Monday, July 11, 2016

1 Corinthians Chapter 6

WARNING! Chapters 6 and 7 of 1 Corinthians are explicit and are not for children's Bible study!

1 Corinthians
Above image from https://www.insight.org/resources/bible/the-pauline-epistles/first-corinthians

Why We Should Demonstrate Change by Jeffrey E. Miller: "'Don't do that! That's what the nonbelievers do!' I think this would be Paul's title for 1 Corinthians 6. Christians have distinguishing marks that cause us to stand out from our culture. We can be identified by our love for one another as well as our high moral standards. But it seems that the church in Corinth needed to be reminded of these things. Their arguments were being broadcast before unbelievers in court, and their conduct shared too much in common with an immoral culture. We, too, need to be reminded that the work of Christ to transform us internally will be demonstrated through external change. Our treatment of other believers should reveal our love for one another, and our purity should reflect our gratitude for the high price that God paid to purchase us."

Coffman's Commentary: "It is sometimes necessary for Christians to appear in courts for justice; Paul himself appealed to Caesar. The Rabbis taught the Jews never to take a case before the Gentiles; and there were reasons excellent enough why the Christians should have likewise stayed out of pagan courts, except through the utmost necessity. Not only were the Christians more competent in an ethical sense, but the use of pagan courts would involve oath-taking in the names of pagan deities and other practices abhorrent to Christians." Of course, the leading Rabbis had no problem turning both Christ and Paul over to Gentiles in Gentile courts!

(1) When one of you has a dispute with another believer, how dare you file a lawsuit and ask a secular court to decide the matter instead of taking it to other believers!

  • In reading this verse about not taking a fellow Christian to the civil courts to settle a dispute, remember that, there was only one "church" in Corinth and it was small enough to meet in homes! Therefore, settling a dispute would be possible between two members of the same "church." Today, there are many churches and denominations and the dispute might between members of different "churches". They still should seek to find an independent Christian to help settle the dispute, but that may not be feasible. Also, bear in mind that this is not about criminal cases.
  • Dispute:
    • The word used for “dispute” in verse 1 is the Greek pragma – from which we get our word “pragmatic.” It means a dispute about ordinary matters – usually a commercial dispute.
    • Paul’s point is that Christians have been “set apart” for God's purpose and should not behave like the unbelievers around them.
    • William Barclay describes how normal it was to be involved in the legal system in Corinth: "The Greeks were naturally and characteristically a litigious people. The law-courts were in fact one of their chief amusements and entertainment...In a Greek city every man was more or less a lawyer and spent a very great part of his time either deciding or listening to law cases. The Greeks were in fact famous, or notorious, for their love of going to law. Not unnaturally, certain of the Greeks had brought their litigious tendencies into the Christian church; and Paul was shocked."
    • Acts 18 tells us that in the city of Corinth during Paul's time there, the Jews had dragged him before the proconsul, a man named Gallio, and accused him of treason, of preaching a religion that would undermine Rome. Gallio listened to it and said, "No, this is a minor religious dispute. This has no place in a court of law." So, Paul himself benefited from the Roman legal system.
      • Acts 18:14-16: But just as Paul started to make his defense, Gallio turned to Paul’s accusers and said, “Listen, you Jews, if this were a case involving some wrongdoing or a serious crime, I would have a reason to accept your case.  But since it is merely a question of words and names and your Jewish law, take care of it yourselves. I refuse to judge such matters.” And he threw them out of the courtroom.
  • Lawsuit:
    • Paul now deals with another problem in the church in Corinth - going to pagan civil courts instead of settling disputes amongst themselves. This would give a bad witness to the pagan world.
    • Two Christians should not stand before Judge Judy, a secular Jew, besmirching Christianity!
    • The Jews usually settled things in front of the important men in their village or the important men in a synagogue because they thought that it was wrong to go to a pagan law court. As a Jew, and even more as a Christian, Paul strongly felt that their appealing their disputes before a Gentile.

(2) DON'T YOU REALIZE that someday we believers will judge the world? And since you are going to judge the world, can’t you decide even these little things among yourselves?

