Lessons #179 and 180
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Avoidance of Sexual immorality (1 Cor 6:12-20)
12 “Everything is permissible for me”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me”—but I will not be mastered by anything. 13 “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. 14 By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. 15 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! 16 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.” 17 But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.
18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. 19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
This section of 1 Corinthians may seem to be an abrupt change in topic from what was discussed in the previous section that concerned settlement of disputes between believers in a local church, especially since there is no connective between it and the preceding section. Thus, causing some to assert that it is not certain how this section is related to what immediately precedes it. Furthermore, verse 11 of 1 Corinthians 6 provided one of the two reasons believers should not wrong each other because they have been forgiven of their sins, sanctified, and justified. Hence, it seems that the apostle would have used a connective to show that what he writes next is related to what he has written in the previous section so that it does not appear that he abruptly introduced the concept of sexual immorality that is the concern of our present section. For sure, the apostle in providing the first reason believers should not wrong each other, which is, that those who would not inherit the kingdom of God, that is, not experience the rule of God and its resultant blessing of eternal life, are those who are characterized by certain sins that are predominantly concerned with sexual immorality, as stated in 1 Corinthians 6:9–10:
9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
This being the case, one could argue that the apostle in the section we are about to consider picked back the subject of sexual immorality he mentioned in verse 9. This would be odd since he listed other sins, so why would he single out sexual immorality? This notwithstanding, the apostle’s dealing with sexual immorality in the section we are about to consider is not really an abrupt change in topic as such. This is because the apostle introduced the subject of sexual immorality in the fifth chapter. As he ended the fifth chapter, he instructed the Corinthians to remove the sexually immoral person from their midst giving his reason that the church has the function of judging fellow believers and not unbelievers in such a matter as he explained in 1 Corinthians 5:12–13:
12 What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.”
On stating that the Corinthians should judge the sexual immoral person, he digressed from the topic at hand, which is sexual immorality, to deal with matter of believers taking fellow believers to the courts operated by unbelievers that was reported to him. It is not difficult to understand that the apostle digressed to deal with the subject of believers taking others to court because he has already mentioned the matter of judging so that in effect, the apostle would be saying, something like “by the way, since I have mentioned the matter of believers not having the function of judging unbelievers, let me address the matter I heard about believers taking each other to court.” Subsequently, as the apostle ended his treatment of the subject of believers taking other believers to court, he returned to the original problem of sexual immorality he introduced in the fifth chapter. So, the passage we are about to consider is not after all abruptly introduced. The apostle simply returned to his concern of sexual immorality that he started to deal in the fifth chapter.
Sexual immorality, as we indicated previously, when we began its consideration in the fifth chapter, is a prevalent sin in any culture especially among the Gentiles. It is for this reason that when the church rendered its decision to Gentile churches regarding their relationship to the Mosaic Law, sexual immorality was stated as one sin that should be avoided, as we read in Acts 15:29:
You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.
Apostle Paul also stated that sexual immorality was prevalent in Corinth in 1 Corinthians 7:2:
But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.
The prevalence of sexual immorality in Corinth is similar to what we have today in this country and many other countries so that it is necessary for the apostle to return to the subject to give it a fuller treatment. You see, the ethics expected of those who have been justified is that there should not be any sexual immorality among them, as stated in Ephesians 5:3:
But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.
Those who are sanctified are expected to avoid sexual immorality as that is in keeping with living experientially in a sanctified state, as implied in 1 Thessalonians 4:3:
It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality;
God does not tolerate sexual immorality among believers even though we are not to practice stoning to death of anyone for it, as God required of Israel; but that does not mean that God would tolerate it. As we have already considered, believers are to expel from their local congregations those known to be involved in it without repentance. Even if a local church does not know about sexual immorality among its membership, we can be sure that God will deal with such individuals in His own way and time. We know this because of what the Lord said about the woman described as Jezebel in the local church in Thyatira, as recorded in Revelation 2:21–22:
21 I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. 22 So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways.
The point we want to emphasize is that God does not tolerate sexual immorality among its holy people, the church. Therefore, it was important for the apostle to return to the subject of sexual immorality to deal with it in a more detailed fashion than the instruction that he gave about expelling from the local church in Corinth the sexually immoral individual.
