Topics Research

Question

Is Paul loosening what Jesus tightened when he says "all things are lawful" while Jesus intensifies moral demands in the Sermon on the Mount?

Topics

CONSCIENCE

• General scriptures: JOB 15:21,24; 27:6; PRO 20:12; MAT 5:15,16; 6:22,23; LUK 11:33-36; ACT 23:1; 24:16; ROM 2:14,15; 7:15-22,23; 9:1; 14:1-23; 1CO 8:7-13; 10:32; 2CO 1:12; 4:2; 5:11; 1TI 1:5,19; 3:9; HEB 9:14; 10:22; 13:18; 1PE 2:19; 3:16,21; 1JN 3:20,21
• Key connection: 1 Cor 8:7-13 and 10:32 are in the same epistle as the "all things lawful" passages, dealing with conscience and liberty.

LIBERTY

• Proclaimed in jubilee: LEV 25:10; JER 34:8,15-17
• Figurative: ISA 61:2; LUK 4:19; JHN 8:32,33,36; GAL 3:28; EPH 6:8; COL 3:11
• Connection: Paul's "all things are lawful" relates to Christian liberty concept.

SERMON

• Of Jesus, "on the mount": MAT 5; 6; 7
• Of Jesus, "on the plain": LUK 6:17-49
• The Sermon on the Mount is the primary comparative text for Jesus's moral teaching.

LUST

• Evil desire: GEN 3:6; EXO 20:17; JOB 31:9-12; PSA 81:12; PRO 6:24,25; MAT 5:28; MRK 4:19; JHN 8:44; 1CO 9:27; 10:6,7; EPH 4:22; 1TI 6:9; 2TI 2:22; TIT 2:12; JAS 1:14,15; 4:1-3; 1PE 2:11; 4:3; 2PE 2:18; 3:3; 1JN 2:16,17; Jude 1:16,18
• Key: 1 Cor 10:6-7 warns against lusting as Israel did — in same epistle as "all things lawful."

LAW

• General scriptures: PSA 19:7-9; ROM 2:14,15; 7:7,12,14; 13:10; 1TI 1:5,8-10; JAS 1:25; 1JN 3:4; 5:3
• Connection: "all things lawful" uses the word exesti (G1832) which shares root with nomos concepts.

COMMANDMENTS

• General scriptures: EXO 20:3-17; DEU 5:6-21; MAT 5:16,22 etc.
• Jesus's Sermon on the Mount intensifies rather than relaxes commandments.

Related Topics Discovered

• PRUDENCE (score 0.47) — PRO 14:8,15,16 — Paul's "not expedient" connects to prudential wisdom
• MORAL AGENCY (score 0.43) — human capacity for moral decision-making
• VIRTUE (score 0.42) — PHP 4:8; 2PE 1:5 — moral excellence as a standard