  • DON'T YOU REALIZE:
    • The expression "Don't you realize" or "Do you not know" appears six times in this chapter (Verses 2, 3, 9, 15, 16, 19) and only twice in all the other of Paul's writings.
    • Coffman in his commentary believed that the words are a sarcastic reference by Paul to the Corinthians' conceited arrogance.
    • Farrar in The Pulpit Commentary says that "(these words) are a fitting rebuke for those who took for knowledge their obvious ignorance."
  • Judge the world (Greek kosmos):
    • Scofield: "The Greek word kosmos means "order," "arrangement." When used in the New Testament, it usually refers to organized humanity. The word for chaotic, unorganized humanity -- the mere mass of man is thalassa, the "sea" of men (e.g.) Revelation 13:1."
    • 2 Peter 2:9: So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgment.

(3) DON'T YOU REALIZE that we will judge angels? So you should surely be able to resolve ordinary disputes in this life.

  • Judge angels:
    • http://www.gotquestions.org/judge-angels.html: Most likely, the meaning of this passage is that believers in heaven will take part in the judgment of the fallen angels and exercise some authority over the holy angels. Christ has been exalted above all the angels, and it seems reasonable that those who are in Him and made in His likeness will share in His authority, including His authority over the angels.
    • 2 Peter 2:4: For God did not spare even the angels who sinned. He threw them into hell, in gloomy pits of darkness, where they are being held until the day of judgment.
    • Jude 6: And I remind you of the angels who did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them but left the place where they belonged. God has kept them securely chained in prisons of darkness, waiting for the great day of judgment.

(4) If you have legal disputes about such matters, why go to outside judges who are not respected by the church?

  • Disputes:
    • The word translated “disputes” in verse four is different from the word in verse 1 where it was pragma – here it is kriterion, from which we get our word “criterion.” The subtle meaning is that we are to apply criteria, or standards, to such disputes.
  • Outside judges: 
    • The pagan magistrates were usually very corrupt and easily bribed. Josephus says that the Romans normally permitted the Jews to decide private affairs among themselves. And Dr. Lardner observes, that the Christians might have availed themselves of this permission to have settled their disputes in the same manner.

(5) I am saying this to shame you. Isn’t there anyone in all the church who is wise enough to decide these issues?

  • Shame:
    • 1 Corinthians 1:27: Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.
  • Wise:
    • 1 Corinthians 3:18: Stop deceiving yourselves. If you think you are wise by this world's standards, you need to become a fool to be truly wise.
    • 1 Corinthians 4:10: Our dedication to Christ makes us look like fools, but you claim to be so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are so powerful! You are honored, but we are ridiculed.
    • 2 Corinthians 11:19: After all, you think you are so wise, but you enjoy putting up with fools!

(6-8) But instead, one believer sues another - right in front of unbelievers! Even to have such lawsuits with one another is a defeat for you. Why not just accept the injustice and leave it at that? Why not let yourselves be cheated? Instead, you yourselves are the ones who do wrong and cheat even your fellow believers.

A new section begins here about sexual sin and would have been a better place for the translators to begin a new chapter to be combined with chapter 7. I strongly recommend reading the article What are bodies for? by Ray Stedman at www.pbc.org/system/message_files/4841/3585.pdf which covers this subject extremely well. This section, as well as chapter 7, is not suitable for youngsters.

(9) DON'T YOU REALIZE that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who INDULGE in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality,

