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Response
The apostle Paul refuted the false belief that our physical bodies will be destroyed with the words, “Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body” (1 Corinthians 6:13), indicating they hold spiritual and eternal significance. He reminded the Corinthian believers, “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; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
God is concerned about how we treat our bodies as they are owned by Jesus Christ in a profound spiritual and physical connection: “Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never! And don’t you realize that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, ‘The two are united into one.’ But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him” (1 Corinthians 6:15-17;NLT).
In 1 Corinthians 12:12–31, Paul elaborates on the idea that a Christian’s body is the property of Jesus Christ and that all believers “together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it” (verse 27, NLT). How can we take our bodies—closely united to the Lord Jesus Christ as they are—and use them for impure purposes? Yet some believers in Corinth were engaging in sexual immorality by visiting temple prostitutes. A Christian does not have the right to intentionally sin with his body. Jesus Christ paid a high price to redeem us.
He redeemed believers with His own body and blood (Matthew 26:26-28;Mark 10:45;Acts 20:28;1 Corinthians 7:23;Ephesians 1:7;1 Peter 1:18-19).
“You are not your own” means God purchased you and now possesses ownership of your body. We were once slaves to sin and death, but Jesus “gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds” «who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. », (Titus 2:14, NLT). God made us “dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” «Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. », (Romans 6:11). The old sinful flesh “has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” «I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. », (Galatians 2:20, NLT).
“You are not your own” means you no longer serve the selfish desires of your flesh but are now a servant of God’s kingdom. Paul instructs, “Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God” «NeitHer yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God, as those who are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.” (Romans 6:13, NLT). “True and proper worship,” explains Paul, is to offer our bodies to God as living and holy sacrifices because of all He has done for us (Romans 12:1-2).
“You are not your own” means your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Old Testament emphasizes the holiness of God’s special dwelling place in the temple. Only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies where God dwelled, and only once a year, on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:1-34). Extreme caution had to be taken not to defile this most sacred of places.
As believers, “the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead” dwells in us (Romans 8:10-11). As the united body of Christ—the church—we are God’s temple because the Spirit of God lives in us, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). Our physical bodies are “a dwelling place for God by the Spirit,” “in whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:22, ESV); therefore, we must take utmost care to “cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God” (2 Corinthians 7:1; NLT; see also 2 Corinthians 6:14-18).
(2 Corinthians 7:1; NLT; see also 2 Corinthians 6:14-18).
“You are not your own” means you are called to dedicate your body to God, putting to death the deeds of your sinful nature and living through the power of the Holy Spirit. Before salvation, our bodies were “slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin,” but now we “give [ourselves] to be slaves to righteous living” «I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. », (Romans 6:19, NLT). We achieve this by walking in the Spirit, starving the flesh, being led by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-26; Ephesians 5:18), and practicing self-control and discipline (Romans 6:12; 1 Corinthians 9:27; 1 Thessalonians 4:4). We seek God’s kingdom first «But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. », (Matthew 6:33), we hunger and thirst for righteousness «Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.», (Matthew 5:6), and we feast on God’s Word (Deuteronomy 8:3; Psalm 119:9, 11; Matthew 4:4; John 6:63; 1 Peter 2:2; James 1:21).
