God's Guideline For Christian Living - Pastor Daniel Banna

Let's turn together please to first Corinthians chapter six. This is a two part message. Beginning at verse one. First Corinthians chapter six verse one. There any of you having a matter against another go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints.

You see the church at Corinth had a lot of serious problems. In chapter three, Paul talks about divisions in the church, about factions in the church. There are those who would say we are of Paul. Others would say we are of Apollos. Others might say we are of Peters.

Or others we are for Christ's, and Paul tells them stop this nonsense. Who is Peter? Who is Apollos? Did I die for you? Stop saying I am.

Start saying we are. We are Christ. In chapter five, we have another serious problem. There was sexual immorality in the church. A man was living with his stepmother, and the church was quiet about it.

And Paul was very furious there. He told him, what you doing guys? Are you out of your mind? A little living living in the whole lump. Clean up the house.

Clean it up. The world, the pagans even don't do that. How can you compromise with this? Don't forget about your collective responsibility. Clean up the house.

In chapter 11, there was another serious problem. They will come and ready to the Lord's table, to the communion. Some would eat the whole loaf of bread, and other would drink the whole bottle of wine that is for communion. Maybe some will rush to get the front seats so they can eat and drink the most they can. They were irrespectful and irreverent to God's table.

And Paul tells them that is why some of you are weak, others and sick are sick, and others will fall asleep. Because if we judged ourself we will not be judged. Clean up the house. In chapter 14, another serious problem. This church was was enriched with spiritual gifts, yet they were misusing these gifts.

They were speaking altogether, praying altogether, not waiting for each other. And Paul tried there to put things in order. And here in chapter six we see they had conflicts and they were suing each other. They were taking each other to court. And Paul tells them, look at verse two, do not know that the saints will judge the world.

And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? He's telling that the church is the supreme court. You judge matters among you in the church, don't go to outside. Oh, if the church hears this today. Verse three, he told him, do you not know do you not know that we shall judge angels?

How much more things that pertain to this life? And he tries again to correct the problem. Now look at verse nine. 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. And such were some of you. Some of you were homosexuals. Some of you were extortioners, some of you were drunkards, but God has come to your hearts. And then what did he do?

Verse 12, verse 11, and such were some of you but you were washed. You were sanctified but you were justified. Now you have new position in the front of God in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God. Hallelujah. We are in you creation, we have in you position, and we have a new direction.

Now listen to verse 12, that I'm gonna be dwelling on it this morning. All things are lawful for me. Maybe in your version says, you say 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 preached grace. Free grace.

He preached freedom in Christ. He preached liberty. He preached against being under the law. To the Galatians, in Galatians five:one, he called being under the law a yoke of slavery. And in verse nine he called it yeast, a sin being under the law.

We're talking about the law, the Old Testament, those commandments. Don't do and do all of that. He preached against all of that. He preached freedom in Christ and liberty in Christ. Apparently some understood Paul's teaching the wrong way.

We have freedom in Christ. We have liberty. We are not under the law, therefore we are without the law, or we are above the law. We are free to do all what we want, all what we like, and all what we desire. We are free to sin.

Some understood Paul's teaching as a license for sin. Paul addresses this issue in Romans chapter six verse 15. He tells them there, what then? Are we to sin because we are not under law, but under grace? In no way.

God forbid. Certainly not. Again in Galatians he tell them, yes you are not under the law. You are under the regulations of the old testament, but you are not without a law. Now I know some even today will try to put us under the law or under part of the law.

I don't want to talk about the law much but you know, if the law can be divided into three, you have the civic law, you have the moral law and you have the ceremonial law. And they tell us we are not under ceremonial law, but we are under the moral law. But I would like to know where this distinction is made in the New Testament. I don't see it anywhere. When Paul says we are not under the law, he is saying the law is abolished and we are not under the law, period.

We have another law to follow and we will see it right now. Not the law and the commandments of the Old Testament. This is the law that Paul talks about in Galatians six:two. He says this, carry each other burdens and in this way you will you will fulfill the law of Christ. Carry each other burdens and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ.

In Galatians five sixteen, he says, walk in the spirit. Then he continues to say, but if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. What's the opposite of that? If you are not led by the Spirit you are under the law.

So being under the law means you are not led by the Spirit. If you are loved, led by the Spirit you are not under the law. What then the law of Christ means? He tells us, carry each other's burden. And if you do that, you are doing that, you are fulfilling the law of Christ.

The law of Christ then first to carry each other's burden. Are you doing that? Are we doing that? The law of Christ means to walk in the Spirit. What does it mean to walk in the Spirit?

