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Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional
June 26
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Today's Pathway:
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In today's passage Paul returns to the topic of sexual sins. Some background on the city of Corinth is appropriate here. Glenn Spencer's research on this covers the topic far better than I could. He wrote,
"Corinth was a wicked city full of luxury and vice. Prostitutes were available in large numbers and all types of sex perversion was openly practiced there. This immorality was promoted by pagan religions and practices. Corinth was the center for worship of the goddess Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, whose worship practices were immoral and wicked. The temple of Aphrodite was serviced by a thousand temple prostitutes where men could come and satisfy their lustful desires in the name of religion."
Unfortunately,these wicked activities had found their way into the church. It might have been because when people got saved they brought some of the religious baggage of their previous pagan worship with them. Others may have become part of the church and not have been saved at all. Whatever way it got in there, it had become a real problem G. Campbell Morgan made this comment:
"The whole trouble can be summarized by saying that the spirit of the city had infected the church. That is always a peril. The church’s business is not to catch the spirit of the age, but to correct it."
This is a warning that many churches today should heed. Attempting to win the world by emulating the world may draw a crowd, but it will never bring people into a right relationship with God.
"All things are lawful" was apparently an expression used by the Corinthian church members to justify their sinful behavior. It is absolutely true that the child of God has liberty, and Paul spends time in several epistles discussing this. Liberty has several applications in the New Testament. Liberty for the Christian means that he has been freed from both the penalty and the power of sin by faith in Jesus Christ. It also means that he has been freed from the Mosaic legal system. Finally, Christian liberty means that Christians are free to make choices concerning activities that are not expressly forbidden in the Bible. As we discussed in Romans chapters 14-15, there are situations about which the Bible is silent. In those areas believers have the liberty to decide whether or not they will do one thing or another. However, several things should be noted about liberty. First, and most obviously, no Christian has the liberty to violate the clear teaching of Scripture. The Corinthians were treating their liberty in Christ as a license to sin. This thinking is wrong, for our liberty stops at the door of the Word of God.
Two more limitations to liberty are given in verse 12. First, there may be things that the believer could do, but he shouldn't because they are not "expedient". This word means, "beneficial, profitable and advantageous". Just because something is permitted doesn't mean that it will be beneficial to the Christian. Anything that does not help to make us more like Christ and move us forward in His service should be off limits. The real issue then is not: is it lawful, but rather, is it expedient? Hebrews 12:1 tells us to,
"lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us."
Weights are not necessarily sins, but if they aren't helping us they should be discarded. Second, Paul writes that our liberty is limited because we do not want to become servants to anything or anyone besides the Lord. Some people are enslaved to food, or sports, or their business, or money, or something else that is not sinful in and of itself, but has brought them into bondage. Their love for that item or that activity has superseded their love for God, and they wind up choosing to serve their "interests" rather than serve their Savior. No Christian has the liberty to live this way, either.
Galatians 5:13 states,
"For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another."
How are you using your liberty in Christ?
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
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