All Things Are Not Profitable
Tom Shrader works through 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, addressing the Corinthian church's misuse of Christian freedom as a license for sexual immorality. He explains Paul's argument that the body is designed for the Lord, not immorality, and that sexual sin uniquely defiles a person body, soul, and psyche. Drawing on the example of Joseph fleeing Potiphar's wife and the image of believers as temples of the Holy Spirit, Shrader calls his congregation to flee temptation and find motivation in the price Christ paid for them.
“You have been bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: Life Management
Recorded: 2001 at East Valley Bible Church
Duration: 36 min
Themes: sexual purity, temptation, freedom, fleeing sin, the body, immorality, self-control, repentance, struggling with sexual temptation, young adult, new believer, misusing grace, feeling trapped by sin, single adult, man struggling with purity, college student
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:10, 1 Corinthians 3, 1 Corinthians 4:18, 1 Corinthians 5:1, 1 Corinthians 6:1, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, Romans 6:14, Philippians 3:20, Genesis 3, Genesis 39, 2 Corinthians 6:16, John 7:39, Acts 1:8, Romans 8:9
Theological Themes: sanctification, becoming holy, Christian liberty, abuse of grace, temple of the holy spirit, sexual sin, redemption, union with christ
Full Transcript
Setting the Scene in Corinth
We are in 1 Corinthians chapter 6, starting in verse 12. Paul refers to this church and those in it as brethren or brothers. He considers them believers, but he is very frustrated with them. We know that they had written to him and asked him some questions, and we know he responded to those questions, but we do not have that correspondence. What we do have is this letter written by Paul to this church.
Let me remind you of the issues. We saw in chapter 1, verse 10, that they were choosing sides. There were divisions among them. They were infighting and quarreling. In chapter 3, Paul said, "I can't even come to you as spiritual men. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food. You're not able to receive it yet. You're still fleshly. You're walking like mere men." Chapter 4, verse 18, he said some among them were arrogant.
Chapter 5, verse 1, he says it is actually reported that there is immorality among them — an immorality of such a kind that does not even exist among the Gentiles, that somebody is sleeping with his stepmother. He said they have sin that the whole world knows about, sin that even the Elks do not put up with. Then in chapter 6, verse 1, he said they were bringing further shame on the cause of Christ by dragging each other off to court.
He ended in verses 9, 10, and 11 of 1 Corinthians 6 with this: "Do not be deceived that neither fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminates, homosexuals, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, swindlers" — they are not going to inherit the kingdom. They are not going to heaven. And then come those great words: "and such were" — past tense — "such were some of you." But here is what you have been: you have been washed, sanctified, and justified.
Paul is writing to this church, and he is not merely chastising them for their behavior. He is calling them to repentance. He is reminding them that they are children of God. You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified. Now act like it.
All Things Are Lawful, But Not All Things Are Profitable
Verse 12: "For 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." If you have a Revised Standard Version of the Bible, you will see that first phrase — "all things are lawful for me" — placed in quotation marks. Those translators believed that Paul was actually quoting a phrase that was being tossed around and attributed to him.
We know the Apostle. We know Paul had spoken to them about grace and freedom, telling them they are not under the law but under grace and that they have great freedom. The problem they had is that they were taking freedom and turning it into license. He says, "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable" — the word literally means helpful, or to be of an advantage. He also resolves that he will not let things have mastery over him. He will not let sin draw him in and enslave him.
What Paul is dealing with here is freedom and sin. It seems we want to go to one of two extremes. We are not a people who balance well, and yet that balance — that middle ground — is so essential in our Christian walk.
Two Extremes: Legalism and License
One extreme is legalism. Do not do this, do not do this, do not do this — a very narrow, hard, and restrictive approach that says unless Scripture explicitly permits something, you simply do not do it. I will tell you, I do not see much of that anymore. I imagine there are pockets of it, but it is not widespread.
The other extreme is antinomianism — the position that says we are not under the law, we are under grace, so we can just do whatever we want. C.S. Lewis offers this insight: Satan always sends errors into the world in pairs, which are opposites. His great hope is that you will get so upset about one of these errors that you will fall off the fence into the other one, and either way he has got you.
You see this all the time. People who have been raised in a legalistic, hard background come to Christ, understand freedom, and it becomes a celebration of doing whatever they please. Or perhaps they were simply raised in a restrictive home environment, and once they get away to school or out on their own, they abandon everything. Statistics say that 90% of high school students, when they go to college and get out on their own, will leave church for some period of time, if not for good. That is a staggering number.
I will tell you the other side as well, because I see it more out of my own background. I see people like me who lived some pretty wild times, came to Christ in repentance and faith, and then went to the opposite extreme — binding everything up so tight that even trick-or-treat becomes a battle. We go to both extremes. That is simply how we tend to operate, moving back and forth, and it is a genuine struggle to get a hold of this.
