Temple Life – 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

A temple is where heaven and earth intersect.  It is the domicile of God and a place to meet Him.  Israel had its temple under the old covenant, but in the new covenant the body of believers was the temple of God, as He dwelt within them and demonstrated His presence through them.  And each individual believer was part of that temple and a temple themselves, the place where heaven and earth intersect, because of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling of each individual believer.  What are the ramifications of this for personal holiness?

“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.  (1 Corinthians 6:12-20 ESV)

In addition to sectarian disunity, failure to discipline immorality, and suing one another in public courts, there were some among the Corinthians who felt it was okay to visit prostitutes.  They were emboldened to do so by slogans that represented one of their convictions, (1) “All things are lawful for me,” (2) “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food,” and (3) “Every sin a person commits is outside the body.”  By these slogans they were teaching that (1) there was freedom in matters where our conscience doesn’t condemn us, (2) the normal bodily functions are never immoral, and (3) as long as behavior didn’t affect our spirit it didn’t matter what affect it had on the body.

Paul counters each of these ideas. 

(1) Freedom of conscience and to indulge in all matters didn’t mean doing so was always helpful, especially if it led to my being dominated by those things.  It’s not wrong to drink alcohol but it is if it ends up controlling me. 

(2) Yes, bodily functions are in themselves amoral, not sinful, but the body’s normal function sexually is for marriage only, not immorality, because our bodies belong to the Lord and are also members of Christ to function as he disposes.  Connecting our bodies to a prostitute is connecting Jesus to that immoral practice. 

(3) And it does matter if you sin against your body because it is the temple of the Holy Spirit, made holy by His presence and meant to represent who God is to the world.  All behavior must glorify the Lord.  We don’t belong to ourselves but to Him.