[Steve Myers] This is Epistles of Paul. We left off last time in 1 Corinthians 6. Of course, we recall that Paul is addressing different issues that divided the church in Corinth. And in Chapter 6 he deals with the issue of a brother taking another brother to court. And this whole idea of the fact that Christians, when it comes to civil matters, disagreements between people, we need to work out our problems. It's a shameful thing not to deal with these issues. And so Paul has emphasized that point over and over again that we are to be judging, we're to be discerning right from wrong. And those that we spend time with, that should impact our behavior. Those issues that we have to deal with are a reflection of the fact that we are converted. And so at the beginning of Chapter 6, he makes that very point and really deals with those that have not been following that, pointing out the fact in verse 5 saying, it's a shameful thing for those who are church members, those who are converted to take a brother or a sister to a human court. That actually brings shame on the church itself.

So part of the evidence, the fact that we are converted should be that we work out our problems. It doesn't mean we don't have problems, right? You know that difference between functioning families and dysfunctional families, you've heard that, dysfunctional families, I come from a dysfunctional family. Well, what is it about a dysfunctional family that makes it dysfunctional? They don't work out their problems. Do functioning families have problems? Yes. We all have problems. The deal is whether you work them out or not. And so just because there's problems in the church doesn't mean we're not the church of God. It means we're human beings. It means we're not 100% Christ-like in the things that we're doing. We're still growing. You know, we're still coming to the measure and the stature and the fullness of Christ. But the indication that we are convert is that we work out our problems. And so Paul is dealing with that right now. And so we don't take a brother to court. And that's what he says straight out in verse 6 of 1 Corinthians 6.

1 Corinthians 6:6 He says, "A brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers."

We had talked last time about the idea that you go before a judge of this world and they don't know God's ways. They don't understand His will and His way. So wouldn't a person in the church be better to judge a situation than someone who's unconverted who's going to judge by God's standards versus some other standard? Well, we need to judge righteous judgment was the point that Jesus Christ Himself made and that Paul is making. Why go before unbelievers? And that's an interesting word there, for unbelievers? If you're familiar with the word pistos, pistos is the base word for faith. Faith. But this particular word here, they put an A in front of it, apistos, meaning not faithful, or unbelievers, unbelievers in the context here.

So they are faithless, would be another way to think of that. Faithless. Now, it doesn't mean that they're just not faithful people, but it carries that greater connotation that they're not godly people. They're not righteous people. And so this apistos is going to keep coming up, this word of unbelievers. So this is one of the uses of that particular word. We'll see it come up, especially as we get into Chapter 7, we'll see the same word. But it just doesn't mean they lack faith. So we don't want to take it just that way, even though they're unfaithful, sometimes this might be translated, or unbelievers. This carries that connotation of more of an evil kind of an approach, an ungodly approach. That's who they are. You're going before those who are ungodly, they're ungodly. And so as faithful people, we should be able to solve our issues.

1 Corinthians 6:7 He says, "Therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another."

So this is failing to what? To be faithful. You're acting like an unbeliever. You're acting like a godless person if you can't solve these issues. And so don't bring shame on the church. Don't bring shame on yourself. Don't utterly fail to apply God's principles. Submit to God's Spirit and let God lead you. So it's a failure to take someone to court and not solve the issues among yourselves. And in fact, he takes it to the next level. All right, if you're not going to do that, verse 7 in the middle here.

1 Corinthians 6:7 It says, "Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated?"

Rather than go before an ungodly judge who doesn't understand the will and the word and the way of God, why not just let it go? So the guy broke your lawnmower. He's not willing to pay you back and you can't work it out. Well, should we just let it go? Paul's saying, well, wouldn't this be better? Yeah, but that's not right. You ever felt that way? That's not justice. I deserve justice. Well, that's true. That's true. Should we have so little regard for each other that we don't make things right? No, we should make things right. And then on the other hand, should I have so little regard for my brother that I take him to court? No, that's not good either.

