1 Corinthians | Chapter 6 – Scripture Supply

1 Corinthians 6:1-11

“The Ex Factor”

I. Intro

As we have seen over the first five chapters, the Church in Corinth had many problems. Frankly, problems that we would not normally associate with an evangelical, Spirit-filled Bible teaching church. Their problem was pride, and this pride manifested itself in self-centered ways:

They were fighting over who was the best teacher.
They were tolerant of sin, thinking that this was a sign of spirituality.

In the sixth chapter, Paul deals with two other areas in which pride had manifested itself:

Vs. 1-11 Paul deals with the issue of Christians suing each other.
Vs. 12-20 He takes up the issue of sexual immorality.

The tie between the 5th chapter and the tolerance of sin within their church walls and the sixth chapter and lawsuits against each other is an interesting one. It seems that these Corinthian believers were tolerant towards sin as long as that sin didn’t affect them personally, but the moment that sin affected them, they wanted to take the brother or sister to court to get justice done. Last year alone, the U.S. had 12 million lawsuits filed. 200,000 of those in federal courts were civil cases. To handle this many cases, there are over one million lawyers and the numbers are growing. The society in which Paul wrote this letter was much the same as today. Litigation was a part of everyday life. Every citizen over 30 served on a jury; every person over 60 had to serve as an arbitrator to settle any dispute between two parties where they could not handle it themselves. It was a source of entertainment. The key to this chapter is found in Paul’s sixth time repeated question “Do you not know?” (2, 3, 9, 15, 16, 19) in which he implies the reason for such behavior is a lack of understanding of who they now were in Christ. Through the course of these 11 verses dealing with litigation between professing believers, Paul suggests three things we ought to ask ourselves before we act:

1-6 Where are we? That is in relationship or contrasted with the people of the world. Simply put, we are in the world but not of this world!
7-8 Why do we? Twice we read Paul say, “Why do you not rather accept wrong and let yourself be defrauded?” What Paul is implying is that the right attitude we ought to have towards each other is based upon true ownership. Who owns your car, house, life, etc.? It all belongs to Jesus, right? So it’s His problem, not mine!
9-11 What am I? Finally, Paul hits on the bottom line of the reason behind the litigation between professing believers, failure to recognize that the “PAST” ought to remain in the “PAST”! Simply put, right faith is never separated from right actions.

II. Vs. 1-6 Where are we?

Vs. 1 The opening phrase of Paul, “Dare any of you” is in the present tense which means that what he was about to say was a continuing reality amongst these professing believers. It wasn’t that a couple of fellows in the church sued each other one time. No, there were continual lawsuits against each other, to where Paul asks “How can this be?” Now it must be understood that Paul is not asking the question because he doesn’t know the answer, but rather he wants them to discover the truth.

Paul’s concern was not that they wouldn’t get a fair trial in the public court system. It is rather that they failed to realize the Church’s authority and, therefore, Christ’s authority over them. Folks, we Christians are indwelt with the Spirit of God. We are blessed with having access to the wisdom of God’s Word. Why would we need to have the world settle a dispute between two of us? It is as simple as appealing to what God’s word has to say on the matter and applying the truths to our lives. Anyone of us is capable of doing this. You don’t have to have a special gift to be able to apply the truths of God’s word to your life; we all can do it. There are only two reasons I can see why we would not go to the Word of God and the Spirit of God to govern our lives:

We are unaware that it is available and practical to answer all the questions of right behavior in every situation. Paul wrote to Timothy, his protégé, in 2 Tim. 3:16-17 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” It does not say “some or most” scripture is God-breathed but ALL. Neither does it say it needs to be supplemented with man’s wisdom, human psychology or self-help books, etc. Now here is where I get on my soapbox. I say that the Church that does not stand on the authority of scripture and the sufficiency of scripture is doing the Church a great disservice. No wonder so many Christians are looking outside the word of God by the Spirit of God for answers. Could it be that they aren’t hearing any truth from the pulpit?
We are aware of the truths of God’s word and the need to apply them to our lives, but we don’t like the outcome. Ouch! In other words, it is not a matter of ignorance but rather willful disobedience! We are looking for some other way around that will still allow us what we want without having to make any changes in our actions or behavior. So we seek out Dr. Swami’s guide to happiness and fulfillment. Or seek to find a person who will “validate” the reason for why we are doing what we are doing!

