Bible Talks - Sunday Night Church
Body Language
Sunday, 28 November 2004
1 Corinthians 6:12-20 ESV or NIV
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Big Ideas
- Honour God, especially with your body
- Flee from sexual immorality
Introduction
A few weeks ago, I watched the premiere of a new TV show called “The Cooks”. From its excessive promotion in the weeks leading up to its premiere, I had noticed that one of my friends from high school had a leading part. I decided that I’d watch it to support my friend, and see what all the fuss was about.
Well the fuss wasn’t about cooking. Sure, I wasn’t expecting something of the calibre of say “Hueys cooking adventures”, but four impromptu sex scenes later I was wondering whether this show was about cooking at all.
Our society is obsessed with sex. Now it’s OK to be obsessed with sex in a married relationship – and in fact the next chapter of 1 Corinthians looks at sex in the married context. But the sex obsession I am referring to is unmarried, uncommitted, casual, purely physical sex. Sex where the physical has been separated out as the only important aspect of sex. Sex that generally has none of God’s original intentions like intimacy, commitment or reproduction.
A quick survey of our favourite TV shows like “Friends, Sex and the City, Law & Order SVU, Queer Eye, Home & Away” demonstrates that sex is what our society wants to see.
It’s hard to find a movie that does not include sex.
It’s hard to listen to modern music without some reference to sex.
It’s rare to find a magazine without SEX splashed across the front cover.
(except Linux weekly)
It’s not limited to the media either. I don’t have to think to hard to come up with a list of friends that are “living together” with their partner. I’m sure most of you can do the same.
This sexual freedom isn’t limited to the secular world either. There are numerous examples of Christian ministers being caught in adultery, Christian couples “not able to wait” for marriage, openly gay Christian ministers.
Our society is obsessed with Sex.
Corinth was obsessed with Sex.
Corinth was a prosperous seaport, where the lifestyle was good. The Corinthians were known for their self indulgent lifestyle, including their open attitude to Sex. The Corinthian thinking on the body originated from the Classical Greek line of thought, where the spiritual and physical aspects of the body were completely separate. Thus the Corinthians were happy to indulge in purely physical, self satisfying sex.
Towering on a hill 500m above Corinth was the Temple of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of Love. At night, 1000 sacred prostitutes would descend on the city to sell their services on the streets – and the Corinthians were most obliging.
This sexual freedom was not limited to the secular community in Corinth - it included the Christian Church. Apparently, some men within the Christian community were going to prostitutes, and arguing the right to do so. Their behaviour was prominent enough that Paul is addressing it in tonight’s passage.
It’s easy to see from this quick comparison, that the situation in Corinth was not all that different to the situation of sexual immorality today. Thus the points Paul makes in 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 about sexual ethics, still hold ground now. So why don’t I pray for us, and then lets look at the passage!
The Corinthian reasoning for sexual immorality
Tonight’s passage is a beautifully constructed argument from Paul that includes an introduction, five points and a conclusion. Paul introduces his argument by looking at the Corinthians reasoning for allowing sexual immorality. Let’s look at verse 12-13:
12"Everything is permissible for me"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"--but I will not be mastered by anything. 13"Food for the stomach and the stomach for food"--but God will destroy them both.
The Corinthians obviously had some tag lines that they were using to justify their behaviour, and Paul is repeating them here for us with his own comments.
Tag Line 1: “Everything is permissible”. This could even have been based on something that Paul had said to them previously, as it sounds like a bit of a Pauly statement. But Paul would have qualified this statement with “in Christ”, ie “Everything is permissible in Christ” and would have been referring to things like food, days, circumcision etc – not Christian ethics!. The Corinthians are basically saying “Love God and do what you like”.
Tag Line 2: “Food for stomach and the stomach for food”. This ones a little trickier to get your head around, but they are basically saying “satisfy your cravings”. As I have already said, their culture was based on the Greek thought that the body and spirit were separate. Thus they were only concerned with ensuring the spirit was right with God. As far as their bodies went – satisfy your cravings! If you stomach wants food then give it some! If your body needs Sex, feed it! Satisfy your cravings.
Tag Line 2, Part b: “but God will destroy them both”. If we look at this verse in the more literal ESV translation the “but” is replaced with an “and”. Thus I think this is remainder of Catch Phrase 2, and it reflects the Corinthians view of the body. The Corinthians believed that because of this separation of body and spiritual, the stomach (and the food in it) and in fact the whole body was destined for destruction. Therefore the body is disposable.
