Our Bodies Belong to God
CLASS 4 ISSUES
Study Scripture: 1 Corinthians 6: 12 – 20
Background Scripture: Romans 12: 1 – 21; 1 Corinthians 6: 12 – 20
Lesson 11 August 9, 2025
Key Verse
What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
1 Corinthians 6:19
INTRODUCTION
The Bible makes very important distinctions about what constitutes human beings. The Bible states people can be called a “natural man” since they are driven by impulses and motivations that come from their ‘flesh’. They are dominated or controlled by their sin nature and so normally do what the desires or lusts of the flesh demand. They are pretty determined to do what they feel like doing and will sin constantly without even being conscious of this. They are led by the spirit of the world and so go back and forward adapting to the changing styles and practices even if these are destructive practises. These persons cannot receive or understand the things of God.
But there are other persons who are not like ’natural men’. There are those who have been changed by the Gospel of God and they are now led by the Spirit of God. They are being changed continuously by the Spirit and when you look at them you will sometimes see them behaving like the “natural men”. But since they have been changed they are now able to begin to “receive” and to “understand” the things of God.
That person who is changed recieve the milk of the Word of God and has been changed from being unrighteous to being righteous and will now inherit the kingdom of God. The Gospel has transformed that persons’ life and he has been delivered from bondage.
The salvation received is a salvation that affects the whole person, his entire being.
The Scripture teaches that God created and fashioned the Body of man and breathed into this Body fashioned from the earth the breath of life, and so man became a living soul.
The Body therefore is a purposeful creation, and has value, and as it was created in the image and likeness of God Himself can even be considered as put together for a sacred relationship.
As the image- bearer of God the view of the Body rules out as wrong anything affecting the Body which can lead to mental health disorder, gender changes and any issues that can lead to moral deviation.
The Book of Genesis Chapter 2 tells us that men and women were created in a unique fashion and created in the image and likeness of God. This means nothing about man was like that of the animal. His relationship to the animal was determined to be that of “steward”. They were to be in charge of the animal kingdom and as well were in charge of the earth.
Adam and Eve therefore “saw’ and understood themselves, and knew their bodies were “good”. They felt no shame because of their physical nakedness.
But their body could and was influenced by sin. 1 Corinthians 6:9.
But even after they sinned God treated their bodies with dignity and clothed them sacrificing an animal, indicating that their body was valuable.
So our Study must begin with looking at how God viewed the human Body and why He made it the way He did.
The Body says David was fearfully and wonderfully made.
Every part of the body was designed to reflect something of the ability and actions of God and so every part reflects the basis of divine transformation. We learn about what God does by looking at the functions of the different parts of the Body.
So we note what the different parts of the body are teaching us about what is to be done by human beings as they are a living soul.
Scripture speaks about the works of the parts of the Body to teach great spiritual lessons. They tell us about what God does. The language used is called “anthropormorphic language” so man can understand what God has done in him. But it speaks in the language of redemption, so that man can understand and cannot escape what God is telling him about his life actions.
The symbolism is obvious.
The heart was positioned as reflecting the inner self.
The hands were made to symbolize the ability for action, work, and for strength.
The feet were structured as symbols to let man know that they represented the direction of one’s life and movement.
The eyes are for perception, wisdom and discernment.
The mouth and the tongue represent the ability to communicate and disseminate the idea of the power of God.
Of course we all should see easily that the head symbolizes leadership and authority.
The bones symbolize strength, a great structure, and the core of one’s being.
The skin, the largest organ of the body shows the outward appearance and reflects the condition of the body.
So in Exodus 4:11 when Moses, the man who was likely specially trained to be the Egyptian Pharaoh questions his ability to do the work God has instructed him to do with
“O my Lord, I am not eloquent neither before or since. You have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue”
So God retorts,
“Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind?
Have not I the LORD?
Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you shall say”.
We all know David’s analysis in Psalm 139:13-16:
“For you formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Marvellous are Your works
And that my soul knows very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skilfully wrought in the lowest part of the earth.