  • Do wrong:
    • If we read this without thought, we would have to conclude that no one can be saved and no one can "inherit" the Kingdom of God, because we all do wrong (unrighteous) in the KJV! So, we must be missing the point! But, we have been changed from being unrighteous to righteous by the blood of Christ.
    • So, what's the connection between going before Gentile courts and Paul's list of sinners? The Christian who sued his fellow Christian is in court with fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, thieves, murderers, etc. and none of those who live characterized by these sins will inherit the kingdom of God. In fact, the judge himself is most likely guilty of these very sins.
    • Verse 11 clearly teaches that these types of sins should be in the Christian’s past, not in their present. The Christian community in Corinth was made up of people who were in their past idolaters, thieves, adulterers, fornicators, etc. However, these sins are not how they are characterized now, because they have been transformed by the gospel. The transformation of the gospel is Paul’s main point in this section. It is the best way of understanding how verses 1-8 flow into verses 9-20. The gospel transforms our actions and who we are. This is why urges them not to bring fellow Christians to court. It is also why we no longer practice these listed sins.
    • 2 Corinthians 12:21: Yes, I am afraid that when I come again, God will humble me in your presence. And I will be grieved because many of you have not given up your old sins. You have not repented of your impurity, sexual immorality, and eagerness for lustful pleasure.
    • Galatians 5:19-21: When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
  • Kingdom of God:
    • Occurs four times in 1 Corinthians: 1:9, 1:10, 4:20, 15:50.
    • We shouldn't think that a Christian who has committed an act of fornication or homosexuality (or any of the other listed sins) is automatically excluded from the kingdom of God. Instead, since Paul describes these people by their sins, he means those whose lives are dominated and characterized by these sins. So, is an occasional act of fornication or homosexuality no big deal to God? Of course it is a significant matter, because it goes against everything we have been given in Jesus, and because a lifestyle of sin begins with single acts of sin.
  • Don’t fool yourselves:
    • Someone was trying to deceive them into thinking that there is no judgment coming on these behaviors. They were in danger of falling into the trap of thinking that God does not care if you sin. Perhaps they assumed that, since God forgives sin, it is okay to sin a lot. Such thinking is a deception.
    • 1 Corinthians 15:32-34: And what value was there in fighting wild beasts - those people of Ephesus - if there will be no resurrection from the dead? And if there is no resurrection, “Let’s feast and drink, for tomorrow we die!” Don’t be fooled by those who say such things, for “bad company corrupts good character.” Think carefully about what is right, and stop sinning. For to your shame I say that some of you don’t know God at all.
      • Paul is saying that there were some among them who were not believers, had not repented of their past life and turned their lives over to Christ - just as today we find "pretenders" in the pews often completely unaware of their lost condition because they've deceived themselves. Paul in 2 Corinthians 13:5 urges them to "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? - unless indeed you fail to meet the test!"
    • Galatians 6:7-8: Don’t be misled - you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.
    • Ephesians 5:5-6: You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him.
  • Sexual sin:
    • The temple of Aphrodite dominated Corinth. Halley's Handbook: "A thousand public prostitutes, kept at public expense, were always ready (in the temple) for immoral indulgence as worship to their goddess!" In such an atmosphere, some of the Corinthians were finding it difficult to adjust to the strict code of Christian morality."
  • Commit adultery:
    • Adultery is the Greek term moichos, which refers to extramarital sexual unfaithfulness. This is the only place it is used in the Corinthian letters.
    • Proverbs 6:25-32: Don’t lust for her beauty. Don’t let her coy glances seduce you. For a prostitute will bring you to poverty, but sleeping with another man’s wife will cost you your life. Can a man scoop a flame into his lap and not have his clothes catch on fire? Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet? So it is with the man who sleeps with another man’s wife. He who embraces her will not go unpunished. Excuses might be found for a thief who steals because he is starving. But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times what he stole, even if he has to sell everything in his house. But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys himself.
  • Male prostitutes:
    • Macknight in his commentary: "This word is translated from a Greek word meaning "catamite," the technical word for a boy used in pederasty. Those wretches who suffered this abuse were likewise called pathics, and affected the dress and behavior of women." Catamites were the passive partners in sodomy.
  • Homosexuality:
    • What about churches which not only condone this sin, but have actually ordained homosexuals to the ministry? Homosexuality was rampant in the Roman world; 14 out of the first 15 Roman emperors were bisexual or homosexual. Nero castrated a boy named Sporus and then married him (with a full wedding ceremony), brought him to the palace with a great procession, and made the boy his "wife." Later, the emperor lived with another man, and Nero was declared to be the other man's "wife."
    • William Barclay in his The Letters to the Corinthians: "In this particular vice in the time of the early church, the world was lost to shame; and there can be little doubt that that was one of the main causes of its degeneracy and the final collapse of its civilization." Take a look at America and Europe today and you can see how we are increasingly looking like the Roman Empire.

(10-11) or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people - none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. Some of you WERE once like that. But you WERE cleansed; you WERE made holy; you WERE made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