So what's he getting at here? And he's saying, sometimes there's things that are more important than justice. There's some things that are more important than justice. I mean, think of the ultimate example of this. If you hold your place here, go over to 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2:21, think about this idea of why don't you just accept wrong? Why don't you just let yourself be cheated? Well, that's not being a good American. I would never want to do that. Right? We fall back on that sometimes, I think. It's like, well, no, we're about truth and justice and right and wrong. Well, wait a second. What about the ultimate example? I mean, Peter recorded this for us. Take a look at 1 Peter 2, notice verse 21.

1 Peter 2:20-21 It says, "For to this you were called." What do you mean, to this I'm called? Well, if we back up a little bit in verse 20, he says, "What credit is it if when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently?" Yeah, you deserve that. But he says, "when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God."

You see, God understands and God knows. Is God our ultimate judge? Will He ultimately bring justice? Yes, absolutely. Does that mean I might suffer in the meantime? Yeah, sometimes that may be the case. But look at the ultimate example.

1 Peter 2:21-24 He says, "To this you were called because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow His steps." But what did Christ do wrong? Well, he didn't deserve any of that. It says, "He committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth, who when He was reviled didn't revile in return. When he suffered, He didn't threaten but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously."

Oh, my brother wants to rip me off, should I take him to the human court or can I have a Christ-like perspective and recognize God's going to take care of this? God ultimately will work things out. If I can't work it out with my brother, that doesn't give me the right then to take them to court. Then I have to have this Christ-like perspective then, as Paul says, well, why don't you just accept wrong then? Why not just let yourself be cheated? Because that's more important than justice. That's the godly approach. That's the godly approach. That's the Christ-like approach. We follow His example then in that regard. I mean it shouldn't go that way when you have a problem with a brother. You should be able to work it out but ultimately if it comes down to that, all right, put it in God's hands then. Put it in God's hands.

But that's not what the Corinthians did. You know, the ones that he's writing to here, instead of doing that, instead of following that Christ-like example, if you head back to 1 Corinthians 6:8, he says, nope, instead of allowing that, instead of just accepting wrong.

1 Corinthians 6:8 He says, "No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren."

The cheating word actually has to do with defrauding. Defrauding your brother. Yeah, okay, you do owe them, but instead of paying up, making things right, you cheat them, you're defrauding them. You do actually owe them. And so, I mean, an interesting perspective here, we should do what's right. If not, if they won't work things out, then we accept wrong and recognize that's part of our calling, which is a pretty strong statement that Peter makes, "To this you were called." Yeah, sometimes you're going to be wronged and you're not going to get justice in this life. But will there ultimately be justice? Yeah. Yeah, Paul's going to make the point we all have to stand before the judgment seat of Christ. We all have to answer to those types of things that we didn't work out, the ways that we did mistreat others, if we did cheat others or defraud others. Yeah, we're going to be responsible for that. There's no doubt about that. Better to work those things out now, that's for sure. And so, ultimately, he points to that example. Verse 9 then.

1 Corinthians 6:9 "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don't be deceived."

So here he contrasts, the righteous will inherit the Kingdom of God. So he's offsetting that. You're going to go to an unrighteous judge who doesn't understand God's way or you're not going to work things out. Hey, that type of behavior won't lead you into the Kingdom. That's not going to happen. But we could be fooled by that is what he says. "Don't be deceived." Oh, we could be fooled because you owe me, you deserve to be treated like...no, wait a second. He paints the bigger picture now. The bigger picture.

1 Corinthians 9:10 "Don't be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites."

Wow, this list is getting long here, isn't it? Interesting that he starts out with all these sexual sins. Why do you think he would do that? Oh yeah, we're in Corinth. We're in Corinth, right? This is the place where they had the temple with the thousand temple prostitutes. A lot of that was still going on at this time. Yeah, those things impacted the church. But he makes this point, don't be taken in, don't be deceived. These behaviors, this unrighteousness can take many forms. There could be many forms of unrighteousness. And he goes on, not just the sexual sins.

