This is Monday morning, October 8, 1973, in Richmond, Virginia. Ministry has been given through Brother Stephen Kaung.
May we turn to 1 Corinthians 6.
All things are lawful for me; but not all things are expedient.
All things are lawful for me; but I will not be brought under the power of any.—1 Corinthians 6:12
And 1 Corinthians 10:23 and 31–33:
All things are lawful; but not all things are expedient.
All things are lawful; but not all things edify.Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
Give no occasion of stumbling, whether to Jews, or to Greeks, or to the church of God:
even as I also please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of the many, that they may be saved.—1 Corinthians 10:23, 31–33
That is all, really, that is needed.
The church at Corinth was full of problems. But we do thank the Lord that we have Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. If we did not have that letter, and only had letters such as Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, we might wonder whether there is any word for us.
Now, we know that the letters to the Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians are for us. They are relevant to us because they show us God’s purpose, God’s plan, and God’s will. We need to know that.
And yet, sometimes when we look around and see the condition and situation of God’s church today, we feel that we are far, far off. Sometimes we are discouraged. We wonder whether God has something to say to us in our present situation—a situation that is filled with problems of all kinds.
Now thank God for 1 Corinthians, because there you find that they had all kinds of problems, and God had a special word for them. In that sense, I believe 1 Corinthians has a very special message for us. It is relevant in a very special way to our situation today.
In the church at Corinth, there was a great problem of unity. They were not united. They were all believers, and yet they were divided. Some said, “I am of Paul”; some said, “I am of Apollos”; some said, “I am of Cephas”; and some came out and said, “I am of Christ.”
Now, is it not true that this is a problem today? Among God’s people, I think one of the greatest problems we have is this lack of unity. We are not one. We are not united. Even though sometimes we may say that we are one in Christ, yet our actions do not seem to correspond with our confession.
It is a practical question. You know, the letter to the Corinthians is not dealing merely with theory; it is dealing with practical life. We all know that we are one in Christ, but how about our practice?
If only our eyes would be fixed upon the Lord, and not upon spiritual men such as Paul, Peter, and Apollos, then in practice we would be one.
Last night we fellowshipped concerning the second great problem in the church at Corinth: there was no discipline.
Here you find a group of believers, and I believe it was not a small number, because when you read the book of Acts, you find that there were many members in the church at Corinth. Yet there was no discipline whatsoever.
One person had done such a terrible thing that it could not even be found among the Gentiles. Yet this person was not disciplined. He went on as if nothing had happened, and the whole church was so insensitive.
The people allowed the thing to remain, and the church did not take any disciplinary measure. There was no discipline. They may even have boasted of themselves as being very liberal, most tolerant, and very loving. But in disciplining, nothing.
So, brothers and sisters, as we look at our situation among God’s people today, I think there is one thing, among many other things, that is very much needed in the church, and that is discipline.
As a matter of fact, if there is no discipline, there is no reality in the church. If there is no discipline, there is no establishment of the truth. Discipline is very important in the building up of the church.
Last night we mentioned that, from the Bible, you can find three different ways of discipline: fatherly discipline, brotherly discipline, and church discipline. We will not go back into these this morning, but I mention them because here we find another very helpful word as to how there may be discipline in the church.
This morning we would like to enter into another area, and that is the matter of Christian conduct.
God has put a number of people together. How should they conduct themselves toward one another? Christian conduct in relation to one another is another area in which there was much lack in the church at Corinth.
Here you find that a brother would go to court to sue another brother. Probably the other brother had defrauded him in some way, and because of that he felt that the wrong must be righted. So he went to court in order to have his wrong adjusted—a brother suing another brother.
Not only was there this matter of suing one another, but evidently their married life was very loose. You find that in 1 Corinthians 7. Evidently they did not know how to live in their marriage relationships.
Furthermore, many others thought that they were intelligent and had knowledge, so they went to the idol temple to enjoy themselves in social activities. So much so that those who were weak in conscience were stumbled, and they did not care.
