become one flesh. "Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name — the name you gave me — so that they may be one as we are one." (John 17:11) Unholy sexual activity interferes with the sacred bond of oneness that God has with his people. This eternal bond, WE IN HIM AND HE IN US, brings resurrection power to these mortal bodies. In compromising this relationship of oneness, we jeopardize our eternal existence with God. God has said from the beginning that He has a jealous love for his people: Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. (Exodus 34:14) If we look at the children of Israel, we can extend the thought of illicit affairs breaking oneness with God beyond sexual activity. The Israelites were often charged by God of prostituting themselves by chasing after other gods. Rather than being content with serving the Creator God, they chose to serve gods of the heathen world. Of course, our gods in this present age are not idols made of wood, stone, and precious metals: they are the gods of the secular and materialistic world, gods of ideas, activities, special interests, and possessions. Where do we, followers of Christ, prostitute ourselves, separating ourselves from following God in oneness? Where do we go to find our prostitutes? What prostitutes are consuming our thoughts and activities? If we unite ourselves exclusively with the activities and interests of the world, we unite ourselves with the prostitutes of this world. We unite ourselves to that which will carry us away from God. Our fleshly pursuits can eventually carry us away from the oneness we have in Christ.
We know from studying God's Word that Christ must be our everything. We must not follow after these diversionary temptations, for our redemption is in the Lord. Jesus said, For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21) Paul fully understood this; therefore, he told the people: But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit. WE ARE FREE, FREE INDEED. But we must use our freedom to lift up Christ in our daily lives. Our activities and interests should reflect Christ. We don't need the harness of the law to make us do right. We do not require a bit in our mouths to force us to the right or to the left; but we do need the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit actively within us. We live by the Spirit, not by the law. Our basic desire should be to serve Christ. That is why we should be praying constantly, meditating upon him, loving him. This kind of life is true freedom--free to be all God wants us to be in him. When we seek God wholeheartedly, when we establish our lives around him, He will come near to us. We will speak with him, face-to-face. His voice will become real to us. He is a good God who wants to comfort and to nurture his children in this alien land. Turn to him daily dear breakfast companions; open your lives to him. Know him as he is: He is merciful, even to his enemies. When we feel we have failed him miserably, turn to him, for He is a God of mercy and grace. There is not one of us around this breakfast table who does not need his grace and mercy; not one of us can go it alone in our own strength. We thank you Lord for your completed work in us. Give us the strength and knowledge to follow you in oneness with you. But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)
No comments:
Post a Comment