“Foods for the belly, and the belly for foods,” but God will bring to nothing both it and them. But the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body. Now God raised up the Lord, and will also raise us up by his power. Don’t you know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! Or don’t you know that he who is joined to a prostitute is one body? For, “The two”, he says, “will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. Flee sexual immorality! “Every sin that a man does is outside the body,” but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
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1 Corinthians 6:13-19 sits inside this longer paragraph.
“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are expedient. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be brought under the power of anything. “Foods for the belly, and the belly for foods,” but God will bring to nothing both it and them. But the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body. Now God raised up the Lord, and will also raise us up by his power. Don’t you know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! Or don’t you know that he who is joined to a prostitute is one body? For, “The two”, he says, “will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. Flee sexual immorality! “Every sin that a man does is outside the body,” but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Parallel Translations
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“Foods for the belly, and the belly for foods,” but God will bring to nothing both it and them. But the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.
Now God raised up the Lord, and will also raise us up by his power.
Don’t you know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be!
Or don’t you know that he who is joined to a prostitute is one body? For, “The two”, he says, “will become one flesh.”
But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.
Flee sexual immorality! “Every sin that a man does is outside the body,” but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.
Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
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Meates are ordeyned for the belly and the belly for meates: but God shall destroy bothe it and them. Let not the body be applied vnto fornicacion but vnto the Lorde and the Lorde vnto the body.
God hath raysed vp the Lorde and shall rayse vs vp by his power.
Ether remember ye not that youre bodyes are the members of Christ? Shall I now take the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot? God forbyd.
Do ye not vnderstonde that he which coupleth him selfe with an harlot is become one body? For two (saith he) shalbe one flesshe.
But he that is ioyned vnto the Lorde is one sprete.
Fle fornicacion. All synnes that a man dothe are with out the body. But he that is a fornicator synneth agaynst his awne body.
Ether knowe ye not how that youre bodyes are the temple of the holy goost which is in you who ye have of God and how that ye are not youre awne?
Show all 3 translations
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Meates are ordeined for the bellie, and the belly for the meates: but God shall destroy both it, and them. Nowe the bodie is not for fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the bodie.
And God hath also raised vp the Lord, and shall raise vs vp by his power.
Knowe yee not, that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.
Doe ye not knowe, that he which coupleth himselfe with an harlot, is one body? for two, sayeth he, shalbe one flesh.
But hee that is ioyned vnto the Lord, is one spirite.
Flee fornication: euery sinne that a man doeth, is without the bodie: but hee that committeth fornication, sinneth against his owne bodie.
Knowe yee not, that your body is the temple of the holy Ghost, which is in you, whom ye haue of God? and yee are not your owne.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (102)
- 1 Corinthians 3:16 (vv13, 19) Don’t you know that you are a temple of God, and that God’s Spirit lives in you?
- 2 Corinthians 6:16 (v19) What agreement does a temple of God have with idols? For you are a temple of the living God. Even as God said, “I will dwell in them and…
- 1 Peter 2:5 (v19) You also, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God…
- Ephesians 2:21-22 (v19) in whom the whole building, fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together for a habitation of…
- Psalms 100:3 (v19) Know that Yahweh, he is God. It is he who has made us, and we are his. We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Show all 96 cross-references
- 1 Corinthians 6:15-16 (v19) Don’t you know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May…
- Titus 2:14 (v19) who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for…
- Romans 14:7-9 (vv13, 19) For none of us lives to himself, and none dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord. Or if we die, we die to the Lord. If…
- John 17:21-23 (v17) that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that…
- John 2:21 (v19) But he spoke of the temple of his body.
- Galatians 2:20 (v17) I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. That life which I now live in the flesh, I live…
- 1 Peter 2:11 (v18) Beloved, I beg you as foreigners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
- 2 Corinthians 5:15 (vv13, 19) He died for all, that those who live should no longer live to themselves, but to him who for their sakes died and rose again.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:3 (v18) For this is the will of God: your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality,
- Colossians 3:5 (v18) Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and…
- 1 Corinthians 12:13 (v17) For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free; and were all given to drink into one…
- Romans 6:12-13 (v18) Therefore don’t let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. Also, do not present your members to sin as…
- 1 Corinthians 6:19 (vv13, 15) Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
- Genesis 2:24 (v16) Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh.