In other words, among the Corinthian believers there was very much lacking in Christian conduct in relation to one another.
Brothers and sisters, I wonder whether this is not also a practical problem among God’s people today.
It is true: no one can be saved by good works. At one point in time, we all tried to behave ourselves. Why? Because we thought our salvation depended upon our good deeds.
We thought that if we had good deeds to present to God, then we would be accepted. We were like Cain, taking the produce of our own land and trying to offer it to God. But, of course, it was not sufficient.
As you find in the book of Isaiah, our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. Even though we may think that we have accumulated some righteousness, when we try to present it to God, it is but filthy rags. Not only can it not cover our nakedness before God, but it is still filthy and unclean.
So, more or less, I think we were like some of the Corinthian believers. When we were convicted by the Holy Spirit of our sin, our first reaction was to try to behave. We tried to do something good. We tried to accumulate some merit so that we might be saved.
Then one day, by the grace of God, our eyes were opened to see that we are not saved by works; we are saved by grace. And you know, that is what happened to the Corinthians. That is how they came to the Lord.
It was Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. That is the gospel that saved them. The Corinthians, in their former days, were very wicked in their behavior. There was a proverb at that time: “You act like a Corinthian.” It meant that you lived a very wicked life.
But thank God, through the gospel of Jesus Christ, they were brought to God—not on their own worth, but by grace.
My brothers and sisters, after we are saved, how about our conduct? It is true that we cannot be saved by our good conduct. Our good conduct is not the cause of our salvation.
But after we are saved, there should be good behavior as evidence, as the effect, of God’s salvation. Not that we may merit anything by it—no. The life of Christ is in us, and the life of Christ should be manifested in our daily life.
There should be a difference. There should be a testimony to the world.
That is true of the Corinthian believers. They had received the salvation of the Lord. They were saved. Their sins were forgiven. They were washed. And yet somehow, their behavior and conduct toward one another were such that they brought shame to the Lord.
I wonder whether it is not because of a wrong notion. We are not saved by our good deeds; we are saved by grace. So, after we are saved, are we not under grace and no longer under law? Are we not free?
We can do anything that we like. We will not be condemned anymore, because after all, good deeds are nothing in the sight of God. It is the grace of our Lord Jesus. In other words, it is a misunderstanding and an abuse of grace.
Probably they felt that, since they were so free and enjoyed liberty and grace in Christ, they could do anything they liked.
Is it not true with believers today?
You find two different schools. Of course, one school says that you must have good deeds, because without good deeds you cannot be saved. With that kind of teaching, people do try to have good deeds.
But, of course, they are not accepted by God, because in the sight of God these are dead works. We need to be delivered from dead works—even good works.
Yet you find, especially among so-called Protestant believers, that the preaching of the grace of God is wonderful. It is the gospel of grace. We are saved by grace. But perhaps, after we have received the grace of God, there seems to be a lack of clarity as to how we should behave.
Now you are saved. You will go to heaven. Everyone who is saved is ready to go to heaven. But what about today? What about our lives on this earth from day to day? How shall we live before God and before men? I am afraid there is something missing.
Just yesterday, a few young brothers and I were talking together after the morning meeting. One brother said that, for us, he felt that something was missing.
It is true that we are saved by grace. It is true that we will go to heaven one day. But is there anything in the Word of God for our present day?
We are saved; we will all be taken to Him; we will all go to heaven. Then some people would say, “Why bother? Why should we deny ourselves, take up the cross, and follow the Lord? After all, you will go to heaven just like your brother who may live a very loose life, enjoy himself on this earth, and reject the cross. After all, you are saved by grace. Why are you so foolish? We will all go to heaven eventually. We are all saved by grace.”
So that kind of thought comes in somewhere.
When you read the letter to the Corinthians, you find that these Corinthian believers misused grace and liberty. They said, “We can do anything we like.” Paul said, “Your body is not your own. You are redeemed by the price. You are the people of God.”
