1 Corinthians 6:12 - Meaning and Application

The twelfth verse and the first part of the thirteenth seem to connect with the early Christian debate about clean and unclean foods. At the same time, they also prepare for Paul’s warning against sexual sin. That link is clear if we remember the apostles’ decision in Acts 15, where they tied the ban on certain foods to the ban on fornication.

Some Corinthians seem to have thought they were just as free in sexual matters as they were about food. Since fornication was not condemned by the laws of their country, they were ready to say, “All things are lawful for me.” Paul firmly pushes back against this dangerous idea. He teaches that many things may be lawful in themselves, yet still not wise or fitting in a given setting.

Christians should not only ask, “Is this allowed?” They should also ask, “Is this proper for me, given my calling, character, relationships, and hope?” They must be careful that by stretching this rule too far, they do not come under the control of a trickster or a sinful desire. “All things are lawful for me,” Paul says, “but I will not be mastered by anything” (1 Corinthians 6:12). Even in lawful things, he would not let himself be ruled by someone else’s false authority.

He was far from thinking that any earthly power had the right to force its opinions on people in the things of God. There is a freedom Christ has given us, and we must stand firm in it. But Paul would never use that freedom to let bodily desire rule him. Even if all foods were lawful, he would not become a glutton or drunkard. Much less would he use the idea of Christian freedom to excuse fornication, which may have been tolerated by Corinthian law, but was against the law of nature and completely unfit for a Christian.

Paul’s point about food and the belly also warns against any kind of self-indulgence. “Foods are for the stomach, and the stomach for foods” (1 Corinthians 6:13). Food was meant to fill the body, and the body was made to receive food. But if eating is not wise, and especially if it begins to control me, then I should refrain. God will destroy both the stomach and the food, at least in their present use and relation. A day is coming when the human body will no longer need food.

Some early writers thought this meant the stomach itself would be removed in the resurrection, along with the need for food. Whether that is true or not, the main point stands, there will be a time when eating and bodily hunger will end. The hope of being free from bodily appetites in the life to come is a strong reason not to be ruled by them now. That, in my view, is Paul’s point here.

Some readers connect this passage with Paul’s earlier warning about lawsuits, especially lawsuits before unbelieving judges and enemies of the gospel. On that reading, the lesson would be that it may be lawful to defend our rights, but not always wise to do so. Christians should also avoid putting themselves under the control of unbelieving judges, lawyers, and legal agents. Still, that connection does not seem as natural here. The shift into Paul’s warning against fornication fits much better.

“But the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body” (1 Corinthians 6:13). Meats and the belly belong together, but fornication and the body do not. The body was never made for sexual sin. It was made for the Lord, for God’s service and honor. It is meant to be an instrument of righteousness leading to holiness (Romans 6:19), and so it must never be turned into an instrument of uncleanness.

The body is also meant to belong to Christ. That is why it must not be made the body of a prostitute, or used in any way that dishonors him (1 Corinthians 6:15). Some understand “the Lord is for the body” to mean that Christ is Lord over the body, with rightful claim and authority over it. He took a human body and shared our nature so that he might become the head of his church and ruler over all things (Hebrews 2:5, Hebrews 2:18). We must be careful not to use what belongs to Christ as if it were our own.

Others understand “the Lord is for the body” to mean that Christ is for its resurrection and glorification, which fits the next verse. “God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power” (1 Corinthians 6:14). He will change our humble bodies and make them like his glorious body, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his rule (Philippians 3:21). It is an honor to the body that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. It will also be an honor to our bodies that they will be raised.

So we should not stain these bodies with sin and make them vile. If they are kept pure, they will be made like Christ’s glorious body, even though they are now lowly. The hope of resurrection to glory should hold Christians back from dishonoring their bodies with fleshly lusts. Paul then gives another reason: “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?” (1 Corinthians 6:15). If the soul is joined to Christ by faith, then the whole person belongs to his mystical body, his spiritual body of believers. Even the body shares in that union.