1 Corinthians 9:10 He says, "Thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers." Revilers are the...always tie this into spring break down in Florida. You know, the partiers, the party spirit, those that just go nuts at that time. Kind of that reviling is, kind of, in that kind of frame of mind. He says, "Or extortioners, none of these," he says at the end of verse 10, "will inherit the Kingdom of God."

None. And so all of this is unacceptable. All of this is leaven. Remember, he has been talking about that. He's been talking about that kind of behavior, that kind of morality. "None of this is acceptable. The unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God." These are evidence of the behavior of the world, not what our standard is. It's not the standard that God has called us to. And so he's kind of making this point. It doesn't matter what form or shape unrighteousness takes, it's going to exclude us from the Kingdom of God.

It's kind of interesting even just to think about that concept for a moment. What can we do to qualify for the Kingdom of God? Nothing. None of our behavior qualifies us for the Kingdom of God. What qualifies us for the Kingdom? Jesus Christ qualifies us. God the Father qualifies us through His Son, through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Remember, eternal life is the gift of God. You don't earn gifts, it's given to you. So interesting to think that we can't earn the Kingdom. But at the same time, we can be disqualified from the Kingdom. So we can't qualify for the Kingdom, but we can be disqualified for the Kingdom by continuing to act with any of these behaviors in the whole list. And it goes on and on. Paul kind of stopped here. Yeah, we can disqualify ourselves from the Kingdom. And so he makes this strong point.

And I think this is important, something you definitely want to take note of, this idea of universal salvation, it's wrong. What is universal salvation, this idea? It's the idea that everybody makes it. Everybody makes it. False Christianity out there says everybody makes it into heaven. Well, does everybody make it into the Kingdom? No, no. I think this is one of the verses and one of the passages that certainly point out that very fact that those that choose to live this way and will not change, He says, "They will not inherit the Kingdom of God." And so there are, however many, I would pray it's very few, would make that wrong choice of not choosing to change and repent. And the ultimate result, if they want to continue to live that way that is outside the bounds of God's will and way, he says, "They will not inherit the Kingdom of God." And so the idea of universal salvation is biblically incorrect. Those that choose to live this way will not receive salvation. And so he makes that point pretty strongly here.

In fact, it is kind of interesting that as he points these things out, this speaks so strongly against some of the ways of this world. I mean, look at how he concentrates these character traits in verse 9, these attitudes and these actions. He talks about fornicators. Remember, we tied in a lot of these words to porneia, sexual immorality. The fornicators' word is pornos, P-O-R-N-O-S, pornos, fornicators, sex outside of marriage is certainly that word there. He ties that into idolatry. And certainly, the Corinthians were known for that. They're worshiping sex, worshiping Aphrodite, the sex goddess, the goddess of fertility. Yeah, they were caught up in that kind of idolatry. And that, I think, is a form of idolatry today, isn't it? Yeah, I think so. The whole LGBTQ+ movement is reflected in these things. Adulterers, those that are into sex outside of marriage, it's unacceptable. You will be disqualified from the Kingdom if you continue to act that way.

He gets very specific. He says homosexuals will be disqualified from the Kingdom if that continues to be their lifestyle. Of course, our world today is promoting this life. It's a lifestyle choice to be a homosexual or to be a lesbian, or any of these types of things, questioning, and queer, and trans, and the whole thing. Well, this is speaking to all of that. So he says not only homosexuals, which of course, in Corinth, this would have pointed to the male prostitutes. We talked about individuals who were slaves that were donated to the temple worship of Aphrodite were temple prostitutes. Yeah, they were male prostitutes. The homosexuals would have been that.

