1 Corinthians 6:12-20
12 All things are permitted for me, but not all things are of benefit. All things are permitted for me, but I will not be mastered by anything.
13 Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, however God will do away with both of them. But the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.
14 Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power.
15 Do you not know that your bodies are parts of Christ? Shall I then take away the parts of Christ and make them parts of a prostitute? Far from it!
16 Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, “The two shall become one flesh.”
17 But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
18 Flee sexual immorality. Every other sin that a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
20 For you have been bought for a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
The Issue of Sexual Licentiousness
The freedom of Christians
Christians have freedom. However, it is not a freedom to do whatever they please. Some of the Corinthian Christians apparently believed, “Food and the body will eventually pass away, so it does not matter what we do with them. Such things have no effect on the soul or the spirit.” In response, Paul argues as follows. (1) A Christian’s body is a member of the body of Christ. (2) If a person takes that body and joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her. Such a thing must never be permitted. (3) Every other sin that a person commit is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. (4) The believer’s body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. To make that temple one with the body of a prostitute is a serious sin.
Four questions
With regard to the relationship between Christian freedom and sexual immorality, asking the following four questions will make it clear how we should conduct ourselves. (1) Will this action be beneficial to me and to the church? (2) Will this action promote my spiritual growth and transform me into the likeness of Christ? (3) Will this action bear witness to the truth that my body was bought with a price (the life of the Son of God, Jesus)? (4) Will this action glorify God? Once we were slaves to sin, but now we belong to God. The Holy Spirit, whom we have received from God, dwells within our bodies. This is the Christian view of life and of the world. Let us use the freedom that has been given to us as an opportunity to express love.
Today's prayer
Father God of Jesus Christ, I have been bought with a price. Please help me to glorify You with my body. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.