What a blessing it is if we aren’t sure what God’s Word has to say in our particular situation to go before the “saints” and ask them what the Word has to say so we can apply it to our lives. What a great resource it is to have so many in the body of Christ who have years of experience of having applied the Word in their own lives to help guide us into the richness of doing likewise.

Vs. 2-6 Twice Paul asks rhetorical questions and what’s behind those two questions is a way of getting the Corinthian believers to search their hearts to see if they are “ignorant” or “willful” as it deals with applying God’s Word by His Spirit into their lives.

Vs. 2 Universal truth: The first question, why it is wrong to go to the world’s courts to settle Christian disputes, is that the saints will judge the world. We will reign with Christ over the world during the millennial period and act as governors over the earth. Now what do you suppose will be the basis of our judging the world? Will it not be God’s Word by His Spirit? That which will rule, the Word of God’s mouth. That being true, in the future why would we not seek to have it rule over our lives now? Paul’s point is the truth that will govern the world in the future ought to be that which governs our lives now. Why would we go to the world system to judge what we ought to do when that very system will be put under the system of God’s Word?
Vs. 3 Universal authority: There is some debate as to the scope of the words “judging angels” as some see this as authority over all angels and others see it over the fallen angels. Again, the word “judge” can mean rule as well, and we will reign with Christ over His creation and angels are created beings, so perhaps you could make a case. There is no doubt that this may be an inference to judging fallen angels. But the point of Paul’s words is to show how ridiculous it is to not submit to the authority of the word of God in our lives when its authority will be what judges the angels who are far more powerful than we are. It’s kind of like a master mathematician going to a first grader for help in balancing his checkbook.

Vs. 4-5 So, the Word of God by the Spirit of God is Universal truth and Universal authority. In other words, you will not find a higher truth, or a truth that works better, than the Word of God by the Spirit of God, right? So, then, since that is true, why would you take the concerns for the things of this life before the courts of this world? Great question! Why go to the world system to answer questions or disputes that are answered in the word of God? Again, either they were ignorant of the vast wealth and power of the Word of God by the Spirit of God, or they did not want to abide by its truths.

So Paul’s words in verse 4 are answered in verse 5. It was a shame they were looking for the world’s answers to handle their circumstances. Was there not one Christian among them that was applying the truth in his life that they could turn to? The Apostle John wrote that “the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.” One of the clearest marks that distinguish Christians from the people of the world is our obedience to the Word of God which is most clearly seen in our love for others. Simply put, you can tell that we are following God’s Word by His Spirit in that we are primarily others-centered instead of being self-centered. These Corinthian believers who saw their tolerance of sin as a sign of spiritual maturity found the same tolerance deplorable when it came to others’ treatment of them. They were loving toward a sinning, professing believer, as long as his sin was not against them!

What made this all the worse was all of this dirty laundry was being paraded before those that they were supposed to witness of Jesus’ transforming power. For all their talk, they were nothing more than a sideshow of entertainment to those they were called to reach. So here it is, Christian, before you act, ask yourself: “Where am I?” Yes, I’m in the world, but I’m no longer of the world. I live by a different set of rules, and those rules are to be applied to my life first. It has been very popular to wear the words that ask the question “What would Jesus do?” I would like to ask another question, “What does God’s word say?” Then, I would like to challenge each of us to wear the answer not around our neck but rather around our hearts visible in our lives to all!