Thus, the Corinthian reasoning went something like this… “Since everything is permitted, and since food is for the stomach and the stomach for food (after all, God will destroy them both in the end), and since all bodily appetites are pretty much alike, that means that the body is for sex, and sex for the body – because God will destroy them both in the end as well anyway!”
Ah foolish Corinthians. You picked the wrong corresponding missionary to argue with!
Paul set the stage for his argument by first addressing their tag lines:
Verse 12 - "Everything is permissible for me", but Paul adds --but not everything is beneficial”. Sure we COULD do whatever we like, but will that be beneficial or as the ESV puts it “helpful”? If we read other parts of 1 Corinthians, we sense a theme that our behaviour should be to build up others, rather than act with our own self interest in mind (10:23, 10:33, 12:7). Our behaviour shouldn’t be lowest common denominator, rather behaviour that builds up others and is a good witness to unbelievers. Therefore tag line no.1, Baa Bow….
Verse 12b - "Everything is permissible for me" but Paul adds —but I will not be mastered by anything. Sex is powerful. In sex, you become one flesh with another. You body is no longer your own, but ‘one’ with someone else. You are no longer your own master. Internet pornography and lustful attitudes can have the same affect of consuming our minds, thus becoming our master. Paul expands on this a little later in the passage, but for the moment everything is not permissible, Baa Bow…
Thirdly – the Corinthians try to simplify the nature of sex, by comparing it to eating. They are suggesting that it is a purely physical act, like eating food, that can and should be done at the bodies request. Paul doesn’t specifically slam this one here, but addresses it a bit later – so we’ll cover it then.
So having looked at where they are coming from, Paul now teaches the Corinthians about the body, and sexual immorality in five very well structured points. He looks at:
- The Purpose of the Body
- The Resurrection of the Body
- The interaction of the body with Christ
- Sin against the Body
- The Body bought for a price
Lets look at the purpose of the body.
Purpose of the Body
Have a look at verse 13b
13bThe body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
So the purpose of the body is for the Lord, and NOT for sexual immorality. God wants to use our bodies as walking, talking gospel machines that are devoted to serving him, and not their sinful desires. The body works best when it has the Lord in it – which is the second part of this verse “and the Lord for the body”.
I once filled our old Kingswood with a tank of unleaded fuel. It didn’t works very well. The problem was that it was meant to have Leaded fuel. I’d filled it with the wrong thing. The body isn’t meant to be filled with sexual immorality. It works best when it’s filled with the Lord. Paul looks at this idea in a few verses time.
So the purpose of the body is for the Lord.
Resurrection of the Body
Verse 14 continues:
14By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also.
God not only has an earthly purpose for our bodies, as we just discovered, but he also has an eternal purpose. Jesus was raised in bodily form from the dead, and so will we be!
Cast your eyes forward to 1 Corinthians 15:20:
20But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.
This passage confirms that our bodies will be raised in physical form when Jesus returns. I don’t know if you remember, but last time I preached, I spoke on Isaiah 11 which is all about the day Jesus returns. It has some powerful imagery of the world being recreated to a new Garden of Eden, and I would say that is where our newly resurrected bodies are headed!
Now this is a fairly big concept. I would have to say that for a lot of my life, my thinking would have been in line with the Corinthians – that we are resurrected spiritually. Heaven was a place where all these spirits sort of floated around.
But bodily resurrection isn’t a new idea at all. Look at the Apostle creed for example:
…I believe in the holy universal church:
the communion of saints:
The forgiveness of sins:
The resurrection of the body:
And the life everlasting. Amen.
Our bodies are not disposable. The Corinthian view that the body was something to be used, abused and destroyed was completely wrong. Death does not terminate the purpose of our bodies.
What we do with our bodies now matters!
But resurrection is not the only plan God has for our bodies. Check out verse 15 onward.
Interaction of the Body with Christ
15Do 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! 16Do 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."[1] 17But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.
Our bodies are the members of Christ! This is not referring to the wider body of believers playing different parts in the church, rather in the context it refers specifically to our individual bodies. We have Christ inside us by way of the spirit, so act like it! And look at the way Paul says it – verse 15 “Do you not know that…”. This is fundamental knowledge.
So close is the bond between the Christian body and Christ, that Paul uses Sex to describe it, and at the same time rule out sexual immorality because of it. Verse 16 onward reads
16Do 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."[1] 17But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.
Sex is a more than a physical act. Sex is the joining of two to become one flesh. It involves the mind, body and soul, and is one of the most intimate relationships a human will experience.
Our union with the Lord in spirit is as integrated as our union with another in sex. Therefore we are the members of Christ, and are one with Christ spirit.