It is true that you are saved by grace, but the Lord has saved you and redeemed you to God. You are no longer your own. Therefore, you must glorify God in your body. It is not yours; it is God’s.
Furthermore, no unrighteous person shall inherit the kingdom of God. There is more than going to heaven. There is the kingdom of God to come.
Only those whose righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees can enter into the kingdom of God. You remember that in Matthew the Lord said:
Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.
—Matthew 5:20
By the grace of God, we will all go to heaven; that is true. But that does not mean that everyone who is saved will enter into the kingdom of God that will come upon this earth one day.
To reign with Christ for a thousand years requires the righteousness of the kingdom.
Paul said that you are in a race. You have to run in such a way that you may obtain the prize; otherwise, you will lose the prize. It is true that you will not lose your salvation, but you will lose the prize. You will lose the reward.
Paul even mentioned the Israelites. They all came out of Egypt. They all ate the heavenly manna. They all drank of the water out of the rock. They all were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea.
Yet because they tempted God, because they did not believe in God, because they disobeyed, the result was that they fell in the wilderness. Only Joshua and Caleb, together with a new generation, entered into the land.
Paul said, “Am I not free? I am free. But I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage, lest by any means, after that I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected.”
If you take us here, you find something very important in our practical daily life, and that is something that was very much lacking among the Corinthians.
These brothers and sisters were saved by grace, and they seemed to enjoy their liberty so much—over-enjoying their liberty. Look at the situation among them. One would oppress another, one would stumble another, and they just did not care.
There was not that proper Christian conduct. I am afraid this is also true with us today.
God’s people seem to forget that they are saved to be a witness and a testimony to the Lord. God’s people seem to forget that their bodies are not their own. We are purchased for God. We must glorify God in our bodies.
Not that we are accumulating merit, as it were—not at all. But because we are not our own, we have to glorify God. And because we are in a race, we must run in such a way as to obtain the prize.
This is an area, I am afraid, that is very much needed among God’s people today.
When Paul deals with this matter of practical Christian conduct, he deals with it according to certain principles. Here we will try to examine these principles and apply them to various problems.
In other words, the way to correct our conduct is not by laying down rules and regulations for every item. That would form for us another law. But the way to deal with our conduct is to know certain principles and then, by the power of the Holy Spirit, apply these principles to our daily life.
Paul says, “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable.” That is the first principle.
Paul is one who has been delivered. Paul is one who is no longer under law but under grace. Paul is one who can look at all things as lawful.
In other words, the word lawful has the sense of liberty. “All things are lawful”: I have liberty in all things, because Christ has already delivered me. He has already saved me. I am a free man.
Of course, there are things that are not lawful. The thing that one man in Corinth had committed, which was not even found among the Gentiles, was certainly unlawful.
Paul does not refer to those things, because a Christian, a believer, should know better. When he says, “All things are lawful to me,” he does not include those things that are clearly sinful. He does not include the sins of the world.
When Paul says, “All things are lawful to me,” he is relating this to a person who has been saved and delivered; a person who is in Christ; a person who has the life of Christ in him; a person in whom the Holy Spirit dwells; a person who is in fellowship with the Lord.
To such a person, those unlawful things do not need to be mentioned, because he will not do them. But the problem is that people say, “All things are lawful. I am a free man. I have liberty. I have the right to do anything that I feel like doing.”
But not all things are profitable.
It is true, dear brothers and sisters, that we are free in Christ. Once upon a time we were under bondage. We did not have that liberty. We could not do what we wanted to do, and we did what we did not want to do, because we were not free.
But today, thank God, we are free. We can do what we want to do, and we can refuse to do what we do not want to do, because the Lord has set us free. We have the freedom to choose.
That is our position in Christ. But not all things are profitable. You can do these things, but are they profitable?
