Your Body Is a Temple: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

"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.

The Corinthian slogan echoed. Panta moi exestin—all things are lawful for me. Freedom. Liberty. No restrictions.

Paul quoted their words back to them. Then qualified them.

Not everything is beneficial. Sumphero—advantageous, profitable. Freedom without wisdom was destructive.

I will not be mastered by anything. Exousiasthesomai—brought under authority. The one who claimed freedom could become enslaved. To pleasure. To appetite. To habit. Freedom could forge new chains.

You say, "Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both."

Another slogan. Food for the stomach. A simple pairing. The stomach craves food. Food satisfies the stomach. Natural. Temporary. Inconsequential.

God will destroy them both. The body was temporary. What did it matter what you did with it?

The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

The correction. The body was not like the stomach. Food and stomach—temporary pairing. The body and the Lord—eternal relationship.

Not meant for sexual immorality. Porneia. The body wasn't designed for it. Wasn't suited to it.

But for the Lord. The body belonged to Christ. And the Lord for the body. The relationship was mutual. Christ claimed the body. Christ valued the body.

By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also.

The proof. God raised the Lord. Resurrection. The body—Christ's body—mattered enough to raise. And he will raise us also. Our bodies too. Resurrection meant the body mattered eternally.

If God would raise the body, what was done with it now mattered.

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!

Do you not know? Ouk oidate—rhetorical. They should have known. Your bodies are members of Christ himself. Mele Christou. Limbs of Christ. Parts of Christ's body.

Shall I then take the members of Christ... The shocking implication. When a believer visited a prostitute, Christ's members were involved.

Unite them with a prostitute? Porne—a prostitute. The act made Christ complicit.

Never! Me genoito. God forbid. The strongest denial possible.

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."

Genesis quoted. One flesh. The sexual union created a bond. Not merely physical release but personal union. One body.

But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

The superior union. United with the Lord. Kollomenos—joined, glued. One with him in spirit. The spiritual union with Christ—deeper than any physical union. And contradicted by illicit physical unions.

Flee from sexual immorality.

Flee. Pheugete. Run. Not resist—flee. Not negotiate—flee. Not flirt with the line—flee.

The verb was urgent. Porneia required distance, not dialogue.

All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.

A unique category. Other sins—outside the body. Sexual sin—against their own body. The body was involved in a way other sins didn't involve it. The violation was internal.

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?

Do you not know—third time. Your bodies. Plural. Bodies. Soma. Temples. Naos—the sanctuary, the holy place.

Of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit dwelt there. Who is in you. En humin. Inside. Whom you have received from God. Given. Gift.

The body was not just a container. It was a temple. Holy space. Inhabited by the Holy One.

You are not your own.

The ownership clarified. Not your own. Ouk este heautōn. You don't belong to yourself.

The Corinthian freedom was based on self-ownership. "My body, my choice." Paul denied the premise.

You were bought at a price.

Bought. Egorasthete—purchased. At a price. Time. The cross. The blood. The life of Christ.

The Corinthians knew the slave market. People were bought and sold. They had been purchased. By Christ. With his life.

Therefore honor God with your bodies.

The conclusion. Honor God. Doxasate—glorify. With your bodies. En to somati—in your body. The body as instrument of worship. The body as means of glorifying God.

Not just the soul. Not just the spirit.

The body.

Temple of the Spirit.

Member of Christ.

Bought at a price.

Not your own.

Honor God.

With your body.