1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? (20) For you were bought at a price; therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.”
In a previous section we established that our earthly bodies are in fact temporary structures, and so the question is asked does this mean that while we dwell on this earth can we use them as we please? The answer to that question is “yes” and “no”. The “yes” part of that answer applies to saints that choose to walk in disobedience to God’s laws. Obviously for the saints that choose to walk in disobedience, there are negative consequences that they will incur as a result of their actions. The “no” part of that answer applies to saints that choose to walk in obedience to the Lord, for in the above quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul clearly teaches us that our bodies are not our own, but rather that they belong to God. And so because our bodies belong to God they are in effect His property and we can therefore only use them as He directs us. One way that we can understand this concept is to view our body as a house that we are renting. In other words God is the owner of the house and we are His tenants. And so as tenants, our Landlord so to speak, expects us to look after His property and He will hold us to account if we misuse it in any way. In a way the bible can be viewed as our lease agreement that we have with the Lord, because it describes the responsibilities that both parties are obliged to fulfil i.e. the owner and the tenant. As the owner, we can always be assured that God upholds His part of the lease agreement, and so it is really up to us as His tenants to go through the lease i.e. the bible so that we can understand and thus fulfil our part of that agreement. Obviously all unbelievers use their bodies as they please and thus incur the due penalties for their disobedience to God’s laws. And so in the following sections we will discuss how God expects His saints to use their bodies in this life, and there are two areas that we will discuss. The first area is that which God requires of us. The second area is that which God counsels us.
Michael E.B. Maher
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