Also interesting that he says sodomites as well. Now, you read those two words and say, well, aren't they the same thing? Kind of sounds like it and maybe today we might think of it in similar types of terms, and not trying to be gross or too explicit or anything like that. But the homosexuals that they're talking about here, the male prostitutes, you would associate those with being the passive partners in a homosexual relationship. The sodomites, on the other hand, would have been the aggressors, would have been the more active role in that. And so interesting that Paul is showing condemnation to both, to both sides of the equation. And so none of that is acceptable. None is acceptable. And so he'll deal with lesbians, they're not mentioned in this list here, but Romans 1:26 certainly points that fact out as well. So we're not letting any of that lifestyle choice get away with it, in other words.

So he says very clearly those types of behaviors and that lifestyle is unacceptable. And I think that's important to recognize as well. And sometimes we get things, I think, a little out of priority. Well, not priorities, what would the right word be? Just out of sorts a little bit because sometimes we look at these things and yeah, they're terrible things. They're unacceptable. They're abominations. They're described that way many, many times throughout the Old Testament. But then he also says, some were thieves and covetous. And so we don't want to put this behavior of fornication and idolaters and adulterers and the LGBTQ as somehow worse sins than others. I mean, sin is sin. And it doesn't matter what the sin is. Oh, I just told a little lie. Well, what's the penalty for lying? Death. You deserve death. What's the penalty for homosexuality? Death. You deserve the same thing. So he includes in this list thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, extortioners, none of them, none of this list will receive the Kingdom of God, will receive salvation. And so it's important to recognize that. And I think it just makes such a powerful statement against the whole movement that we face today out in this world, really makes it very, very clear that none of these things are acceptable.

Now, of course, what did he say about judging? God's going to take care of that. I can judge, that's totally unacceptable. I can't hang out with them. I've been told, no, that's not my BFFs. That's not my best friends. I'm not going to spend time with that. Not going to be there. And so he tells us how to approach them. Yeah, ultimately God's going to call them. God's going to call them and work with them. That's God's job. Let God do the condemnation. Let God do the judging. But I can judge the behavior. I can take a stand against that kind of behavior as much as I do against thieves or drunkards or revilers. Yeah, all of that. I stand against that kind of behavior. As Christians, we must, we must. And so when we consider that, I think that makes it very, very clear.

Now, of course, at the same time, what's interesting, what about the impact of society in the church? Paul traveled and on his journey, he came to Corinth and he preached and he taught. What was the result? The result was that God called people and a church began. Well, who were these people? Well, we got a list of them, don't we? And that's the interesting part, after saying these things, after saying these things that these are all unacceptable, He says, fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, sodomites, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, extortioners will not inherit the Kingdom of God. What does he say next?

1 Corinthians 6:11 "And such were some of you."

What a powerful statement. Yeah, this is us. This is all of us. This is the church. If it's out there, we've come out of this world. We're not of this world anymore. We are of God. And so, yeah, some of us...We came out of those lifestyles. We came out of those lifestyles. So can we have converted gays in the church? Yes, we do. Converted lesbians, yes, you name it. Converted thieves, yes. Converted alcoholics, yes. Yes, to all of those things. And we see the power of the Spirit of God in us and how God works with us. And He says, you don't come in and stay gay. You don't come in and stay a thief. You don't come in and stay a drunkard. No, as God calls you and you come to conversion, you're given the power over sin, which is such an amazing thing. We've been given God's Spirit. And by the power of God's Spirit, we could overcome these behaviors. We can overcome unrighteousness and we can put on Christ.

1 Corinthians 6:11 And so He says, "You were washed."

So what do you think that refers to? It's not just a dunk-in, right? Oh, you've been in the water. You've been washed in the waters of baptism. Your sins have been washed away. Whatever those sins were, they're gone. They are gone. They are washed away. They are forgiven and forgotten by God. Right? He tells us that very thing, doesn't He? Psalm 103, He tells us that He forgets our sin. He puts it away. We are washed.

