REV. DR. ISAIAH ROBINSON, JR. DMIN./ PhD
Scripture Text: 1CORINTHIANS 6:12-20
INTRODUCTION: Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “that sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, men who engage in illicit sex, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, swindlers- none of these will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 9c-10). The Corinthian Christian lived in a context where people justified their sins. This mindset infected the church, where they took Paul teachings about the Law of Moses to the extreme. The Corinthians likely understood what Paul meant, but sin had a way of hardening their hearts. Sinners who are determined to rebel find ways to continue their conduct.
Know the Body’s Purpose: (God’s Intention for Human Beings through the gift of sex) (6:12-14). The spirit faction discounted the body, asserting that bodily activities could not pollute the spirit since the spirit was separate. Genesis 2:24 applied to marriage, but Paul expanded the principle to all intercourse. Scripture taught that God was married to His people (Isaiah 54:5-6). Paul connected this idea with believers’ unity with Christ in one body. Some Jewish people depicted God’s people as a spiritual temple, an image extended to individual believers (v.19). The church exists in the world as the body of Christ, which is the new “temple” (v.19) where God chooses to dwell. Paul further extends the body’s spiritual importance by reminding the Corinthians that God would raise their bodies just as He raised Christ (v.14). That a future resurrection is the body’s destiny, and believers should treat it with reverence, respect, and care instead of using it to gratify fleshly desires. The body is for the Lord; believers are to use it to honor Him and serve others for His glory.
THE BODY’S PURPOSE ) The Christian’s Body Belongs to the Lord) (6: 1 3-20). Paul reminded the Corinthian Christians that their bodies are temples of the indwelling Holy Spirit, God’s gracious gift, and they ultimately belong to Him because of Christ’s costly sacrifice on the Cross for humanity’s sin (v.19). Therefore, Christians’ only response is to use their bodies to glorify bodies glorify Him (v.20).
When God raised Jesus, He elevated the physical body to prominence and importance. This means that our bodies belong to the Lord Jesus, and those who have been united with Him are in a relationship of intimate union that is deeper than a sexual union. Theologians describe the unity of God the Father and the Son as “homoousias,” meaning they are of the same substance. No Christian can claim, “my body and my choice.” The body has been fearfully and wonderfully made by God. Therefore, it is designed to glorify God. The body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit.