I Corinthians 6:19

First Corinthians 6:19

In First Corinthians 6:19-20 the Bible says, "What? know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost 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."

In these verses we are given two reasons why Christians should want to glorify God with their body as well as their spirit. The first reason is something that we were told earlier in First Corinthians: the fact that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament the temple was a building where God dwelt in a special way. In the New Testament that is no longer true. There is no building where God dwells in a special way. Now He dwells in the bodies of believers. That is why a church is not a building. A church is made up of people, and the building is not the church. The building is only the meeting place of the church.

Because the Holy Spirit dwells in your body, it is important that you take care of your body and that you do not participate in things that dishonor the body. A second reason that Christians should take good care of their bodies and be careful what they participate in is given in these verses when it says, "You are bought with a price." Jesus has given you a great freedom, a freedom that no one else in the world can experience except the children of God. The proper thing to do with your freedom is to turn around and give yourself to God.

Slavery was common in ancient Greece and ancient Rome. Human beings were bought and sold in the market place along with all the other goods that were sold there. In a very real way, a Christian was bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ. You are not your own: you were bought with a price. You were paid for by the blood of Jesus. Therefore, instead of exercising your freedom to do whatever you wish to do; you should yield yourself to God, seek His will, and organize your life according to what you have found to be God’s will for you.

The Christians in the city of Corinth wanted to know God’s will about certain things and they had written to Paul for his advice. I Corinthians chapters 7 and 8 are answers that Paul had given to them to some of their questions. Paul wrote in First Corinthians 7:1-2, "Now concerning the things which you wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband."

Every person will either be married or single. Those are the only two possibilities. Both situations are good and proper. It is okay to be married, and it is okay to be single. Each person must decide their own gift and their own calling. In First Corinthians chapter 7 Paul will give several benefits to remaining single. Although, he will also make it very clear that it is perfectly proper to be married. Some religions teach that people are more holy if they do not get married, but that is not what the Bible teaches. You can serve God as a single person or you can serve God as a married person. You must decide what are your gifts and calling.

One of the purposes of marriage is for the proper exercise of your sexuality. The sexual drive is one of the most basic needs of human beings, and one reason that God created marriage was for the proper fulfillment of sexuality. If you can be happy and fulfilled without being married, then you may want to remain that way. But because one of the purposes of marriage is the normal fulfillment of your sexual needs, Paul says in First Corinthians 7:3-9, "Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. The wife has not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband has not power of his own body, but the wife. Do not deprive yourselves of each other, except it be with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your lack of self-control. But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment. For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man has his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that. I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn."

Marriage is not to be entered lightly. Once two people have decided to get married, then the goal should always be that their marriage would be life-long. You should only marry someone when your intention and plan is to stay married. The Bible says in First Corinthians 7:10-11, "And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband; and let not the husband put away his wife."

What about a situation where only one of the individuals in a marriage is a Christian? Should the Christian still view the marriage bond in the same way as couples where both are believers? The answer to this question is given in First Corinthians 7:12-15. It says, "But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother has a wife that believes not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away. And the woman which has a husband that believes not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now they are holy. But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases; but God has called us to peace."

This passage of scripture makes it very clear that it is perfectly acceptable for an unbeliever and a believer to be married as long as they can dwell together in peace; probably because the marriage began when both were unsaved. But if one decides to desert the other, then the marriage is over. This is divorce on the grounds of desertion. That is exactly what is meant in verse 15 when it says, "a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases." "Not under bondage..." What bond is Paul talking about? - the marriage bond. If you have come into the marriage bond with someone, and then something happens so that you are no longer under bondage; that something is divorce.

Another Biblical grounds for divorce that is also implied in this passage can be found in the last phrase of verse 15 that says, "but God has called us to peace." Paul is making it clear that two people in a marriage should be at peace with one another. The opposite of peace is war, and one characteristic of real war is physical violence. A husband beating a wife is grounds for divorce because "God has called us to peace." The physical abilities of a man should be used to help protect the wife and help provide for the needs of the family. Any man who uses his physical strength against the woman has destroyed the peace of the marriage, and divorce would be justified in such a case, because divorce would be a common sense application of this verse in First Corinthians chapter 7. In the context of talking about marriage and when a Christian has the right to end a marriage, the Bible says, "but God has called us to peace."

