In Titus 2:14 Paul says that Christ “gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all lawlessness and purify to Himself a particular people as His unique possession, zealous of good works.” This means that Christ gave Himself not only that He might redeem us from all lawlessness (1 Cor. 6:20; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; 1 Tim. 2:6) but also that He might purify to Himself a particular people (Deut. 7:6; 14:2; 26:18) as His unique possession and personal treasure (1 Pet. 2:9; Exo. 19:5). As such a people, we should be zealous of good works. We, the believers in Christ, have been created in Christ for good works and redeemed by Christ to be His people, zealous of good works.
In order to have the highest standard of morality and virtues, we need to be regulated by four governing principles.
The first governing principle is in 1 Corinthians 6:12: “All things are lawful to me, but not all things are profitable.” According to the context of the entire book of 1 Corinthians, Paul’s thought is that all things are lawful to us, but not all things are good, profitable, convenient, or economical for us to live the Christian life, the church life, and the Body life.
The second governing principle is also in 1 Corinthians 6:12: “All things are lawful to me, but I will not be brought under the power of anything.” The Greek words rendered “be brought under the power of” literally mean to “be brought under the authority of.” Paul is saying that we should not be brought under the authority of anything. This is subjective. Paul’s thought is that all things are under our authority, but we must not be brought under the authority of anything. Hence, he says that all things are permissible, allowable, and lawful to us, but we must not be ruled, enslaved, or brought under the authority, the control, of anything. When we consider whether or not to do a certain thing, we should ask ourselves if we are under the power or control of that thing. If a particular thing controls us or has power over us, we should not do it. We must fully deal with anything that has power over us.
First Corinthians 10:23 speaks of the third governing principle: “All things are lawful, but not all things build up.” Not being brought under the power of anything concerns ourselves and is personal, subjective; building up concerns others and is corporate. First Corinthians emphasizes the matter of building up (3:9-10, 12; 8:1). When Paul uses the words build up in verse 23 of chapter 10, he is referring not only to the edification of individual believers but also to the building up of the corporate Body of Christ (14:4-5, 12; Eph. 4:16). In all that we do we must take care of things, ourselves, and others. Concerning things, everything we do must be profitable. Concerning ourselves, everything we do should not be a bondage, a slavery, to us. Concerning others, everything we do must build up others.
First Corinthians 10:31 speaks of the fourth governing principle: “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” To do all to the glory of God means to do all in order to express God. According to the context of 1 Corinthians 6:13 through 11:1, to glorify God means in particular that we need to glorify God in our body (6:20). Hence, to glorify God is to let God, who dwells in us (1 John 4:13), occupy and saturate our body and express Himself through our body as His temple, especially in the two matters of eating and marriage. For this, we need to exercise severe and strict control over our body, bringing it into subjection (1 Cor. 9:27) and presenting it to God as a living sacrifice (Rom. 12:1).
First Corinthians 6:12; 10:23; and 10:31 have four basic principles for regulating the conduct of New Testament believers. First, all things are lawful to the believers, but all things must also be profitable, that is, not causing the suffering of any loss. Second, the believers must not be brought under the power, the control, the authority, of anything. Third, everything the believers do must build up others. Fourth, whatever the believers do, must be done to the glory of God. If a certain matter does not pass the test of these four principles, we should not do it.
As believers in Christ, we are not under the law. Nevertheless, we still need to be regulated by these four governing principles. However, in practice we may find it very difficult to live according to these principles. This is why we need the dispensing of the processed Triune God. To live according to these principles is to take the narrow way that leads to life (Matt. 7:14). In order to take this narrow way we need to apply Christ to every situation, because it is difficult for us to be released from our habits. We need the Triune God and His dispensing.