III. Vs. 7-8 Why do we?

Vs. 7 Paul minces no words as he tells them what suing each other meant. It told the world, and each other, that they had totally given up on the truth and power of God’s word to transform the human heart. If they could not go to the Word of God by the Spirit of God for the answer and, instead, went to the world system for truth, then how could they have any confidence in the same truth to save them? That would be a great question to ask ourselves when we would rather hear man’s opinion of our action or attitude instead of God’s Word by His Spirit. So, as Paul says in Romans 10:17, “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” This has become a reality as far as your salvation is true, but when it comes to practice, it is no longer true? If we take a brother to court instead of the word of God, then we have already lost our case before the Lord. Now I must say there are times when we are sued, and we can do nothing about it, but even in that, we are not out for our rights but rather we only want to glorify the Lord. Okay, then, what am I to do if I have a legal problem with another professing believer, and we have tried to settle it biblically but to no avail?

Well, Paul answers that question in verse 7: “Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated?” Feel like some professing Christian is ripping you off? It’s better for you to take the hurt than be spiritually defeated; better for you to be ripped off in the world than ripped off spiritually. How is that possible? Well, whose rights and stuff are they? It’s not my rights and stuff; it all belongs to Jesus. So, if it is Jesus’, then go ahead and take it. If he doesn’t want them to have it, they won’t be able to take it or enjoy it and, furthermore, He is big enough to replace it. You see, Jesus came not for His rights but rather for our wrongs, can we do any less than our master? Far better is it for us to be sued and lose than sue and win! Our greatest concern is not to protect our rights and possessions but rather to protect our heart and our relationship with Jesus and His children. Years ago, when I was in Bible school, I was trying to feed my family by making jewelry. One of the associate pastors at the Bible school found out that I was a skilled goldsmith. He was getting married, so he asked me to make his wedding set for them. They had some drawings and changes, so I did it exactly like they wanted. When I brought the set to them, they loved it. But she found another set they liked better and stopped payment on the check they had given me, which then caused our checks to bounce. Now I was not a happy camper. When I met with the guy, he didn’t much care about what he had done. It was apparent that we were not going to resolve the matter, so I told the guy to keep it. I told him I didn’t agree with his action, but if he needed the money that much, then he obviously needed it more than I did. Several days later, there was a check in the mail for double the amount that we had agreed to with a word of repentance. I learned that there was nothing more characteristic of a believer than his willingness to surrender all, even if it cost him hurt, rights, and property. My action caused a brother to repent of his actions, and God received the glory. There is a great little saying that every husband and wife ought to keep handy and say often to each other. “Honey, there is something greater than being right, and it is loving you!” But, instead, these believers put themselves ahead of each other and ahead of Christ and His Word.

So the second question we need to ask ourselves before we act is “Why do we?” Why are we acting as if our rights are more important than obeying God’s word for our lives? Are our rights greater than God’s truth? We have no power to see others changed, but we do have the blessing of allowing God to change our hearts.

IV. Vs. 9-11 What am I?

Vs. 9-11 Finally, Paul asks the third question, “What am I?” The first two verses start with what they were not. The ungodly list of 10 sins is not there to indicate those that have lost their salvation but rather to point out those who had no salvation, as those that practice such things “will not inherit the kingdom of God.” The list here is not meant to be exhaustive, but they do represent the big 10 moral sins that make up an ungodly society. Clearly, these sins are missing the mark of what God has for mankind, and none of them are to be practiced in the body of Christ. Paul says don’t be deceived, the unrighteous which are made up of the:

Fornicators: Anything that has to do with sexual immorality. Any unmarried person who has sex outside of marriage is outside of God’s kingdom.
Idolaters: This deals with any false religious system that guides our life.
Adulterers: Married people who engage in sexual acts outside of marriage.
Homosexual and sodomites: These both refer to those who exchange and corrupt normal male-female roles and relations. Homosexuality was widespread in Paul’s time, as it is in ours. 14 out of the first 15 Roman emperors were homosexuals. Socrates and Plato, who wrote “Symposium on love,” were practicing homosexuals. Yet, Paul stays true to the word of God and does not say that they were born that way.
Thieves and covetous extortionists: All of these relate to greed, desiring what others have and then taking it either by force or by tricking someone out of what they have.
Drunkards and revilers: Those who get drunk and party make fools of themselves.