Another thing that is very noticeable about First Corinthians chapter 7 is the equality with which men and women are talked about. Both men and women are given the freedom to decide for themselves if they should marry or not, and if they do marry both men and women are told that it is their choice whom they marry. The woman is given the same freedom of choice as the man. Concerning the termination of a marriage, both men and women are given the same requirements. Just go back over these verses in First Corinthians chapter 7 and you will notice a great equality given concerning the man and the woman. Whenever something is said about a man, the same is said about a woman, and vice-versa. For example, verse 2 says, "to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband." Verse 3 says, "Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence; and likewise also the wife unto the husband." Verse 4 says, "the wife has not power over her own body...; and likewise also the husband has not power of his own body." Throughout the chapter the emphasis is on equality: equality of rights, equality of privileges, equality of status. How could anyone look at this passage of scripture and see anything but equality between the man and the woman. The dominance of one person over the other is never the emphasis of scripture when things are looked at in the total context.

In another one of Paul’s writings, in his letter to the Ephesians, Paul also addressed the husband-wife relationship. Some people have interpreted the passage in Ephesians as though it did not teach equality between male and female and between husband and wife. Some people have even used the passage from Ephesians to justify the man dominating the woman. Would Paul write one passage where equality is emphasized and then write another where the dominance of the man is taught? Let’s look at the passage from Ephesians. Ephesians 5:21-22 says, "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord."

Who is supposed to submit to whom? Each is supposed to submit to the other. That should be true among all Christians. All Christians should submit to one another. No one should be proud or self-willed or demanding. Each should submit to the other. It is true of the husband, and it is true of the wife. It is true of the marriage relationship because Ephesians 5:21 says, "Submitting yourselves one to another..." You may have heard the term "submissive wife" describing how a good Christian wife should be; but it is equally valid to use the term "submissive husband" describing how a Christian husband should be. Are you a submissive husband? If not, you are not the husband that you ought to be.

Notice that Ephesians 5:22 addresses the woman and says, "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord." What does that mean? What it does not mean is that only the wives should be submissive. For example, Ephesians 5:25 says, "Husbands, love your wives..." Does that mean that the wives do not have to love their husbands? Of course not. What is true for one is also true for the other.

In the best marriages no one dominates. The best marriages are an equal partnership where both the husband and the wife love each other, and both the husband and wife submit to each other. If you look closely enough you will see that the Bible teaches an equality between the husband and the wife, both in Ephesians chapter 5 and in First Corinthians chapter 7.

Of course, in First Corinthians chapter 7 not only did Paul emphasize equality in marriage, he also emphasized the importance of marriage and he looked for reasons to keep a marriage together. One of the reasons for keeping together the marriage of a believer and a non-believer is given in First Corinthians 7:16 that says, "For what do you know, O wife, whether you shall save your husband? Or how do you know, O man, whether you shall save your wife?" One of the primary purposes of a believer in this world is to be an influence with the Gospel of Christ on others who are not believers. A believing husband or wife may just be the right influence by the grace of God, to help their unbelieving spouse to be saved. It can happen, and it has happened many times. "What God has joined together, let not man put asunder."

Any big decision that you make that changes the circumstances of your life should be considered very carefully and only after much prayer. Nothing happens unless God allows it to happen, and if He has allowed something to happen, you should be very reluctant to undo what God has already permitted. This is true concerning your marital status and it is also true concerning other circumstances about your life. First Corinthians 7:17-24 says, "But as God has distributed to every man, as the Lord has called every one, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all churches. Is any man called being circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God. Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called. Are you called being a servant? care not for it: but if you may be made free, use it rather. For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord’s freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ’s servant. You are bought with a price; be not you the servants of men. Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God."

Some people have caused themselves many sorrows, because they were too hasty to make decisions that changed their circumstances. One reason that we do not more carefully consider a decision before we make it, is because we are too selfish or self-willed. If we realize that we are called to be the Lord’s servant, we will more carefully look for His will and we will more likely wait for His time to change things. God is everywhere, and you are the same no matter where you are, and human nature will be human nature no matter where you are; so going somewhere else may not change things as much as you think. God needs people who can stick it out and who can stand strong no matter what happens. This advice of scripture applies to your marriage as well as many other circumstances of life, "Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God."

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