Your eyes saw my substance
Being yet unformed
And in Your book they all were written.
Note as you study that it is very plain that the Body belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ and its actions must be related to His commandments.
The Body is treated as both a spiritual and a physical entity.
Spiritually it is a tool to be used to glorify God, and this means serving God and serving others.
The Body is therefore in a divine relationship.
We will now therefore look at the point of this Chapter which warns of the power of the sin of sexual immorality.
Religion is connected to morality.
Never forget morality is grounded in the truths of the Word of God, reminds one writer,
We therefore will not be surprised at the deep ancient and modern disturbances in the matter of morals.
THE TEXT
Verse 12. These verses strike to the heart of Christian liberties. What can we do and what should we do. It also, highlights the reasons why as Christians we should not do certain things for these are contrary to who Christians are, and to their position in Christ.
Verses 12 and 13, and also the Lesson from last week are connected to the theme presented here, mainly that our bodies are the Temple of God.
The principle of sexual purity is connected to eating of meats which Paul already addressed, but now he goes further into this point due to how some Corinthian Christians were looking at their liberty and exercising it in ways that might lead them back into bondage of an idea or person.
Referring to 1 Corinthians 5 (the sections dealing with sexual immorality) and this section (1 Corinthians 6), Paul connects the sections and deals with issues dealing with sexual conduct of Christians under the banner of “All things are lawful for me”.
The intention was to clarify for the Corinthians Christians what God wanted them to do in regard to sex, to eliminate any lingering questions and problems that had about this issue.
But he was also going to link this to a greater theme about Christian liberty, and not only as it applies to meats once again, to the general broad theme as it applies to a Christians life.
Some of the Corinthians thought that practices about sexual matters fell under the liberty they had and that just as with meats, they could also partake in fornication, as was practiced everywhere in Corinth.
Sexual indulgence was a common practice and not outlawed where they lived.
Paul then comes in with his words, “All things are lawful for me”, to oppose them and clarify things regarding God’s expectations despite the laws of the land that they live in.
He stresses that Christians should not consider what is in itself lawful to be done, but what is fit for them to do, considering who they are, who they serve and the promise of what was done to secure them.
Note the emphasis is on the fact that sexual activity is not forbidden by God. It has its appointed place. But it can be indulged in in the evil sense.
This is so because people tend to look at vice as if it was normal and natural. They have the idea that everybody will sin and that makes it easier for them to sin.
But the Apostle now makes it clear that the matter of a sexual vice is not a matter of indifference.
Sexual vices touch the Body.
Why is this so? Let us remember that the resurrection is about the resurrection of the Body.
The Body that came out of the earth and was placed in the Garden of Eden is going to be glorified.
It will be glorified then but remember it is the same Body. There is “continuity” between the Body that you have and the resurrection Body.
The Apostle describes this ‘continuity’ as that of a seed planted which will grow and be changed but there is continuity.
The Body you have is permanent and we have therefore been given this Body.
So do not worry about what this new changed Body will look like in its resurrection state.
You will look glorious and beautiful in this glorification.
With that, Paul says the law around you might give the right to do unlawful things but God has overriding concerns/
Do not therefore carry this saying or maxim too far, farther than what Scripture teaches as there is still much behind it to consider.
Liberty is to be exercised only in Christ.
He does not want them to fall in bondage again, either to a deceiver or a carnal inclination.
You can already see that the Corinthian Christians took the idea of “All things are lawful for me”, and applied it to areas Paul, or the Lord, never intended.
They used their “liberty” as a license to sin.
Later the reference to the prostitute or harlot in 1 Corinthians 6:15, will be looked at and the point seems to be that the Corinthian Christians thought they had the liberty to use the services of ‘prostitutes’ who sold their bodies offering sexual services to make money.