It is a more detailed treatment of the subject of sexual immorality that is the concern of the passage we are about to study, that is, 1 Corinthians 6:12-20. The apostle’s treatment of the subject of sexual immorality in our passage may be summarized with a simple message that captures the details of the treatment of the subject. This message is Avoidance of sexual immorality requires a determination not to be controlled by anything of this life and understanding the body’s function, fate, and its various relationship to sex and God. The Holy Spirit through the apostle conveyed that it is not enough to simply tell us not to be involved in sexual immorality but that we understand how to avoid it and the reason to do so. It is often beneficial that we understand the reason for any instruction to help us obey them. This does not mean that we will always obey an instruction because we know the reason for it, but such approach puts us in a position where we have no excuses for not being obedient to God’s word. In any event, there are two major propositions that will help us to understand what the apostle wrote in the passage we are to consider. I will state them first and then we will proceed to examine them. A first proposition is that avoidance of sexual immorality involves determination not to be controlled by anything in this life. A second is that avoidance of sexual immorality involves understanding facts about the body as it relates to sex and God. We will begin with the first proposition.
Again, the first proposition is that avoidance of sexual immorality involves determination not to be controlled by anything in this life. Before we get to the basis for this proposition, we should note that Apostle Paul under the ministry of the Holy Spirit asserts his freedom to do things that are not sinful as in the first sentence of 1 Corinthians 6:12 Everything is permissible for me. A literal translation is all things are lawful for me. There are two problems associated with this sentence that appears twice in the verse. A first problem is whether this is a quotation or a statement. A minority of commentators take the position that it is a statement of the apostle as reflected in the translation of the Authorized Version and the NASB. However, majority of the commentators take the sentence as a quotation so that majority of our English versions put a quotation mark on the sentence as we find in the NIV. Even then, there is no agreement among the majority commentators as to whom the apostle was quoting. Some say that the apostle was quoting from what he himself taught the Corinthians because of the phrase for me that can be translated “to me” while others say that he was quoting an argument, or a slogan used by the Corinthians. This interpretation is indicated clearly in the translation of Today’s New International Version (TNIV) that reads “I have the right to do anything,” you say. This aside, it is difficult to be certain whether the apostle quoted what he taught previously, or a slogan used by the Corinthians to justify their attitude towards sex. Nonetheless, it is not necessary to be certain about the source of the quotation since the point of the quotation is simply to indicate an abuse of what is true for the believer who enjoys freedom in Christ. You see, the apostle had taught freedom that believers enjoy in Christ in Galatians 5:1:
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Of course, he warned the Galatians, and so all believers, regarding the abuse of the freedom in Christ, as we read in Galatians 5:13:
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.
Anyway, of the two interpretations regarding the sentence Everything is permissible for me I agree with those who interpret it as a quotation that is more likely a slogan used by the Corinthians to justify their view of sexual relationship as they misapplied what the apostle taught about the freedom in Christ. This is because although there is no Greek indicator of a quotation but the use of the contrasting conjunction “but” twice in 1 Corinthians 6:12 seems to imply that the apostle was countering a quotation or a slogan that is a misunderstanding of what he taught regarding the freedom believers enjoy in Christ.
A second problem of the sentence Everything is permissible for me or literally all things are lawful for me is with the word “everything” or “all” that implies an absolute sense in which every and anything is permissible or lawful whether the apostle quotes a slogan used by the Corinthians or an application of what he taught. The problem is similar to the general statement of many Christians when they say that God is omnipotent by which they mean God can do anything. This kind of understanding is supported from the Scripture. For example, Job asserted in Job 42:1–2:
1 Then Job replied to the LORD: 2 “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.
Similar assertion is supported by what the Lord Jesus stated in Matthew 19:26:
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
To use these two passages to define God’s omnipotence to mean that God can do anything causes a difficult problem considering God’s attributes. Let us consider some of the examples that scholars have identified to show the difficulty of such understanding. If God can do anything, then He, in theory, could create a creature that is uncontrollable by Him. This, of course, would contradict His attribute of sovereignty. Take another example, if God can do anything then He would, in theory, be capable of sin, such as lying but that is contrary to His moral perfection such as not being able to lie, as stated in Titus 1:2:
a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time,
Thus, it is not quite accurate to say that omnipotence of God means that He can do anything. Rather, when we say that God is omnipotent, we mean that God can do anything He wills in accordance with His nature. So, we must admit that it is not everything in absolute sense that God can do. He can only do things that conform to His nature and His holy will. If we put this kind of limitation in the declaration that God can do all things, then it should be clear that when Apostle Paul quoted the sentence Everything is permissible for me or literally all things are lawful for me he could not have meant in an absolute sense. This we can demonstrated from two words used in the Greek sentence.
A first word the apostle used that indicates he could not have been thinking in absolute sense is the word “everything” or “all things” in the literal translation. The literal phrase all things is translated from a Greek word (pas) that means “all, every, each, whole” but in the Greek form used in our passage it means “all things, everything.” I have treated this word extensively in our study of 1 Corinthians 2:15 but because it has been a while since we studied that passage, I will review what I said there as it is relevant to the passage we are considering.
