“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. (ESV)
In the quoted sections in these verses, Paul is directly responding to statements made by the Corinthian church apparently intended to justify their actions, their misuse of God’s grace. Yes, we are freed from the legal consequences of our sin. But what rightly follows? How are we to respond?
What does Paul mean by “helpful”? That which leads to flourishing, which is what God desires.
What does it mean to be “dominated” by something? Well, addiction is an obvious answer. But we are dominated by anything to which we give inordinate attention or effort. (See Augustine’s “misordered loves.”)
What does it mean that God will “destroy” the stomach and food? It’s a reminder, I think, that we are but dust. It is a call to humility, a reminder of God’s power.
We do well to remember that God is both love, which in Christ’s acts on the cross liberates us from the bondage of sin, as well as holiness, without which we would not have needed liberation.
What is moral, sexually? Well, let’s look at God’s intention.
Sex is an innocently wonderful, pure gift that God gives to husband and wife. It is meant to be enjoyed, to lead to deeper spousal connection — and of course to produce children. It is a gift begetting gifts.
Now, married people, you might be telling yourself, “I’m good – I’ve never touched anyone other than my spouse.” If so, consider this: Our Lord tells us elsewhere that the standards are so high that even lustfully gazing on someone who is not your spouse rises to the standard of adultery.
I think the point here is that while we are now free from the condemnation that rightly results from our choices, we are not then “freed” to simply go on doing what our “flesh” desires. The changed heart that results from the knowledge of being made right with God will, as a consequence, be repulsed by immoral behavior.
How we think and act is evidence of that changed heart.
The natural result of being set free from rightful condemnation isn’t a desire to go on doing what got you to the point of needing salvation. If you’re in the habit of stuffing yourself with food that’s not good for you, you don’t go right back to the trough after you’ve been freed from that bondage. Let me put it another way: Only a fool would think that after being pulled from the fire, cleaned up, burns healed, it’s a good idea to run right back into the fire. To do so would be to be stupid and thankless.