This was culturally accepted in the city of Corinth. It was accepted in the religious community among the religious pagans, who saw nothing wrong in a “religious” person using ‘prostitutes’. They also believed that sexual activity with the pagan Temple priests and priestesses brought them into union with the pagan gods they worshipped.
So they extended this false idea into widespread sexual activity.
This leads into an idea that Paul will go further into, that He would not be brought under the power of any, and neither should we:
In this phrase, Paul uses a verb he uses again only in 1 Corinthians 7:4, in the context of a husband and wife having “authority” over each other’s bodies. Paul may be saying I will not be brought under the power of anybody (as in the body of a prostitute).
Paul says that though we will live in different countries that might have different laws, permitting certain things that can and cannot be done, it is just one tier of the laws that we must abide by.
The greater law that we must abide by is that of God’s.
He mentions that the liberty with which Christ has made us free, is the principle in which we must conduct ourselves.
Despite the wide range it gives us, the underlining caution is to not carry this too far as it may put ourselves into the power of any bodily appetite that we come across.
The example of meats and fornication is used to illustrate this. On one level, Paul says you may consume meat, however, to do so to the point of gluttony or become a drunkard is not acceptable for a Christian.
He also says the maxim, cannot be applied to fornication the same way, as there is a clear difference between consuming food and fornication, which he continues to explain. It is noted:
He who commits “fornication,” steps aside from his own legitimate power or liberty, and is “brought under the power” of an harlot (1 Corin 6:15; compare 1 Corin 7:4 ). The “power” ought to be in the hands of the believer, not in the things which he uses [BENGEL]; else his liberty is forfeited; he ceases to be his own master (Jhn 8:34-36, Gal 5:13, 1 Pe 2:16, 2 Pe 2:19 ). Unlawful things ruin thousands; “lawful” things (unlawfully used), ten thousands.
Note therefore not all things are helpful for it brings a person under the power of evil.
Verse 13. Food is meant for the body to consume, and used to sustain the life of that person. The stomach is constructed to fulfill that purpose. So, foods are of use to the stomach, as the stomach is used to deal with food.
The Corinthian Christians were using Paul’s maxim to its fullest, to say to themselves if I am hungry, then should I not eat?
Fine! Good as long as that does not extend into gluttony, as Paul had mentioned.
But, it did not end here with the Corinthian Christians, they tried to extend this maxim to their bodies and the need or desire to have sex.
They thought that in the same way they wanted food, should they not be able to use the prostitutes to satisfy that desire, not understanding the point that Paul was making once again?
Paul clearly then states that the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord’s use, but beyond that we are connected to the Lord, a Holy God, and that has implications in the way how we conduct ourselves.
Paul uses the lesser example of food for the stomach to teach a lesson. He says that that the stomach was designed to handle food to sustain a person. He also counseled them that if this desire for food became too much of a hindrance to my Christian walk then I should take steps to abstain from it before I am enslaved by it.
He does not mean to starve oneself, but to restrict excessive consumption of such foods, of many varieties, types and flavours.
He also mentions that one day God will destroy this carnal connection, the dependency on food and the effect of hunger that exists between the food and stomach, as this was brought upon us by Adam’s sin, and not by God’s intended desire for us when He created us.
Note there will be the Tree of Life in the New Heaven and the New Earth for the healing of the nations. The River with the Water of life will come from the throne of God in this New city.
There will no carnality there.
Now with respect to the point of sexual immorality, and how the body ties into this particular situation, Paul says clearly that there is a wisdom in God’s design for the body and for sexual purity when we look at the problems brought on by unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.
Sin has a price, and previously mentioned are but some of them, the price that one pays in the body for using the body in a way that the Lord never intended.
A danger exists when new converts like those in the Corinthian church come into the church. Some of their old ways, from the old man, might persist into their Christians lives, as clearly the case of sexual fornication did for some of the Corinthians.
There is no way one can cross the true purpose, or intention and use of the things of God and the things of man, that can lead to any favourable outcome, as it is without a doubt contrary to the things of God and most likely something that is abominable in the end.