Quite often when we encounter the word “all” or “everything” we think in terms of absolute totality probably because we think a word has an inherit meaning instead of recognizing that it is the context that determines the meaning of a word. This misunderstanding, of course, creates problem for many in accepting specific teachings of the Scripture. For example, some people reject the doctrine of election because they say God is not willing for anyone to perish but wants everyone to come to repentance so they quote 2 Peter 3:9:
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
The problem with using this passage to deny election is at least twofold. The first is with the word anyone translated from the plural of a Greek word (tis) that means “anyone, anything, someone; something, many a one or thing, any, some.” In the Greek text, it is in the plural, so it is best to translate it “some” or “certain ones.” This interpretation is supported by the fact the translators of NIV translated the same plural Greek pronoun “some” in the clause as some understand slowness and so one wonders why they did not translate it “some” the second time the word appears. This interpretation of the Greek word used that means “some” or “certain ones,” immediately reveals that those that will not perish are not humanity in general but “certain ones” or “some.” The second problem is with the word everyone that is translated from the same Greek word that we said means “all, every, each, whole.” The context suggests that it should be translated “all” and not “everyone.” If this translation is followed, then it is easier to understand that “all” refers to the “some” or “certain ones” that God is not willing for them to perish but to repent. These certain ones are the elect whom Apostle Peter mentioned in the beginning of his first epistle. They are those God is not willing to perish but to be saved; for all the elects will be saved as implied in the reason Apostle Paul gave for his laboring to preach the gospel in 2 Timothy 2:10:
Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
The point we want to establish is that the Greek word translated “all” in the literal phrase of 1 Corinthians 6:12 all things are lawful for me or in the words of the NIV Everything is permissible for me should not always be taken in an absolute sense but that it is the context that enables its interpretation. Let me illustrate from several passages in the Scripture. The Lord Jesus declared all things were committed to Him by the Father in Matthew 11:27:
“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
The phrase all things could refer to authority and power or to knowledge and teaching. Our Greek word is used in reporting Jesus’ Parable of Unmerciful Servant in Matthew 18:26:
“The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’
The word everything may also be translated “all things” that here refers to total debt owed by the speaker. Luke at the beginning of his gospel account used our word in Luke 1:3:
Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,
The word everything may be translated all things that in the context refers to every available information or facts regarding the person and ministry of Jesus Christ. Apostle John used our Greek word in John 1:3:
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
The phrase all things here refers to totality of creation. Apostle Paul used the Greek word in Galatians 4:1:
What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate.
The sentence he owns the whole estate is literally he is master of all things. In the context of Galatians 4, the phrase all things refers to everything that a man owns, hence the translators of the NIV gave a good interpretative translation using the phrase whole estate. The apostle used our Greek word in his epistle to Titus in Titus 1:15:
To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.
The phrase all things here is a reference to food. This interpretation is supported by what the apostle stated in Romans 14:20:
Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble.
The sentence All food is clean is more literally all things, indeed, are pure. The Greek phrase so rendered is similar to that used in Titus 1:15, the only difference is the word “indeed” that is inserted between the two Greek words translated “all things” and “pure.” Thus, for all practical purposes, the Greek phrase in both passages is the same. It is true that the word “food” does not appear in Romans 14:20 but the context supports the insertion of the word “food” as found in the NIV since the last phrase of the first sentence of verse 20 is for the sake of food. Furthermore, the preceding context of verse 20 indicates the apostle had in mind the question of clean or unclean food, as he stated in Romans 14:14:
As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean.
The context of Romans 14:20 is concerned with the ceremonial aspect of the Mosaic law which is similar to the context of Titus 1:15. Consequently, since the same Greek phrase is used in both Titus 1:15 and Romans 14:20, we are correct in our interpretation that the phrase all things in Titus 1:15 refers to food.
The examples we have cited should convince you that the phrase all things should not always be taken in absolute sense without reference to the context. Hence, although the apostle quotes the Corinthians who misapplied what is given in the sentence we are considering, he wanted them, at least, to recognize the limitation of the meaning of the Greek word he used in the quotation as not meaning any and everything but limited in application as we will note later.
The second key expression the apostle used in the sentence Everything is permissible for me is the verbal phrase “is permissible.” This is translated from a Greek word (exesti) that may mean “to be authorized for the doing of something” so has several nuances. The word may mean “it is right, is proper” as it is used in the question of the Jewish authorities that wanted to trap Jesus regarding payment of taxes to Roman government, as in Mark 12:14:
They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?
