God’s Guiding Principles for Gray Areas
In this sermon, “God’s Guiding Principles for Gray Areas,” we explore the biblical wisdom that challenges the idea that “all things are lawful.” Drawing from scriptures such as 1 Corinthians 10:23 and 6:12, Proverbs 4:7, Romans 15, and Galatians 5, we learn that while many choices may be allowed, not every decision leads to growth, edification, or freedom.
Key questions guide our reflection:
- Will This Direct Me or Detour Me?
Discover how to choose paths that lead to constructive outcomes rather than distractions.- Will This Build Me Up or Tear Me Down?
Understand the importance of actions that edify and strengthen not just ourselves, but the community around us.- Will This Help Me or Hinder Me?
Evaluate whether our choices contribute to our well-being or become stumbling blocks in our journey.- Will This Free Me or Enslave Me?
Learn that true freedom is not about indulging every desire but about living under God’s guidance, avoiding the chains of sin and unhealthy habits.We also address modern challenges—from lifestyle and health issues to societal trends—that echo the timeless struggle between liberty and bondage. Join us as we unpack how living with wisdom and moderation not only honors God but also transforms our lives, ensuring that our freedom truly sets us free.
Tune in to discover a biblical blueprint for making choices that lead to a healthier, more fulfilling life in Christ!
Sermon Audio
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Notes:
1 Corinthians 10:23 All things are lawful for me, but not all things are expedient;
all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.
1 Corinthians 6:12 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.
Proverbs 4:7 Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your
getting, get understanding.
1 Corinthians 6:12 All things are lawful for me …
All things are lawful for me …
1 Corinthians 10:23 All things are lawful for me …
all things are lawful for me …
1 Corinthians 6:12 (TLB) I can do anything I want to if Christ has not said no …”
All things not unlawful are lawful to me.
1. WILL THIS DIRECT ME OR DETOUR ME?
1 Corinthians 10:23 All things are lawful for me, but not all things are expedient;
2. WILL THIS BUILD ME UP OR TEAR ME DOWN?
1 Corinthians 10:23 “… all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.
1 Corinthians 10:23 (AMP) All things are lawful, but not all things are constructive…
1 Corinthians 10:23 (VOICE) “All things are permitted,” they say. Yes, but not all
things build up and strengthen others in the body.
Romans 15:2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification.
Romans 15:3 For even Christ did not please Himself;…
The world tears down, so the church better build up.
1 Corinthians 14:26 How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, …
Let all things be done for edification. ’
3. WILL THIS HELP ME OR HINDER ME?
1 Corinthians 6:12 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful ….
Psalm 37:21 The wicked borrows and does not repay
Ephesians 5:3 (NIV) But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality,
or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.
Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
4. WILL THIS FREE ME OR ENSLAVE ME?
1 Corinthians 6:12 … All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under
the power of any.
1 Corinthians 6:12 (PHILLIPS) I may do everything, but I must not be a slave of anything.
We are the sickiest country in the world.
In 1960, 6% of Americans had chronic disease, today 60% do.
Our children are the sickest generation in American history.
Our kids have autoimmune diseases, neurological diseases, obesity,
300% increase in diabetes
38% of teenagers are now prediabetic
We are on the verge of, at best, a health crisis and, at worst, a societal collapse
with 20% of GDP going to health expenditures.
Jesse Watters quote on The Five on 01/29/25
” I want to tell you a little story about Jimmy. So Jimmy wakes up in the morning
and both parents work, so they don’t have time to make him eggs, so he has
frosted flacks and fruit juice. So he goes to school and he is all hopped up on sugar
and he crashes. And then he does the school lunch program and he does grilled
cheese, cheetohs and cherry coke, so he is hopped up again then he crashes.
The people at the school tell the parents this kid must be bi-polar or ADHD so
you gotta medicate him. So he is medicated. Then he doesn’t do recess because
he is looking at his phone the whole time. And at the after school program he is inside.
Then he goes home and since his parents are helicopter parents, they don’t let
him outside to play in the neighborhood because they are worried about pedophiles.
So he goes inside and plops himself in front of the television until his parents
come home and they are too busy because they are back from work and so they
order ‘take out’ more fried food. And then he sits in front of his ipad before he
goes to sleep and he doesn’t get a good sleep because he has had screen time
all day, no sunlight and no exercise. And this cycle repeats itself for years until
he is single, suicidal, overmedicated, fat, sick, lonely and depressed.”
There are millions of Jimmys out there in this country who have been neglected,
preyed upon and they want to get healthy but they don’t have the knowledge,
the support system or the environment to make it happen.”
Philiippians 4:5 Let your moderation be known unto all men.
1 Corinthians 6:12 (VOICE) So you say, “For me, all things are permitted.” Here’s my
response: I will not allow anything to control me.
John 8:32 (ESV) And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
John 8:36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed
Galations 5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not
submit again to a yoke of slavery
Freedom is not living independent of God, freedom is living dependent on God.
There is no freedom apart from God.
Galatians 5:13 (NLT) … Don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature.
Galatians 5:13 (TLB) … You have been given freedom: not freedom to do wrong
Galatians 5:13 (TMG) Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an
excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom.
Kris Kristofferson quote:
Freedom is just another word for nothin’ left to lose.
Quote from the novel, “The Unbearable Lightness of Being”
“And when nobody wakes you up in the morning. And when nobody waits for you
at night. And when you can do whatever you want. What do you call it? Freedom
or loneliness.”
The deceptive power of sin is so great that it makes it possible for a person to be
a slave to something and think they are free..”
Romans 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of
sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
Romans 6:7 For he who has died has been freed from sin.
Romans 6:8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