And so Paul asks “Can we then unite that with a Prostitute?” Never!
It’s a mutually exclusive thing (or for engineers out there – an XOR). If our bodies are the members of Christ, then it is inconceivable to abuse the body by engaging in sexual oneness other than that allowed by God in marriage. We are either behaving as Jesus would, or we are not. Its one or the other.
Sin against the Body
And so Paul’s suggestion to the Corinthians – Verse 18
18Flee from sexual immorality.
Flee from sexual immorality! Don’t walk, don’t turn around and look back, Flee! The word flee is such a descriptive word. It really imparts the urgency of the situation. Situation in which you might flee include:
- A volcano erupting
- A tidal wave
- One of Philips jokes
- Temptation of sexual immorality
Paul leaves no room for misinterpretation of this statement. On the grounds of what he has said so far – flee from sexual immorality.
Verse 18 continues:
All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. 19Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?
Paul is setting sexual sin apart from all other sins. In fact he is declaring that sexual sin is the only sin against ones own body. Here’s his reasoning:
Remember that in verses 15-17 Paul established that we are the members of Christ, filled with his spirit. Well look now at verse 19 where, we are not only filled with the spirit, but our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. God dwells in us.
Remember that this is mutually exclusive relationship, in other words we cannot be the members of Christ, and involved in sexual immorality at the same time. Pauls argument is that in sexual practices not intended by God, we are becoming members or allowing ourselves to be mastered by something or someone other than Christ. We one flesh with them, thus we are removing ourselves from union with Christ. If we look back at verse 12b, Paul’s warns against this.
Thus we are sinning against our own body, which is not really our own as it is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and as we see in the next verse, has been purchased by Christ.
The Body bought for a price
Verse 19b onwards:
You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price.
Paul’s last, but possibly most important theological statement to argue against sexual immorality, is that we don’t own our bodies anyway.
When Jesus was condemned, crucified, and died – he paid the price that we owed. We were slaves to sin, but now we are servants of God. Have a look at Revelation 5:9:
And they sang a new song:
"You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased men for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation.
We were bought by God at the price of his Son. His spirit now dwells in us. Therefore we are not our own. We are servants of God, and thus we have no right to abuse something that is not ours, against the wishes of our master.
We should be seeking to serve the God who has paid for us at such a great price.
Conclusion
So Paul concludes in verse 20b:
20bTherefore honour God with your body.
What does honouring God with our body mean? Well in this context I’d suggest that it means avoid sexual immorality in any forms at all costs. So what does sexual immorality look like?
Right at the beginning of the bible, and indeed the world, God outline the only allowable context for sex. Check out Genesis 2:24:
24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
It’s pretty clear here that the only context for becoming “one flesh” is when a man unites with his wife in marriage. Therefore sex outside of marriage is sexual immorality.
Flick forward to Exodus 20:14
"You shall not commit adultery.
Well that’s a pretty clear statement from the 10 commandments that a married person should not seek sexual relations with someone else’s wife, but Jesus clarifies the statement in Matthew 5:27-28:
27"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.'[2] 28But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Sexual immorality is not limited to the physical act of sex. If we look at a man or woman lustfully, then we have already committed adultery in our heart. Lust is a state of mind, beyond love. It is when we are seeking to sexual gratification from someone else for personal gain. This applies to many areas of our lives:
It affects the way we relate to our boyfriends or girlfriends. Are we loving them, or stepping over the line and lusting them?
It affects the way we relate to friends of the opposite sex.
It affects the way we look at “attractive” strangers on the street
It affects the way we respond when we get an email with a subject like:
“Hot XXX Porn” Click here!
Internet Porn is so easily accessible in our society and so easily hidden so others won’t find out what we are up to.
Looking at another lustfully is sexual immorality.
Those are a few examples of sexual immorality. Honouring God with our body also means ensuring that we aren’t tempting other into sexual immorality.
Think of the way you behave and dress. What message is your clothing sending to people walking past you in the street, or even in your own church? What message are you sending to members of the opposite sex in the way you talk with them?
ALL of us sin sexually. All of us need God’s forgiveness, and God promises to forgive all sin. In a moment we are going to have a time of confession, where we can bring our sins before God for forgiveness.
Once we have asked for forgiveness, we should take proactive steps to stop further sin.
- Do you need to find someone to be accountable to?
- Do you need to discuss your relationship with your boyfriend/girlfriend?
Ultimately, we should be seeking to live lives that are pleasing to God, and honouring God with our body. In closing I’d like to read Romans 12:1 to you, which gives us the ultimate goal for using our members of Christ:
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship.”
Amen