  • Notice the order:
    1. Cleansed (washed),
    2. Made holy (sanctified),
    3. Made right (justified).
  • WERE once like that:
    • Paul placed an emphasis on the word “WERE.” He was contrasting their previous condition with their current righteous position in Christ. Was this because they had ceased committing all these sins? Obviously not!
    • Ephesians 2:1-2, 5:8: Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. ... For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!
    • Colossians 3:7: You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world.
    • Titus 3:3: Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient. We were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other.
  • Cleansed (washed):
    • This is not water baptism, but is what had been done by God when He washed away this filth in our life when we were baptized by the Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ. Paul here uses three words, “cleansed (washed), made holy (sanctified), made right (justified),” to denote the various agencies of the Holy Spirit by which they had been recovered from sin. By the agency of the Spirit the defilement of these pollutions had been washed away or removed. The words "made whiter than snow" still ring in my ears from the day when I was saved as a child.
    • Titus 3:5: he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.
    • Hebrews 10:22: let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
  • Made holy (sanctified) - Greek hagios:
    • Sanctified means "set apart for a special use." This denotes the progressive and continuing process of purifying in the Christian. It does not mean that the Corinthians were perfect - they clearly were not; but that the work of the Holy Spirit was in the continuing process of sanctifying them.
    • John 17:17: Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.
  • Made right, declared righteous, (justified) - Greek dikaioó:
    • "Justified" is the act of declaring that a person or thing is righteous. The act of justification does not MAKE a person righteous. It is merely a declaration that he IS righteous. People are justified when they believe.
    • George Whitefield, Justification by Christ: " "But ye are justified," says the apostle; which is, as though he had said, you have your sins forgiven, and are looked upon by God as though you never had offended him at all: for that is the meaning of the word justified, in almost all the passages of holy scripture where this word is mentioned. Thus, when this same apostle writes to the Romans, he tells them, that "whom God called, those he also justified:" And that this word justified, implies a blotting out of all our transgressions, is manifest from what follows, "them he also glorified," which could not be if a justified person was not looked upon by God, as though he never had offended him at all. And again, speaking of Abraham's faith, he tells them, that "Abraham believed on Him that justifies the ungodly," who acquits and clears the ungodly man; for it is a law-term, and alludes to a judge acquitting an accused criminal of the thing laid to his charge. Which expression the apostle himself explains by a quotation out of the Psalms: "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth no sin." From all which proofs, and many others that might be urged, it is evident, that by being justified, we are to understand, being so acquitted in the sight of God as to be looked upon as though we never had offended him at all."
    • Romans 1:17: This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”
    • Romans 3:25: For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past,
    • Romans 4:3-5: For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners.
    • Romans 8:30: And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing (justified), he gave them his glory.

(12) You say, “I am allowed to do anything” - but not everything is good for you. And even though “I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a slave to anything.

