1 Corinthians 6:12 “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.
1 Corinthians 10:23 All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify.
‘All things are … lawful’?
These verses are used by the mainstream Christian System to claim that the Law of Moses is no longer valid or in authority. The mainstream dogma states, ‘see, everything is legal and nothing is illegal anymore, so that must mean “the Law of God given through Moses” is done away with and does not apply to me…’
So, is the apostle Paul actually saying it’s perfectly ‘legal‘ to murder, fornicate and steal? Is it “lawful” in the eyes of Almighty God to covet, commit adultery and worship idols?
The verses above do say, “All things are lawful”…
If everything is lawful then why only two sentences earlier did Paul state that those who commit those offenses will not get to into the Eternal Kingdom…
And just three sentences after verse 12, Paul calls fornicating “sin”; so, is sin now lawful in the eyes of God???
Is Paul delusional?
Is he hypocritical??
Has he completely lost his mind???
Paul said, “All things are lawful”… Or did he really?
Besides the fact that the context of the surrounding verses expresses the exact opposite of what the mainstream Christian System claims, the original Greek word that was actually used by Paul has tragically been changed into the English word “lawful”; this is completely and unequivocally wrong. Your English translation, even your King James Version, is wrong…!
You are being lied to; whether it is done on purpose or in ignorance is irrelevant, it’s still deception!
The Greek word for “law” is nomos, but Paul did not write ‘nomos’, nor any of its cognates, he wrote ‘existin’.
The real Greek word for ‘lawful’ is G1772, ἔννομος/ennomos. But Paul did not write ‘ennomos’, he wrote ‘G1832 ἔξεστιν/existin’ all four times in BOTH of the verses listed at the start of this study.
G1832 ἔξεστιν/existin is the verb form of ἔξεστι/éxesti, ex’-es-tee; third person singular present indicative of a compound of G1537 and G1510.
ἔξεστιν/existin in the English is more accurately stated as ‘possible’, ‘fitting’, ‘acceptable’, ‘proper’, or ‘exists’.
IF ‘existin’ means “law-ful” then how many times was it used in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament) in reference to ‘the Law of God’? Since the Old Testament is filled to overflowing with discussion and mention of “the Law”, and what is “lawful” in the eyes of the Almighty, how many times was ‘existin’ used in reference to God’s Law in the Five Books of Moses? Answer: Zero times! How many times was it used in the entire Old Testament in reference to God’s Law? Answer: Zero times!
The Greek word existin is NEVER translated from the Hebrew word for Law, which is ‘torah’, H845 תּוֹרָה.
The Greek manuscripts of 1 Corinthians 6:12 states both times:
Πάντα μοι ἔξεστιν
Panta moi existin
The Greek manuscripts of 1 Corinthians 10:23 states both times:
Πάντα ἔξεστιν
Panta existin
‘Panta’ can be interpreted as the English word ‘all’, but ‘everything’ or ‘anything’ is probably more accurate due the fact that there is no substantive noun for this adjective in the sentence, as per Thayer’s Greek Lexicon.
‘Moi’, the Dative 1st Person Possessive of Ego/ἐγώ, is the English word ‘me’ or ‘mine’. We would say ‘Panta moi’ in English then as, ‘everything for me’.
The Greek word ‘existin’, however, is where the “interpreters” completely failed; or if they knew their Greek, then they did it on purpose to deceive us.
Existin/ ἔξεστιν, G1832, is a conjunctive word originating from ἐξ/ek/G1537 and εἰμί/eimi/G1510
- ἐξ/ek/G1537 – properly, “out from and to” (the outcome); out from within.
- εἰμί/eimi/G1510 – expresses being, i.e., “to be”; conveys “straight-forward” being of existence.
The Greek usage of ‘ἔξεστι’/existi has absolutely nothing to do with ‘law’ or ‘instructions’, ‘rulings’ or ‘commandments’, and whether or not God’s Law is to be obeyed. In the Septuagint ‘existi’ is never once used in any Book of the Bible to describe, define or discuss the Law of God given through Moses; never!
99.999% of the “English” Bibles are interpreted from the original Greek by men that have been indoctrinated by their fore-fathers, pastors and teachers with the preconceived notion that the Law of Moses was done away with and abolished. So, of course, they will “interpret” some of the Greek words to say exactly what they want it to say.
The context of 1 Corinthians chapters 5 and 6 is immoral/unrighteous behavior versus righteous behavior, ‘works of the flesh versus obedience to God‘.
What does the text say?