To reject the flesh, to please the Lord, to do what he loves and hate, what he hates, to resist the devil, to shun evil. That is to walk in the spirit. But as usual, people took Paul's words out of context. Don't you hate it when somebody takes your word out of context? And especially us preachers, I'm telling you, you say something and you in your mind, you mean that one thing, but people understand it just different way.

Oh, man. It doesn't feel good, I'm telling you. Many took Paul's word out of context. Now in Corinth there were these two groups of people. The first group were the isolationists.

We might call them the ultra fundamentalists today. Those who will judge everything, Who would give you lists for everything? All the do's and all the don'ts. And even they take it to even further extreme. Those isolationists, they will tell you don't touch death, don't touch anything.

Even in Paul's time, don't touch a woman, don't get married, go to a remote place, live live by yourself. But there was another group of people that Paul talks to here, and these are the liberals whose slogan was, all things are lawful to me. I have liberty in Christ. I have freedom in Christ. I can do all things.

No law, no self control. We have complete freedom to do all what we want. And they say in verse 13, look, foods is for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. They say, you see, the body is not important. It's for the food and food is for the body.

So whatever I do with the body is not really important, it is corruptible. So they could say in other words, sex is for the body and body for sex. I can do anything I want with it. It's not important. That was their interpretation.

Paul rejects this way of thinking. In in verse 13, the second part, he tells him, now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. Let us look back at verse 12. All things you say all things are lawful to me. That's your slogan.

And I believe Paul is saying this, I agree with you partially. I agree with you partially. There are certain things that don't violate God's moral law. There are certain things that don't violate God's moral law. Anything that violates God's moral law is sin.

And we just read about that list, the adulterers, the idolaters, the murderers, the, the, the, the whole list. That's just a short list of things that violate God's moral law. They are sin but there are certain things that don't violate God's moral law. I agree with you, I affirm they are lawful for me. But lawful does not mean useful.

Lawful does not mean constructive. Lawful does not mean beneficial. Lawful does not mean built up. Don't look for what is lawful, but look for what is beneficial that builds up, that construct believers and help them grow in the Lord. Lawful is not necessarily good.

Let me give you just an example, weak example. Music. Is it lawful to listen to music? Of course. We love music.

Right? But what music? There's no law in the scripture defines what music is good or what music is not good. Right? Now some churches have their own rules.

Heavy metal is the unforgivable sin, or rock is not permissible. But the Bible does not say anywhere that it is sinful, so it is not sinful. It is lawful. But is it useful? I don't know.

It's up to you. You judge it and I will tell you how to judge this in a minute. Is it beneficial? Maybe. Does does it build you up?

Maybe. I don't know. It's lawful, but is it beneficial? What about apparel, what I wear? There is no law dictates what woman should wear.

Must be modest. We understand that this is from scripture, but what is modest? Is what you are wearing today modest in Saudi Arabia or in Iran? I think showing your eyes is too much there. There's no law.

No. If you, God, opened your door for you and you went to a country as a missionary, to those countries that women wear different way, probably you will not wear the same way you are wearing today. You wear differently. Not because it is not lawful the way you are wearing today. You look beautiful, great, but it might not apply to that culture.

It's lawful, but is it beneficial to those people who you are with? You want to hear a story? Many years ago, a dear Baptist man of God that I loved very much, who was very much against women wearing pants. And, he had not he was not afraid to talk about it and even preach about it. And and he preached about that, and he used, by the way, the book of Deuteronomy.

I want to turn to it very fast. And he used this verse. Now I don't remember every detail of the story, so if I exaggerate a little bit, forgive me. Not intentional. Or if I take away part of the story.

Verse five says, a woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman's garment. For all who do so are an abomination to the Lord your God. He preached against women wearing pants. And, oh, you know, some churches preach that and I, I mean respectfully disagree with him. After he finished his message, I approached him.

I love the guy and he loved me. We are we're good for we used to be good for him. He passed away right now. He's with the Lord. And I asked him, I see, brother, you are a very generous man.

Now this gentleman had a garden. He would plant in his garden different kind of vegetables, and he would bring to church some tomatoes, some some, cucumbers. And that single day he had the cucumbers and and and tomatoes in the church. He brought from his own garden. I thought, would you please turn with me to the same chapter you just read?

And I pointed to him verse nine that says, you shall not sow your vineyard with different kind of seed. It's very interesting brother that you have cucumber and tomatoes in your garden. And what are you wearing today by the way? Look at verse 11. It says, you shall not wear a garment of different sorts, such as wool and linen mixed together.

