Our Bodies belong to God
- Michael E.B. Maher
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
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 the 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.
Sexual immorality
1 Corinthians 6:15-18 “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 harlot? Certainly not! (16) Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For "the two," He says, "shall become one flesh." (17) But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. (18) Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.”
This section on sexual immorality falls under the heading of that which God requires of us, because it deals with sin in the body and the unique impact that this particular sin has on the body of Christ. The only sexual act condoned by God is the one between a husband and a wife. God reinforces this truth to us by condoning the sexual act between spouses even when one spouse is in His kingdom while the other is not (1 Corinthians 7:14). The reason God condones this act is because He is the one who put it in place, for the Lord Jesus has taught us that from the beginning of creation, “God made them male and female and for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Mark 10:6-9). And so God classifies every other sexual act as being sexually immoral and strictly forbids it. Obviously the world fully rebels against God’s commandment in this area by condoning nearly every form of sexual perversion known to man, for which they will incur their just punishment on their day of judgement. Nevertheless undeterred by their impending judgement, the world would try forcing all of mankind to disregard God’s commandment in this area by condemning all who refuse to accept sexual perversion as being the “new” normal in society. Because false ministers of the gospel always walk in sync with the world view, they also proclaim to the church that to walk in “love” is to embrace all the sexual perversion that the world endorses and thus they openly reject God’s word on the subject. And so sadly because of worldly pressure and much false teaching, many in the church have begun to abandon God’s commandment in this area, and have started to embrace the world’s view of condoning nearly every form of sexual perversion known to man. Nevertheless the point remains, that the believer who is sexually immoral cannot fulfil God’s requirement that they present their bodies as a living sacrifice which is holy and acceptable to Him. We have seen earlier that under the new covenant that our bodies belong to God and this truth is expanded to us in the above quoted passage of scripture, for the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul teaches us that our bodies are in fact part of Christ’s body. The Holy Spirit then goes on to explain that the believer who commits sexual immorality is actually using the Lord’s body to commit that act. And so, when the Holy Spirit says that he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body, He is not only referring to the body of the believer, but ultimately He is referring to the body of Christ. Clearly our bodies belong to God and we are not to defile them through any act of sexual immorality.
Michael E.B. Maher
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