You find a brother going to court to sue another brother. To that brother, it may seem a lawful thing to do. He may say, “It is my right, because my brother has defrauded me. I must correct that wrong. I have every right to sue him in court so that he will give back what he has taken.”
It is not an unlawful thing. He feels at liberty to do that. But is it profitable?
In 1 Corinthians 6, the emphasis is more on your own benefit. Does it profit you? When you go to court to sue your brother in order to regain your loss, materially and physically you may recover your loss. But spiritually, is it profitable to you?
When you do such lawful things, will they damage your spiritual life? Is the gain worthwhile? Is the gain worthwhile by going to court?
Oh, brothers and sisters, there is something very deep in our flesh, and that is our rights.
If something is unlawful, we know that it is sin. But if it is our liberty, if it is our right, that is the place where we often fall. We exercise our rights. We take our liberty because we feel that we have every right to do so.
Outwardly, we may believe that we are doing something permissible, but how about our spiritual welfare? Is it profitable?
Sometimes we do things that really hurt our spiritual life. Think of the spirit in this case. One goes to court to sue another brother. He may do a lawful thing, but instead of the spirit of love and sacrifice, instead of saying, “I am willing to suffer,” there is a spirit of revenge—a selfish, self-centered spirit.
So Paul says, “Why do you go to law before the unrighteous to sue your brother? Is there no wise brother in the church who can help to solve this problem? Why do you go to the Gentiles? They are not believers, and you go to them.”
Paul even goes a little step further and says, “Why are you not willing to be defrauded by your brother?” It is a matter of whether it is profitable.
Brothers and sisters, we may think that we do not have such things today, but we do.
Of course, this question of whether something is profitable also includes others. When you are doing something to your brother, will it be profitable to that brother?
The emphasis in 1 Corinthians 6 is more on yourself. In 1 Corinthians 10, the emphasis is more on your brother, because the principle is repeated: “All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable.” In that case, however, the emphasis is more toward your brother.
When we are doing something, brothers and sisters, we need to consider: if I do it, will it be profitable to my brother or to my sister? If it is not profitable to him or to her, even if it is lawful, it is something not to be done.
So here you find the first principle of all Christian conduct. Whenever something comes up, you need to go to the Lord and say, “Lord, yes, You have freed me. I am a free person. All things are lawful to me. But is this profitable?”
When I do it, does it hurt my spiritual life? Will it bring hurt to my brothers and sisters? Am I seeking their spiritual advantage?
Of course, the apostle here does not mean material, physical, temporary profit. He means eternal, spiritual profit.
The second principle is this: “I will not be brought under the power of any.”
A Christian is free. All things are lawful. You have liberty to do these things. But Paul said, “I will not be brought under the power of any.”
If anything enslaves you, it may be a lawful thing, but you are enslaved. Instead of your being master over it, it masters your life. In other words, you have to do it. If you do not do it, you feel that you cannot live. You are depending upon it.
This is something that has laid hold of your life. You are under its control. Now, if such a thing happens, something is very wrong.
We are Christians. We are under the control of our Lord. Our lives are under His control. He is our God. He is our Lord. But when we are under the control of anything, however lawful that thing may be, something is basically wrong.
Probably, in the early days among the Corinthians, they had the same problem that we have today with meat prices. Because meat prices were high, you could get cheaper meat in the market.
The Corinthians offered sacrifices to their idols in the temple. After they offered the sacrifice, the meat belonged to the priests. Of course, the priests of those idol temples could not consume all the meat.
So they would eat part of the meat, but the greater part they would take to the market to resell. The profit would go to the priests. Usually, they sold that meat more cheaply, because they had not paid for it. So the meat that had been offered to idols was sold in the market at a much cheaper price.
If you wanted to buy cheaper meat, that was what you looked for.
But some people had weak consciences. When they bought this meat and ate it, they felt that they were eating meat offered to idols. In other words, they felt their conscience was defiled by things offered in the temple.