You will notice that even here Paul is not going to give them a long list of rules. What he is going to say is the hardest thing of all.
All Things Are Not Profitable
Paul says, here is what he does know: not everything that is permitted is helpful, and he is determined in this — sin is not going to master him. Romans 6:14 says, "For sin shall not be master over you. You're not under the law, but you're under grace." What Paul begins to talk about here is sexual sin, and he has in mind the idea of sexual sin and the enormous expense it carries.
John MacArthur writes: "No sin that a person commits has more built-in pitfalls, problems, and destructiveness than sexual sin. It's broken more homes, shattered more marriages, caused more headaches and disease, and destroyed more lives than alcohol and drugs combined. It causes lying, stealing, cheating, killing, bitterness, hatred, slander, gossip, forgiveness. Involvement in illicit sex leads to loss of health, loss of honor and respect, loss of possessions." Statistics show that 25% of men kiss their wife goodbye when they leave the house in the morning, and 75% of men kiss their house goodbye when they leave their wife. Why would anyone walk out on a spouse, children, a family, a home? If that man were talking to one of his own kids making such a choice, he would be saying the same thing: what are you thinking?
The Argument from Appetite
In the Corinthian church, apparently, believers were saying they were free, and they were making a particular argument to support it. Paul seems to be quoting their own words: "Food is for the stomach, and the stomach is for food." Then Paul responds: God will do away with both of them. "Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and it is the Lord's body. Now God not only raised up the Lord, but He will raise us up as well."
Here is what they were saying — and perhaps you have heard arguments like this before. When I am hungry, I eat. God gave me this internal signal that when I am hungry, I am supposed to eat. Sex, they argued, is just an extension of that. God gave me these desires, didn't He? Didn't God create me? Didn't God make me a sexual creature? Didn't God give me these feelings? If God gave me these desires, He wants me to satisfy them. Taken to its extreme, the argument becomes that to refrain from sexual immorality is almost wrong.
Paul's answer is that this reasoning does not hold. This is not the same as eating. Sexual sin is unique among all sins — there is something about it that defiles the body, and when the body is defiled, what is defiled is what that body was designed for: a relationship with the Lord, and to be with Him. Those physical appetites will ultimately go away. Philippians 3:20 says, "But our citizenship is in heaven, for which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus, who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with His body of glory."
The Body Belongs to the Lord
Then Paul follows the pattern seen throughout his questions to this church. He asks: "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? May it never be." He continues: "Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a harlot is one with her body? For he says, 'The two will become one flesh.'" And then verse 17: "But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him."
Paul is not saying that sexual immorality is the worst sin. He is saying there is something different and unique about it. When a person sins in the area of sexual immorality, they bring with them all that they are. It is not merely physical — the emotions are involved, the psyche is involved. Paul said we were designed not for immorality, but for immortality. We were not designed to satisfy each of these pleasures in a sinful way. We were designed to live with the Lord. There is something unique and special about that design.
Flee — Do Not Fight
So here is what Paul says: "Flee immorality. Every other sin a man commits is outside his body, but the immoral man sins against his own body." Those first two words of verse 18 are the key words: flee immorality. Paul does not say to mess around with it. He does not say to overcome it. He does not say to stand firm against it. He says do not fight with it — just get out of there.
In life there will be all sorts of temptation, but especially in the area of sexual temptation, the instruction is to get away from it. Do not kid yourself. Do not think you are strong enough to automatically overcome it. Run away. Flee. Take off.
When James talks about temptation, he says: "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God,' for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone." This comes right after James spoke about trials — "Count it all joy when you encounter various trials" — so these difficulties come, and the Corinthians were failing to navigate them rightly.
Blaming God for Temptation
These tests had become temptation and were leading him to sin, and the natural reflex is to say, "God, somehow this is your fault." It goes all the way back to the garden. Genesis chapter 3: Adam eats, God comes and says, "Who told you you were naked? Adam, how did you get this way? Adam, why did you sin?" Remember his answer? He said it was the woman. But that was not all he said. It was "the woman you gave me."
In other words: "God, first of all, I would not have even been thinking about this if you had not brought this woman into my life. I was doing just fine on my own. No problems here. Everything was fine. You bring her in, and now my thoughts are clear." And when you think it through — who created her? God did. So when you get down to it, the conclusion is: "God, it is your fault."
But James says not to say that. God cannot be tempted, and He does not tempt anyone. What did Eve do? A variation of the same thing. God questions her and she says, "It is the serpent" — the one that you made. "God, I was hanging out here, doing my own thing, not bothering anybody. In comes this temptation, and now I have sinned. And when you really think it through, there is no other conclusion but that somehow, God, it is your fault." James says: do not blame God. God cannot be tempted, and He does not tempt anyone.