1 Corinthians 6:11 He says, "You were sanctified," yet God has set them apart. They're no longer participating in those behaviors. "You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God."

And so that's the power of the calling of God that we come to baptism. And because now we have a Savior in Jesus Christ, we are not only set apart but we're justified. And that means when we are justified by God, we're truly repentant and then forgiven. And that repentance and forgiveness brings us to this idea of justification, which means that we are declared righteous. We're declared righteous, forgiven of sin, we're brought into a right relationship with God.

God holds us to that level that now we have taken on righteousness. He acquits us of sin. He acquits us of sin and now sees us in that way, "Justified all," it says, "in the name of Lord Jesus," because of Passover, the spiritual significance of that, the sacrifice of Christ and our faith in that sacrifice and its application to us then as we seek God's forgiveness. And we are then brought into that kind of a relationship with God all through the power of God's Spirit. And so pretty amazing, pretty amazing process. And of course Corinth, it probably was a little more obvious when they came out of the world, being active pagans, you know, worshiping Aphrodite and the other Roman Greek gods. Yeah, that would have been something else. But Paul reminds them of their calling and their baptism. And now that was who we were, but it's not who we are now. That is not our identity anymore. And so what a powerful statement that he makes there to really show how we are offset.

And because of that, what does that bring us back to? Well, we should be able to judge things, right, because that's not who we are anymore. We are righteous people in God's eyes. He's declared us righteous through the sacrifice of Christ, and because we are repented, and because we've sought forgiveness before God. And so He still hasn't gotten away from that subject. And I know I've kind of talked a lot about these things, but He's still on this idea of judging, going before a judge, going before a court in that sense, and reminds us of our calling because of this wonderful calling, we should be able to judge things. All right, so go back then to...let's see, where should we go? To verse 12 then. So because of our baptism, because we have God's Holy Spirit, we should be able to handle these things.

1 Corinthians 6:12 He says, "All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful." Now that's the New King James. Some translations say, "All things are lawful, but not all things are expedient."

Sometimes that word is used. In fact, he says the same thing again in 10:23, same repeat. He repeats the same thing a little bit later in the letter. "All things are lawful but not all things are expedient or all things are helpful."

1 Corinthians 6:12 Then he says, "All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any."

So in a sense, he's saying to the Corinthians, oh, yeah, you can go to court, that's lawful. You know, as a citizen, you could take somebody to court. But is that the best action? Is that what's expedient? Is this what is really the most helpful? Yeah, as Corinthians, yeah, you have the right.

And, of course, part of the old mantra in Corinth was I have the right to do anything. I can do anything I want. So even if everything was lawful, does that mean you should do it? He's saying no, no. And so he really makes this point that we really need to understand this. We need to do what's beneficial. That's what's most important. He says, "I have to master these things in that way." And so he says, "I'm not going to be brought under the power of any. No, not going to allow that to happen. Not going to allow that to control me." Whatever it may be. Just because I have a right, of course, we as Americans, we have rights. Well, do we always have to exercise our rights just because it's within the bounds of the law? He says no. No, remember, he just got done saying maybe it would be better to be defrauded. Maybe it would be better to be cheated. Maybe it would be better to let it go, to let it go.

But he says, we have to be careful. Don't be brought under the power of anything just because it could be lawful. Can I eat five desserts at dinner tonight? Okay, it's not against the law. Yeah, I could do that. Is that going to be what's best for me? No, no. Yeah, I could get under that control. I could let that control me if I'm not careful. Is it wrong for me to have a glass of wine with dinner? No. Should I have a bottle of wine? Uh-oh, better be careful. All right, that could control you. That could control you. And so no wonder Christ preached moderation. Paul is getting to that as well, even when it comes to desserts, or here in verse 13 he uses the example of food.

