The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Corinthians — Section 199

Vers .. 12-20.-The human ~ody and its rela~ion to Christ. Among the objects about him proper for use and enJoyment-those obJects which accorded with his nature and position as a redeemed man-was there anything from which he was excludecl? "All things are lawful unto me," and, in this sense, libe1ty and law are identical, the measure of the one berng the meam1e of the other. If law is of God so is freedom • if the former is the expression of the Divine will and character, so is 'the latter· and if man is the image of Christ in law, so is he in freedom. Observe then that i't is not law and liberty a,, existing in a perfect world that the apostle i; considerina but as found in this mixed and disordered world, in which probation is going on to it.~ eternal !ssues. Idea_lly "all things _are lawful," and yet~ because life is a discipline, how could 1t be otherwise tl~a~ t~at hbcrtf should be abnd~ed? One of the main purposes of probJt10n 1s to d1s':1J:l~n_e the will, to ch?ose for itself_ among a multitude of objects addressmg our sens1b1ht1es. Scores of thmgs appeal daily to our senses, and if all our sensat;ons are converted into desires, thence into motives, thence accepted by volition, and made a part of ourselves, then certainly this is not freedom for the ends of moral discipline, but. freedom for simple and universal gratifieation. Freedom in St. Paul's Yiew is not a final cause, it is a means; and he would have the Corinthian remember that one of their greatest obligations was to restrain this freedum. The freedom itself 1iad a large range as to the objects allowed its use and enjoyment. Should it cover the whole area of activity? Kay, says the apostle, this would be bondage in another form. •· I will not be brought under the power of any," for "all things are lawful unto me," which is to ~ay, "all things are in my power," and I will exercise my puwer by imposing limitations cm self-indulgence. Of course, then, this restraint put on ind1- Yidual freedom is our own volm,tary act. Such is the stress laid on personality that a man's Christian virtue must be specifically bis own, and recognized by infallible signs as hi~ own. Development is a common duty, self-development segregates a man from his fellows that he may grow in a given way. Self-denial is a common duty, but under this law of individuality in using our freedom, self-denial assumes a variety of shapes, and becomes wonderfully potential in human affairs by the diversity it presents. In this view the self-denial of A is no guide for B. '!'lie special form of your sell~ denial may not commend itself to me, nay, it may be hurtful to me; and, assuredly, it will lose its virtue if I adopt it merely because it is yours. And hence the value of example in this respect is not to create a slavish imitation on the part of others, but to set forth the worth inherent in the spirit of self-denial. If this principle, so boldly urged by St. Paul, bad been faithfully adhered to, it would have saved the ()hurch from many inconsistencies. Private opinion, while it is content to be such, may be over-stringent, and yet do no great harm. But in many cases it exceeds the limits or individuality and takes sl1ape as the tyranny of public opinion. Morbidness is rarely satisfied ti21 it acquires notoriety l1efore the eyes of men, and so it comes to pass that we ha\'e ecclesiastical agitation and legislation about many things-for instance, amuse- ments-conceroin" wbich no ~xact standard cau be set up for everybody. If we could have an exact sta;dard, it would not compensate for the loss of personal freedom, fince this is precisely one of those matters in which self-denial owes all its excellence to the restrictions that it imposes upon itself. St. Paul's emphatic "I" in this connection is the "I" of every redeemed man, and accordingly, as a universal prerogative, this exalted characteristic of individuality is most carefully guarded. And how is it guarded? To say nothing of what Christian freedom is in itself as delegated by God in Christ, and conditioned widely different from Adam's sovereignty in Eden; to say nothin" of its ofr•inal limitations by the Divine Law, and the fixed barriers over which it may"not pass, ~nd, if true to itself, cannot pass; what is this liberty but a gloriun; priYile"e to be made still more olorious by our own self-enacted laws of restraint? It is a n~w limitation peculiar to<> man. It is a limitation which each man under the "race of the Spirit ori"inates ancl executes in attestation of his own endowments as God's redeemed serl'at;t. It is sonship in its most beautiful and tender funn-tiJ.o or. v1. 1-20.J '!'HE FlHST EPISTLE TO THE CORI.\THIANS. 20l