1 Corinthians 6:12

1 Corinthians 6:12 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.
• New International Version (NIV)“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything.
• English Standard Version (ESV)"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.
• New King James Version (NKJV)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.

Context of 1 Corinthians 6:12

10nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. “Everything is permissible for me,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me,” but I will not be mastered by anything. 13“Food for the stomach and the stomach for food,” but God will destroy them both. The body is not intended for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14By His power God raised the Lord from the dead, and He will raise us also.

1 Corinthians 6:12 word by word

Πάντα μοι ἔξεστιν ἀλλ᾽ οὐ πάντα συμφέρει· πάντα μοι ἔξεστιν ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἐγὼ ἐξουσιασθήσομαι ὑπό τινος.Read the interlinear

• Everythingπᾶςpas · allG3956
• is permissibleἔξεστι, ἐξόνexesti · be permittedG1832
• for meἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• butἀλλάalla · butG235
• notοὐou · noG3756
• is beneficialσυμφέρωsumpherō · be profitableG4851
• will not be masteredἐξουσιάζωexousiazō · to have authorityG1850
• byὑπόhupo · by/under: byG5259
• anythingτιςtis · oneG5100

Cross-references for 1 Corinthians 6:12

• 1 Corinthians 10:23“Everything is permissible,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible,” but not everything is edifying.
• Romans 14:14I am convinced and fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean.
• 1 Corinthians 8:4So about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one.
• 1 Corinthians 9:12If others have this right to your support, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not exercise this right. Instead, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.
• 1 Corinthians 10:24No one should seek his own good, but the good of others.
• Romans 14:15If your brother is distressed by what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother, for whom Christ died.
• 2 Thessalonians 3:9Not that we lack this right, but we wanted to offer ourselves as an example for you to imitate.
• 1 Corinthians 9:27No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
• Romans 7:14We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.
• Hebrews 12:15See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God, and that no root of bitterness springs up to cause trouble and defile many.
• Jude 1:12These men are hidden reefs in your love feasts, shamelessly feasting with you but shepherding only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried along by the wind; fruitless trees in autumn, twice dead after being uprooted.

Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 6:12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12All things are lawful unto me - It is likely that some of the Corinthians had pleaded that the offense of the man who had his father's wife, as well as the eating the things offered to idols, was not contrary to the law, as it then stood. To this the apostle answers: Though such a thing be lawful, yet the case of fornication, mentioned 1 Corinthians 5:1, is not expedient, - it is not agreeable to propriety, decency, order, and purity. It is contrary to…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12All things are lawful unto me - The apostle here evidently makes a transition to another subject from that which he had been discussing - a consideration of the propriety of using certain things which had been esteemed lawful. The expression, “all things are lawful,” is to be understood as used by those who palliated certain indulgences, or who vindicated the vices here referred to, and Paul designs to reply to them. His reply follows. He had been…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-20Verses 12-20 Some among the Corinthians seem to have been ready to say, All things are lawful for me. This dangerous conceit St. Paul opposes. There is a liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, in which we must stand fast. But surely a Christian would never put himself into the power of any bodily appetite. The body is for the Lord; is to be an instrument of righteousness to holiness, therefore is never to be made an instrument of sin. It is an honour…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12Some Christians believed they could do anything, including being sexually immoral. Paul disagrees, saying not everything is beneficial. True Christians should live disciplined lives (see 10:23; Galatians 5:13).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. All things are lawful unto me--These, which were Paul's own words on a former occasion (to the Corinthians, compare 1Co 10:23, and Ga 5:23), were made a pretext for excusing the eating of meats offered to idols, and so of what was generally connected with idolatry (Ac 15:29), "fornication" (perhaps in the letter of the Corinthians to Paul, 1Co 7:1). Paul's remark had referred only to things indifferent: but they wished to treat fornication as such, on…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Corinthians 6:12

• Expediency
• Holiness
• Prudence
• Self-Denial

In the dictionaries

• Angel
• Extortioner
• Judgment
• Price
• Wash
• Ye
• Authority in Religion
• Conscience
• Corinthians, First Epistle to the
• Expedient

Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings