Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? (1 Cor. 6:19)

Is there room for me in God’s kingdom? One might wonder after reading this chapter: Paul could be both strict in his expectations and severe in his judgment. He could also be plain-spoken and abrupt, showing little patience with church members who did not live up to his expectations. [DD]

As we engage this text, we must recognize that Paul was a child of his times. Some things that bothered Paul may not disturb us, while other practices Paul seemed to accept (such as slavery) strike us as horrifying. It’s helpful to keep this in mind as we consider Paul’s letter to the troubled church in Corinth, and the verbal missiles he fired their way. [DD]

Fire one (vv. 1-8)

Paul had a long history with the Corinthian Christians, one that included both personal visits and correspondence. After moving on from Corinth to Ephesus, Paul had visitors from “Chloe’s people,” who reported on a serious division in the church. He also received a letter from the church requesting his advice, and Paul wrote what we now call 1 Corinthians to address the various concerns. [DD]

Paul began the letter with an appeal to unity based on the centrality of Christ and the gospel of the cross (chapters 1-2) before addressing issues arising from immaturity, factionalism, and arrogance within the church (chapters 3-4). In chapter 5 he argued that persons who were “sexually immoral or greedy, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard or robber” should be put out of the church (5:11-13).

Similar concerns arise in chapter 6, where Paul expressed dismay that some members had filed suit against each other in civil court. Christians at the time were a small and probably persecuted minority. Paul thought believers should settle matters between themselves rather than exposing themselves to embarrassment “before the unrighteous” (v. 1).

Citing a belief that Christians would participate in the final judgment, Paul argued that if “the saints will judge the world” in the hereafter, they should be competent to judge trivial cases in the present (vv. 2-3). [DD]

Using rhetorical questions to incite shame in his readers, Paul asked “Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to decide between one believer and another?” (v. 5) The thought of church members taking one another to court before pagan authorities was abhorrent to Paul, as it would besmirch the Christian witness.

Indeed, the very existence of lawsuits between believers was a sign of defeat, Paul said. It would be better to suffer loss in silence than to charge one another in civil courts. What was worse, Paul said he had heard that some believers were defrauding other church members (vv. 7-8). One can almost see the fiery apostle shaking his head in unbelief that fellow believers would cheat each other and then fight it out in the public square.

Paul did not cite Jesus, but Matthew’s gospel holds that Jesus also encouraged believers to work things out among themselves (Matt. 18:15-17).

Fire two (vv. 9-11)

The apostle’s growing ire led him to launch into a catalogue of perceived “wrongdoers” who, he said, would not inherit the kingdom of God (v. 9a). His list includes several categories previously mentioned in 5:11-13 (idolaters, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, and robbers), while expanding the list of sexually immoral persons to include “fornicators … adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites” (vv. 9b-10, NRSV).

Several of these terms are difficult to translate. The NRSV’s rendering “male prostitutes, sodomites” is translated “men who have sex with men” by NIV11. However understood, the terms apparently refer to same-sex practices among males, which Paul condemned.

Some modern readers assume we should accept Paul’s judgment as an incontrovertible and unchanging rule, but are we required to do so? In first-century Roman culture, the notion of genetically influenced same-sex gender identity could not have been conceived, and the concept of long-term committed relationships between same-sex partners was not on the table. A frequent practice involved wealthy men who kept boys for their sexual pleasure. That kind of activity involved molestation and a misuse of power, rather than a caring relationship between equals.

We might also consider behaviors that were not on Paul’s list – such as slave-holding and human trafficking. The practice of slavery was ubiquitous in the first century. Paul not only accepted the practice, but he instructed slaves to obey their masters (Eph. 6:5, Col. 3:22). Today we consider the notion of owning another human being as abhorrent.

Whether Paul would have felt differently about slavery or same sex relationships if he had lived in our day is an open question, but the juxtaposition is a reminder that context is important. What we consider to be acceptable behavior is often a social construct, and Paul was writing within a very different cultural setting.

The heart of Paul’s message is that believers should take the lead in practicing relationships that are mutually beneficial rather than abusive. His heated sermon is a reminder that believers who have been “washed … sanctified … justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (v. 11) are called to leave selfish and harmful behaviors behind and adopt new and loving lifestyles.

Fire three (vv. 12-20)

It appears that some believers in Corinth had adopted a dualistic libertinism that separated the spirit from the body, holding that Christ had set their spirits free, and it didn’t matter what they did with the body.

Paul confronted these ideas, apparently, by repeating things said among the Corinthians, and then refuting them. This is not at all evident in the familiar KJV, but most modern translations put statements Paul wanted to refute in quotation marks.

For example, v. 12 begins with “All things are lawful for me.” With no quotation marks, Paul seems to be saying that any behavior could be acceptable. When punctuated as a quote, however, “All things are lawful for me” could be Paul’s quotation of libertine church members, with “but not all things are beneficial” being his response. We note that Paul did not deny the statement outright, and he may have used it himself in specific contexts such as a debate about whether Christians were compelled to follow the dietary restrictions of Judaism.

Though it might be true in some cases to say, “All things are lawful for me,” Paul insisted that not everything was good for a person. Some things have the power to dominate one’s life (v. 12). Making money, eating sweets, drinking wine, and taking naps may all be lawful and appropriate to a degree, but letting any of those dominate our life can cause serious physical and relational problems.

“Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food,” some might have said, perhaps an argument related to controversies over whether Christians needed to eat only kosher food, or whether it was necessary to avoid meat that might have been offered before an idol before being sold in the marketplace.

Paul reminded his readers that neither food nor the stomach were permanent (v. 13a). He then made an interesting shift from eating to sex: “The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body” (v. 13b). Notice the parallel construction: instead of “food for the stomach and the stomach for food,” the more important concept is “the body for the Lord and the Lord for the body.” [DD]

Though the body is destined for death and disintegration, Paul reminded them, “God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power” (v. 14). We can’t pretend that what we do with our body doesn’t matter. There is more to sex than a physical act, and those who think that casual sex has no spiritual consequences are mistaken (vv. 15-18). [DD]

Paul believed that when people invite Christ to take over their lives, their bodies take on a sacred dimension: “… do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?” (v. 19). It’s not obvious from the English translation, but Paul used plural verbs and pronouns in v. 19: the Spirit’s presence and believers’ behavior are not just individual concerns: both involve the community.

We no longer belong to ourselves, Paul said. We have responsibilities to God and to others. “For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body” (v. 20).

When we look at our own lives and consider what behaviors are appropriate, perhaps the most important question is not what is wrong with something, but what is right with it. Will it add something positive to my life and to others, or is there potential for harm? Will it draw me closer to God, or lead me away?

What we do or don’t do with our bodies – how well we care for them, as well as how we use them – can bring glory or shame to the God we serve, to Christ who indwells us through the Spirit.

When we’re considering any action that could be questionable, that’s an appropriate thing to keep I mind.