All things are lawful, but all are not profitable; all things are lawful, but all do not edify.
The verse closes Paul's long answer to a real question in Corinth. Could a Christian eat meat that came from a sacrifice to an idol? Paul grants the liberty twice. Then he sets two more questions beside it: does it profit? Does it build up?
The freedom Paul claims is not freedom from morality. One writer marks off which restrictions have fallen away. He also warns that permitted things can still harm us:
"All things are lawful to me" does not, for a moment, change eternal moral standards. It refers to restrictions that were only ceremonial... In those things there was the fullest and most complete freedom. Yet even here some things might not be profitable, and the apostle refuses to let lawful things gain power over him. This matters for our own guidance. What we loosely allow ourselves, inside the range of things entirely lawful, may still have a sorrowful effect on us.
The second half of the verse gives a standard that reaches far past food:
Paul makes the statement twice over: "All things are lawful." That is, he sets us in a place of liberty. Yet he reminds us that not everything is "expedient" (that is, "profitable") or "edifying". He also reminds us to weigh not only what is good for ourselves, but what is good for others. The two-fold test he mentions has a thousand uses... Again and again situations arise where we must ask not only, Is it lawful? but also, Is there profit in it? and, Does it build up? ... If we ordered our lives by that standard, we would cut out a good many doubtful and unprofitable things.
Paul said something similar earlier in the letter. This time he drops the words "to me," and one commentator treats that as deliberate:
As he began, so he closes... This enlarges the principle he laid down in chapter 6. It is not simply lawful "to me," and the question here is not about letting anything master us. There, indifference about meats exposed some to impurity; here, to idolatry. The apostle urges more than staying clear of evil; he urges positive edification. Love alone secures this, because it does not look at its own interests and seeks the good of others.
Another writer sets this verse beside the next one, and weighs what our conduct does to others:
The first of these verses makes a concession, the second states a rule... To think of others rather than ourselves is the true rule of conduct in the Church of God... In this sense our acts are never neutral; they must bring good or evil to others. If our walk does not build others up, it will surely damage our fellow believers.
The liberty is real, and it spares believers an exhausting search into where their food came from:
We may well thank God for the liberty this passage gives. It would have been an unbearable burden to the early Christians if they had to track down the history of every bit of meat they bought in the market, or ate in the house of someone they knew. For us today, life is very complicated and artificial, so it would be ten times worse.
The limit comes when someone else's conscience is at stake. One writer pictures a shared meal:
I do not mind what I eat... Now suppose we are sitting at a table with a person who has just come out of idolatry. He says, "That meat was offered to an idol." His conscience is not free, so for his sake I do not eat it. To me it is all ordinary meat.
The verse sounds permissive, so it is easy to twist into an excuse. One writer rejects two errors: rule-keeping, and self-pleasing dressed up as kindness:
Was it only a question of what was "lawful"? No legal attitude of "do not touch, do not taste, do not handle" is meant here at all, because that sort of thing is contrary to Christianity... Paul looked for the positive character of things — things that are profitable or fitting, and that could bring true edification, the building up of souls... And let us avoid the subtle idea that we are kind and unselfish when we mingle with others in wrong associations. This is neither faithfulness to God, nor real kindness to others.
- Lawful — the freedom is real. It covers ceremonial restrictions, not moral ones, and God's eternal moral standards never change.
- Profitable — the next question is "does it profit me?" A fully permitted thing can still have a sorrowful effect on the one who allows it.
- Edifying — the third question looks outward: does it build others up? Our acts are never neutral; a walk that does not build others up will damage them.
- Others — this is the advance on chapter 6. There the guard was against letting anything master us; here love seeks the good of the other.
- Balance — liberty spares us anxious checks on every meal. Love drops the right as soon as another's conscience is at stake.
Let no one seek his own [advantage], but that of the other.
Paul has just told the Corinthians that they are free to do anything, but not everything builds people up. This verse turns that principle into a rule for daily life. It raises a hard question. If something is truly allowed to me, why should another person's good decide whether I do it?
The two halves of verses 23 and 24 do different jobs. One grants freedom; the next governs how freedom is used.
"All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful." The first of these verses makes a concession, the second states a rule. Not all things build people up. But, as he goes on to say, to think of others rather than ourselves is the true rule of conduct in the Church of God. In this sense our acts are never neutral. Good or evil must come from them to others. If our way of life does not build others up, it will surely damage our fellow believers.
Older wordings say "another's wealth" — that is, another person's good or profit. Paul writes this into a dispute about food offered to idols, and he asks for more than staying clear of harm. One writer keeps the older, more literal form:
"Let no one seek his own [advantage], but his neighbour's [literally, that of the other]." ... In chapter 6, a careless attitude to food exposed some to impurity; here it exposes them to idolatry. Paul urges more than staying clear of evil; he urges positive building up. Love alone secures this, because it does not look at its own things but seeks the good of others.
The rule becomes a test for almost any decision.
Again and again situations arise where we have to ask not only, Is it lawful? but also, Is there profit in it? and, Does it build up? And further, we have to consider the profit and the building up of all. If we ordered our lives by that standard, we would cut out a good many doubtful and unprofitable things.
Both halves of the verse cut against what we want by nature.
"Let no one seek his own good" — the very thing we are so ready to seek. "But the good of his neighbor" — the very last thing we feel inclined to do.
This giving up is wider than opinions and tastes. It reaches to things I have a real right to.
God calls us to give up more than our rough edges, prejudices and preferences. He calls us to give up our personal rights too, for the profit of others. This is the Christian's daily business. As God enables him to do it, he walks in the footsteps of Jesus.
Christ lived this way completely. The opposite drives the world.
One thing struck me deeply when the Lord first opened my eyes. I never found Christ doing a single thing for Himself... An unbroken stream of blessed, perfect, unfailing love flowed from Him... and it was always others, not Himself, who were comforted. The world's whole principle is self, doing well for itself. What is the world's honour? Self. What its wealth? Self. What is advancement in the world? Self.
The rule has a limit. Seeking another's good is not the same as going along with whatever others do.
Paul urges a principle of great value here: "Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor." If I truly seek the blessing of others, that will give me a truer view of my own conduct. But selfishness will always leave me open to Satan's influence. And let us refuse the subtle suggestion that we are kind and unselfish when we join others in wrong associations. That is neither faithfulness to God, nor real kindness to others.
Obeying this rule takes a bigger heart than we start with. Grace is what enlarges it.
As the heart grows in grace, it thinks more about others. The higher a man climbs a hill, the wider his view. His eye is not shut in by his own garden wall. The self-centred nature thinks of no one but itself. Grace lifts the soul, and the more grace a man has, the more it enables him to look away from himself to the condition of his fellow believers.
- Rule — verse 23 grants freedom; verse 24 governs it. Thinking of others before ourselves is the true rule of conduct.
- Reach — it goes past opinions and preferences. Give up even your own rights for another's profit.
- Test — before acting, ask three things: Is it lawful? Is there profit in it? Does it build up — and build up all?
- Limit — seeking another's good never means joining wrong associations. That is neither faithfulness to God, nor real kindness.
- Root — no act is neutral. Every act helps or harms someone. Grace enlarges the heart to see it, and shapes it after the One who never did a single thing for Himself.