We’ve all heard it quoted before, that “Your body is not your own, you were bought with a price…” and this quote from scripture is usually delivered in a negative and condemning way in an attempt to bring guilt and fear on the people. In my earlier years, I used to become angry at the mention of this scripture – not because I hated the verse itself, but because I hated the guilt and condemning tone in which it was being presented; and many people also feel the same way about it even today.
It may surprise you then to learn that this verse was never intended to be guilt-inducing, fear-generating or condemning in any way… in-fact it is actually a great encouragement and reason to rejoice! What we will be studying today in scripture is how the promise that your body belongs to the LORD is actually a fantastic assurance, and how this verse no longer has to be something that brings guilt or condemnation, but great joy in Christ Jesus.
So let’s begin by reading 1st Corinthians 6:15-20:
“Know you not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.
What? know you not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, said he, shall be one flesh.
But he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit.
Flee fornication. Every sin that a man does is without the body; but he that commits fornication sins against his own body.
What? know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own?
For you are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
And as you take time to read the entire chapter (it’s short), you will see that the context here is not really speaking of physical deeds or actions, but the context is actually matters of believing. What you believe, how you believe and specifically, whom you are believing on; namely Christ Jesus. The issue being addressed in 1st Corinthians 6, is one of the mind. Do you realize your position in Christ? Do you recognize what He has done for you and who He has made you to be? Or do you still esteem yourself to be lowly and destitute. This is actually a serious issue for many believers today. After being saved, many believers still see themselves as being exactly the same as before… still powerless, still weak, still “just a dirty rotten sinner”. They don’t actually recognize the change that has taken place in their lives and so they are still living the same, powerless, wretched life as before. And the truly sad part of this is that many of them have been living this way all of their life because they have never been properly taught the foundation or the fundamentals of their faith… so many of them think this this powerless, weak, desperate life in Christ is actually normal, and anything beyond that is seen as “hyper-spiritual” or strange.
However this is not God’s will for the life of a believer and it is certainly not God’s best for anyone. What we see in verse 15 is that the true Biblical reality for everyone that has received Christ and believed on Him is that your bodies are the members of Christ. Now this verse forms it as a question, and it is interesting that many believers actually don’t know this fact! Many believers don’t see their bodies as members of Christ. In-fact there are many people who hate and despise their own bodies. They see their entire lives as worthless! Yet this is not actually the truth. Jesus sacrificed himself for you, therefore not only are you not worthless, but you actually have great, even unimaginable value! He paid a fantastic price, suffering in His own body the sin and wrath that was meant for you, so that you would not have to suffer.
The verse then continues, shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a harlot? And I want you to see that this question can only be answered after properly seeing the reality of our identity in Christ. It is only after seeing your tremendous value and high status in connection with Jesus Christ, that you then see how truly low and beneath you the idea of harlotry actually is. I like to express it this way: if you see yourself as lowly and worthless, in tattered and torn clothes, you won’t have any qualms about going and playing in the mud. If, on-the-other-hand, you see that God has placed you in a new million-dollar suit, very expensive and very nice clothes and elevated your status and position, you will then simply not want to go play in the mud anymore.
That’s a simplistic example of-course, but it’s the different mindset that I hope to convey.
Now at this point, I want to remind you here that the true context of 1st Corinthians 6, is not merely sinful actions or deeds, but belief, and this is made clear in verses 16 and 17 as an analogy is drawn between physical adultery and spiritual adultery.
Verse 16 states that when physical adultery is committed, the two people actually become one, this can have a number of shall we say negative outcomes. And look what verse 17 says in spiritual parallel, he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit. Your spirit; the part of you that is actually the real you, is joined to the Lord. This is a marvelous truth if we take time to consider it and meditate on it. Your spirit – the true you – communes and communicates with God, and beyond that, on a very real level you are one with God. This “oneness” was even defined by Jesus throughout John 17. It includes glory, honor, power, position and status in Christ. And this oneness, is included in the relationship. Your relationship with God, your trust and closeness with God is entirely founded upon the person and the completed work of Christ. You are either joined to God through your belief on the completed work of Christ, or you are joined to another, and that is the main point being addressed in our verses of 1st Corinthians 6. And it is that fornication, the fornication of the spirit that is of supreme importance here.
As we continue to verse 18, we see that there is a charge: Flee fornication. Now many take this to mean physical adultery with another person – and there is that aspect to it. However, remember that the context here is believing. Your belief and your unity with Christ is what is being addressed here, that’s why the verse continues to say that Every sin that a man does is without the body; but he that commits fornication sins against his own body. Now most people think that is means committing physical sexual sins with another person… until we study to learn that the Greek word used here for “fornication” is actually used here as a noun! It is defined as sexual perversion, but primarily sexual perversion of your soul and spirit… such as the worshiping of idols. Then it begins to make sense what the second part of verse 18 says. Every other sin that a person commits is out side their body, but the person that commits spiritual adultery (worships an idol) sins against their own body.
Now why is this so? The scriptures go on to tell us why in the following verse 19. And verse 19 is again phrased as a question, it says: What? know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own?
Just as before, the reason that this is phrased as a question is because many believers do not actually know this truth. It’s one thing to say that you have the Holy Spirit, but quite another to actually know that the Holy Spirit is in you personally. Yet it is precisely this fact that the Holy Spirit is indwelling you, the very same Spirit of Life that raised Christ Jesus from the dead, is on the inside of you (Romans 8:11), that makes spiritual adultery so very unprofitable, and such a sin against your own body. In many places throughout the Bible, God likens His relationship to the church (which includes you and me today) as a marriage, and as we read today in verse 17, again we are spiritually “joined” to the Lord. Therefore we should likewise, remain spiritually faithful to our spiritual husband.
Now the last part of verse 19, says something interesting that is expounded upon in verse 20: you are not your own. And as we will see, this is actually a fantastic reason to rejoice. Verse 20 tells us exactly why we are not our own: For you are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Some people today would take objection to this; they would get offended and say “No! It’s my body! I’m not a slave!”, but honestly they are missing the entire point. The fact that your body is not yours, but that it belongs to God is not a bad thing, nor is it the guilt-laden, condemning thing that some pastors present it to be. Allow me to explain…
When I bought a new cell-phone, I had an option to buy it outright or lease it from month-to-month. Now I believe it is a better financial practice to always buy something outright than to get into a monthly payment cycle, so I elected to pay in-full for the phone… I bought it with a price. This means that the phone is now mine, it belongs to me. The phone store does not own it anymore.
Now let me ask you a question: Who is responsible for care and maintenance of the phone? The phone store or me? Who is responsible to protect the phone from harm, to clean it when it gets dirty and to make sure it is always is charged and up-to-date? It is me.
Likewise, we have been bought with a price. We have been bought by the broken body and the shed blood of Jesus Christ. He suffered and died to buy us from the slave-market of sin, and now guess what that means? He will forever take care of us, provide for us, watch diligently over us, and love us unconditionally, because we are precious to Him.
Do you see why this biblical truth is not a terrifying or frustrating thing? It is actually a wonderful assurance and a picture of God’s love! Today, you can rejoice because your body and your spirit have been bought with a price and you are safe and secure under the care of your Master; and your Master is not a mean dictator, but a caring lover and friend, who will always be by your side in every situation. One who has gone ahead of you and who also holds you by the hand.
This is your God, and He cares for you.