Sudsy wrote: ↑Tue Dec 27, 2022 12:10 pm
They seemed to think this freedom even allowed them to have sex with harlots if their body wanted it. They had been washed, sanctified and justified by what Jesus did, so why any restraints to not give their body to it's desires.
So how exactly does Paul address this with them? To me, that's really interesting.
First, he quotes three things that some Corinthians were presumably saying, and then responds:
“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other.
Then he does the typical Paul thing, he asks who we are in Christ and what that means for how we behave:
The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!
Not just how we behave, though, it's deeper than that. We are members of Christ. And that includes our physical bodies. And you can't give your physical body to a temple prostitute and to Jesus at the same time.
Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.
Do we want to be joined to the Lord or to a prostitute? That's the choice we have here...
Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
This is the context in which Paul says "your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you". There's a clear connection between what we do with our bodies and our communion with the Holy Spirit.
Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice for us - we are dearly bought. So let us glorify God in our body.
Is it biblical? Is it Christlike? Is it loving? Is it true? How can I find out?