June 29 Click on verses for Full Scripture

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Today's Pathway: I Corinthians 6:18-20 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

We finished off yesterday with Paul's admonition to "flee fornication". In today's passage he gives three more reasons why Christians should not engage in sexual sins. First, he shows that sexual sin is uniquely sinful. He states that every sin is "without" the body, but fornication is a sin "against" the individual's body. The argument presented here is this: when men commit sins these usually primarily impact other people. Murder, theft, lies, evil speaking, and such things affect the person who is on the receiving end of the transgression. This is one of the reasons why the second great commandment is to "love thy neighbor as thyself". If I love him properly, I won't do these things to him. However, where sexual sin is involved, not only are God and the "harlot" (verses 15-16) sinned against, but the fornicator is sinning against himself. He is bringing evil upon his own body. Every facet of his own being is going to be affected. Matthew Henry wrote,

"Every other sin, every external act of sin, is without the body. It is not so much an abuse of the body as of something else, as of wine by the drunkard, food by the glutton, etc. Nor does it give the power of the body to another person. Nor does it so much tend to the reproach of the body and render it vile. This sin is in a peculiar manner: he sins against his own body; he defiles it, he degrades it, making it one with the body of that vile creature with whom he sins."

"Sexual sin is done against the body, not outside of it. Sexual sin is not the worst possible sin, but it is the most unique in its character. It comes from inside the body, it's bent on personal gratification, and it drives us like no other impulse. And when it's fulfilled, it does have a way of internally destroying a person that no other sin has. Because sexual intimacy is the deepest uniting of two persons, its misuse corrupts on the deepest human level."

Paul's second reason is found in verse 19. The Holy Spirit resides in the body of every believer. As we saw previously in verse 13, if the body is for the Lord and the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, how can someone justify uniting that body with someone to whom he or she is not married? In II Corinthians 6:16 Paul asks,

"What agreement hath the temple of God with idols?"

The final reason, given in verses 19-20, is that we do not own our own bodies. Therefore, we do not have the right to do with them as we please. My body belongs to two people, and I am not one of them. According to I Corinthians 7:4 my body belongs to my wife, and according to our text my body belongs to God. When He purchased my salvation through the blood of Christ, He purchased all of me, including my physical body. Often we only think of our souls being ransomed, but Paul says here that my body was bought as well. I Corinthians 10:31 states,

"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."

"For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication."

Tomorrow we will begin looking at Paul's teaching concerning marital relationships.