- 1 Kings 20:4 (v19) The king of Israel answered, “It is according to your saying, my lord, O king. I am yours, and all that I have.”
- John 3:6 (v17) That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
- Ephesians 4:3-4 (v17) being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, even as you also were called in one…
- 2 Timothy 2:22 (v18) Flee from youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
- 1 Chronicles 29:14 (v19) But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from you, and we have given…
- Psalms 12:4 (v19) who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail. Our lips are our own. Who is lord over us?”
- Hebrews 13:4 (v18) Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled; but God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
- Ephesians 5:30 (vv15, 17) because we are members of his body, of his flesh and bones.
- 1 Corinthians 6:9 (v18) Or don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s Kingdom? Don’t be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor…
- Ephesians 5:3 (v18) But sexual immorality, and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be mentioned among you, as becomes saints;
- Ephesians 5:31 (v16) “For this cause a man will leave his father and mother, and will be joined to his wife. The two will become one flesh.”
- Proverbs 6:24-32 (v18) to keep you from the immoral woman, from the flattery of the wayward wife’s tongue. Don’t lust after her beauty in your heart, neither let…
- Romans 6:12 (v13) Therefore don’t let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:5 (v18) not in the passion of lust, even as the Gentiles who don’t know God,
- 2 Corinthians 12:21 (v18) that again when I come my God would humble me before you, and I would mourn for many of those who have sinned before now, and not repented…
- Proverbs 5:3-15 (v18) For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil, but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a…
- Mark 10:8 (v16) and the two will become one flesh, so that they are no longer two, but one flesh.
- 2 Corinthians 4:14 (v14) knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will present us with you.
- Romans 8:11 (v14) But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life…
- 1 Corinthians 6:15 (v13) Don’t you know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May…
- Philippians 2:5 (v17) Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus,
- Genesis 39:12-18 (v18) She caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” He left his garment in her hand, and ran outside. When she saw that he had left his…
- Matthew 19:5-6 (v16) and said, ‘For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall be joined to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh?’ So…
- Romans 12:5 (v15) so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another,
- 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7 (v13) For this is the will of God: your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality, that each one of you know how to control his own…
- Proverbs 2:16-19 (v18) to deliver you from the strange woman, even from the foreigner who flatters with her words, who forsakes the friend of her youth, and…
- Proverbs 7:5-27 (v18) that they may keep you from the strange woman, from the foreigner who flatters with her words. For at the window of my house, I looked out…
- Proverbs 9:16-18 (v18) “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here.” as for him who is void of understanding, she says to him, “Stolen water is sweet. Food eaten in…
- Romans 1:24 (v18) Therefore God also gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves;
- Ephesians 1:19-20 (v14) and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to that working of the strength of his might which he…
- Ephesians 4:15-16 (v15) but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him who is the head, Christ, from whom all the body, being fitted and knit…
- Ephesians 5:23 (vv13, 15) For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the assembly, being himself the savior of the body.
- Matthew 15:17 (v13) Don’t you understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the belly, and then out of the body?
- Philippians 3:21 (v14) who will change the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working by which he is able even to…
- Colossians 2:19 (v15) and not holding firmly to the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and ligaments, grows with…
- Acts 2:24 (v14) whom God raised up, having freed him from the agony of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it.
- 1 Corinthians 12:27 (v15) Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.
- Ephesians 4:12 (v15) for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ,
- Matthew 21:31-32 (v16) Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said to him, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Most certainly I tell you that the tax…
- John 6:39-40 (v14) This is the will of my Father who sent me, that of all he has given to me I should lose nothing, but should raise him up at the last day.…
- Romans 6:4-8 (v14) We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father,…
- Romans 12:1 (v13) Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your…
- Romans 14:17 (v13) for God’s Kingdom is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
- 1 Corinthians 11:3 (v15) But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
- Genesis 34:31 (v16) They said, “Should he deal with our sister as with a prostitute?”
- Genesis 38:24 (v16) About three months later, Judah was told, “Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has played the prostitute. Moreover, behold, she is with child by…
- Judges 16:1 (v16) Samson went to Gaza, and saw there a prostitute, and went in to her.
- Luke 20:16 (v15) He will come and destroy these farmers, and will give the vineyard to others.” When they heard that, they said, “May that never be!”
- Galatians 6:14 (v15) But far be it from me to boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to…
- 1 Thessalonians 4:14 (v14) For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
- Hebrews 11:31 (v16) By faith, Rahab the prostitute didn’t perish with those who were disobedient, having received the spies in peace.
- Genesis 38:15 (v16) When Judah saw her, he thought that she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face.
- Matthew 15:20 (v13) These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands doesn’t defile the man.”
- Mark 7:19 (v13) because it doesn’t go into his heart, but into his stomach, then into the latrine, making all foods clean?”
- John 6:27 (v13) Don’t work for the food which perishes, but for the food which remains to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the…
- John 6:49 (v13) Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they died.
- John 11:25-26 (v14) Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies. Whoever lives and believes…
- Acts 17:31 (v14) because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained; of which he has given…
- Romans 3:3-4 (v15) For what if some were without faith? Will their lack of faith nullify the faithfulness of God? May it never be! Yes, let God be found true,…
- Romans 7:13 (v15) Did then that which is good become death to me? May it never be! But sin, that it might be shown to be sin, was producing death in me…
- 1 Corinthians 6:13 (v15) “Foods for the belly, and the belly for foods,” but God will bring to nothing both it and them. But the body is not for sexual immorality,…
- 1 Corinthians 10:3-5 (v13) and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them, and the…
- 1 Corinthians 15:15-20 (v14) Yes, we are also found false witnesses of God, because we testified about God that he raised up Christ, whom he didn’t raise up, if it is…
- 1 Corinthians 15:23 (v14) But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s, at his coming.
- 2 Corinthians 11:2 (v13) For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy. For I married you to one husband, that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
- Galatians 2:17 (v15) But if while we sought to be justified in Christ, we ourselves also were found sinners, is Christ a servant of sin? Certainly not!
- Galatians 3:21 (v15) Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could make alive, most certainly…
- Ephesians 1:22-23 (v15) He put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things for the assembly, which is his body, the fullness…
- Philippians 3:10-11 (v14) that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed to his death, if by any…
- Colossians 2:22-23 (v13) (all of which perish with use), according to the precepts and doctrines of men? These things indeed appear like wisdom in self-imposed…
- Genesis 44:17 (v15) He said, “Far be it from me that I should do so. The man in whose hand the cup is found, he will be my slave; but as for you, go up in…
- John 5:28-29 (v14) Don’t marvel at this, for the hour comes in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice, and will come out; those who have done…
- Romans 3:31 (v15) Do we then nullify the law through faith? May it never be! No, we establish the law.
- Romans 6:2 (v15) May it never be! We who died to sin, how could we live in it any longer?
- Romans 6:15 (v15) What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under law, but under grace? May it never be!
- Romans 7:4 (v13) Therefore, my brothers, you also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you would be joined to another, to him who was…
- Romans 7:7 (v15) What shall we say then? Is the law sin? May it never be! However, I wouldn’t have known sin, except through the law. For I wouldn’t have…
96 distinct cross-references across this passage (102 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (24 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv13–19 13. Meats for the belly, and the belly for…
13. Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats Here he shows what use ought to be made of outward things — for the necessity of the present life, which passes away quickly as a shadow, agreeably to what, he says afterwards. (1 Corinthians 7:29.) We must use this world so as not to abuse it And hence, too, we infer, how improper it is for a Christian man to contend for outward things. When a dispute, therefore, arises respecting corruptible things, a pious mind will not anxiously dwell upon these things; for liberty is one thing — the use of it is another. This statement accords with another — that
The kingdom of God is not meat and drink. (Romans 14:17.)
