God’s Word Translation
1 Corinthians 6:12
12Someone may say, “I’m allowed to do anything,” but not everything is helpful. I’m allowed to do anything, but I won’t allow anything to gain control over my life.
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
10or thieves, those who are greedy or drunk, who use abusive language, or who rob people will not inherit God’s kingdom. 11That’s what some of you were! But you have been washed and made holy, and you have received God’s approval in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. Someone may say, “I’m allowed to do anything,” but not everything is helpful. I’m allowed to do anything, but I won’t allow anything to gain control over my life. 13Food is for the stomach, and the stomach is for food, but God will put an end to both of them. However, the body is not for sexual sin but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. 14God brought the Lord back to life, and by his power God will also bring us back to life.
Read all of 1 Corinthians 61 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
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for 1 Corinthians 6:12
- 1 Corinthians 10:23Someone may say, “I’m allowed to do anything,” but not everything is helpful. I’m allowed to do anything, but not everything encourages growth.
- Romans 14:14The Lord Jesus has given me the knowledge and conviction that no food is unacceptable in and of itself. But it is unacceptable to a person who thinks it is.
- 1 Corinthians 8:4Now about eating food that was offered to false gods: We know that the false gods in this world don’t really exist and that no god exists except the one God.
- 1 Corinthians 9:12If others have the right to expect this from you, don’t we deserve even more? But we haven’t used our rights. Instead, we would put up with anything in order not to hinder the Good News of Christ in any way.
- 1 Corinthians 10:24People should be concerned about others and not just about themselves.
- Romans 14:15So if what you eat hurts another Christian, you are no longer living by love. Don’t destroy anyone by what you eat. Christ died for that person.
- 2 Thessalonians 3:9It’s not as though we didn’t have a right to receive support. Rather, we wanted to set an example for you to follow.
- 1 Corinthians 9:27Rather, I toughen my body with punches and make it my slave so that I will not be disqualified after I have spread the Good News to others.
- Romans 7:14I know that God’s standards in Moses’ Teachings are spiritual, but I have a corrupt nature, sold as a slave to sin.
- Hebrews 12:15Make sure that everyone has kindness from God so that bitterness doesn’t take root and grow up to cause trouble that corrupts many of you.
- Jude 1:12These people are a disgrace at the special meals you share with other believers. They eat with you and don’t feel ashamed. They are shepherds who care ⌞only⌟ for themselves. They are dry clouds blown around by the winds. They are withered, uprooted trees without any fruit. As a result, they have died twice.
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
In the dictionaries
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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