What an honor this is for the Christian. The very flesh of a believer is part of Christ’s mystical body. It is good to know the high place we hold, so we can live in a way that fits it. Paul asks, “Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? God forbid.” That would be a terrible misuse of Christ’s members, and a deep insult to Christ himself and to ourselves.

Then he adds, “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’” (1 Corinthians 6:16, 1 Corinthians 6:17). But the person who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.

Nothing can stand in greater opposition to the honorable ties and relationships of a Christian man than this sin. He is joined to the Lord in union with Christ and made a partaker of his Spirit by faith. One Spirit lives, breathes, and moves in both the head and the members. Christ and his faithful disciples are one, (John 17:21-22).

But the man who joins himself to a prostitute becomes one body with her, because “the two will become one flesh” through bodily union. God intended that union only for marriage. So should someone who is so closely joined to Christ that he is one spirit with him also unite himself to a prostitute and become one flesh with her? Would that not be a shameful attempt to join Christ and prostitutes together? Could anything insult Christ or ourselves more deeply? Nothing could be more out of line with our faith or our calling.

For that reason, the sin of sexual immorality is a great injury to a Christian’s Head and Lord, and a serious shame on his profession. It is no wonder that the apostle says, “Flee sexual immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18). Stay away from it. Keep out of reach of temptations and away from situations that stir them up. Turn your eyes and thoughts to other things. Many of the church fathers said that other sins are conquered by fighting, but this one is conquered only by running away.

A fourth reason is that this sin is against our own bodies. “Every sin that a person commits is outside the body,” but “the one who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body” (1 Corinthians 6:18). In other sins, the body is used as an instrument. A drunkard abuses wine, a glutton abuses food, and so on. But those sins do not hand over the body’s power to another person, and they do not stain the body in the same way. This sin is specially called uncleanness and pollution because no other sin shows such open shame, especially in a Christian. He sins against his own body, defiles it, and lowers it by making it one with the body of that worthless person with whom he sins. He brings disgrace on what his Redeemer has honored beyond measure by joining it to himself. We should not make our present lowly bodies even more shameful by sinning against them.

A fifth reason is that Christians’ bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit who lives in them and whom they have from God (1 Corinthians 6:19). The one who is joined to Christ is one spirit with him. He has given himself to Christ, and by that surrender he is set apart for Christ’s use. Then the Holy Spirit possesses him, fills him, and lives in him. That is what a temple is, a place where God dwells, set apart for his use by his own right and by the surrender of the creature. True Christians are such temples of the Holy Spirit. He must therefore be God, and the conclusion is plain: we are not our own.

We have given ourselves to God, and he has taken possession of us and for us. More than that, he has bought us with a price. In short, our bodies were made for God and purchased for him. If we are truly Christians, our bodies have been yielded to him, and he lives and works in them by his Spirit. So our bodies are not our own, but his. Shall we then dishonor his temple, defile it, make it common, and hand it over to a prostitute? That would be horrible sacrilege. It is robbing God in the worst possible way. The temple of the Holy Spirit must be kept holy. Our bodies must be kept as belonging to him and fit for his use and dwelling place.

The apostle also argues from our duty to glorify God with both body and spirit, since both belong to him (1 Corinthians 6:20). He made both, he bought both, and so both belong to him and should be used for him. They should not be polluted, turned away from him, or given over to sin. Instead, they must be kept like vessels ready for our Master’s use. We should count our whole selves as holy to the Lord and use our bodies as property that belongs to him and is sacred to his service. We are to honor him with our bodies and spirits, since both are his. So we must avoid sexual immorality, not only the outward act, but also the adultery of the heart, as our Lord calls it (Matthew 5:28). Body and spirit must be kept clean so that God is honored in both.

But when either body or spirit is defiled by so beastly a sin, God is dishonored. Therefore flee sexual immorality, and indeed flee every sin. Use your bodies for the glory and service of their Lord and Maker. We are not owners of ourselves, and we have no right to use ourselves as we please. We must use ourselves according to his will and for his glory, since we belong to him and should serve him (Acts 27:23).