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Now the body is not for fornication Having mentioned the exceptions, he now states still farther, that our liberty ought not by any means to be extended to fornication For it was an evil that was so prevalent at that time, that it seemed in a manner as though it had been permitted; as we may see also from the decree of the Apostles, (Acts 15:20,) where, in prohibiting the Gentiles from fornication, they place it among things indifferent; for there can be no doubt that this was done, because it was very generally looked upon as a lawful thing. Hence Paul says now, There is a difference between fornication and meats, for the Lord has not ordained the body for fornication, as he has the belly for meats And this he confirms from things contrary or opposite, inasmuch as it is consecrated to Christ, and it is impossible that Christ should be conjoined with fornication. What he adds — and the Lord for the body, is not without weight, for while God the Father has united us to his Son, what wickedness there would be in tearing away our body from that sacred connection, and giving it over to things unworthy of Christ.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv13, 15, 16, 18, 19 Secondarily, because they counted many things for indifferent which…
Secondarily, because they counted many things for indifferent which were of themselves unlawful, as fornication, which they numbered amongst mere natural and lawful desires, as well as meat and drink: Therefore the Apostle showeth, that they are utterly unlike: for meats, saith he, were made for the necessary use of man’s life, which is not perpetual. For both meats, and all this manner of nourishing are quickly abolished. But we must not so think of the uncleanness of fornication, for which the body is not made, but on the contrary side is ordained to pureness, as appeareth by this, that is consecrated to Christ, even as Christ also is given us of his Father, to quicken our bodies with that virtue wherewith he also rose again.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv13–19 13 Meats for the belly, and the belly for…
13 Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.
Ver. 13. God shall destroy] The belly shall be destroyed in the other world, not for the substance of it, but for the use of it. And the same may be said for the difference of sexes; the parts shall remain, the use cease. Cato said well, that he was an ill commonwealth’s man, qui inter guttur et inguen, cuncta sub ventris ditione posuisset, who between his neck and is privates he would be able to be under spread of his belly, that was a slave to his sensual appetite.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv13–19 The beginning of this verse seemeth to give a…
The beginning of this verse seemeth to give a great light to our true understanding of the former verse, and maketh it very probable that the apostle spake with reference to the free use of meats and drinks, when he said: All things are lawful for me. Though God hath ordained
meats for the filling of the belly, and hath made the belly for the receptacle of meats, for the nourishment of the body, so as the use of meats and drinks is lawful; yet when we see that the free use of them proveth inexpedient, as too much pampering the body, and disposing it to wantonness, so far as they do so they are to be avoided. Others make the connection thus: All your contests are but for things which concern the belly, for meats and drinks, for perishing things; now, in things of this nature, all things that are lawful are not expedient. Others say, that the apostle here answereth or obviateth what the Nicolaitanes or the Epicureans held, that all sorts of meats and drinks were lawful, yea, fornication itself. The apostle grants the first, but denieth the second, there being not a parity of reason for the lawfulness of meats and drinks, and of fornication. He tells them, God had ordained meats for the belly of man, and had created the stomach and belly for the reception of meats for the nourishment of man’s body, and the preservation of his life; yet they ought to use them lawfully, and to consider expedience in the use of them, and not too eagerly to contend for them, for
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God shall destroy both the belly, and the use of meats as to the belly. In the resurrection, as men shall not marry, nor give in marriage, so they shall hunger and thirst no more. But God had not created
the body of a man for fornication, but for himself, that men by and with it might glorify his name, by doing his will. And
the Lord is for the body, as the Head of it, to guide and direct the use of the several members of it; and as the Saviour of it, to raise it up at the last day, as he further declareth in the next words. {see 1Co 6:14}
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19 From this verse to the end of the chapter…
From this verse to the end of the chapter our apostle labours, by sundry arguments, to convince the Corinthians of the exceeding sinfulness of the sin of fornication; partly, because they reckon it amongst the number of indifferent things, and also because the Corinthians before their conversion to Christianity, were so notoriously addicted to this sin, that they consecrated a temple to Venus, at which a multitude of virgins prostituted themselves; for which reason St. Paul makes use of a six-fold argument here, to prevent the Corinthians’ relapse into this sin of fornication after their conversion, which they had been so notoriously guilty of before conversion.
The first argument is in the words before us, Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.
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As if he had said, "You put the body to a use for which it was never intended: the belly was made for meats, but the body was not made for fornication, but for the Lord, that is, for the Lord’s use and service; and the Lord is for the body, that is, for the good and salvation of the body."
Whence note, That such is the wonderful goodness of God towards us, his creatures, that look in whatsoever we are for him, he is for us; as our bodies are for the Lord’s service as well as our souls, so the Lord is for the good of our bodies as well as our souls, and therefore our bodies ought to be employed in his glory for every thing: this is the apostle’s first argument against fornication.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv13–19 Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats,....…
Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats,.... All sort of food is appointed and provided to satisfy the appetite and stomach, to fill the belly, and nourish the body; and the belly, and all the parts through which the food passes, are purposely formed by God for the reception and digestion of the food, for its secretion, chylification, and nutrition by it, and the ejection of the excermentitious parts.
