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 covetous, nor drunkards, nor abusive persons, nor [the] rapacious, shall inherit [the] kingdom of God. 11And these things were some of you; but ye have been washed, but ye have been sanctified, but ye have been justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. All things are lawful to me, but all things do not profit; all things are lawful to me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. 13Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats; but God will bring to nothing both it and them: but the body [is] not for fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14And God has both raised up the Lord, and will raise us up from among [the dead] by his power.

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

• thingsπᾶςpas · allG3956
• lawfulἔξεστι, ἐξόνexesti · be permittedG1832

Cross-references for 1 Corinthians 6:12

• 1 Corinthians 10:23All things are lawful, but all are not profitable; all things are lawful, but all do not edify.
• Romans 14:14I know, and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean of itself; except to him who reckons anything to be unclean, to that man [it is] unclean.
• 1 Corinthians 8:4— concerning then the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that an idol [is] nothing in [the] world, and that there [is] no other God save one.
• 1 Corinthians 9:12If others partake of this right over you, should not rather we? But we have not used this right, but we bear all things, that we may put no hindrance in the way of the glad tidings of the Christ.
• 1 Corinthians 10:24Let no one seek his own [advantage], but that of the other.
• Romans 14:15For if on account of meat thy brother is grieved, thou walkest no longer according to love. Destroy not him with thy meat for whom Christ has died.
• 2 Thessalonians 3:9not that we have not the right, but that we might give ourselves as an example to you, in order to your imitating us.
• 1 Corinthians 9:27But I buffet my body, and lead it captive, lest [after] having preached to others I should be myself rejected.
• Romans 7:14For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am fleshly, sold under sin.
• Hebrews 12:15watching lest [there be] any one who lacks the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble [you], and many be defiled by it;
• Jude 1:12These are spots in your love-feasts, feasting together [with you] without fear, pasturing themselves; clouds without water, carried along by [the] winds; autumnal trees, without fruit, twice dead, rooted up;

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