When the context suggests that there is a reference to the Mosaic Law then the meaning is “to be lawful” as it is used primarily in the gospel. For example, it is with the meaning “to be lawful” that the word is used to describe Jesus’ question to the Pharisees and experts in law before He healed a man with dropsy (a condition that involves swollen limbs resulting from the accumulation of fluid in the body’s tissues, especially the legs) as reported in Luke 14:3:
Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?”
When the context suggests that it is Roman law, the word may mean “to be legal” as that is the way the word is used to report Paul’s question to the Roman army commander when he ordered him to be flogged, as narrated in Acts 22:25:
As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?”
The word may mean “is permitted, permissible” as that is the meaning in which Apostle Paul speaking of himself in third person indicated he was not permitted or authorized to write down what he heard when he was taken to third heaven or paradise, according to 2 Corinthians 12:4:
was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell.
The word may mean “to be within the range of possibility” hence means “it is possible” as the word is used to describe what Apostle Peter said during his sermon on the day of Pentecost, as recorded in Acts 2:29:
“Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day.
The sentence I can tell you confidently is more literally it is possible to speak with confidence as reflected in the Lexham English Bible. In our context of 1 Corinthians 6:12, the sense of the word is “to be permissible,” that is, “to be allowed, especially according to rule or custom.”
The key word and key expression we have considered allow us to recognize that when the apostle wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:12 Everything is permissible for me he meant that those he quoted should recognize that to be free to do anything is limited to what conforms to God’s word not everything, even if it is approved by the society at large. You see, the society often does not approve things that are in keeping with God’s word. Therefore, we contend that the apostle was thinking strictly on the things that conform to God’s word as what those he quoted are free to do. He could not possibly mean anything that is sinful, especially, as he had taught that believers have been set free from sin, as we read in Romans 6:22:
But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.
The point is that the apostle never intended to convey that a believer is free to do anything even if it is sinful.
It is not only that the apostle did not mean to convey that the Corinthians are only free to do anything that is in accordance with the word of God, but he also conveyed that not even everything that they are free to do would be of immense benefit to others. Of course, he probably was thinking of himself as an example of what he stated in the next sentence of 1 Corinthians 6:12 but not everything is beneficial.
The expression “is beneficial” is translated from a Greek word (sympherō) that may mean “to bring together especially into a heap as it is used to describe those who in Ephesus were involved in magical arts but upon conversion gathered together their magical books into a heap to be burned, as narrated in Acts 19:19:
A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.
The Greek word may mean “to be advantageous” with several meanings. It may mean “to be good, confer a benefit” as it is used to record the Lord Jesus’ statement to His disciples to indicate His leaving the world would be beneficial to them, as in John 16:7:
But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
The word may mean “to be profitable or helpful or useful” as in Apostle Paul’s declaration to the Ephesians in Acts 20:20:
You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house.
The word may mean “to be gained” as Apostle Paul used it in describing the fact that although there is nothing for him to gain by boasting about God’s dealings with him; nevertheless, he did so, as we read in 2 Corinthians 12:1:
I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 6:12, the word means “to be advantageous” in the sense of being useful or helpful.
In any case, the apostle intended to convey to us that we should be careful in what we do even when sin is not involved. In effect, we should be thoughtful of what we do by recognizing that not everything that we do or have the right to do that is not sinful would be useful or helpful to us or to others. The apostle did not immediately give examples of the things that are lawful or permissible for him to do but in this present epistle and his epistle to the Romans we have examples of such things. A first example of what is lawful that may not be useful or helpful to others is the matter of food and drink. The apostle taught Gentile believers that any food is clean for consumption as we read, for example, in the passage we cited previously, that is, Romans 14:14:
As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean.
However, there are some Christians who out of ignorance of this truth would not eat certain meat, for example. This also applies to matter of drinks. There is nothing sinful about drinking wine or any alcoholic beverage but there are some Christians who because of their ignorance or misguided teaching, believe that it is wrong to drink any alcoholic beverage. In order to accommodate these believers then although it is permissible to drink or eat every meat one decides, it may become necessary not to eat or drink any alcoholic beverage in the presence of such individuals since such action would not be beneficial to ignorant believers. It is this kind of thing the apostle intended to convey that although permissible would not be helpful to do in Romans 14:19–21:
19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.
