If you have read the Bible for even just a short amount of time you have likely found that there are many verses that correct specific activities or issue warnings for people not to engage in those activities. Rev. 3:18-23 is a great example of Jesus threatening judgment if there is no repentance of a specific sinful action. But then we have this verse in 1 Cor. 6:12 that can be puzzling to one who does not have a full grasp of a good biblical interpretive process. In it, Paul seems to suggest that believers have a lot of grace and have permission to do anything. Let’s look a little closer.
“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.”
If one reads this verse by itself, removed from its context, one could certainly interpret to mean that all things are lawful, or permissible, depending on the translation being used. I was teaching once about the importance of living a holy lifestyle and during a Q&A session one of the attendees quoted this passage as a way to support his position that there were little to no restrictions on their lifestyle. This is a common fallacy when reading Scripture verses out of context. It is easy to think it means something completely different from what the original author intended. To be clear, that is not what this verse means.
When we look at the writings of Paul, one consistent thing we see in his letters is that he is quick to correct behavior which is inconsistent with a Godly lifestyle. One of the ways we can interpret the letters of Paul is to look at the commonalities in his other letters. In this case, we know that Paul was never one to shy away from correcting sinful behavior, so it would be inconsistent for him to promote the idea that believers have the latitude to engage in any activity.
Some today will use this phrase, “in the essentials unity, in the non-essentials, liberty.” It is a phrase that has been around likely since the early 17th century, and it is a good one. Except with one problem, who decides what is essential? Where do we draw the line between essential and non-essential? Is salvation the only essential element of the Gospel? What about holiness? What about the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Different theological positions will determine how essential is defined and as a result, the actions that fall into the freedom category are classified differently. At times, this phrase has been used to explain away sinful behavior, and the context of this passage suggests something similar may have been happening in Corinth.
Flipping back to the beginning of 1 Cor. 5, we see Paul admonishing the Corinthian believers to remove a man from their congregation who is committing immorality. He spends most of that chapter writing about sexual immorality then pivots in chapter six to demand the end to lawsuits between believers and makes note that “wrong doers will not inherit the kingdom of God” (v.9). By the time we arrive at 6:12, Paul has already given a long list of activities Christians should not engage in. He then goes back to the topic of sexual immorality right after v.12. Clearly, he is not advocating a lifestyle where “all things are permissible.” Why then did he use this phrase?
There are at least two possible reasons why Paul used this statement. First, Paul often used rhetoric in his style of writing which was common in the first century Middle Eastern and Asian world. This is evident in much of his writing as he seeks to persuade his readers to believe or act in a particular way. Another possibility is that this phrase in v.12 was a common phrase in Corinth. If the Corinthian Christians were committing sin and claiming that all things were permissible, they would certainly be in error. The NIV renders this verse as “I have the right to do anything, you say.” The NEB, GW, NLT, GNB, and CEV (to list a few) render it similarly. It is not clear in the original Greek text if Paul is quoting someone, but most translations add quotation marks around the “All things are lawful” portion to point out that Paul is likely quoting someone else.
Paul spends several more chapters giving direction on marriage, food sacrificed to idols, apostolic authority, and historical insight into past sins committed by Israel, and then repeats the “all things are lawful” statement before continuing with more direction for the Corinthian church. So, from a fuller context, Paul is using this phrase to teach believers that there are things we should and should not do. This was likely a phrase used by some Corinthian believers that Paul weaved into his argument to show it was actually untrue. Nowhere in Scripture are followers of Jesus permitted to live according to the ideas of the world.
This is not about legalism or forcing believers to line up to a particular ideology. It is about righteous living. Peter made clear in 1 Peter 1:14-19 that we should all live our lives with an understanding that the sacrifice of Jesus was a heavy cost. What he did for us was no small thing. Peter admonishes us to live a holy lifestyle worthy of that sacrifice. Paul is essentially doing the same thing here, only from a different perspective. Being intentional about looking at the historical and cultural context of biblical content helps to ascertain the author’s original meaning. In this case, it is clear, that all things are not actually permissible.