  • What are Bodies For? by Ray Stedman: "Notice in verses 12 and 13 the quotation marks that are in the New Living Translation, the Revised Standard Version, the New English Bible and some of the other modern versions around the words "I am allowed to do anything." This is the editors' way of showing that they felt this was something these people had written to Paul about and were saying constantly within the church. And it is very likely that Paul had said something like this, because this was part of his teaching about the grace of God: "All things are lawful for us." The difference between legalism and true Christianity is right at that point. The legalist looks at life and he says, "Everything is wrong unless you can prove from a verse of Scripture that it is right." That is legalism. It is a negative approach to life; it clamps a prohibitive hand upon everything that is fun and says it is all either illegal, immoral or fattening. But New Testament Christianity comes at it differently. It says everything is right: God made the earth and everything in it and everything is right except what the Word of God labels is wrong. That is an entirely different point of view, opening the whole world to exploration and discovery and enjoyment, except for a very limited part that Scripture clearly labels wrong. Now this is what these people were doing -- they were quoting Paul in this regard. They were saying, "Paul himself said 'All things are lawful for me.'" And so Paul begins to answer that now with this paragraph recognizing their quotations. Notice how he answers it. Their argument sounded very familiar, and it should sound very familiar to us today. They were saying that sexual freedom, i.e., sex outside of marriage, is theologically sound. Their argument probably went something like this: "The Law of Moses is what tells us that it is wrong to commit adultery." ("Adultery" there is a broad word referring to any kind of sexual wrongness.) They would say, "The Law of Moses says, 'Thou shalt not commit adultery,' but Paul taught us that when Christ came into our life the Law ended its reign. We are no longer under the Law, we are no longer under this commandment not to commit adultery, therefore, by Paul's own words, we are free to indulge in some of these sexual practices here that are so widely accepted in Corinth." Now notice how Paul answers this: First, notice what he does not do. He does not come in and say, "Now that you are a Christian we have a new rule here for you. You must not do such and such, and such and such." Paul never does that; he never retreats into legalism. What he does is say, "Yes, you are right, but you need to understand that truth must always be balanced." And in this section he sets forth the balancing of truth. Balancing truth is like walking along the top of a fence. When I was a boy I used to enjoy walking along the back fences in the city of Denver. I could go for blocks on the back alleys just walking on them. I enjoyed doing it, but it was a very narrow path. And Jesus said that was what the Christian life would be like. He called it "the straight and narrow way," {cf, Matt 7:14}. The problem is to keep from falling off, and the interesting thing about that is you can fall off on either side. It does not make any difference -- either side is equally dangerous, it is the same distance down. Therefore, Christians ought to constantly remember that the pathway of liberty is always narrow. It is a wonderful path; it is a freeing and exhilarating walk, but it is not very wide, and you can easily fall off into one error or the other. I remind you again of C. S. Lewis' great admonition to us that Satan always sends error into the world in pairs which are opposites. His great hope is that you will get so upset about one of these errors that you will fall off the fence into the other one and then he has got you."
  • Allowed:
    • Apparently, some Christians in Corinth were excusing their sins by saying that Christ had taken away all sin thus allowing them to leave as they please. Paul was free in Christ to do as he wished, but he chose not to do those things that gave Satan opportunity in his life. The liberty we enjoy in Christ is freedom from the guilt of sins, not the freedom to sin.
    • Galatians 5:1,13: So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law. ... For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.
  • Good for you:
    • 1 Corinthians 10:23: You say, “I am allowed to do anything” - but not everything is good for you. You say, “I am allowed to do anything” - but not everything is beneficial.
  • Become a slave:
    • Don't ask, "Am I allowed to do this as a Christian?" Instead ask, "Am I a slave to this? Is this food or drink or sex or hobby or work becoming my master instead of my servant?" Sexual sin is certainly one of the most enslaving forms of sin there is. The more we indulge, the more likely we are to do so again - it can be addictive, like drugs, alcohol and tobacco. In our society today, sex is thrown at us from every direction - movies, internet, store displays, TV and even billboards. Our society today tells us, "if it feels good, do it." Then, our society wonders why the divorce rate is so high, why premarital sex is so common, why our colleges are centers of sex and drugs, why the drug addiction problem is so huge, why the crime rate keeps climbing! So, the politicians come up with programs to solve these problems, only making things even worse.

(13) You say, “Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food.” (This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them.) But you can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies.

  • Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food.
    • Again, notice the quotation marks! Some Corinthians must have argued that fornication was justified as a satisfying of a bodily urge just as eating satisfied bodily hunger. The idea seems to be that just as the stomach hungers for food and it's right to satisfy hunger with food, the human sexual drive can also rightly be satisfied without restraints. Paul contends that this “logic” is faulty because while the stomach was made for food, the Christian’s body is made for service to the Lord, not for fornication.
    • The Corinthian Christians probably used this motto to justify giving their bodies whatever their bodies wanted. "My body wants food, so I eat. My body wants sex, so I hire a prostitute or go to bed with my girlfriend. What's the problem?"
    • Matthew 4:3-4: During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
    • Romans 14:14-23: I know and am convinced on the authority of the Lord Jesus that no food, in and of itself, is wrong to eat. But if someone believes it is wrong, then for that person it is wrong. And if another believer is distressed by what you eat, you are not acting in love if you eat it. Don’t let your eating ruin someone for whom Christ died. Then you will not be criticized for doing something you believe is good. For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too. So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up. Don’t tear apart the work of God over what you eat. Remember, all foods are acceptable, but it is wrong to eat something if it makes another person stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another believer to stumble. You may believe there’s nothing wrong with what you are doing, but keep it between yourself and God. Blessed are those who don’t feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right. But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.
  • Bodies:
    • Romans 12:1-2: And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice - the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
  • Sexual immorality:
    • Some of the Corinthians had a view of the body that made what they did with it morally indifferent. In 1 Corinthians 5:2, they actually boasted about an act of incest in the church. In 11:21, some of them even got drunk at the Lord's Supper. They believed that they could eat and drink and have sex any way they wanted because the body is morally irrelevant.
    • Morris: "God did not design the body for fornication as He did the belly for food."
    • Lenski: "In the matter of sex the entire body is involved, and we may add the entire mental constitution . . . Marriage does not destroy the spiritual relation of the body to Christ and of Christ to the body; fornication does destroy that relation."
    • 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5: God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor - not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways.