1 Corinthians 6:13 "Foods for the stomach and stomach for foods."

And this word is the general word for food, it's bromah, not meats, it says in the King James. The word itself is just the general word bromah, B-R-O-M-A-H, broma, foods. "Foods for the stomach, stomach for foods." But should I let food control me? No, no, I can't. He says, “God's going to destroy both it and them.” Yeah, these are temporary things. Food shouldn't control us. Our body is even a temporary thing. And then he brings it back and says, "The body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord and the Lord for the body."

Yeah, the Corinthians were having trouble. No wonder he went down that list of sexual immorality there as he started. Yeah, Corinth, you got issues with this. You came out of this. Don't let that control you. Yeah, our world today, wow, sex controls a lot of people, a lot of people. I mean, the idea of pornography and the whole infection that's out there from it, it is everywhere. It is everywhere and so easily accessible and private and nobody might ever know. But boy, is it out? Can that control you? Oh boy, it sure can. And so he's making this point ultimately that even God should be a part of our perspective, and it says, "The Lord for the body," right? The body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord. So even I should see my physical body as belonging to God? Yeah. Can you think of a reason why that would be the case?

He got done saying a little bit earlier in this letter that the body, the body of Christ is where the Spirit of God resides, collectively in the church, but individually as well. So individually our bodies house the Spirit of God. Should we take care of the temple of God? Yeah, absolutely, physically and spiritually, spiritually, of course, most importantly. And so this idea of sexual immorality, remember the connections of sexual immorality as well. When you think of those temple prostitutes, these idolaters had this weird connection in their minds that somehow they were connecting with the gods through this prostitution, through this sex worship. And so Paul is reminding them, oh, wait a second, your body belongs to God. Your body belongs to God and so that should be our perspective. Even though something might be lawful, you know, what's lawful today? Well, homosexual marriage is lawful. Well, does that mean, well, that would be great? No, no, not at all. I mean it used to be back in the day, you know, if you were a lesbian or homosexual, they'd throw you in jail in America. Is that illegal today? Yeah, you can do that, no problem. Is that expedient? Is that helpful? Is that spiritual? No.

So Paul is drawing that connection between these things that ultimately you need to see the perspective that God should be in all aspects of your life, even in the things that we eat, even in the things that how we eat, what we eat, how much we eat, all of those things are part of it. Don't be brought under the power of any of those things, whether it be porn, whether it be alcohol, whether it be whatever, don't let that take you under its control. That's what it's getting at. And so what we see here is this idea, even here foods for the stomach, he may even be intimating there what will be a topic that's going to come up a little bit later, the idea of eating meat that was offered to idols. Yeah, that definitely happened in Corinth. And so he may be even setting up something that's going to come later in the letter when he says, "Food for the stomach and stomach for food," you know, is that going to govern you? Is that going to control you? Is that going to impact your perspective?

So here he's really getting down to it, and I think in some ways really attacks the good old American way because we've got this tendency, especially today, to think that I have a right to do anything. I have a right. And often it's the case that, okay, well, it's not against the law. But that doesn't make it right. So later on when we get to Chapter 10, he's going to say, well, whether you eat, whether you drink, whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. And so he's going to say that a little later in the letter and he's already making that point that that should be our perspective. And so what does he say then verse 14?

1 Corinthians 6:14 "God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power."

And so, ultimately, that's our perspective. We came out of this culture, stay out of this way, don't get caught back up into the ways of this world. You were washed, you were sanctified, you're forgiven, you continue that process of conversion. Don't come under the power of anything that would go against God. And don't forget, we have that forgiveness when we repent and we go before God because of the sacrifice of Christ. In fact, we have that powerful example.

He calls on this example of Jesus Christ Himself. Yeah, that kind of reminds me of...let me think where it is. It's in the book of Romans. Maybe if you hold your place here for just a second, let's see if I can pick it out. In Romans, he mentions...It's in Chapter 6. Let's check this out and see. Chapter 8. Yeah, it's in Chapter 8 where he mentions this. Just the fact that He connects us with Christ and the resurrection of Christ. And because of the resurrection, we have hope. Because of the resurrection, we have a Savior. We have a living Savior. We have a sacrifice in Christ who is living. And He also talks about this Spirit that "God both raised up the Lord will also raise us up by His power."

