Honoring God with Your Body (1 Corinthians 5-6)

A Few Thoughts to Consider

Do you view your body as your own?

In 1 Corinthians 6:15-20, the Apostle Paul addresses the Christian community in Corinth, a city renowned in the ancient world for its pervasive sexual immorality and the practice of temple prostitution, primarily associated with the worship of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Corinth's cosmopolitan atmosphere and acceptance of such practices presented significant moral challenges for new believers who were accustomed to a culture where engaging with prostitutes was socially and religiously acceptable. To the church at Corinth, Paul wrote,

¹⁵ Don’t you know that your bodies are a part of Christ’s body? So should I take a part of Christ’s body and make it part of a prostitute? Absolutely not! ¹⁶ Don’t you know that anyone joined to a prostitute is one body with her? For Scripture says, The two will become one flesh. ¹⁷ But anyone joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.

¹⁸ Flee sexual immorality! Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the person who is sexually immoral sins against his own body. ¹⁹ 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, ²⁰ for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body.

That our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit isn't just a figure of speech; it's a profound truth. Adam Clarke writes, “As truly as the living God dwelt in the Mosaic tabernacle, and in the temple of Solomon, so truly does the Holy Ghost dwell in the souls of genuine Christians.” He adds, “And as the temple and all its utensils were holy, separated from all common and profane uses, and dedicated alone to the service of God, so the bodies of genuine Christians are holy, and all their members should be employed in the service of God alone.”^[1]

Paul wanted believers to realize that they were not in charge. In an age when people were saying the equivalent of “My body, my choice,” Paul would reply, “God’s body, and God’s choice.” This is what it meant to walk in The Way of Jesus.

This was a radical mindset to have. In first-century Corinth, the temptation to be sexually immoral would compare to our temptation to gluttony today. Just as junk food permeates every aspect of our culture and calls for our attention, sexual immorality was on prominent display in Corinth. It wasn’t like Vegas today, where sins are largely committed in private. Corinth made sexual sin the norm. Thus, resisting this lifestyle and living as though one’s body was a temple of the Holy Spirit was radical.

A Meditation to PRAY

Praise | Heavenly Father, I praise you for your infinite wisdom and sovereignty. You are the Creator of all things, and you have made my body fearfully and wonderfully. Thank you for making me a temple of the Holy Spirit, dwelling within me, and guiding me toward righteousness.

Repent | I confess that I have often viewed my body as my own, forgetting that I was bought at a price—the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Forgive me for any ways I have misused my body or conformed to the patterns of this world. I repent of holding onto selfish desires and not honoring you with my whole self.

Ask | I ask for your strength and wisdom to flee from all forms of immorality and to resist the temptations that surround me. Fill me with your Holy Spirit so that I may live a life that glorifies you. Help me recognize the value of connecting with others and see myself as an integral part of your greater plan.

Yield | I surrender my life to you, Lord. I acknowledge that I am not my own and submit to your will in all things. Take control of my heart and mind so that the Holy Spirit has a complete monopoly over my life. Use me as you see fit, and let my life be a testament to your grace and glory.

A Challenge to Act Like Christ  

Unfortunately, many Christians do not even believe in the reality of the Holy Spirit.^[2] As a result, they’re content to live their lives the way they choose. However, understanding that we are not our own should transform how we live. It should change our view of what we have.