(14) And God will raise us from the dead by his power, just as he raised our Lord from the dead.

  • Raise us from the dead:
    • The 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians goes into great detail about this. There is a physical body, and there is a spiritual body. The physical body must die for the spiritual body to live.
    • Morris: "Meats are for the belly and the belly for meats, and the destiny of both is destruction. The body is for the Lord and the Lord for the body, and resurrection is postulated of both."
    • Philippians 3:21: He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.

(15) DON'T YOU REALIZE that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never!

  • DON'T YOU REALIZE:
    • For the fourth time in this chapter (see verses 2,3,9) Paul says: "You know, don't you, that, etc." This implies that Paul merely reminds them of a principle which they already know. A "don't you" question expects a positive answer.
  • Bodies ... parts of Christ:
    • 1 Corinthians 12:12, 27: The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. ... All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.
    • Ephesians 1:23: And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.
    • Ephesians 4:15-16: Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.
  • Prostitute:
    • While the emphasis is on prostitution, he also condemns all sexual sin in this chapter.

(16) DON'T YOU REALIZE that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, “The two are united into one.”

  • Prostitute:
    • Warren Wiersbe, Be Wise, pg. 69: "Paul had dealt with the problem of incest and their inability to judge the offender in 5:1-13. That led to a discussion of having unbelievers judge church members (6:1-8), but Paul returns to his topic of sexual immorality. Evidently some of the Corinthians were going to prostitutes and they were probably appealing their right to do so because of their liberty in Christ, but they had a false view of Christian freedom."
    • What are Bodies For? by Ray Stedman: "It is almost frightening to see how certain leaders of the church are now openly advocating sexual immoralities, and certain of the pastors and leaders of youth groups in the church are openly encouraging young people to sleep together, and to live together. Now, at the time this letter was written, the atmosphere was such that sexual immorality was widely accepted within the city as the normal way of life. Within the church, however, it is absolutely set aside as being totally incongruous with the Christian profession, because it was a violation of the humanity of the individuals involved. The love of God burned in zealous judgment against this because it was destroying and would destroy those involved in it. That is why the apostle speaks in such scathing words concerning this matter. Chapters five and six both deal with this matter of immorality, and the apostle points out that the defense of the Christian must not be derived from any moral standards outside himself -- it is not "thou shalt" and "thou shalt not" that keeps young people or older people free from sexual problems and pressures, but rather it is the recognition that their bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit. The Son of God himself dwells in us, and we are never out of his presence. Everywhere we go, he goes with us, and is in us, and, in that sense, everything we are doing is done in the presence of the Son of God himself. That is what keeps the young person free from the pressures that come."
  • One:
    • Vine’s Expository Dictionary: "The Greek word that was translated “one” here is “heis” and it means “a single (one), to the exclusion of others”. It is the same word that was used twice in 1 Timothy 2:5 to say, For, There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity - the man Christ Jesus.” We don’t have multiple Gods. There is just one God. Likewise, when we are born again, our new spirits become one with God’s Spirit."
  • For:
    • God views intercourse as involving the whole person, not just the body. A physical union takes place that symbolizes the spiritual union of a husband and wife in marriage. Sexual relations very deeply affect the inner conditions of the individuals involved. This is what is in view in the reference to two people becoming "one flesh" in Genesis 2:24. Consequently it is improper to put sexual relations on the same level of significance as eating food.
  • The two are united into one: This concept applies not only to marriage but to relations with prostitutes, sleeping with someone who is not your wife (or husband), sleeping with a boyfriend or girlfriend or even a fiancé or fiancéé (premarital sex).

(17-18) But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him. Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body.