Now the point of Paul bringing these 10 sins up is to say that they were no longer those things. I was listening to a Christian C.D., and one of the lyrics in the song asked a question that I think is implied by Paul’s words here; “This is your life, is it everything you dreamed it would be, are you who you want to be?” Their new life in Christ made them different. They may have once been the above 10 sins, but they weren’t any longer. Our new life requires a new way of living, and three things have happened in order to ensure that we should be living a new life:

We were washed: We have been washed in the blood of Christ. Old things have passed away; we are a new creation.
We were sanctified: We have a new behavior that is set apart from our old behavior. It is Christ-centered and, therefore, others-centered instead of “me” centered.
We were justified: We have a new standing before the Lord and this world. We are clothed in His righteousness through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

So a transformed life should produce transformed living, right?

1 Corinthians 6:12-14

“Boundaries for the Body”

I. Intro

Before we get started, I need to say that we are going to deal with a topic that is PG-rated. I am going to speak of it in a manner that glorifies God, but we are going to speak of it. There is within Christian circles no balance in dealing with the issue of human sensuality and our bodies. One side seems to view sex as dirty and evil, only useful for reproduction; (admittedly this group in our culture is the minority). The other group views the body as their own and, as such, it has certain appetites that must be appeased. I am so thankful that Paul writes on this subject, and that the Bible is not silent. There are two things I need to address in answer to these two views before we look at these verses:

We Christians who seek to apply the scriptures to our lives are neither prudes nor moral policemen. The Word of God does not deny, or ask us to deny, any natural activity or function of our bodies. What it does is define the proper use of these activities and functions. And by “proper,” I mean that which will enable us to experience the most joy and fulfillment of them. God created sex and sexuality, and, as we shall see, it is those of the world that have not understood the sexual freedom that God speaks of in the Bible. Are you saying that the world then is the prude? That is exactly what this section will reveal to us inasmuch as it is the world that has limited what sex is supposed to be?
Second, freedom must be understood and defined. Alan Redpath wrote what I consider one of the most profound truths I’ve ever read; “The greatest tyrant in life is self!” It is self in its rush to throw off every restraint in its pursuit of “freedom” that awakes to find itself restrained by that which it sought to make it free! “I’m free to have a cigarette” quickly changes to “I must have a cigarette!” Or closer to this passage, “I’m free to have sex with whomever and whenever I want” becomes “I need to be with someone!” Are we not then enslaved by what we sought to make us free? Jesus said in John 8:36 a most profound statement, the truth of which I’m still learning, “If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”

II. Vs. 12 Free From Not Free To

Before we get started, I again need to remind you to whom this letter was written. Paul is writing to the Church of God in Corinth. Corinth was a city dedicated to the worship of sex. By far and away, sexual promiscuity was what was normal and accepted. It was in this atmosphere that the Lord touched hearts and birthed His Church. Even in an atmosphere that not only looked the other way towards sexual promiscuity but actually promoted its practice, the Lord speaks through Paul concerning God’s standard for our bodies and our sexual activities. In other words, the bar was not lowered to fit the culture in which the Church was planted. I say this to answer any critic that may be tempted to say that God’s word is antiquated and out of touch with what is going on in our world today. God’s standards have not changed and, frankly, the world’s sins haven’t either!

Vs. 12 In the N.I.V. and N.R.S.V, you will notice that the words “All things are lawful for me” are in quotation marks, meaning that Paul is doing two things by using these words:

He is quoting what the Corinthians themselves believed. They were espousing Epicurean philosophy which taught that pleasure is the only good, and, therefore, the very definition of what morality is. Perhaps today, we would coin the phrase, “If it feels good, do it!”
Second, Paul is using the argument that the professing believers used to justify their view of sexual promiscuity. It was, no doubt, similar to what Paul had spoken to them concerning God’s grace versus the Law.

The law, or religion, (laws that bind) starts with the premise that “everything is wrong,” unless the Bible says that it is right. Life is viewed from the negative, as if all fun is illegal, immoral, or fattening. One commercial promoting its product proclaimed that it was “Sinfully delicious.”