Romans 8:11 He says, "If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you."

And so he makes that point, we have the Spirit of God. And it's by the power of that Spirit that the Father raised up Jesus Christ. So do we have the power to overcome sin? We've been given the power to repent and change, seek God's forgiveness? Yes, through our Savior Jesus Christ, by the power of the Spirit that's in us. And so he's reminding the Corinthians of that. And, of course, it reminds us as well that, ultimately, there's where our hope is, that's how we can overcome, by the power of God's Spirit.

So if you head back to 1 Corinthians 6, in making this point, he's helping to help redefine their priorities is what he's doing. Okay, here we are in the middle of the days of unleavened bread. Remember, you've come out of sin and by the power of the Spirit you can remain out of sin. And so he connects that to our bodies, our behaviors, our actions.

1 Corinthians 6:15 He says, "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?"

We are the body of Christ. And that's important to recognize too. It's not like the church is like the body of Christ. No, the church is the body of Christ. The church is the body of Christ. We are members of the body of Christ. And so if we are members of the body of Christ, does that impact our perspective and then our actions? He says, yes, absolutely. Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot, a prostitute? And what does he say? Certainly not. But one of the strongest phrases in the Greek here, certainly not, no way, impossible, you just can't do that, no, no way. And so he says, that's ridiculous. No, not possible. And so when you think that, he says, don't you recognize the significance of this? If we're to be the body of Christ, then that is not what we're about.

1 Corinthians 6:16 He says, "Don't you know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For the two," he says, "shall become one flesh."

Of course, what is he getting at here? I mean, he's going all the way back to Genesis. You know, when he's talking about, what does it mean to be married? What does it mean to be married? Well, two become one. The two become one. Yeah, physically, sure. But here he's pointing to more than just the physical acts of intercourse. He's not just talking about that. Right? Yeah, that's not what it's about. And so is it about prostitution? And wait a second, God intends so much more than that, more than just sex. It's not just that. And so that physical act impacts a marriage if it's right and good and godly because he connects that in verse 17.

1 Corinthians 6:17 When he says, "He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him."

One spirit with Him. And of course, it's interesting, you begin to think about this, and we'll talk a lot about it when we get into the book of Ephesians where we're given very specific instructions for marriage, for husbands and wives. Paul is going to get into that one aspect as we get into Chapter 7. But here, remember he's addressing Corinth and the issue that they had with sex worship, and that took a lot of different forms, whether it was worshiping Dionysus or whether it was worshiping Aphrodite, all of those types of things. The sexual religious prostitutes that hung out at these various temples that the idol worshipers would have sex with to get closer to the gods, all of those, that was impacting the church and they were coming out of that. So Paul's making this point, don't forget, you're joined to the Lord. You're joined to the Lord. And that joined is a cool word in the Greek, it can mean bound to, but it also carries this connotation of you're stuck together. You're actually glued to God, or fastened, you're fastened to God. Yeah, that's who you're fastened to.

And of course, that's an interesting reflection when you think about marriage. You're joined together in marriage. Sex is certainly an indication of that. The two shall become one. Flesh, you're joined, you're fastened. Sex in a way is the glue that can bind a marriage together. But he says the greater spiritual picture is you're joined to the Lord. You're to be of one mind and one spirit with Him. That's really the perspective. And so then that changes us, that transforms our behavior, changes who we are. It changes who we are. And so what we do should be reflected in who we are. And so what does he tell them next?

1 Corinthians 6:18 Well, he says, "Flee sexual immorality.”

Flee sexual immorality, flee porneia, flee...any form of sexual immorality, you have to flee. So he makes it very clear. And that's interesting too. He just doesn't say, okay, don't be fornicators or don't be adulterers. What does he say? Run away. Run away. You know, don't be passive about this. And he's not just saying avoid it. He puts it in this term, run, run, run away from this.