What Temptation Actually Is
Here is what temptation really is: each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. That phrase "carried away" in Greek literature is used to describe a wild animal that is lured into a trap. The appearance of something that looks good becomes the very thing that destroys — just as a trap kills the animal that enters it.
The word "enticed" carries the picture of bait. I was recently flipping through television and came across a fishing show. About every Saturday I have to admit I will stop and watch one — and I do not even fish, and I do not particularly like to eat fish. So I am watching, and it suddenly occurred to me that I had just spent five minutes on it. The question in my mind had been, "Who watches this stuff?" — and then it dawned on me: people like me.
What I find most intriguing are the infomercials for new bait, where the lure moves and looks just like the real thing. They always find a fish, and the fish hits on it, and the fisherman is standing there holding this fish — and I find myself thinking, "Oh no, don't eat that. You are in trouble." And then the fish is gone. That is exactly the picture James is drawing. That is exactly what he means. Temptation is when I am carried away and enticed. What does Paul say? Flee it. Run away from it.
Joseph: A Picture of Fleeing Temptation
Let us look at an example. Keep your finger in 1 Corinthians, because we are coming right back. But my favorite story here is Genesis chapter 39 — our friend Joseph. And when I say story, I do not mean a fable or make-believe. I mean a real occurrence.
Joseph was sold into slavery and purchased by Potiphar. Verse 3 of Genesis 39 contains a great phrase — one that would make an excellent adult elective or Sunday school class: "The master saw that the Lord was with Joseph." How did he see it? What did he see? That is a great lesson in itself. He saw that Joseph prospered, and so he put him in charge of everything. Joseph oversees all of Potiphar's household. Verse 6 tells us: "He left all that he had in Joseph's hand."
Then we read: "Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance." Sometimes as we read these stories, I am afraid we sterilize them, and I do not want you to miss that phrase. This is a red-blooded, good-looking man. In my Bible I have simply written a name next to that description — I meant Tom Selleck. He is a stud. Do not miss that detail, because it matters for understanding what this story is really about.
"It came to pass after these things that Potiphar's wife cast longing eyes on Joseph," and here is her pickup line — flowery-tongued as she is: "Sleep with me." That is good enough for most of the men I know, frankly. But Joseph refused. He said, "Look, my master has put everything there is into my hand. The only thing he has kept from me is you." Joseph had two things in mind at the moment of temptation. First: "How could I do this to Potiphar? He has given me everything there is except you." But the second and deeper motivation is right there in verse 9: "How then could I do this wickedness and sin against God?"
The Ultimate Motivation Against Sin
That becomes the thing we must ultimately understand. In the passage we are returning to in 1 Corinthians, he is going to say, "Do you not know you were bought at a price? You are not your own." I meet people throughout the valley who come to East Valley Bible Church once a year — on Good Friday. They are in great churches, but they love our Good Friday service. They tell me that whatever happens on Good Friday, for whatever reason, takes their understanding of His death for them to a different depth. It not only reminds them — it deepens their understanding of what He went through for them.
That is what Joseph is saying. This is what is helpful in the midst of temptation: "How could I do this thing?" For those of you who are students — and we have many here at the eleven o'clock service — some of your motivation is, "How can I do this and let my parents down?" That is a good thing. When my girls were younger and we were raising them, I would continually say to them, "Listen, I want you to understand something. First of all, you are not going to do anything that I have not tried, and you are not going to do anything..."
Fleeing Temptation: Lessons from Joseph
Notice what Joseph did not do when she caught him by the garment and said, "Lie with me." He did not stop and pray. He did not say, "Give me strength." He left his garment in her hand, fled, and ran outside. He could tell this moment was different, more serious, and he got out. We spend time on this because for all of us, temptation is a real thing.
As Chuck Swindoll talks about this idea of temptation, he identifies four things to watch out for. First, don't be weakened by your situation. Joseph had been in real trouble and had now come to a position of strength, security, and prosperity. Don't think that because you have scripture memorized, you're teaching a Sunday school class, singing in the choir, or playing an instrument, you're safe from temptation.
The Deception of Persuasion
Second, don't be deceived by persuasion. When temptation comes, it almost always arrives with some form of rationalization. "Come on, nobody's ever going to know — just the two of us. I won't tell if you won't tell." Or: "Let's just do this one time. I'm lonely. God brought you into my life. He must have brought you in for this."
Especially for those who are married, watch out for the rationalization that your spouse doesn't meet all your needs. No human being can meet all your needs. The pattern is familiar: someone pays you a compliment, asks if you have a second to talk, and then says, "I can't talk to the guys like this — they make fun of me when I'm honest, and even my wife doesn't really understand, but you really understand." And the troubling thing is, that works. It is obvious and blatant, but people want it to work.