Grace starts with everything being right except that which the Bible says is wrong, thus the perspective is positive. Now notice what Paul does not do in dealing with sexual promiscuity within the Church. He does not say, “The Law of Moses tells us that sex outside the bounds of marriage is sin!” Instead, he allows grace to define morality and not the Law of Moses by using two statements that we need to ask ourselves concerning our freedom or liberty in Christ. Before I give those two statements of Paul’s, I’m going to expound a bit more on this area of freedom in Christ, as I’m afraid we Christians don’t understand it. There are five verses that I’m going to use that shed light upon our freedom in Christ:

Rom. 8:21: “Creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” Here, Paul speaks of a yet deliverance for all of creation into the glorious liberty that we Christians now possess in Christ.
Gal 5:1: “Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” Here we are admonished to stand in the liberty in which Christ has brought us and to not again become entangled.
Gal 5:13: “You, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” Here we see how this liberty is to be applied not in serving the flesh but fellow believers.
James 1:25: “He who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.” The state of blessing is found, James says, in living in Christ’s perfect law of liberty.
1 Peter 2:16: “As free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God.” Peter as well expounds on our liberty serving Christ and not our old flesh.

So what does this have to say to us? Well, first, it reveals the truth that as far as our Christian experience is concerned, we are liberated or set free from that in which we were previously living. We Christians don’t much think of our “new life” in Christ as being full of freedom, do we? Now it is no stretch for us to view our salvation from hell as being liberated, but do we think of our life that we now live in Christ as being liberated from the things we used to do? We Christians walk between two things that will cause us bondage. They will tie us up and render us ineffective towards Jesus and our fellow man. What are they?

Law: The Law is extreme, and it makes rigid demands on my life that neither I nor anyone else can live up to. Paul wrote to the Galatians “A man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.” Why the law then? Well, Paul says in Gal. 3:24-15, “Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.”
License: Or freedom (sometimes referred to as grace) can cause us to fall into bondage, as that which we are free to pursue causes us to be enslaved to it. In other words, we can be in just as much bondage to our freedoms as we are to our lists of do’s and don’ts. Consider the words of the author of Hebrews right after he had given us the “hall of faith” as he writes, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Here license is clearly viewed as a weight that would slow down our life and render us ineffective in finishing the race.

Confused yet? Perhaps you can better understand this by seeing how the world views us Christians:

Law: Some Christians have a list of do’s and don’ts and are in bondage to their list. The world sees them as prudes and self-righteous.
License: Other Christians behave just as much enslaved to the things of the world as non-Christians; the world looks at them and calls them hypocrites.
Liberty: Paul speaks of yet another true group of believers who are not under the bondage to the law, but neither are they enslaved by the things they sought to make them free.

Okay, now we have two questions that we can ask ourselves to find out if we are walking in the freedom of Christ:

“All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful”: So Paul takes that phrase of liberty that had been transformed into a license for sexual promiscuity and defines its freedom with the words, “But not all things are helpful.” The word “helpful” is a word that means “bearing together for good.” Paul’s point is that anything that I pursue in my freedom that is not bearing together for good in my life, or the life of others, is in fact enslaving me. Sin never brings a profit, always a loss; it never delivers what it has promised. The moment the liberty that I sought begins to hurt me, or others, then I know that I do not have liberty or freedom but, instead, I am enslaved to what I thought was freedom. Have you ever noticed how addicting things are that are not for your good? You pursue things that are pleasurable and stay with them, even though they are not good for you. People will tell you about quitting these habits by saying, “It’s easy to quit, whatever, I’ve done it 100 times!” What? You have quit, but you have done so 100 times? Then you have never quit! The moment I become enslaved to anything, then I have given up my freedom. Are you free to or free from? Okay, Pastor, how does this work? Well, all things are lawful but is what I’m pursuing going to enslave me sooner or later? Is my freedom to watch “R” rated sex scenes going to enslave my thoughts, attitudes, or actions? Yes. So why would I use my liberty to place me back into bondage? The world says that we need to be “freed up”, “let go man”, “express yourself”! Yet, in every case, those that do end up being addicted to their self-expression. The greater question is “what is for my good?” Well, what is for my good is to be more like Jesus, thus, anything that does not make me more like Jesus is then enslaving me, and I’m losing my freedom.
“All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any”: The second question we need to ask ourselves concerning “All things being lawful” is “Will what I’m pursuing set me free or become my master?” The word for “power” is the Greek word meaning authority or mastery. If the Lord, who there masters us, is true freedom, why would we want to do anything that will place us back under the “tyrant called self”? The point is that anything that controls me is my Lord! Folks can be a slave to fashion, or they can become enslaved by their passions and appetites. The question concerning liberty is, “In this liberty is this thing going to have mastery over me?” The party begins to control the person; the person who becomes sexually promiscuous can no longer think of themselves without that person or a person. Everything is lawful for me as a Christian but only under One Master who always wants to see me living in true liberty. So, what he permits is what I want, what His Word says is what I want to do. I just want all that He has for me because in what He has for me, I have perfect freedom.