Another illustration of something that is lawful but may not be useful or helpful is marriage. There are certain situations being married may not be helpful or useful. The apostle gave a general example of this in his advice to the unmarried not to marry because of difficult situation that some in Corinth were facing, as we read in 1 Corinthians 7:26–29:
26 Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for you to remain as you are. 27 Are you married? Do not seek a divorce. Are you unmarried? Do not look for a wife. 28 But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this. 29 What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none;
There is nothing wrong with being married. In fact, it is God’s will for believers to marry but marriage may not be useful or helpful under certain conditions of life, such as in economic depression or in a specialized ministry. It is the specialized ministry of Apostle Paul that in part was the reason he was single. His question to the Corinthians indicated he had the right to marry but he did not use that right, as we read in 1 Corinthians 9:5:
Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas?
It is true the apostle did not say here the reason he was not married but his writing gives us a good indication of his reason. He recognized that he was in an unusual ministry that being married would hinder his effectiveness and would cause unusual hardship for a wife. We say this because he had explained that marriage could cause a person not to be devoted to the Lord as the person would when single, as we read in 1 Corinthians 7:32–34:
32 I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs—how he can please the Lord. 33 But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife— 34 and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can please her husband.
Thus, while it is lawful to be married but in certain situation being married would not be helpful.
Another illustration of something that is lawful but may not be useful or helpful the apostle applied to himself is the right of support during his ministry in certain situations. It is this he referenced in 1 Corinthians 9:12:
If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.
The apostle implied that it would not have been useful for him to receive support from the Corinthians since his intention was to preach the gospel free of charge to them as he stated later in 1 Corinthians 9:15–18:
15 But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me. I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of this boast. 16 Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. 18 What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make use of my rights in preaching it.
He did the same with the Thessalonians for a different reason which is to be a model of hard work to them, as we read in 2 Thessalonians 3:9:
We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow.
To be clear, the apostle did not refuse all supports since he received support from other local churches. This he stated in 2 Corinthians 11:8–9:
8 I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so as to serve you. 9 And when I was with you and needed something, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed. I have kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will continue to do so.
The point is that the apostle knew when it was useful to receive support from other local churches but not from the Corinthians. Anyway, having made his point that freedom to do what is not sinful may not always be useful, leads to the main assertion of the apostle in 1 Corinthians 6:12.
The main assertion of the apostle is that although he has the freedom to do anything that is not sinful, but he has learned not to allow anything thing to control him or dominate him. It is this fact that he stated in the last sentence of 1 Corinthians 6:12 but I will not be mastered by anything.
The word “mastered” is translated from a Greek word (exousiazō) that in classical Greek means “to possess power or authority and to exercise it.” In the Septuagint, the word is used with two meanings. It is used with the meaning of “to exercise authority over someone” as it is used to describe the officials in time of Nehemiah in Nehemiah 5:15:
But the earlier governors—those preceding me—placed a heavy burden on the people and took forty shekels of silver from them in addition to food and wine. Their assistants also lorded it over the people. But out of reverence for God I did not act like that.
The sentence Their assistants also lorded it over the people reads in the Septuagint And their outcasts exercise authority over the people. Another meaning used in the Septuagint is “to give power to do something” as it is used to describe one of the incomprehensible things to Solomon of God not giving power of enjoyment of material blessing bestowed on someone, as stated in Ecclesiastes 6:2:
God gives a man wealth, possessions and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires, but God does not enable him to enjoy them, and a stranger enjoys them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil.
The clause but God does not enable him to enjoy them reads in the Septuagint and God shall not give him authority to consume any of it. In the NT, the word also has two meanings. It means “to have the right of control,” that is, “to exercise authority over someone or something” as it is used in reporting Jesus’ assertion about pagan rulers exercising authority over their subjects, as recorded in Luke 22:25:
Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors.
Another meaning is “the right or power to do something as one sees fit” probably with the sense of “to have leave, to be permitted” as the word is used in 1 Corinthians 7:4:
The wife’s body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband’s body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife.
The translators of the NIV are quite interpretative since the sentence The wife’s body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband is literally The wife does not have authority over her own body, but her husband does. It is probably in the sense of the possibility of exercising authority that the word is used in 1 Corinthians 7:4. Anyway, the word is used in our passage of 1 Corinthians 6:12 in the sense of “to be controlled,” that is, “to be controlled or subject to the power, authority, or influence of another.”
Be that as it may, the apostle stated he learned not to be controlled by anything. He gave example of exercising control over his body in order to ensure he operates in keeping with the word of God as he implied in 1 Corinthians 9:27:
No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
What does the fact the apostle have learned not to be controlled by anything have to do with sexual immorality, you may ask? In stating that he does not allow anything to control him, the apostle intends to convey that if a person learns not to be controlled by even that which is not sinful then the person would know how to control himself so as not to be involved in sexual immorality. Anyway, it is important we recognize that we should strive to be those who exercise self-control knowing that although something may not be sinful, but it may not be helpful to do whatever it is that we are considering.
11/08/19