1 Corinthians 6:15-20 (WEL) Don’t you know that your bodies are members of Christ? Will I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Absolutely not! 16 What, don’t you know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body? “….for two,” he says, “will be one flesh.” [Genesis 2:24] 17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. 18 Flee sexual sins. Every sin that a person does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. 19 What, don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, which you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you are bought at great cost. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
V15 Don’t you know that your bodies are members of Christ? Will I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Absolutely not!
Paul had to teach them something they either forgot or didn’t accept. It is good for us to remind ourselves of Christian principles.
Christians are part of the body of Christ. The whole person, body, soul, and spirit, is God’s. Compare Romans 12:1-2.
This is part of the teaching of corporate election. Corporate election is God choosing a group for His purpose:
Israel is a corporate election: the nation has been chosen by God to bring the Scriptures to us, show the world God’s greatness, and to bring the Messiah into the world.
The church is a corporate election: the church is the elect. When a person believes the Gospel of Jesus Christ, then they are placed in the body of the Lord Jesus, which is the corporate church.
Individuals can also be elect, such as Moses, Aaron, King David, Cyrus, and others that God chose for a specific ministry.
The Lord Jesus is also an elect person to be the Messiah, Head of the Church, and the King of the world. Compare Isaiah 42:1-4.
Paul’s argument is that since each of you Corinthian believers has been placed in the body of Christ, the church, then when one sins, they defile both the church and themselves.
V16 What, don’t you know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body? “….for two,” he says, “will be one flesh.” [Genesis 2:24]
Paul refers to the sexual union.
The Greek word join is G2853 κολλάω kolláō, which means to glue together, making one piece.
Vincent: “Compare Aeschylus: “The family has been glued (κεκόλληται) to misfortune” (“Agamemnon,” 1543). The verb is used in Genesis 2:24, Sept., of the relation of husband and wife: shall cleave. In Deuteronomy 10:20; Deuteronomy 11:22; Jeremiah 13:11, of man’s cleaving to God.”
Biblical Illustrator has this note:
“In remonstrating with the Corinthians for their litigiousness, Paul was forcibly reminded how imperfectly they understood the moral requirements of the kingdom of God, and that they were quoting some of his own sayings in defense of immoral practices. If “all things were lawful” to them, then this commonest of Greek indulgences was lawful; if abstaining from the meat which had been killed in a heathen temple was a matter of moral indifference, then this other common accompaniment of idolatry was also a matter of indifference.”
Litigiousness is (Word Hippo): “Property of being litigious, of tending to resort to legal means such as lawsuits.”
V17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.
The joining with Jesus is not physical; it is spiritual. A oneness in character, purpose, and service. Some analogies in Scripture are the vine (John 15:5) and there is a bonding in lifestyle, worldview, doctrine, laws, and spiritual life. Compare John 15:5.
V18 Flee sexual sins. Every sin that a person does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.
This would include thoughts, desires, words, and deeds. It is not just deeds. All sins originate in the heart (Matthew 15:18-19). Yet, as a Christian, we are God’s people.
V19 What, don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, which you have from God, and you are not your own?
When a person believes his/her heart is recreated (2 Corinthians 5:17). The heart is our soul and spirit, thus, our character traits, intellect, desires, loyalty, etc.
Another blessing of the new birth is that the Holy Spirit indwells our heart. See John 14:17 (the promise) and Acts 2:1-4 (promise fulfilled).
Because a believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, we are to honor God and His ways. Sexual immorality makes our body unclean in God’s sight.
Romans 12:1 (EHV) Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice—holy and pleasing to God—which is your appropriate worship.
V20 For you are bought at great cost. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Great cost refers to the death of the Savior. See Isaiah 53, Zechariah 12:10, Acts 20:28, and 1 Peter 1:18-19.
We learn:
- The physical and spiritual danger of being sexually one with anyone other than your spouse.
- Our body, as Christians, is the Temple of the Holy Spirit.
Questions:
- How are you honoring your Temple?
- Do you thank God enough for your salvation that you will live the life He wants us to live?
1 Peter 1:13-16 NLT – So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”