BT29: A married couple you have been counseling reveals that the husband has been having an affair. The husband professes to be a Christian, so you ask him how he reconciles his behavior with the biblical teaching on marital faithfulness. He replies that he loves both persons, and justifies his behavior on the basis of I Corinthians 6:12 ("All things are lawful for me," RSV). What will you do?

In I Corinthians 6:1-8, the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians about not taking one another to court. He argued that two Christians should not take their disagreement before an unsaved judge and that it would be better for either or both of them to just take the loss instead. In I Corinthians 6:9-11, he reminded them that they were no longer the same people that they had been before, since they were now washed in the blood of Christ, and in his mind, that was the key. People often do many wrong things before they are saved, but they should not continually remain in those improper activities once they are saved.

In I Corinthians 6:10, the Greek word "adikos" was used for the wicked (KJV) or for the unrighteous (NIV), and Paul was clearly describing those that were not saved. In Acts 24:14-15, Luke had used the same word for wicked as Paul when he wrote, "However, I admit that I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that agrees with the Law and that is written in the Prophets, and I have the same hope in God as these men, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked." Luke recognized a resurrection of the saved and unsaved, and Paul's language also showed that he was associating certain sins with the old lifestyle of the unsaved rather than with the newness of life that one has in Christ.

Concerning the man that wanted to have an affair, Paul specifically named sexual immorality and adultery, in I Corinthians 6:9-11, as two of the activities of the unsaved. Therefore, in I Corinthians 6:12, because he had just associated certain sins with being lost, he wanted to re-emphasize the biblical truth that people are not saved by giving up their sins. Thus, to interpret I Corinthians 6:12 as an excuse to practice any lifestyle that one wishes is not good exegesis.

Tom of Bethany