1 Corinthians 6:13-20

“Boundaries for the Body”

I. Intro

Two weeks ago, we began to deal with Paul’s words to a sexually promiscuous Church. What is interesting to me is that in dealing with obvious sin according to God’s word, Paul does not bring in the law to correct them. Instead, he illustrates what true freedom is. You see, the problem that Paul faced was how he could correct an obvious sin without creating a new problem. He had taught them about the freedom of the life in Christ, but some had twisted his words to mean that they were “free to” instead of “free from.” Peter spoke of this tendency concerning Paul’s words in his letter when he said that some “unstable people twisted (his) words to their own destruction.” We Christians walk a line with two things that will place the believer back into bondage:

Law: There are those believers who just paint their prison walls with trees, birds, and a blue sky. Their life is just as bound as it was prior to life in Christ, as they are being held by a list of do’s and don’ts. It is what Paul called in Romans “the law of sin and death.”
License: Then, there are a great many of us that walk in our old habits still bound by the things that have always held us. John describes those things as “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” There is no freedom in those things; that is why we turned to Christ to begin with.

Between those two things, the believer is to walk in liberty and freedom. The glorious truth is found in the first part of that verse in Romans 8:2, “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free.” Jesus put it this way in John 8:36, “If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” Free from the tyrant of self who would again place me back into bondage, free from the legalism that places me in a dead cell. That is the context of how Paul speaks concerning true “sexual freedom.” That sounds strange in light of our society, does it not? Can you imagine having a conversation with a friend or neighbor and telling them that you believe in “sexual freedom”? Why, they would think you are into some pretty weird stuff. But the truth is we Christians who understand this passage of scripture are sexually free. That is what Paul has to say to the sexually promiscuous!

II. Vs. 13-14 The Tail Does Not Wag the Dog

He now takes up the second part of what the Corinthian believers believed concerning the reason why they were involved in sexual promiscuity, natural desires, and appetites.

Vs. 13 “Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods” – Again, this is in quotes which tells us that this was a phrase that the Corinthian believers were using to justify their practice of sexual promiscuity. What did they mean by the phrase?

Well, they viewed sex as just a bodily function, as an appetite like food is to the stomach. “Hey, when my body tells me I’m hungry, I’ve got to eat!” The problem is they did not understand sex and their bodies, and this phrase revealed as much. There are several points that show the fallacy of such thinking:

