During the month of February we
have been spending our time at the church where I serve in a sermon series
entitled love and lasting relationships. This week, I would like for us to have
a frank conversation about sex. And to have that frank conversation about sex,
I would like to look at a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the
Bible that was written by a man named Paul to a church that was located in
Corinth Greece, called the book of 1 Corinthians.
Why this letter is so
significant is due to the amazing parallels between the
Corinthian culture of Paul’s day and modern American culture. Just as in
America, Corinthians tended to worship sex, just in a little more public and
prominent way. The temple of Aphrodite had 1,000 prostitutes that helped people
to worship, shall we say.
The city was so known for its sexual practices that
the phrase “to act Corinthian” was coined to describe having sex outside of
marriage. So instead of saying, I’m going to hook up with someone, people
during this time of history would say “I’m going to act Corinthian”. The parallels between Corinthian and American
culture were striking.
And the members of the church of Corinth had
questions for Paul when it came to how they should engage in sex as followers
of Jesus in the midst of this culture. So, as part of his letter to the church
at Corinth Paul responded and answered their questions regarding sex. So let’s look
at the questions that the members of the church brought to the Apostle Paul’s
attention, in 1 Corinthians 6:12:
All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things
are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. Food is for the
stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both of them.
Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the
body. Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through
His power.
Paul begins this section of his letter to the church
at Corinth by repeating a statement that the members of the church of Corinth
had stated to him in defense of how they were behaving sexually: “all things
are lawful for me”. The members of the church at Corinth believed that, as
followers of Jesus, they now had the freedom to engage in wide range of sexual
activities. “All things are lawful for me when it comes to how I express myself
sexually” was their position before Paul.
Now, is that any different from our culture today?
Just think about the messages that we hear from friends, family, the culture,
and even from some fellow Christians. “That is so old fashioned and outdated
thinking. Why don’t you catch up to the times? Exercise the freedom that you
could have as a result of God’s grace”. You see the topic of sexuality and
sexual freedom of expression is not a new debate: the topic of sexuality and
how we should be able to express our sexuality has been a debate that has been
raging for thousands of years.
In the second half of verse 12, we see Paul’s
response to the members of the church of Corinth’s claim that they had freedom
to engage in a variety of sexual activities. In his response, Paul points out
two timeless realities to the church. First, Paul states that while we may
believe that all things are permissible, not all things are profitable. While
we may believe that we have a great deal of freedom as followers of Jesus to express
ourselves sexually, not all of these behaviors are advantageous or benefit our
well being.
Second, Paul states that while we may believe that
all things are permissible, he, for his part will not be mastered by anything.
The word mastered here conveys the sense of being controlled or enslaved by
something. Paul’s point is that while we may believe that we have a great deal
of freedom as followers of Jesus to express ourselves sexually, we can run the
risk of being controlled or enslaved by many types of behavior. And the reality
is that while God gives us the freedom and free will to make choices when it
comes to how we express ourselves sexually, those choices have consequences
that are neither advantageous or beneficial. And while God gives us the freedom
and free will to make choices when it comes to how we express ourselves
sexually, those choices can, and often do, enslave us in a lifestyle that ends
up moving us away from God.
In verse 13, Paul continues by explaining to the
members of the church at Corinth that the sexual freedom that they were
pursuing is only temporary. Paul uses the analogy of eating to help drive his
point home. While the activity of eating involves a pleasurable relationship
between food and our stomach, the enjoyment that we receive as a result of that
relationship is temporary. I mean when you really think about it, the pleasure
of eating only lasts until we are hungry again, doesn’t it? And just like eating, sex is an appetite that
is only satisfied when it is fed, and that satisfaction only lasts until the
appetite reappears.
The Apostle then contrasts the temporary nature of
physical pleasure with the eternal relationship that occurs between followers
of Jesus and their Lord and Savior. When Paul states that the body is not for
immorality, the word immorality describes any unlawful sexual intercourse,
which would be any sexual activity that occurs outside of a marriage
relationship. Paul’s point here is that we were not designed to be engaged in
relationships that promote unlawful sexual intercourse, which are temporary in
nature. Instead we were designed to have an eternal relationship with God
through Jesus Christ.
Paul then provides the proof that we were designed
for such a relationship in the reality of the resurrection. Just as God raised
Jesus from the dead, God will also raise followers of Jesus from the dead in
order to participate in the eternal relationship with Him that we were created
for and have received as a result of believing, trusting, and following Jesus
as Lord and Leader.
Paul here is bringing us face to face with the issue
of idolatry, which is the worship of something other than God as God. For the
members of the church at Corinth, their desire to have sexual freedom had
become an idol; their pursuit of pleasure through sex was more important than
their pursuit of their relationship with Christ. And it was this worship of the
sex that was moving them away from their worship of their Creator.
And in the same way today, we commit idolatry when
we place our sexual appetites and pleasure over our relationship with Christ.
Tomorrow, we will see Paul reveal a second reason
why we can find ourselves believing that we should have sexual freedom and
license…
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