But God shall destroy both it and them: at death, and in the grave, when the one shall be consumed, and the other be needless and useless; and though that part of the body, with the rest, will be raised at the last day, since the body will be raised perfect, consisting of all its parts; yet there will be no appetite, no desire in the stomach after meats, no need of them to fill the belly, and so no use of these parts for such purposes as they now are; for the children of the resurrection will be like the angels, and stand in no need of eating and drinking.
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Now the body is not for fornication. Though meats are appointed for the belly, and the belly for them, and this and the other sort of meats are of an indifferent kind, which may or may not be used; yet this cannot be said of fornication, which the Corinthians, and other Gentiles, took to be equally indifferent as meats; but the apostle shows there is not the same reason for the one as the other. The body was not originally made and appointed for fornication; this is quite besides the will of God, who has provided marriage as a remedy against it:
but for the Lord; for Jesus Christ, for whom a body was prepared in God's council and covenant; and for the sake of which, and after the exemplar of it in God's eternal mind, the body of man was first formed; and which was also made, as after the image, so for the glory of Christ, to be a member of his, to be redeemed by him, and to serve him in, in righteousness and holiness, and at last to be raised by him, and made like to his glorious body at the great day.
And the Lord for the body; he was preordained in the council of God, and provided in the covenant of grace, and sent in the fulness of time to be a Redeemer and Saviour of the body, as well as the soul; to be a sanctifier of it, and the raiser of it up from the dead in the resurrection; all which are so many arguments to dissuade from the sin of fornication.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv13, 16, 17, 18, 19 As if he had said, I speak this chiefly…
As if he had said, I speak this chiefly with regard to meats; (and would to God all Christians would consider it!) particularly with regard to those offered to idols, and those forbidden in the Mosaic law. These, I grant, are all indifferent, and have their use, though it is only for a time: then meats, and the organs which receive them, will together moulder into dust. But the case is quite otherwise with fornication. This is not indifferent, but at all times evil. For the body is for the Lord - Designed only for his service. And the Lord, in an important sense, for the body - Being the saviour of this, as well as of the soul; in proof of which God hath already raised him from the dead.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv13–19 Verse 13. Meats for the belly] I suppose that…
Verse 13. Meats for the belly] I suppose that κοιλια means the animal appetite, or propensity to food, c., and we may conceive the apostle to reason thus: I acknowledge that God has provided different kinds of aliments for the appetite of man, and among others those which are generally offered to idols and he has adapted the appetite to these aliments, and the aliments to the appetite: but God shall destroy both it and them; none of these is eternal; all these lower appetites and sensations will be destroyed by death, and have no existence in the resurrection body; and the earth and its productions shall be burnt up.
Now the body is not for fornication] Though God made an appetite for food, and provided food for that appetite, yet he has not made the body for any uncleanness, nor indulgence in sensuality; but he has made it for Christ; and Christ was provided to be a sacrifice for this body as well as for the soul, by taking our nature upon him; so that now, as human beings, we have an intimate relationship to the Lord; and our bodies are made not only for his service, but to be his temples.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv15, 19 1Co 6:15-18. Know ye not that your bodies are…
1Co 6:15-18. Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ — Mystically united to him, as well as your souls, if you are his true disciples, as you profess to be. Shall I then take the members of Christ — My body, which is united to him, with its members; and make them the members of a harlot — United to her, and used to gratify her sinful inclinations? Know ye not — Need I inform you; that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? But he that is joined unto the Lord — By faith and love; is one spirit with him. And shall he make himself one flesh with a harlot? Flee fornication — All unlawful commerce with women, with speed, with abhorrence, with all your might. Every sin that a man doeth — Every other sin, except gluttony and drunkenness, or every other sin that a man commits against his neighbour; is without the body — Terminates in an object out of himself, and does not so immediately pollute his body, though it does his soul. But he that committeth fornication — Or any kind of lewdness; sinneth against his own body — Pollutes, dishonours, and degrades it to a level with brute beasts; and perhaps infects and enfeebles, wastes and consumes it, which these vices have a manifest tendency to do. Inasmuch as the person who is addicted to gluttony and drunkenness sins against his own body, as well as a fornicator, and debilitates it by introducing into it many painful and deadly diseases: in this prohibition of fornication, those vices likewise are comprehended, being indeed the ordinary concomitants of it. And the way to flee whoredom, is to banish out of the mind all lascivious imaginations, and to avoid carefully the objects and occasions of committing that vice, and to maintain habitual temperance in the use of meat and drink.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19 Meats for the belly ... - This has every…
Meats for the belly ... - This has every appearance of being an adage or proverb. Its meaning is plain. “God has made us with appetites for food; and he has made food adapted to such appetites, and it is right, therefore, to indulge in luxurious living.” The word “belly” here κοιλία koilia denotes the “stomach;” and the argument is, that as God had created the natural appetite for food, and had created food, it was right to indulge in eating and drinking to any extent which the appetite demanded. The word “meats” here βρώματα brōmata does not denote animal food particularly, or flesh, but “any kind” of food. This was the sense of the English word formerly. Mat 3:4; Mat 6:25; Mat 9:10; Mat 10:10; Mat 14:9, etc.