Vs. 13a Although God has placed appetite as a way of our body telling us we need food, it is not a good thing to allow your body to tell you of your need to eat and what you need to eat. Why? Well, if you do, you will overeat and most likely eat the wrong kinds of foods. I mean, how many times has my appetite told me I’m starving so I better go eat those donuts? Gluttony as well as sexual promiscuity are both signs that the tail is wagging the dog! Wiersbe rightly put it this way, “Sex outside of marriage is like a man robbing a bank: he gets what he wants, but it is not his and he will one day pay for it. Sex within marriage is like putting money into the bank where there is safety and security, and you will collect interest as well!”
Vs. 13b Second, the Corinthians mistakenly viewed sex as merely a biological function that was a necessity of life. As far as procreation was concerned, without sex, the human race would die out. But the individual person does not die if they do not have sex, which is the case if you do not eat. These Corinthians were using their biological sex drive to drive them rather than their relationship with the Lord. Paul does not deny that “food is for the stomach and the stomach for foods,” but he goes on to say they are temporal and not eternal, as “God will destroy both” (verse 13b). Food and the stomach will not be necessary to sustain life in heaven within our glorified bodies. Yes, it is true I need to eat in this body to live, but I won’t need to eat in the body that Christ has for me to live. And since we are no longer just earthly creatures but heavenly ones, we ought not to let our bodies control our hearts.
Vs. 13c-14 Here is one of the great truths that the world has no understanding of concerning human sexuality as it deals with our relationship with Jesus. Paul makes two powerful statements:
1. “Now the body is not for sexual immorality”: The first is negative. It is what the body is not for, “sexual immorality.” Sex is not just a bodily function. It is not just an itch that needs to be scratched or a toy to be played with. To view sex as this is to be limiting its true place. Sex is not just on a physical plane. That is what Paul is saying here. The world views sex as just an act, as two bodies joining together in pleasure at least for one of them and then that’s it. It’s over and done. Now the problem is that it is not just a bodily function such as food is to the stomach. It is also an emotional union. When two people join together, emotions join together as well. That is why when two people have been intimate and then they break apart, their emotions and feelings are affected. But there is more, dear Christian, to human sexuality than just physical and emotional, thus, the words “the body is not for sexual immorality.” We are not just some super-evolved animal that goes around with instinct being driven without any ability to control our urges to mate. Paul declares three amazing things about our bodies in this passage:
  1. Vs. 13 Body is for the Lord and the Lord for the body: There is a union, a blending into one when we met the Lord. Our bodies became the Lord’s, and the Lord came to dwell in our bodies. Sounds like marriage doesn’t it?
  2. Vs. 15 Our bodies became members of Christ. We changed addresses. The word members, here, is a word that is used for a limb like a leg or an arm. My body does not belong to me; it is a part of Jesus now. That is Paul’s point to the Romans (6:12-13) “Do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.”
  3. Vs. 19 Our bodies house the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus has given Him to you. What is a temple used for? Well, it is a place of worship and adoration of the Lord. Paul tells the Romans as much in 12:1, “I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” So right now in my life, looking at my body, “Who am I worshiping?”
2. “But for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.” Look at these words again in the context: “The body is…for the Lord…and the Lord for the body.” Man, what a perspective that our Lord is involved in our sexuality. It brings a whole new meaning to the phrase the two shall become one flesh! The definition of marriage is the joining of two people into an intimate union. That is also a great definition of sex as well, as two merge into one. May I speak personally for a moment? Sexual intimacy is the way a husband and wife share with each other something that words cannot express. They are saying with all that is within them, “Take me, be with me, fill me with all that is you and take all that is me!” That is what sexual intimacy in marriage is all about. Yes, it is biological. Yes, it is emotional. But it is far more than just those two things. Folks, it is spiritual and transcends time and space and reaches into eternity. Oh, not sex itself, but the act of two becoming one flesh in the worship of their creator. In heaven, there will no longer be a need for sexual intimacy, but what it represents will still be very much a part of worship in our glorified bodies. What does it represent? It is what words alone cannot express, “The surrendering of all of what we are to each other in mutual worship of the living God.” That is why sexual intimacy has long stood for the deepest expression of love and affection which two people can express.

A few verses that seem to give understanding to this are found in the words of Jesus when He said something very intimate in John 14:20 “I am in My Father and you in Me, and I in you.” There is a oneness that Jesus has with the Father and, because of our union with Jesus, goes far beyond just a physical and emotional expression to a spiritual expression. Okay, I know this is hard to grasp, but, Christian, you and I are the only ones that truly ever enter into what God has designed for sex, and we can only do so with another person who is a believer that has yielded their life over to the possession of Christ. Human sexuality is to envelop our whole being: physical, emotional, and spiritual. Allow me to close with Paul’s words concerning husbands and wives where he speaks of a mystery in Ephesians, “For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” Something happens in a marriage union that symbolizes the union of intimacy that we have in Christ even though Paul spoke of it as a mystery.

