Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
We live in an age that is at best amoral, but which is often immoral. We will hear many voices that say, “I don’t know what is right, nor can I tell you what is right.” Others will say, “This is right for me, but you must decide for yourself what is right.” The concept of objective moral truth is alien to a large portion of our population. We have returned to the days of Judges 21:25 which records that, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”]
The fact is, however, we have a king, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Our God is sovereign over all creation, and He has given us His Law, the Scriptures. What does our Holy Book teach us about how to tell right from wrong?
First, we should learn the holiness principle. We have been set apart for service to God.
We often set aside items for specific uses, for example, surgical instruments, or the clean rooms where space satellites are assembled. Jewish families who keep kosher will have different dishes reserved for dairy products, for example, so that meat would not be mixed with it in accordance with Exodus 34:26. On their own, these things are not precious, except for the purpose to which they are dedicated.
When we set things apart, and when we reserve them for specific purposes, we are declaring ownership of them, and our control over them. We are protecting them from contamination, and we are preserving them.
God has set his people apart, and He has reserved them for specific purposes. He has declared His ownership of us, and His control over us. He is protecting us from contamination, and He is preserving us. We are a sanctified people; do we live as if we are?
Next, we should learn the help principle. We must discern what helps us to serve God.
Paul told us that all things were lawful for him because of salvation in Christ, but that not all things are helpful. We can do things that don’t hurt us, but that also don’t help us. These are things like eating chicken soup when we have a cold, or carrying a rabbit’s foot. Other things we can do not only don’t help us, they actually hurt us. These are things like drinking and smoking and eating too much.
Fortunately, some things we can do help us tremendously, like Bible study, worshipping God, fellowshipping with other Christians, and getting exercise on a regular basis.
We can do anything we desire, but we must realize some things are a waste of time, and others are wasteful of our spiritual health. We need to embrace the concept of liberty, which is the freedom to do what is good, not just anything we want.
We also should learn the habit principle. We must practice what helps us to serve God.
Habits are powerful. They can trap us, but they can also make us more consistent in our walk with God. We must be careful in forming habits, because they are hard to break. It is true that we can form bad habits, like not worshipping God, exposing ourselves to the wrong material, not exercising, or eating too much of the wrong foods. It is equally true, however, that we can form good habits, like attending church regularly, reading the Bible, and spending time with family and friends.
Addictions, which are very difficult to overcome, are a type of habit where we resort to destructive behaviors in an effort to feel better about ourselves. We can find ourselves in a descending spiral as we turn to our addictions to feel better, which results in guilt and feeling bad about ourselves, after which we turn to our addictions to feel better again, and so forth. The beat goes on, ad infinitum, until we destroy ourselves.
We must intentionally develop good habits, or we will fall into bad ones!
Finally, we must learn the honor principle. We must practice what honors God.
We must give honor to God. In our passage for today, Paul said we are to glorify God in our body. This means more than just praising God with our lips, although we must do that also.
This reminds me of the question asked during the song, “My Tribute.” The first verse asks,
How can I say thanks
for the things You have done for me?
Things so undeserved,
yet You gave to prove Your love for me;
the voices of a million angels
could not express my gratitude.
The first verse ends with this statement:
All that I am and ever hope to be,
I owe it all to Thee.
We must give honor to God because He redeemed us from slavery to sin and He now owns our souls. He demands and He deserves our praise, but not just our lip service but also by living our lives for Him. We owe God our best in every aspect of our lives, from our thoughts, to our attitudes, to our behavior, and yes, our praise.
In conclusion, if you want to know right from wrong, we need to know God.
We need to know Him personally, spiritually, and experientially. Once we do, He will give us His Spirit to guide us from the inside of our lives.
Thanks so much for visiting with me today! I'll be back soon with another word from the Bible that we can share together.
Every blessing,
Dr. Otis Corbitt
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