The Body is not for fornication, and it was never formed for any such purpose. It was formed for the Lord, for service to the Lord God Almighty, for service and honour of God.
It is to be an instrument of righteousness to holiness (Rom. 6:19), and was never intended to be an instrument of uncleanness.
The question is why? Or how was the body meant to be used?
Verse 14. We must first truly understand the implications of verse 14. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit played a role in raising Jesus Christ from the dead. This act was meant to bind Jesus Christ and His believers together even more closely as promises of Christians being completely free from sin and the sinful nature of the flesh are connected to it.
Because of God’s intention this is why Paul can say, the Lord is the Lord of the Body.
It does not apply to only an individual, but also to the collection of believers, thus is a reference to believers as the Church of God.
We will be raised up by the power of Christ, taking part in the resurrection of the dead, accomplished by God’s power, and His power alone.
In this resurrection, just as Christ was, we shall be raised to bodies that are powerful, glorious, incorruptible, and spiritual. Such a destiny for our bodies should then not be connected to uncleanness through fornication that the Corinthian Christians are doing, or suggesting.
Verses 15 & 16. Many of the Corinthian Christians did not know, or believe, or understand, that their sexual conduct with prostitutes had an impact on their relationship to Jesus.
Simply put, when an individual, a Christian commits sexual immorality, it disgraces the entire body of Christ, linking the body of Christ to immorality.
As a Christian belongs to God, to Christ, it makes Christ the Lord of our bodies, and hence He has dominion over His property, being the Head of the Church, the Lord of the Temple, and head over all things (Heb. 2:5, 18).
We must take care not to use what belongs to Christ, and use it as our own, and even further to create dishonour in it due to the use.
It is an honour that Christ was raised from the dead, and we should understand that it is an honour that will be bestowed to use in like fashion, and as such we should not abuse those bodies by sin, and make them vile in any way, but that it should be kept pure, until that day of great honour that it should become, or made in like fashion to Christ’s glorious body.
This hope in the resurrection to glory should help Christians restrain themselves from dishonouring their bodies by conceding to fleshly lust.
It is not just the body of the Christian that is united with Christ, or meant to be united with Christ. It is also the spirit that is meant to be united with Christ.
The Body is in union with Christ as well as the soul. So when Paul mentions what we are doing when we commit fornication, what some of the Corinthian brethren were doing by consorting with a harlot, means, that being, linking Christ to the harlot, who represents sin, we are linking Christ to sin.
In their sexual relationship, a husband and wife become “one flesh” in a way that is under God’s blessing. In sex outside of marriage, the partners become “one flesh” in a way that is under God’s curse. [Guzik]
If a person pursues a casual sexual encounter, their intention may not be to become one flesh with their partner but in some spiritual sense, they do!
In the Biblical understanding of sex, there is no such thing as “casual sex”. What you are doing is sharing yourself with someone else, and the larger part of that sin occurs when you are unequally yoked, your values do not align despite the momentary lapse in judgment.
Since we as Christians belong to Jesus’ body, soul and spirit, we have no right to give any part of ourselves away to an “unauthorized” person. This is what is happening when the Corinthian brethren are exploiting their liberty and having sex with a prostitute.
Sex outside of marriage is like a man robbing a bank: he gets something, but it is not his and he will one day pay for it. Sex within marriage can be like a person putting money into a bank: there is safety, security, and he will collect dividends. [Wiersbe]
Verse 17. When we engage in sin, especially lustful passions, spiritual things may seem far away. We cannot ignore that in all these passions, there is a need, a desire for love, acceptance, and adventure, all of which is far better, and more completely, satisfied in a one-spirit relationship with the Lord, with Jesus Christ, instead of with sexual immorality.
Verse 18. To that end, Paul instructs us to flee fornication. The sin of fornication is a great injury and curse to the Christian, and more importantly to the Head and Lord of the one the Christian professes to serve. Paul instructs us to avoid fornication, keep out of the reach of such desires, such temptations in any form it presents itself, or any of its provoking objects. We should direct the eyes and mind to other things and thoughts.