This leads to a basic, fundamental principle worth stating plainly. If you are a man, your best friend cannot be a woman unless she is your wife. If you are a woman, your best friend cannot be a man unless he is your husband. There are exceptions, and no doubt some feel they are the exception, but generally speaking, when a male-female bond forms at that emotional depth — when hearts are linked together and the transparency is that real — you are playing with fire. That is why office romances are so common.
Emotions, Feelings, and Immediate Results
Third, be gentle with your emotions. Do not give in simply because the feelings are strong. Do not surrender to the thought that God gave you these feelings, so it cannot be wrong if it feels so right. Feelings, however powerful, are not a reliable moral compass.
Fourth, don't be confused about immediate results. A phrase that accurately describes the Christian life is this: pursue delayed gratification. The call is to flee sexual immorality. Paul makes clear that every other sin a man commits is outside his body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. It is not necessarily saying these sins are worse than others, but that they are different — they consume the whole person: body, soul, and psyche.
Your Body Is a Temple
Here is the foundation for why this matters so much. "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you?" God no longer dwells in sacred buildings or tents — He dwells in you. Second Corinthians 6:16 states it plainly: "We are the temple of the living God." John 7:39 speaks of the Holy Spirit who is in you. Acts 1:8 tells us that those who believe received power when the Holy Spirit came upon them. Romans 8:9 declares that the Spirit of God dwells in you.
And so Paul says this: "You have been bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body." When the question comes — what do I do when temptation arrives? — here is the answer. Remember that you were bought with a price. Remember that if you are a Christian, Christ died for you.
The Motivation to Flee Sin
Paul says that the fact that Christ went to the cross so that you would have eternal life ought to be motivation enough to flee and run away from this sin. That truth should never be forgotten.
James the Bond Slave
We are studying James, and the first four words — "James, a bond servant" — really mean a bond slave. A bond slave is one who was purchased by another in an irreversible transaction and marked somehow on his body with the marks of ownership of the new owner. That is how James identified himself, and that little idea right there shows us what a humble man James truly is.
James was a half-brother of Jesus. Scripture names four brothers that Jesus had, and sisters, plural, so there are at least seven children in that family. James did not believe in Jesus as he was growing up. When you think about it, that had to be a remarkable family dynamic — one of the kids being the Son of the living God, God come in the flesh. As a parent, you come in and two kids are fighting, and James knows every time he points at his brother, no one is going to believe it was Him.
But James does not buy into who Jesus is — not at first. Then he is converted. When Christ rises from the dead, He appears to groups, but He also appears to an individual named James. James becomes one of the pillars of the early church, alongside John and Peter, and he is the one who renders the final verdict at the first Council of Jerusalem. That leads us to believe that if there was a leading figure in the early church, it was not Peter — it was James.
James has all of this in his résumé, and yet when he writes to these people, he calls himself a bondservant. That is not what you would write under those circumstances. He was someone so free that he understood his freedom was not an excuse to sin — so free that he did not need to go and prove how free he was. He was so free that he deliberately chose to restrain himself for the sake of the gospel.
The Rule of Thumb: Glorify God
Paul gives a rule of thumb as we try to think this through, and it becomes the driving force of chapters 8, 9, and 10: glorify God in your body, in all that you do. In its simplest form, when we are talking about outright sin, this is in a sense a no-brainer — we know that is wrong. But what about those areas where we have great freedom? The rule of thumb is: does this bring glory to God? Glorify Him.
God's Design for Sexuality
God understands how we are wired, and He understands that we are sexual creatures. It is clear from what we instinctively know, and from what we read in Scripture, that sexual immorality is wrong. But there has to be an outlet for this sexuality — where do we find the fulfillment of it? If God put that desire in us, and He did, how are we to deal with it?
His solution is marriage. Next week, in 1 Corinthians chapter 7, Paul says, "Let me talk to you a bit about God's plan for dealing with this sexual drive that you have." We will look at that next week.
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Father, thank You. Thank You for Your Son, Jesus, for His life and His death. I pray that we are reminded that we were bought at a price, God. Keep us humble. I pray especially for Tim tonight, as he has the privilege of speaking at Mesquite, that You give him words that are Yours and that the power of the Spirit is there. We pray — we know so many of them, maybe most of them there, will not be Christians, yet they think they are. Maybe somehow You would use him and his availability to Your honor and glory, and maybe even move to save some of those students and the teachers and the parents. That is what we hope, God. But it is good to know we can rest, knowing You are in control. God, in a world that is filled with temptation for us, give us the strength and the courage to run. We ask it in Jesus' name, amen.
Have a great week. God bless you.