1 Corinthians 6:12

Some of you may say, “God allows us to do anything that he does not forbid.” But I would reply, “ That is true, but not everything that God permits us to do helps us.” Yes, as some of you say, God permits us to do anything that he does not forbid. But as for me, I will not let anything make me its slave; that is, I will not do anything that will gain control over me in such a way that I will not be able to stop doing it.

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

In Context

11Some of you previously did things like that. But God has freed/cleansed you [MET] from your sinful behavior. He has set you apart for himself. He has erased the record of your sins because you trusted [MTY] in the Lord Jesus Christ and because of what the Spirit of our God has done for you.

13Some of you may also say, “Food is just for us to put in the stomach, and the stomach is just for us to put food in. And since God will do away with food and stomachs when he gives us our new bodies, what we do with our bodies sexually does not affect us any more than eating food does.” But what you have concluded is wrong, because the Lord does not want us to use our bodies to do sexually immoral things. Instead, the Lord wants us to use our bodies in ways that please him. Also, the Lord wants us to do what is good for our bodies.

Read all of 1 Corinthians 6

Cross References

Romans 7:14We know that the laws that God gave Moses came from God’s Spirit. But as for me, I am influenced by my self-directed nature. It is as though I have been forced to become a slave of my desire to sin [MET].

1 Corinthians 8:4So I will tell you about eating meat that people have sacrificed to idols. We know that it is true, as you say, that idols are not really alive. We also know that there is only one real God.

1 Corinthians 9:12Since other people who preached to you had that right, certainly Barnabas and I have the same right. [RHQ] However, neither of us insisted that you give us the things that we have a right to receive from you. Instead, we were willing to endure anything in order that we not hinder anyone from believing the message about Christ.

1 Corinthians 10:23Some people say, “ God permits believers to do anything.” But I say that not everything that people do benefits those who do it! Yes, some people say, “God permits believers to do all things.” But not everything that people do helps them to become spiritually mature.

Hebrews 12:15Beware that none of you stops trusting in God, who has done kind things for us that we did not deserve (OR, Beware that you have never experienced God kindly saving you). Be on guard lest any of you act in an evil way towards others, because your doing that will grow like [MET] a root grows into a big plant, and the result of your doing that will be that many believers will sin and become unacceptable to God.

Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 6:10-12

Solemn Warnings. ( a. d. 57.) 9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. Here he takes occasion to… Read the whole commentary →

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