Yet the meat was cheaper. And if the urge for meat was so strong that you felt you had to have meat, then you could not afford it. Instead of living without meat, meat controlled your life. You had to have it.
Therefore, against your weak conscience, you bought meat that had been offered to idols. Now, brothers and sisters, all things are lawful, but “I will not be brought under the power of any.”
There may be something you must have. In a sense, you are a free man, and yet it has controlled your life. It has become master to you instead of your being master over that thing. When such things happen, you know you have done wrongly before God.
Now, for the Corinthian believers, of course, meat was a problem. But you can multiply this and apply it to many things.
There are many things in our lives that may be lawful. But are you under the control of them?
You can apply this not only to eating and drinking, but to habits in your life, even to your relationships with people. You can even apply it to spiritual things.
If a spiritual thing should dominate you instead of the Lord, something is wrong. We need to be free from the control of all things, because that is what Christ has liberated us for.
He has liberated us from all things, and He has brought us under His sole control. We are under Him, but we are above all things.
So here you find another principle that governs our Christian conduct. You can apply it as the Holy Spirit convicts and leads you. It can apply to many, many things.
The third principle is this: “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”
Eating and drinking, of course, are lawful. God has created us in such a way that we need to eat and drink for the sustenance of our life. Therefore, eating and drinking are perfectly lawful.
But do all things to the glory of God. It is true that all things are lawful, but when I do certain things, will God be glorified?
If God is not glorified, do not do it. Do not do it.
If I eat, I eat for the glory of God. If I drink, I drink for the glory of God. If my eating and drinking will bring shame and disgrace to God, then even in such lawful things as eating and drinking, I should abstain from them.
In the case of the Corinthians, it was more than just buying meat from the market.
Their social life was such that they had many parties. When they had a party, they usually held it in the temple. Just as today people may have a party at a club or country club, so their social life was very much involved with their temples.
When a neighbor had a party, he would have the feast served in the temple. That was the place to which they went for social life.
The problem with the Corinthian believers was that now they were saved. They no longer went to the temple to offer sacrifice; that they knew. But they were cut off from all social life, because all the parties were held in the temples. If they did not go to the temple, then they would have no social life.
They could not enjoy themselves. They liked to eat. They liked to drink. They liked to have a good time. But all the parties were held in the temples. What should they do?
They knew that they should have nothing to do with idols. They knew that. But they were not willing to pay the price of following the Lord in the lonely way.
They still longed to have this social life. They wanted to enjoy their lives. They wanted to continue their social life with their neighbors.
So when they were invited to these parties, what did they do? They tried to rationalize.
Some said, “We have knowledge. We know that an idol is nothing. They are not real gods; they are nothing. We know there is only one God. If the idols are nothing, then the temple built for the idols is nothing, and the food sacrificed to the idols is nothing. So that should not affect us at all.”
They had knowledge. You could not argue with that knowledge. Their knowledge was true knowledge. It was true.
So, based upon their rationalization and knowledge, they continued to go to the temple and enjoy themselves.
Now, brothers and sisters, you cannot question their knowledge. Their knowledge was real. But their motive was wrong. They were not glorifying God. They were enjoying themselves.
In other words, it may have been lawful to them because they had the knowledge. But the reason for their going was that they wanted to enjoy themselves. They were not doing it to glorify God.
Brothers and sisters, very often we have the same problem. We like to enjoy ourselves, and we try to rationalize. But the point is: is God glorified? Is God glorified?
If God is not glorified, then that is not something that we should do. Because our body is not ours; it is the Lord’s. We must glorify God in the body.
The fourth principle is this: do not give occasion for stumbling to your brother.
Everything may be lawful to you. If you have knowledge, you can do it. But you must consider your brother. If what you do is lawful to you, but it will stumble your brother, do not do it.
Not for your own sake, but for your brother’s sake. Because knowledge puffeth up, but love buildeth up. Only love builds up.