I'm sure you have some cotton and polyester today, don't you? These are regulations were given to the nation of Israel. And I do understand from it, when God says a woman should what? Wear men's clothing. I agree on this in a sense.

Yes, I do agree. And a man should not, but who says that the pants that the woman wears is a man's clothing? I'm sure your pants, women, are different than men's pants. Aren't they very different? So again, we can interpret the scripture in these two different ways.

But we have freedom in Christ. There are things that are lawful, but the question is, are they useful? Are they beneficial? Are they constructive? Christianity is not about do's and don'ts.

It's about a relationship with Christ that produces real results that can be seen by others. Many Christians attempt to make new laws and new regulations because of fear. Yes, it is because of fear. Fear of unholiness. Fear of things that don't see as Christian.

But Paul rejects this motion and gives us instead a beautiful guideline to follow. Let us look at this beautiful guideline that Paul is giving us here. So again I believe Paul is affirming that there are some things not against God's moral law and they are lawful to me to do. But the question is, how do I decide if I should do them or not? Let us look at this beautiful guideline that Paul's give us.

Again in verse 12, All things, you say all things are lawful to me or for me but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful to me, hear the verse, but I will not be brought under the power of any. Can I be put under its dominion? Would it take me under its control? Would it have control over my life?

It's lawful, but could I become addicted to it? Can I become enslaved to it? It's lawful, but is it helpful and useful? Let me give you example. Drinking.

Can a Christian drink? Should the answer should never be, it depends who you ask, what the Bible says. Many books have been written about drinking. Thousands, maybe tens of thousands of hours been spent on research of scripture, what the scripture says about drinking. Some would tell you even Jesus during Passover when He drank, it wasn't wine.

How did you know? Oh, you see, wine is is is fermented, and that's not, kosher for Passover. No. It is kosher, by the way. You don't know Jewish tradition.

It is kosher, 100% kosher, even though it is fermented. Because what's not kosher is any fermentation to grain, wheat, barley, things like that, not grapes. That's why if you go and purchase a wine, it says kosher for Passover. Is it alcoholic beverage? Absolutely.

Is it kosher for Passover? Absolutely. So what about drinking? I believe drinking is discouraged in scripture, but it's not prohibited. Drunkness is prohibited.

Do not be drunk in wine, but be filled with the Holy Spirit. Some might tell you, but we are Nazarites. You heard probably this argument. We are Nazarites to God, and yes we are. You see, the Nazarite could drink cannot drink wine, so we can't.

Neither Nazarite could eat grapes or raisins. Are we now going to prohibit eating raisins and and grapes? Neither the Nazarite could cut his hair. Now if men today stop cutting their hair because they are Nazarite, that would be contrary to the teaching of the new testament. That man should not grow his hair long.

That's an invalid argument. I believe I can conclude that drinking wine is not prohibited in scripture, but does this mean I should be drinking? Paul here give us the test. The question that I should ask myself, can I become enslaved to it? Is it possible that it will have control over my life?

Now you know and I know if one of your parent is having a problem with alcohol, you have a higher rate of of becoming alcoholic yourself, so you should not try drinking. If you were an alcoholic in the past, you should not touch a glass of wine. That should be very very clear. But I should apply this test to my life and ask this question, simple question. Is it possible that I might be enslaved to wine or any type of alcohol?

You see there is not do's and don'ts. We have freedom in Christ and praise God for that. We have liberty in Christ, and stop this nonsense of do's and don'ts. But you have this beautiful test that Paul by the Holy Spirit is giving us. If my answer is yes, I will become enslaved to it.

I will never touch it. Some might drink a glass once a month, never have a problem with it. Others they can't. It might be a sin for one person, and it's not a sin for the other. It's not a black and white, not just alcohol.

What about video games, guys? What video games? I mean, you see kids in my practice, I mean, parents just want to probably have have a restful time, so they give their kid a tablet to play, and you find him just And mom, she calls the child. Yeah. Yes, mom.

Play hours, hours, hours. This what you teach your kids, really? What about video games? Are you addicted to it? I mean, I see people not there in twenties, in their thirties and forties addicted to it, and you're surprised.

What about the internet, Facebook? All these things. Do you feel that you are enslaved to any of these things? Any of these things having control over your life? I'm not telling you do's and don'ts.

You have freedom in Christ. And praise God that you've been washed, you've been sanctified, you have a new position, you've been justified by Christ. For this reason you are a new creation, and you have authority. But may God give us this discernment to make the right decisions in every circumstance. Maybe sports.

