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1 Corinthians 6:12-20; 10:23-11:1
Anything Goes
Sisters and brothers in Christ,[Illustration: Show the Video]I was really upset to hear about this ad. Everything that I’velearned about the Christian faith – about living lives of integrity – about a gospel that transforms identity – about a Saviour that diedand rose so that sins could be forgiven – was being challenged.What upset me, though, was not the challenge so much…I’ve beenin enough secular circles to hear all of this…what upset me waswhere the challenge comes from. While some of us have our doubts about the United Church they are supposed to be our  brothers and sisters in Christ.As I reflect on this ad the questions that I have are these: Am I justified in being upset? Are we right? Are we too close minded?Didn’t Christ set us free from sin? Shouldn’t we be able to eat,drink and be merry? Can’t we all just get along?This morning as we study Paul we notice that he is dealing withthese very same questions and issues almost 2,000 years ago. Whatis Christian freedom? Can we really do anything that we want?What does freedom imply for our daily lives?To find the answers as we study Paul, we are going to look at four E’s beginning with…
I. The EXPRESSION: Everything is permissible…
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Paul repeats this four times in the verses we have read thismorning. The Greek literally reads – for me all things are possible.Eugene Peterson expresses it like this – all things are “technicallylegal”, or “anything goes”. In the language of young adults thesedays we might here that “It’s all good.”Our English Bibles put these words in quotations. Now in theGreek text there are no quotation marks and so this is aninterpretation on the part of the translators but I think that it’s a fair one. The idea that they are trying to convey is that this phrase issomething from outside that Paul is bringing in.Maybe it’s a common expression from the time or perhaps it issomething in particular that he has heard in the reports and lettershe has received from the Corinthian church. There is no way toknow for sure…but what we can know is that Paul has used this phrase to express an attitude or a belief that exists in the Corinthiancommunity.Paul is dealing with a church that has taken hold of the message of Christian freedom. They have heard that Jesus Christ died and roseto set them free from sin and from death. More than just beingsaved by sin they would shout Paul’s words – We are more thanconquerors. Not only is the problem of sin taken care of – sin is not a problemfor us. Because we are free we don’t have to worry about sin anymore. And even if we do sin that’s OK because God is forgivingand Jesus has taken care of the mistakes that we make. Now when we boil this attitude down we can understand theexpression “All things are permissible for me…” to mean this…
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When I am faced with decisions in life, all possible courses of action are available to me – both what is good and what was previously sinful – because I am free in Christ.
 Now when Paul uses this
expression
he makes it perfectly clear that this is not the correct orientation for Christian life.
6:12
“Everything is permissible for me”—but noteverything is beneficial. “Everything is permissiblefor me”—but I will not be mastered by anything.
again he repeats in chapter 10…
10:23
“Everything is permissible”—but not everything isbeneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but noteverything is constructive.
But why not…if we are free from slavery to sin…if we are nolonger held in its power then why aren’t all things possible…whyisn’t everything permissible…In order to demonstrate why not – Paul uses – and this is our second E – 
II. Two EXAMPLES from life…
As we read through Paul we see that he is dealing with two major  problems in the Corinthian church. We find out that this is morethan just a problem of opinion in the church but is instead a problem of practice. Not only are they boasting about this kind of freedom – they are acting on it. The first is the example of sexualfreedom in the church and the second is a controversy surroundingfood which is sacrificed to idols.
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