12 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything.
In regards to sexual matters in Corinth there were several beliefs that existed amongst the believers that Paul had to address in his letter. The first is given in verse 12 “I have the right to do anything”. To Paul this may have been permissible in that they weren’t doing anything against God or his design, however he also interjects them by saying that not everything they do in regards to sexual matters is necessarily beneficial to them. Likewise they should not allow themselves to be mastered by anything.
For example it would be similar to eating. You may be allowed to eat anything but eating junk food everyday wouldn’t necessarily be good for you (not everything is beneficial). Likewise neither would being addicted to eating too much food every day be good for them (not to be mastered by anything).
13 You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
Paul addresses a specific excuse in verse 13 ”Food for the stomach and the stomach for food” or in other words they would say to Paul that God had made their bodies to be used for sex, and likewise sex exists for the body. However Paul corrects them and says that the body is actually made for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. It was not made for sexual immorality or to do things that don’t glorify God.
For example the body may have been designed to be able to be used for sex, it wasn’t intended to be used for sexual acts such as prostitution or homosexuality because these acts are immoral and against God’s design. There are several other sexual immoral acts that go against God’s will, such as what Paul addressed earlier in Corinthians regarding a man who slept with his mother. So although God has allowed sex to be apart of their lives, they should do so according to God’s blessing.
14 By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! 16 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.
Those who are raised in Christ should be holy just as Christ is holy, no longer taking on the sinful nature and its lusts but being made new in Christ Jesus so that God will raise them from the dead also on the last day. This is what Paul means when he states in verse 14 that by God’s power Christ was raised from the dead, and he will raise the believers also. How can God raise someone from the dead and join with him in his heavenly kingdom if they call themselves believers yet continue in their sin? It says in 1 Corinthians 6:9 that the disobedient will not inherit the kingdom of God. Therefore Paul urges them to live holy lives and be united with the Lord in spirit because God will raise them from the dead just as he raised Christ.
Romans 13:13 “Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.”
1 Corinthians 6:9 “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders”
Genesis 2:24 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.”
18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
As with the previous verse when two people come together in intimacy they become united together. It is the same in these next verses that believers are also united with the Lord. If the believers are united with the Lord then they should honour the Lord with their bodies, including sexual matters.
Romans 8:9 “You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.”
Paul warns them to flee from sexual immorality because it is a sin against their own body and they will be affected by it on a more personal level than that of other sins that generally occur outside of the body.
Not only this, but seeing as they are believers of Christ and have received the gift of the Holy Spirit, they should keep themselves from grieving the Holy Spirit who lives inside of them.
Further more, they became children of God at a price that was dear to God. If God had paid such a high price as to take away His very life on the cross, then as believers they ought to honour God by walking away from sin and living pure lives instead.
Revelation 5:9 “And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.”
Filed under: 1 Corinthians, Apostle Paul, Bible study, Christianity, church divisions, corinthians, God, Jesus, New Testament, prostitution, Scripture, sexual immorality
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