But God shall destroy - This is the reply of Paul to the argument. This reply is, that as both are so soon to be destroyed, they were unworthy of the care which was bestowed on them, and that attention should be directed to better things. It is unworthy the immortal mind to spend its time and thought in making provision for the body which is soon to perish. And especially a man should be willing to abandon indulgences in these things when they tended to injure the mind, and to destroy the soul. It is unworthy a mind that is to live forever, thus to be anxious about that which is so soon to be destroyed in the grave We may observe here:
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(1) This is the great rule of the mass of the world. The pampering of the appetites is the great purpose for which they live, and the only purpose.
(2) It is folly. The body will soon be in the grave; the soul in eternity. How low and grovelling is the passion which leads the immortal mind always to anxiety about what the body shall eat and drink!
(3) People should act from higher motives. They should be thankful for appetites for food; and that God provides for the needs of the body; and should eat to obtain strength to serve him, and to discharge the duties of life. Man often degrades himself below - far below - the brutes in this thing. they never pamper their appetites, or “create artificial” appetites. Man, in death, sinks to the same level; and all the record of his life is, that “he lived to eat and drink, and died as the brute dieth.” How low human nature has fallen! How sunken is the condition of man!
Now the body is not ... - “But δέ de the body is not designed for licentiousness, but to be devoted to the Lord.” The remainder of this chapter is occupied with an argument against indulgence in licentiousness - a crime to which the Corinthians were particularly exposed. See the Introduction to this Epistle. It cannot be supposed that any members of the church would indulge in this vice, or would vindicate it; but it was certain:
That it was the sin to which they were particularly exposed; That they were in the midst of a people who did both practice and vindicate it; compare Rev 2:14-15.
Hence, the apostle furnished them with arguments against it, as well to guard them from temptation, as to enable them to meet those who did defend it, and also to settle the morality of the question on an immovable foundation. The first argument is here stated, that the body of man was designed by its Maker to be devoted to him, and should be consecrated to the purposes of a pure and holy life. We are, therefore, bound to devote our animal as well as our rational powers to the service of the Lord alone.