1 Corinthians 5:1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among gentiles, for a man has his father’s wife.
1 Corinthians 5:9-13 9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 13 God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
Immediately after all that condemnation and ridicule about those horrendous sinful behaviors that Paul called “evil”, we have the verses in question. After all of those warnings about how these evil, unacceptable and unrighteous actions will keep you from entering the Kingdom of God, is Paul really about to say that every one of those evil actions and behaviors are ‘lawful’ in the eyes of God?
1 Corinthians 6:12 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.
If ‘everything is lawful’ then why is Paul claiming those evil actions will keep you out of the Kingdom? If there are no laws against anything now, then everything and anything we do should be okay with God… and nothing we do should keep us from inheriting the Kingdom of God! If all things are lawful why is Paul calling those actions “evil”???
Paul actually calls these actions “sin” in verse 18 of chapter 6 ~
What does the text say?
1 Corinthians 6:18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.
Is sin now lawful???
According to the mainstream Christian System and the English Bible translators the apostle Paul is now claiming sin is lawful… Evil actions and sin are perfectly legal now according to that System and those translators… Pure unadulterated blasphemy and lies from the pit of hell!
Either Paul is a blathering idiot or those actions that keep you from entering the Kingdom are truly evil and sin because they break the Laws of God Almighty.
Paul never said the word ‘lawful’!
You are being lied to by your mainstream Christian teachers and the English Bible translators!!!
The true English interpretation is as follows:
1 Corinthians 6:12 All things are possible for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are possible for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.
What Paul is REALLY telling those in Corinth (and us) is that all of those evil behaviors and sinful lifestyles, all of those things are “possible” for us to do, but we should not let them dominate us. We have free choice in this life to commit sin and do evil, breaking the Laws of God, which are blatantly and unequivocally documented in the Scriptures. But Paul is pleading and admonishing us to not do those actions that “exist”, those actions that are “possible“, and that we are to instead “flee from them”! Because if you do not stop those works of the flesh there will be consequences; as Paul stated, “do not be deceived“, if you do them you will never enter the Kingdom of God. Period.
Final Thought:
The versions that incorrectly state “lawful/legal” are:
ESV, NASB, KJV, AKJV, NKJV, NET, Aramaic Bible, Jubilee Bible 2000, ASV, Douay-Rheims, Darby, ERV, World English Bible, Young’s Literal Translation.
As you can see, the majority of the most popular English versions have falsely “translated” the Greek word ‘existin’. This is not only a huge translational error grammatically, but contextually and doctrinally it is extremely deceiving. By purposefully substituting the word ‘lawful’ in place of the correct word of ‘possible’, those “Bible-translators” insinuate and perpetuate the lie that ‘God’s Law’ is done-away with and that all things are now legal, when that is the exact opposite of what the Word of God states.
Paul’s warning against doing sins-of-the-flesh here in his letter to the Corinthians is an echo of the truth he told the Romans ~
Romans 8:7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, because it does not submit to God’s law
The Law of God is most certainly in authority, current and valid in the mind Paul; he said that we will be declared righteous if we obey it ~
Romans 2:13 for not the hearers of the law are righteous before God, but the doers of the law shall be declared righteous.
Where did Paul learn this truth?
Deuteronomy 6:25 And it shall be our righteousness if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as He has commanded us.
Isaiah 51:7 “Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law.
Unlike the English Bible “translators” and today’s mainstream preachers and teachers, the apostle Paul guarded and obeyed the Law of God his entire life ~
What does the text say?
“Thus, all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself (Paul) also live in observance of the law.” | Acts 21:24
In 1 Corinthians 9, just 3 chapters after he “supposedly” said that nothing is illegal anymore, Paul actually quotes from the Law of Moses as a current, valid and authoritative Law:
Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” | 1 Corinthians 9:8-10
Since the apostle Paul just taught from the Law of Moses, that shatters all assumptions that he taught the Law of Moses was invalid or abolished; that verse, along with the documentation in Acts 21:24 above, concludes the matter ~
The apostle Paul taught from the Law of Moses and lived his life in observance of the Law decades after the ascension of Jesus. Period.
- Please ‘share’ this study.
- For further study of Paul’s teachings, as well as the original Greek, see the ‘Links’ at the top of this page or blog posts at the bottom. Be like the Bereans, and test Paul’s doctrines to the “Scriptures”; look up for yourself more than 60 of the “forever verses” listed below. Thank you for your time!
A Paulogetic 
Thanks so much brother Richard. As always you are right on the money. Blessings to you brother.
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You are most welcome, all praise and glory to Yah!
Shalom,
Rich Wheeler
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