Married? Single? We are a Temple of God

Life after Pentecost (V)

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Did you know that most instructions and directions are written at a 5^th grade level? There are instructions on the things we buy. Some read them and some do not. I am one of those who don’t read and end up in trouble!

For example, if you buy an iron, you will read the instruction: “Do not iron clothes on your body.”

The instructions for using auto shades explain how to place it, where to put it, and the last instruction is: “Do not drive car with auto shades!”

Funny, simple, or stupid? Well, instructions are important. They are written to help you and protect you from harm.

The word of God is our daily instruction. We are studying the 1^st letter to the Corinthians. The Holy Spirit inspired Paul who wrote important “instructions” for the Corinthians then and for us now. In chapter 6 and 7, we move to some other important issues: our bodies are a temple of God. Shall we remain single? Shall we get married? Is sex sin? Is sex a gift from God in marriage? Important issues that the society around us has really distorted.

In the second part of the 6^th chapter, Paul is dealing with another important issue that apparently some of Corinthians were involved in: sexual immorality. “Flee from sexual immorality” (18). One can wonder how the Corinthians end up in sexual immorality. Haven’t they become Christians?

The issue is that, since Paul taught freedom in Christ, some Corinthians used the concept to do whatever pleased them. It is exactly what the world today defines as PLEASURE: “Do whatever makes you happy.”

Let us remember the Greek influence on the Corinthians. There was the common understanding that the soul is important while the body did not matter at all. Some devoted themselves to ascetic life by denying the body. Others went to another extreme, and they did with this body whatever they pleased. They thought they could have sex freely; they could lead immoral lives, no problem.

This is the way Paul deals with it: “"Everything is permissible for me"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"—but I will not be mastered by anything. "Food for the stomach and the stomach for food"—but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.(12-13)

OK now my friends. If things are permissible, this does not mean they are “beneficial.” Remember that our bodies are a temple of God. This was very important for both Greeks and Jews. Jews and Greeks viewed that God lived in the Temple. Here Paul is revolutionizing their concept of where God is.

1- Our bodies are a TEMPLE OF GOD, therefore be careful how you use your body. “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself?” (15) “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit” (19)

This is to say, what will happen when one commits fornication? One is uniting his body with that person. Scripture says that intercourse is created so that two persons will be united.(Gen. 2:24) Our bodies are a temple of God. Sex is designed by God so that two individuals will be united in a marriage. The Corinthians were ignoring this. Our bodies belong to Christ. We need to be cautious how we use them.

2- Someone will MASTER your body; let it be God. “You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” (19-20)

The picture is very clear for the people of Corinth. One of the ways for a slave to be free is that he/she should buy his/her freedom. Every time a slave received some extra money, he deposited it in the temple of some god. In the end of the year when he had enough money in the temple to purchase his freedom, he would take his master to the temple to meet with the priest who supervised this money. Then this slave symbolically became the property of this god, free from all men.

Paul said in verse 19, “you were bought at a price.” We, Christians were bought by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are not masters of this body. Jesus is our master. Therefore, HONOR GOD with your BODY.

These are instructions about God’s design for our bodies. These bodies are gifts from God. Let us use them for His GLORY.

Now we move to chapter 7 to discuss what to do with this earthly body.

We will continue in English.