I mean, can you think of some biblical examples of any individuals that were in a situation where it wasn't just, oh, well, try not to be involved in that? Yeah, you think of Joseph, right? And Potiphar's wife was like, hey, come here, big boy. And what did he do? He ran out and she grabbed his garment and he ran, ran out. It sounded like he ran out without his clothes because he was ready to...he just was going to get away no matter what. And so you take that perspective. Yeah, you get away from it. You do everything you can to run away. And that's not only good for sexual immorality, whatever the sin may be, whatever the difficulty is, that's the first step. Get away from it. It's not the only step, but it's got to start there. I have a problem with that, I better do something to avoid it at all costs, at all costs. And so that's where it starts.

Then you take it to the next level. What's the next level? You not only flee evil, you have to do good. You have to do what's right. So you flee evil, you run, you get away, you get away from it. And so I think in one sense, he's drawing this connection back to marriage again, that that's where sex belongs, that sex is good, it's wonderful, and God intended it to be the deepest, most intimate level of a relationship between human beings. I mean, it is amazing. And in a sense, sexual activity changes who you are. So he's saying be careful. Within the bounds of marriage, it's great. It's awesome. It's good. It's intended to be that. Outside the bounds of marriage, going to be a problem. It's going to be self-destructive. It's going to be difficult. It's going to cause scars. That's what's going to happen. Now, within the bounds of marriage, it's a wonderful thing.

Does it mean then if I got caught up in sexual activity that somehow now I'm scarred for life and I can never get away from that and I'm marked? No, not at all. What did Paul just say here? "Such were some of you." But when you're forgiven, you're washed, that is gone. God has forgiven you and it is washed away. And now we walk in truth. We flee immorality and we walk in sincerity and truth. And so, yeah, that is forgiven by God just like any other sin. Forgiveness is always available for the worst of sins. So that's important to remember as well. Now, I guess at the same time, there's a difference between being forgiven and innocence. Okay, that could certainly be a difference. But God has washed our sin away, whatever that sin may be. And so that's important to recognize. And so he emphasizes the point. Take a look back at verse 18.

1 Corinthians 6:18 "Flee sexual immorality." He says, "Every sin that a man does is outside the body. But he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body as well."

Okay, well, what is he getting at? Well, yeah, okay, all sins in that sense outside the body, but there's ultimately this intention for marriage where the two become one flesh and he kind of intimates that here, you're sinning against your own body, even your own self. And so he emphasizes that point as he says then in verse 19.

1 Corinthians 6:19 "Don't you know your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit that is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own."

You're not your own. You don't belong to Aphrodite anymore. Zeus has no control over you. None of those things. Yeah, it's interesting. Now here, we've seen this before,"You are the body. You are the body of Christ. You are the temple." He said that before in this letter. And those references before this one have been plural. Remember, we talked about you all are the body of Christ. Yeah, that's what he was saying before. But guess what? In this verse, this one's singular. This is you, you as an individual, you as an individual Christian should view your body as a temple as well. Collectively, we are the body of Christ. Yes, true, no doubt, we are the temple of God. You individually are the temple of the Holy Spirit in you as well because we house God's Spirit individually as well. You might just make a note of 2 Peter 1:4 tells us the same thing, that by the power of God's Spirit in us, we are the temple of God as an individual. And so that's why he then says in his conclusion.

1 Corinthians 6:20 "You were bought at a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's."

So once we are baptized, we don't belong to ourselves anymore. We belong to God. We've come out of this world. We belong to God. So we glorify Him in all these aspects. So we'll finish up a couple of concluding thoughts about this next time, but he certainly makes this powerful point of why we are so different than the rest of the world, that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. We have God residing in us and that changes everything.