Mostly for guys, I guess. Oh, I can't miss a game. Why not? You can miss Sunday morning service. You can miss a game.

Not you guys, I know you are okay. So this is the first question. Now turn with me to one Corinthians ten twenty three. Paul continues the same topic. All things are lawful for me.

Or you say, all things are lawful for me but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful for me but not all things edify. Not all things built up. It defies who? It defies who?

Look at verse 24. Let no one seek his own, but each one the others will be. Mutual edification. Romans fourteen nineteen, you have Paul writing these words. So then let us pursue what lead to peace and to mutual edification.

In Romans fifteen two, Paul writes again, each one of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up, to edify him, to help him grow spiritually. So what is death building up? If we go back just a couple of pages to first Corinthians eight verse one. Paul says, Now concerning things, listen to this. We might be talking about that more in the second part.

Now concerning things offered to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. Love edifies. Let me ask you a question. How did Jesus won your heart?

Wasn't through love? How did He win your heart? He showed His love to us while we were still sinners. Jesus died for us. He won your heart through what?

Through love. And until you can win the heart of everybody. Through what? Love. The same love that won your heart will win every heart.

Love edifies. Love covers multitude of sin. Love encourages other. Love brings unity. Love, love wins souls to Christ.

I just want to read what MacArthur, John MacArthur writes about love edifies. He says, Knowledge mingled with love prevents a believer from exercising freedom that offend weaker believers and rather builds the others up in truth and wisdom. Love your brothers and sisters. Now if you are like me, I don't know how to express love very well. I think some men have this problem.

Right? Now I love my wife and I love my children, but I admit I don't express it the way I should. I don't. And, let us seek God. Let us seek God to teach us and grant us to be able to express our love.

Let our love be love in action. Love you, brother. Love you, sister. Love builds up believers. In one Corinthians 14 verse three, Again, Paul writes this, but he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.

Oh, may God raise us today prophets in this sense to speak edification, exaltation, and comfort to people. Ephesians four twenty nine, Paul writes, let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification. Let no corrupt word proceeds out of your mouth, but what is necessary for edification? Again in one Thessalonians five:one he writes, therefore comfort each other and edify one another. In Acts twenty thirty two, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace which is able to build you up.

Speak the word of God to your fellow brothers and sister. So what then Paul is saying? Do everything in love seeking to build up your brother and sister. I may have freedom in Christ to do certain things, to say certain things, but would this certain thing built up and edify my brother? That's a test.

Let me give you an example. What I'm wearing today, I could have come today with a suit and tie. Right? I could have come today with jeans. Right?

Is it lawful to me to do that? Absolutely. What's wrong with that? I could I could have come today with shorts. Is it lawful to me to do that?

Of course, it is. Anybody can say, you can't? I could have come today with shorts, but I have come today to preach to you this way. Right? The way I decided to be.

Now if I have come today with the shorts how would you look at me? What Sunday service in the other church? What people would look at me? What would they say? Let us take it to a different context.

We are in a camp as a group of young people. We're not here, we're in a camp. Maybe sitting by the fire, and I came with my shorts and my bible. Nobody will have a problem with that. Right?

The same thing exactly, different context. It is lawful does it build up my brothers and sisters, Or I will become an offense to them. The same act, different context. Is it lawful to you women to put anything on as long as it is modest? Of course.

Does it build up my brother or sister? Does it edify them? Does it edify me to spend two hours a day on video games? Does it edify me to spend so many hours on the Internet, on Facebook, or anything? Does it edify me?

Does it edify my brother? And remember this, the more you are edified the more you are able to edify others. The more you grow up in the Lord, the more you are able to help others grow in the Lord, and that should be our common purpose. Let's look at the third test. Can you give God thanks for it?

Look at verse 30 of chapter 10. Go back to chapter 10, verse 30. But if I partake with thanks, why am I even spoken of for the food over which I give thanks? You say all things are lawful to me but can you give thanks for it? It's a beautiful test.

Certain things might be lawful, but am I able to say to God, thank you God for it. Let's take for example, smoking. Now you can go to a church and tell them what do you think about smoking, is it sin or not sin? I'm gonna tell you, you're going to see many hands raised, it is sin and some might try raise even both hands. Why?

If it is sin, why? You see it's bad for your health. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. I agree 100%. What about overeating?

What about overeating? Is it good for your temple of the Holy Spirit? What if you are diabetic and you cannot resist that donut? You think it's okay? You know one of the greatest preachers in the history of the church, his name is Spurgeon.

