Six Principles for Godly Choices, Slight Return
Alan Christopher, in this month’s Indeed (Walk Thru the Bible magazine), has some remarks that relate to this entry, Six Principles for Godly Choices, I posted a couple of weeks ago. After quoting 1 Corinthians 6:12 and 10:23, both of which read, “All things are lawful, but not all things are possible,” he says:
In the first case, [6:12] he [Paul] followed up that statement with the standard of not being mastered by anything. In the second, [10:23] he followed up with the standard of making sure all things are edifying. The point, in Paul’s letters, is never on whether anything is legal; it’s on whether it’s good. Does it fit with God’s character or the world’s? Does it build up or tear down? Does it lead to freedom or captivity? When deciding what’s good, law isn’t the determining factor. Eternal worth is.
The two standards he mentions correlate with the first five of the principles. The standard of “not being mastered by anything” correlates with Principle 1: The Principle of Self-Control, and Principle 2: The Principle of Bondage. The standard of “making sure all things are edifying” correlates with Principle 3: The Principle of Edification, Principle 4: the Principle of Love, and Principle 5: The Principle of Example.
His general point, that in all of Paul’s letters the issue is not whether a thing is legal, but whether it is good, correlates with Principle 6: The Principle of Faith.
I couldn’t have said it better myself. Guess that’s why he makes the big bux, and I write blog entries. 
