The Principle of Kingdom Authority Part II
Text: 1 Corinthians 6:9-20
Proposition: Kingdom authority is a realistic expectation for the Lord to have of us and for us to have of ourselves because we are not who we used to be.
Introduction: Last week we introduced the idea that we are under a higher authority than just our own sense of right and wrong. We looked at the case of two Christians who were taking one another to court to settle a dispute. We saw in the first 7 verses of 1 Cor. 6 Paul’s correction of this as he reminds them of a much higher authority that has been invested into us, even the eventual judging of the world and the demonic angels at the time of Christ’s return to the earth. The point was simple, if you will one day judge in such far reaching and powerful issues surely you ought to judge issues between yourselves and not take them to civil court. In fact Paul said that if there is a dispute between two Christians they should either find a person of wisdom in the church to arbitrate or they should be willing to be cheated rather than to bring dishonor to Christ’s name by going through civil litigation in open court. Have a look at 1 Corinthians 6:9-20 as we recognize this same kind of surrender that Paul now is used of God to point us to.
I. Kingdom Authority Calls Us to See the Sin in Poor Judgment.
Look at verses 9, 10, “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites,nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” The point is that the unrighteous, those separated from a right relationship with God because of sin, who are not in Christ, will not inherit the kingdom of God. Paul is speaking about the sin of poor judgmentwhere people have chosen to please themselves rather than to surrender to the saving grace found in the cross of Christ. Paul says that the sin of poor judgment shows up in all kinds of sin… sex outside of marriage, people who worship other things in order to gain what God would have given them, people who are married who have sex with other married people, people who have sex as male prostitutes, men who practice sodomy with men, people who steal and are proud of it, people that are greedy and feed that greed, people who hide themselves in alcohol and refuse the truth of God’s forgiveness, people who rip others with their words and are proud of their skill in doing so, people who use violence to steal from others… sin separates people from God. Poor judgment is more than an expression of personal choice, it is the way sin manifests itself and when it comes to Christians we are to be especially aware of the schemes of Satan in causing such sin to evidence itself. Such sin, even the sin of Christians suing Christians proclaims in us a degree of unbelief, it counteracts the very truth that the Word of God has cultivated in us and it distorts or even destroys the glory of God that others might have seen.
II. Kingdom Authority Reminds Us That We Are No Longer Who We Were.
Have a look at verse 11, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” Three actions on God’s part towards us have changed who we are: washed, sanctified and justified. Kingdom authority is in effect over you in an exceptional way because you have been washed, sanctified, justified.
1. Washed – it’s a term that originates from a simple Greek word, ‘apo’ that has this peculiar meaning, “any kind of separation of one thing from another by which the union or fellowship of the two is destroyed”. Think of it like going and digging up some potatoes and you take them into the kitchen and you wash them destroying the union of earth with the fruit of the potato. When Jesus saved you He washed you and destroyed the union of sin with your being. His blood severed that union and made you clean. What you were is no longer who you are because you have been washed by the blood of Christ when you believed on Him as Savior.
2. Sanctified – when you wash the potato you set it to the side, you don’t return it to the sack because there is a special purpose now intended for this particular one. To be sanctified has this meaning but it also means there is an ongoing refining happening in you, the process of sanctification where truth is added to truth and holiness grows in you.
3.Justified – this word is different from the first two in that it is a legal term, a court term. It means you are now regarded as innocent because of the cross of Christ. All penalty for sin, both the sin of what you have done and the sin nature inherent in you that causes sin to occur, has been paid for by the death of Jesus Christ on the cross… His life for yours. You are now proclaimed innocent and free because He has served the sentence for sin, even death.
III. Kingdom Authority Therefore Is a Freedom Under Authority.
What Paul says next in verse 12 becomes the underlying principle for the remainder of this passage, “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.” The Corinthians had this saying, “Food is for the body and the body is for food”, but they were taking that and applying it in their sexual appetites as well. Prostitution was an accepted profession and was used like people today would use a chiropractor or masseuse or even a dentist. As we would see these as absolutely normal and acceptable practices so did the Corinthians see the use of prostitutes as equally normal. They had crossed over their freedom for food to freedom to satisfy any appetite or desire. So consider Paul’s argument for how to exercise Christian freedom under Kingdom authority so as to not be brought under the power of the wrong things:
1. The body is for the Lord and the Lord is for the body- this is saying that your body matters greatly to God. He intends that your physical presence in this world would be used to proclaim His authority and plan of salvation in Christ through you. Your body, who you physically are, is for you to use in freedom but under kingdom authority. The Lord is for the body, resurrection proclaims an ongoing higher purpose in the creation of you physically. You are a majestic creation, body, soul and spirit and Christ is for the that, He upholds that, He raises that up to His glory.
2. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? We have known the truth that we are in Christ spiritually, that as people we make up the representative body of Christ called the church but this statement is different. Your bodies are also considered members of Christ. It’s saying that there is a union of your body as well as your soul and spirit to Christ. That being the case how I treat this body, what I do with this body I have freedom to do but only as being under His authority over me, don’t corrupt your body. So he says to the Corinthians if you have sex with a prostitute you are binding yourself to her, the one flesh principle that describes marriage describes promiscuity. Even our bodies ought not be joined to anyone or anything if it would be so incompatible with the very person of Christ.
3. Flee sexual immorality.The early church fathers said this about sexual immorality – “Other vices may be conquered in fight, this only by flight.” Get out of the path of its temptation, don’t even think that you grow stronger by enduring temptations presence. Get out of there, your very body which is a member of the body of Christ is at risk. Don’t sin against your own body by giving in to sexual immorality.
4. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? – There is in you a place of residence for the Holy Spirit which changes you from being a place of physical interaction, a mental and physical office space, bodily appetites to be satisfied, an object to be used to gain the appeal of others or even body that you use to calm your own fears of vanity. There is in you God which makes your body the Temple of God not the temple of you. It’s been purchased at great price, even by the blood of Jesus Christ, and though you have great freedom in Him you are not your own. “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
“Kingdom authority, flows from His throne, unto His own His anthem raise.”