So do all things that will edify people, that will build up people and not destroy people.
Here you find that some of the Corinthians professed to have knowledge, so they went to these temples and enjoyed the parties.
They completely forgot and neglected those young believers, those who were newly saved, because they had worshipped idols before.
Therefore, their consciences were defiled. They could not enter into the temple. They could not sit there and eat food that had been offered to idols, because in doing that they felt that they were having fellowship with idols. Their consciences were defiled.
But then they saw these older brothers and sisters marching into the temples and enjoying themselves. In their simplicity they said, “Well, if they can do it, why not we?”
But when they went into the temple and enjoyed themselves, their conscience was not at peace. If anything is done without a peaceful conscience, that is sin.
So to them, they had committed sin.
And Paul said, “How can you stumble a brother for whom the Lord has died? How can you do that? If my eating meat will stumble my brother, then I will not eat it. I will never eat meat.”
There is nothing wrong with eating meat. But if you stumble your brother, Paul said, “I would rather not.”
You may go to the market and buy meat and eat it—fine. If you are invited by some people to eat with them, whatever is put before you, eat. But whenever somebody says, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it—not for your own sake, but for his sake.
Now, brothers and sisters, it is true that some people have a weak conscience. We need to distinguish a sensitive conscience from a weak conscience. A weak conscience is due to lack of knowledge.
We should help these brothers and sisters with weak consciences, so that they may be delivered from their weak consciences. But before they are delivered, you have to respect even their weak conscience.
You cannot go by your strong conscience. You have to go by their conscience. This is love. This is love. And only love builds up.
Brothers and sisters, here we see these four principles. By the power of the Holy Spirit, practice these principles in your daily conduct in relation to one another. What a difference it will make.
These are very practical. First of all, we know our position. We know that our position is that we are free in Christ. That is our position.
We are not being brought back under the law. There is no contradiction here. In Romans, Paul said that we are not under law, but under grace. In Galatians, Paul said, “Do not go back and put yourself under the bondage of the law, because Christ has already liberated you.”
It is true. We are free, brothers and sisters. We who are saved are free. To us, all things are lawful. We have our rights. We have our liberties. Thank God for that.
This is our position. But be careful how you use your rights.
Paul said, “Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Can I not do like the rest? May Peter bring his wife and travel with him? Cannot I do as the rest, to have my physical needs supplied as I bring the gospel to you?”
But Paul said, “I do not use my right. I do not use up my right. I do not.”
This is something very important. We are free. All things are lawful. But does it mean that you have to use all your liberties?
Can you, for Christ’s sake, forego some of your liberties? Can you lay them aside in order that you may help your brothers and sisters, and in order that you may glorify God? Are you willing to do that?
It is in giving up our rights for Christ’s sake, in not using our liberty for Christ’s sake and for the sake of a weaker brother, that there is love. That is love.
And when there is such love among God’s people, the church is built up and God is glorified.
So we thank God. Because of the mess in the church at Corinth, we are given some insight into those spiritual principles that need to be applied to our relationship with one another.
May the Lord use these words to help us in a practical way. Let us pray.
O Lord, we do praise and thank Thee because Thou hast freed us. All things are lawful to us who are in Christ.
But, Lord, we are under grace. We are free, but we are under grace. Thy life in us is our law.
We praise and thank Thee because Thou hast given us liberty to choose. Thou givest us the strength to do that which will be pleasing to Thee.
Lord, do not allow us to be so self-centered as to live for ourselves. But, Lord, enable us to forfeit our rights, even our liberty, for Thy sake and for the sake of our brethren.
O Lord, fill our hearts with Thy love, that we may really seek the advantage of others; that we may not be under the control of anything; that in all things we may glorify Thee, edify others, and not be a stumbling block to any.
O Lord, help us to see all these things. Maintain us by Thy Spirit.
And we ask all in the name of our Lord Jesus, and for His glory alone. Amen.