2008 June 15 » Southern Cross Presbyterian Church

“All I am is yours.” It’s a big thing to say. “Everything I am, everything I have, every single thing about me – it’s all yours.”

Sounds costly, doesn’t it? But – if you’re a Christian – it’s true. Everything about you belongs to Jesus: “You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body.” (1 Cor. 6:19b-20) “All I am is yours”. Christians are slaves of Jesus.

But when you look at the alternative, you realise how wonderful it is to be a slave of Jesus. If you’re not a slave of Jesus, you’re a slave to sin (Rom. 6:16), and a slave to satan (2 Cor. 4:4). You’ll spend the rest of your life wallowing in the mud, utterly blind to the life you’re missing out on with Christ. Worse: you’ll end up in hell – forever.

On the flip-side, being a slave of Jesus means being rescued from hopelessness and despair. It means being on the receiving end of love incomparable. It means being saved out of wretchedness, and into glory – forever. Those who were blind will finally see the truth: slavery to Jesus is true freedom.

Ben Cantelon puts it well in his song “Love Came Down”:

By grace I’m free
You’ve rescued me
All I am is Yours

I’ve found a love greater than life itself
I’ve found a hope stronger and nothing compares
I once was lost now I’m alive in You
I’m alive in You

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

In this bible talk from 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 we see more “Corinth in the church” rather than “the church of God in Corinth” (1:2). Last week it was the legal realm, this week the sexual realm. But the common factor in it all is serving self rather then Jesus. The Corinthians’ favorite slogan is “everything is permissible for me” or literally “everything for me is permissible”. Me at the centre. Not Jesus.

The Corinthians are big fans of Christian freedom but seem to have no notion of what Jesus has freed them from let alone what he has freed them for. Paul has just reminded them in verses 9-11 that they’ve been freed from sin: “that is what some of you were”. Unfortunately, what they were is what they still ARE! And they’re wrong notion of Christian freedom is making them slaves of sin all over again, rather than servants of Jesus. Especially, they are slaves to sexual sin: they’re so called freedom is actually slavery—sexual appetite is ruling their actions, not Jesus.

Key Verse

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Outline:

1. free for…what? 6:12
2. slaves of sin 6:13-16
3. slaves of Jesus 6:17-20

You can play the podcast using the “Play in Pop-Up” link below the player which will allow you to visit other pages while listening.

A broadband connection is recommended to listen to this talk from the web.

Subscribe to this Podcast in iTunes

Subscribe Via RSS

If you have any questions about this talk please leave a comment or email the speaker.