What did Paul mean in 1 Corinthians when he said all things are lawful?
Paul meant that he was no longer under the law's demanding burden but under grace. Since the law no longer had any effect over him, he could say all things are lawful. Romans 6:14 says you are not under law but under grace.
Les explains that Paul's statement 'all things are lawful' is really about his relationship to the law. Les says Paul is no longer under the demanding burden of the law and is now under grace. To make this clear, Les compares Romans 6:14, where sin, or the old Adamic nature, shall not have dominion over you because you are not under the law but under grace. He then reasons that if you are not under the law, it does not have any effect on you—that is what Paul means in Corinthians when he says all things are lawful because I am not under the law. Les also turns to Romans 7:5-6, which speaks of when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins which were by the law, and being dead wherein we were held by the law.
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.