Alia vitia pugnando, sola libido fugiendo vincitur-Other vices may be conquered in fight, this only by flight [Matthew Henry]
Fornication is on another level than any sin like gluttony or being drunk.
This type of sin creates uncleanness, pollution, it defiles the body, degrades it, making it one with the body of that vile creature with whom he sins.
Not only to mention, he casts vile reproach on what the Redeemer has done, and the union the Christians and Redeemer are to have.
Paul does not say that Christians should flee sex, only sexual immorality. God gave sex as a precious gift to mankind, and uses it powerfully to bond husband and wife together in a true one-flesh relationship. So as Hebrews 13:4 says, the marriage bed is undefiled – the sexual relationship between husband and wife is pure, holy, and good before God.
… But sexual immorality works against God’s good purpose for sex, working against a true, godly one-flesh relationship. Sex outside of marriage can be exciting, but it can’t be enriching. [Guzik]
Verse 19. Paul clearly states that your body is a Temple. A Temple is a place that is sacred to God and pure from immorality.
If we are filled with the Spirit, this truth must influence our sexual behaviour.
If we commit sexual immorality as Christians, we pollute God’s Temple and grieve God, grieve the Holy Spirit that lives within each believer.
Do we understand what it is we truly are doing when we sin like that?!
In 1 Corinthians 3:16, Paul says that the Church as a whole was the Temple of the Holy Spirit. Now he adds to that and says, the same is true, in a spiritual sense, of the individual Christian.
So it should be clear that because our Body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit, our bodies belong to God, and not to ourselves.
Verse 20. There used to be a time when an honest person would take better care of something that doesn’t belong to them.
Our bodies belong to God because He bought us with a price. We do not have the right to pollute and abuse God’s property!
Now, if we understand the previous point, then we should also appreciate that this principle applies to more than our sexual conduct. If our bodies belong to Jesus, then we have no right to be idle, or wasteful of, what belongs to Him. Should not our bodies be put to use glorifying God?
Because our Bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit, God Himself lives within us.
Therefore it stands to reason that we have the strength, the power over the sins of the flesh living within us.
That would means we should expect sexual purity from all Christians more than from those who are not, because they do not have God living within them as we do.
CONCLUSION
Note the importance of the word “one flesh”. Sanctified cannot be in union with the unsanctified.
Keep in your mind the example of Joseph who fled from Potiphar’s wife leaving his garment in her hand. For that he spent many years in porison. But we know God reward him for his action and he became the Prime Minister of Egypt and was used by God to save many lives.
Unfortunately many live lives as willing victims of fleshly lusts.
So we repeat the advice of the Apostle, “Make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts thereof.”
One writer comments:
“The reference to chapter 3:16 “You” is plural and refers to the church as a whole as the Temple of God”.
Both words in his writing here is used, One word refers to the temple precinct, and the other word refers to the inner part of the temple, the shrine, where the Holy Spirit dwelled, and where worship took place.
The Apostle repeats over and over again in this chapter, “Do you not know?”
Know therefore you have your Body from God and you are a purchased possession. The Greek word used means there has been an effectual purchase.
There has been a change of ownership because of what was done on Calvary’s Cross.
There will come a Day of completion of the atoning work of Christ.
If you want to know the price paid for you, read 1 Peter 1:18-19.
Therefore do not engage in fornication. That word “fornication” has a wider meaning than adultery and it encompasses all kinds of sexual sins.
Your Body is permanently indwelt by the Holy Spirit. You have been changed and your past sins have been forgiven.
So the Apostle could emphasize to the Corinthian brethren that they had been unclean in every respect before they came to Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:26-29.
You do not need to feel shame for your past. The blood of Jesus keeps on washing you as 1 John 1 tells us.
Do not join your Body to something contrary to the holiness of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Eliminate defilement in your relationships.
Glorify God in your Body.