1 Corinthians 6:9-20: a reflection

9Or don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s Kingdom? Don’t be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexuals, 10nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor extortionists, will inherit God’s Kingdom. 11Some of you were such, but you were washed. You were sanctified. You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and in the Spirit of our God. 12“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are expedient. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be brought under the power of anything. 13“Foods for the belly, and the belly for foods,” but God will bring to nothing both it and them. But the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14Now God raised up the Lord, and will also raise us up by his power. 15Don’t you know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! 16Or don’t you know that he who is joined to a prostitute is one body? For, “The two”, he says, “will become one flesh.” 17But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. 18Flee sexual immorality! “Every sin that a man does is outside the body,” but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. 19Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20for you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Paul reminds the Corinthians of the transformation grace had worked in them, and then of a great truth about their bodies. Such were some of you, he says, listing sins they had once been given to; but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified. And then: Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. Their bodies were not their own to do with as they pleased; they belonged to God, bought at the price of Christ.

Notice the two truths Paul sets before them. First, that they had been transformed by grace: whatever they had once been, they were washed, sanctified, justified, changed by God. And second, that they now belonged to God: their bodies were temples of the Spirit, not their own, bought with a price; and so they were to glorify God in their bodies. Because they belonged to God, bought at the cost of Christ, how they used their bodies mattered greatly.

That truth reshapes how we regard ourselves, especially our bodies. We can think of our bodies, and our lives, as our own, to do with as we please. But Paul says we are not our own; if we belong to Christ, we were bought with a price, and our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, God's own dwelling. This calls us to glorify God in our bodies, in what we do with them, rather than treating them as our own to use however we wish. Remember that you are not your own; you were bought with a price, and your body is God's temple. Glorify God in your body, honoring rather than defiling what belongs to him. You are not your own; live, in body and spirit, as one who belongs to God, bought at the cost of Christ, and made his dwelling place.

Lord, Paul reminded the Corinthians that whatever they had once been, they were washed, sanctified, and justified; and that their bodies were temples of the Holy Spirit, not their own, but bought with a price, so that they were to glorify you in their bodies. Reshape how I regard myself, especially my body. I can think of my body, and my life, as my own, to do with as I please. But you say I am not my own; if I belong to Christ, I was bought with a price, and my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, your own dwelling. This calls me to glorify you in my body, in what I do with it, rather than treating it as my own to use however I wish. Help me remember that I am not my own; I was bought with a price, and my body is your temple. Help me glorify you in my body, honoring rather than defiling what belongs to you. Thank you that whatever I once was, I have been washed and made new; help me live, in body and spirit, as one who belongs to you, bought at the cost of Christ, and made your dwelling place.