1 Corinthians 6 - The Sacred Nature of our Bodies! Our Body is a Temple of the Holy Spirit!

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Lawsuits Among Believers

Paul continues to call out the worldly behaviors being exhibited by the Corinthian believers. In chapter 6, he asks them why they would turn to earthly judges for trivial cases? They have the Holy Spirit of truth to guide them to make the right decision in their community. On top of it this type of behavior is a horrible witness to unbelievers. 

The very notion of suing a brother or sister in Christ is very telling. Could they not work it out in a spirit of Christian charity? Are they not living according to the model and teaching of Jesus, who told his followers to forgive those who have wronged them and pray for those who persecute them. Jesus would have never imagined a community of his followers needing to go to a worldly court to resolve their differences. For the Lord taught us to pray, "Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us!" 

Paul then addresses the type of sin that prompted this lawsuit. A lot of the list focuses on sexual immorality. We know sexual immorality was rampant in Corinth. There were many shrine prostitutes, and the like. But Paul does not limit his list to sexual sin. He mentions slander, drunkenness, idolaters, swindlers, and thieves as well. Then Paul says something that needs interpretation, 

Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 

Someone might ask does this mean if people commit a certain amount of a specific type of sin will lost their salvation if it gets bad enough? David Guzik gives some helpful commentary at this point, 

We shouldn’t think that a Christian who has committed an act of fornication or homosexuality (or any of the other listed sins) is automatically excluded from the kingdom of God. Instead, since Paul describes these people by their sins, he means those whose lives are dominated and characterized by these sins. So, is an occasional act of fornication or homosexuality no big deal to God? Of course it is a significant matter, because it goes against everything we have been given in Jesus, and because a lifestyle of sin begins with single acts of sin.

The church has usually fallen into one of two pits in regard to this issue. The first is "legalism" being a Christian means keeping a specific set of do's and don'ts, usually determined by the person or group making up the list. Legalism has no power to change a human life. The other pit is "cheap grace", the notion that someone is forgiven so it doesn't really matter how they act. After all, they are forgiven right. 

The bottom line is we need to take sin seriously, especially the kinds of sin Paul mentions, which are highly addictive in nature. We are given freedom from the law in Christ and given the power of the Holy Spirit to live a life worthy of our calling but that doesn't mean return to our old way of life.  We can quench the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives by doing what we want to do because we want to do it!  

Sexual Immorality

Paul then specifically points out the nature of sexual sin. Rather than looking at it from the outside, he looks at the more organic aspect of this behavior. He starts by saying all other sins a person commits outside their body, but a person who sins sexually, sins against their own body. Why is the nature of sexual sin different than other sins we commit?

Paul isn’t saying sexual immorality is worse than any other sin, but he does teach that sexual sin has a unique effect on the body. The effect is physical, but it is also moral and spiritual. - Guzik 

And we know from Genesis, God made this proclamation regarding the physical and spiritual union of Adam and Eve, "What I have joined together, let man separate." In marriage two become one. It is a holy mystery, a sacrament. The term sacrament mean "holy thing". Marriage is made holy by God, but again we can choose to desecrate what God made holy.  

This is why adultery and fornication can be so harmful, because we are taking something so intimate and sacred and perverting it. In the case of adultery we are breaking the sacred bond with our spouse, and then offering that part of ourselves to another in a way that was only meant to be for one person. It is in this sense that sexual sin is different than other sin. Sin is sin but has different consequences. In this case sexual sin is not only physical but spiritual as well. 

This is why Paul teaches them, "to flee from sexual immorality". It is so dangerous don't even go near it he urges them. The time you usually slip is when you are on slippery ground. It is like an alcoholic in recovery who hangs out at bars all the time. It is probably only a matter of time that they give in and drink. 

Finally, Paul says our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit. God used to dwell in a physical temple made of stones in the Old Testament. There were all kinds of regulations on how to approach the temple of God because of its sacred nature. Now this same holiness resides in our own bodies through the Holy Spirit. 

I don't think we often think about the spiritual nature of our sin. We also should remember the price Jesus paid on the cross to free us from our sin. It was costly. The price was his own innocent and precious blood! 

How do you honor God with your body? How can knowing the Holy Spirit lives inside of you, may you think more intentionally about the things you put into your body, including your thoughts!