  • Run:
    • We are not instructed to resist, but to run from sexual sin. Joseph did not hesitate resisting Potiphar's wife - he ran. Sin is easier to avoid than it is to resist. How many churches have been destroyed when the preacher ran off with the secretary?
    • Ray Stedman: "That is Paul's apostolic advice as to how to handle the arousal of sexual desire when it is not able to be expressed within the proper terms of marriage. "Get out of there," Paul says. "Don't fool around with it; don't play with it. Get away from it; take to your heels." If you are in a parked car and you are beginning to get aroused, start the engine and drive home. If you are reading a magazine and you turn across something smutty, drop it, discard it, get rid of it. If you are watching television and it turns toward this and you find yourself dealing with these things, change the channel or go read a good book or something else. "Flee immorality" -- that is the advice everywhere in the Bible. Do not try to fight with it; do not try to overcome it; do not try to suppress it. Get away. That is all. These are subtle, powerful forces, and the widespread destruction we see in lives around us is ample testimony to the subtlety with which they can come at us"
  • Sexual sin:
    • The fornicator has only one thing in mind: to satisfy his desire. He does not even care about the woman or what happens to her.
    • Bengel: "The body of a fornicator is more debased by his deed, than even the corpse of one slain by his own hand."
  • Sin against the body:
    • Robertson and Plummer's Commentary on 1 Corinthians: "To sin against one's own body is to defraud it of its part in Christ, to cut it off from its eternal destiny. This is what fornication does in a unique degree . . . What St Paul asserts of fornication he denies of every other sin . . . All other sins are outside the body, in the sense that they do not as directly as fornication does, alienate the body from Christ, its Life and its Goal."

(19) Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself,

  • Temple - Greek naos:
    • The general Greek word for “temple” is “hieron” and is translated so seventy-one times in the New Testament. This word includes the idea of the entire temple precincts. But the Greek word translated “temple” here (as well as forty-two other times in the N.T.) is “naos” and refers to the inner sanctuary, the place of the Ark of the Covenant, God’s dwelling place - the Holy of Holies!
    • 1 Corinthians 3:16-17: Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?  God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
  • You do not belong to yourself:
    • The last six words of this verse are emphatic.
    • Romans 14:7-8: For we don’t live for ourselves or die for ourselves. If we live, it’s to honor the Lord. And if we die, it’s to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

(20) for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

  • God bought you:
    • "Bought with a Price" by C. H. Spurgeon: "Death is a word of horror to the ungodly. The righteous hath hope in his death; but as Christ's death was the substitute for the death of the ungodly, he was made a curse for us, and the presence of God was denied him. His death was attended with unusual darkness; he cried, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" O think ye earnestly on this. The Ever-living died to redeem us; the Only Begotten bowed his head in agony, and was laid in the grave that we might be saved. Ye are bought then "with a price" - a price incalculable, stupendous, infinite, and this is the plea which the apostle uses to urge upon us that we should "be holiness to the Lord." ... "Recollect, again, that your being "bought with a price" will be the most important fact in all your future existence. What say they in heaven when they sing? They would naturally select the noblest topic and that which most engrosses their minds, and yet in the whole range of their memory they find no theme so absorbing as this: "Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood." Redeeming love is the theme of heaven. When you reach the upper realms your most important memory will not be that you were wealthy or poor in this life, nor the fact that you sickened and died, but that you were "bought with a price.""
    • Matthew 20:28: For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
    • Acts 20:28: “So guard yourselves and God’s people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock - his church, purchased with his own blood - over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as leaders.
    • 1 Corinthians 7:23: God paid a high price for you, so don’t be enslaved by the world.
    • 1 Peter 1:18-19: For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.
    • Revelation 5:9: And they sang a new song with these words: “You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.
  • Honor God with your body:
    • The Interpretation of I Corinthians by R. C. H. Lenski: "To glorify God in our body means so to use our earthly body that men may actually see that also these our bodies belong to God."
    • Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians: by F. W. Grosheide : "The main subject is no doubt the matter of fornication . . . With this subject Paul combines two more general points. For it first of all furnishes an occasion to condemn the Corinthians for making the rule 'all things are lawful for me' a starting point for their general conduct. Secondly, the apostle ends with the summons to seek through the body the glory of God alone."

SUMMATION:

We live in an era of sexual permissiveness. I have seen this era grow and develop throughout most of my life. I became an adult in the 60's when what was termed as the sexual revolution came on the scene and promised to set people free to enjoy their sexuality. Instead it had just the opposite effect:

  • Homosexuality and its resulting diseases have spread like wildfire. There are entire countries today in which the majority of the population are infected with HIV.
  • Abortions and single mothers have become the accepted norm.
  • Pornography need not be sold on the street corner or at the local food mart; it is also freely available on the internet and is delivered unsolicited to people’s E-mail.
  • Divorce has become a way of life while the exceptions to the rule have become those who remain faithfully married for life.

APPLICATION:
Christians should be pure. They should be above suspicion. They should avoid the appearance of evil. May we remember that we are not our own - We belong to God. Christians should do nothing that will tend to injure the cause of religion in the eye of the world.

NOTES:

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