You know about Spurgeon right? You know he would not be accepted today as a pastor of any church in America? You know why? He was a smoker. Excuse me?

He was a smoker. He was smoking pipe. It's very well known about him. What about playing cards? It's very funny.

I'm telling you last week, my wife went to my son's dorm. You know, he's he's going to come back home. She started to clean up a little bit, and she found the stack of cards in his room. Now you know my son. Not because he's my son.

Honestly, I have not myself seen anybody as spiritual as my son in his age. Honestly, I have not. I mean, the way he loves the Lord, the way he he even lead us in prayer, the way he just he just he just I praise God for him. I praise God for him. Praise God.

Praise God. So my wife brought this stole this cards, and she brought it. She told me, I stole these cards from Tim. You see, she grew up in a culture that you cannot even touch cards. You can't touch it.

We're not talking playing cars for money. Of course. No. We don't. That's that's gambling.

That's sin. Just just just playing just cards for fun. So she took him and she just couldn't even touch the cards. Again, it all depends. So is cards forbidden, playing cards?

Is drinking forbidden? Again I say we don't need a new list of things, do's and don'ts. But if we put everything to this simple test, can I give God thanks for it? Then I can always make the right decision. Can I take a cigarette and tell God, God thank you for this cigarette?

Thank you for this awful smell. I'm not telling you smoking is sin, but can you do this simple test? Thank you for this cough that caused by the cigarette. Thank you that I'm destroying my lungs because of this cigarette. Can I do that?

If I can't then I should not be doing it. Simple. It doesn't matter do's and don'ts but can I give God thank for it? Thank you for the donut that's going to have my blood sugar goes up high. For some people it's okay, I can eat a donut or two, no problem.

But for somebody who's diabetic, it is a problem. A coffee could be a problem. Can I, at the end of the day, come to God, tell him, God thank you for this day? I spent two hours on Facebook. I spent another three hours watching a Bears game.

We went to a movie and we spent another two hours. Oh God thank you so much for the power, the energy, and desire you give me to do all these things. Can you do that? If you can't do that, you know this is wrong. You have done something wrong.

It is simple test. Again, thank God for the freedom we have in Christ and the liberty we have in Christ. We are not a religion that have do's and don'ts. We don't need a new list of things but just put it to this simple and beautiful test that the Holy Spirit pins for us in the scripture. Now I want to look at verse 31, the last point.

I'm not going to mention five points. Again, we have another time to to meet and and continue the subject. I want you to look with me to the next point, verse 31. Look what Paul says. Therefore, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it do all to the glory of God.

Does it bring glory to God? Not just can you give thanks for it, does it give glory to God or does it bring glory to self? Let us assume I want to buy a car. Anything wrong with buying a car? Of course not.

I want to buy a new car. Anything wrong with that? Nothing wrong with that. No. I want to buy a car, it's worth a $100,000.

Anything wrong with that? If I have the mind there's nothing wrong with that. Right? Nobody can tell me it is wrong. It is lawful.

The question is, does it bring glory to God? For one person it might be very well bringing glory to God. For the other, the whole motive is corrupt. It is his own glory. It's the way he looks or he wanted to look in front of people.

It does not bring glory to God. So the act itself is already wrong. It does not bring glory to God. What about dating unbelievers? Now all young here and those who are not married, they are in the, you know, the age of dating.

Now all of us agree that marriage of unbeliever is sin, is prohibited. Right? There's no yoke between believers and unbelievers. Communion between light and darkness Is it crossing the red line? There's no marriage between believers and unbelievers.

How about dating? Now I judge it to be wrong. But to those who want to make an excuse, I say put it to God's test. Does it? Does this relationship glorify God?

Again I'm not telling you do it or not to do it, put it to this simple God's test. Does this relationship glorify God? We're not making new laws. I'm asking you just to put it to God's test. Can you thank God at the end of it and say, Lord I thank you What we have done together is always for your glory.

Does it glorify God? Does it glorify God? So we look today at a few things. Not new laws, not new regulations, not new lists. Remember, we have freedom in Christ.

We have liberty and we are to be thankful to God for this liberty and freedom we have. Remember, anything that's against God's moral law, it is sin. But there are certain things that are not against God's moral law. It is lawful for me to do, but lawful does not mean always useful, beneficial, good, built up, and constructive. Put it to the test of God's words.

We looked at first, can I become enslaved to it? Does it edify me or does it edify my brother or sister? Can I give God thanks for it and does it bring glory to God?