III. Vs. 15-20 Married to Another

Vs. 15-16 Paul makes a very vivid point here, doesn’t he? Again, notice the words “Do you not know?” Is this ignorance on your part Paul asks? Just read these words and allow them to sink into your understanding concerning sexual promiscuity, “Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot?” “Do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her?” The act of sexual intimacy, when we are believers, involves Jesus as He indwells us. Listen to Jesus’ prayer for the disciples in John 17:23, “I in them and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.” “Don’t you know that?” Paul asks? The picture is when you engage in sex, you are having the Lord as part of it. Can you imagine some professing believer that is about to engage in sexual promiscuity turning to Jesus and saying, okay, “Jesus, let’s go have sex with them!” When a believer engages in sexual promiscuity, they are making Jesus a part of it. This is why I tell believers that it is not all right to have sex with your boyfriend or girlfriend as you are making Jesus a part of it.

Now I’ve heard all the excuses and reasons to have sex apart from marriage as a Christian, but all I can say is tell them, talk to Jesus as He is going with you. “Hey, Lord, you don’t mind do you? I mean, I really like her and all.” “Jesus, we are not going all the way, we are going to just go to 2nd base, alright with you?” I’m not trying to be flippant. I’m just giving you what the Bible says concerning sexual promiscuity. In Hebrews 13:4, the author spells it out by saying to us, “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” When we engage in sexual promiscuity, we are becoming one with that person, and we are placing Jesus there as well.

Vs. 17-18 When we became believers, we fused our life with His. His identity became our identity; His life became the reason we live; we are one spirit with Him. There is a union we have with Jesus. Listen to the words of Paul to the Romans in 7:4 that we are “married to another; to Him, who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.” Peter said in 2 Peter 1:4-7 that we have been “given…exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.”

So how do we handle sexual desire apart from marriage? Toy with it. See how close you can get without falling! No, “flee sexual immorality!” Get out of there, man. You are watching some movie and there is a scene, get up and leave. You’re with someone and your flesh is starting to get into it, get up and leave. You don’t try to:

Fight the urge
Overcome the feeling
Suppress the desire

No, you get away from that which is causing you to move in that direction. If something is hot and it is burning your flesh, you don’t stay there and get burned. You get up and remove yourself from it.

Paul goes on to say why we need to react that way, “Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.” Paul is not saying that sexual immorality is worse than any other sin. What he is saying is that it has a unique effect on us that no other sin does. Why? Well, because God created sex with such special importance: the joining of two into one. Sexual intimacy is the deepest union that humans can express in their bodies. It is through this that the Lord has ordained the creation of life. In every other case such as alcohol abuse or drug abuse, we take something from without to corrupt our bodies. In the case of sexual promiscuity, we are taking that which belongs to Christ and uniting it with that which does not! We are taking Jesus in our body and using Him to commit that which is against Him!

Vs. 19-20 The final picture Paul paints is again a graphic one: “The Holy Spirit dwells in us, He has been given to us, and we have become a Church all to ourselves.” When a believer engages in sex outside of marriage, they are, in all practical purposes, having sex in the Church sanctuary.

Christian, you and I have been bought at a price. Peter told us what that price was in 1 Peter 1:18-19 “You were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” Our redemption was “free” but not cheap! It cost Jesus His life; His blood was spilled to purchase us to the Father. So what’s the purpose of our lives now? Well, Paul tells us to “glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” That’s what we are living for now, Christian. The story is told of a fellow that went into a Church to worship and pray. As he came into the building and went towards the sanctuary, there was a sign on the doors that read, “Do not worship here; closed for cleaning!” Is that what is on the door of our hearts today? Is Jesus being asked to partake in something in your life that He shouldn’t?