And the Lord for the body - “The Lord is in an important sense for the body, that is, he acts, and plans, and provides for it. He sustains and keeps it; and he is making provision for its immortal purity and happiness in heaven. It is not right, therefore, to take the body, which is nourished by the kind and constant agency of a holy God, and to devote it to purposes of pollution.” That there is a reference in this phrase to the resurrection, is apparent from the following verse. And as God will exert his mighty power in raising up the body, and will make it glorious, it ought not to be prostituted to purposes of licentiousness.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v13 Meat for the belly. That is, meat is necessary…
Meat for the belly. That is, meat is necessary for the support of nature, though this or that kind of meat be indifferent: and we ought to reflect, that God in a short time will destroy both the meats, and the appetite of eating, and the body shall shortly die, but it shall rise again. --- Know you not that your bodies are the members of Christ....and the temple of the Holy Ghost. Man consists of soul and body; by baptism he is made a member of that same mystical body, the Church, of which Christ is the head: In baptism both the soul and body are consecrated to God: they are made the temple of the Holy Ghost, inasmuch as the spirit and grace of God inhabits in men, who are sanctified. Christ redeemed both our souls and bodies, both which he designs to sanctify, and to glorify hereafter in heaven; so that we must look upon both body and soul as belonging to Christ, and not as our own. --- Shall I, then, taking the members of Christ, make them the members of an harlot, by a shameful and unlawful commerce? --- Fly fornication. Such sins are chiefly to be avoided by flight, and by avoiding the occasions and temptations. Other sins are not committed by such an injury done to the body, but by an abuse of something else, that is different from the body, but by fornication and sins of uncleanness, the body itself is defiled and dishonoured, whereas the body ought to be considered as if it were not our own, being redeemed by our Saviour Christ, consecrated to him, with an expectation of a happy resurrection, and of being glorified in heaven. Endeavour, therefore, to glorify God in your body, by employing it in his service, and bear him in your body by being obedient to his will. (Witham) --- We know and we believe the we carry about Jesus Christ in our bodies, but it is the shame and condemnation of a Christian to live as if he neither knew or believed it. If fornication is a great crime in a pagan, in a Christian it is a species of sacrilege, accompanied with injustice and ingratitude. Whoever yields to impurity, converts his body into the temple of Satan, glorifies and carries him about, tearing away the members of Jesus Christ, to make them the members of a harlot.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv13–19 The argument drawn from the indifference of meats (Co1…
The argument drawn from the indifference of meats (Co1 8:8; Rom 14:14, Rom 14:17; compare Mar 7:18; Col 2:20-22) to that of fornication does not hold good. Meats doubtless are indifferent, since both they and the "belly" for which they are created are to be "destroyed" in the future state. But "the body is not (created) for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body" (as its Redeemer, who hath Himself assumed the body): "And God hath raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us" (that is our bodies): therefore the "body" is not, like the "belly," after having served a temporary use, to be destroyed: Now "he that committeth fornication, sinneth against his own body" (Co1 6:18). Therefore fornication is not indifferent, since it is a sin against one's own body, which, like the Lord for whom it is created, is not to be destroyed, but to be raised to eternal existence. Thus Paul gives here the germ of the three subjects handled in subsequent sections: (1) The relation between the sexes. (2) The question of meats offered to idols. (3) The resurrection of the body.
shall destroy--at the Lord's coming to change the natural bodies of believers into spiritual bodies (Co1 15:44, Co1 15:52). There is a real essence underlying the superficial phenomena of the present temporary organization of the body, and this essential germ, when all the particles are scattered, involves the future resurrection of the body incorruptible.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv13–19 13. Meat… belly—An instance of the above mentioned correspondence…
13. Meat… belly—An instance of the above mentioned correspondence or correlation between the internal appetite and the external object. Food and the stomach were made for each other.
God shall destroy—This correlation between appetite and supply, the stomach and the food, though divinely established, is transient. Death will demolish it; and in the reorganization at the resurrection it will be omitted from the glorified body.
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Body… fornication—If there are correlations there are also repugnances. The stomach and the due food are rightly correlated; the body and the harlot are fearfully opposite and repugnant.
For the Lord—The true transcendent, spiritual, eternal correlation is between the sanctified body and the Lord.
Lord for the body—The correlation between the appetite and the food is earthly and transient; the correlation between our body and the Lord is heavenly and eternal, being, as shown in 1Co_6:14, carried up into the resurrection. It springs from the fact that our glorious Lord will glorify our bodies. Here, as in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul bases our hope of a future life, not distinctly on the immortality of the soul, but upon the resurrection through Christ.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv13–19 13. Meats for the belly, and the belly for…
13. Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats] This is a matter of comparatively trifling importance. Meat is a necessity for our present undeveloped life; in the world where hunger and thirst will be no more it will no longer be so. And therefore both it, and the organs formed to digest it will be no longer wanted.
Now the body is not for fornication] St Paul is led, by the importance he attaches to this point, to treat it first. The abominable licentiousness of heathen cities in general, and of Corinth in particular (see Dean Stanley’s note on 1Co_6:12) had led to a general conviction that the body was for fornication. St Paul contradicts this, and most emphatically proclaims that what was always permitted among heathens, and even in some cases enjoined as a religious rite, was distinctly in itself an unlawful act, not excusable on the plea of necessity, which he had admitted in the case of meats, nor, like them, a question of “nicely calculated less or more,” but contrary to the laws laid down by God for man, and calculated to deprive men of the blessings of the Resurrection.
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but for the Lord] i.e. Jesus Christ. The body is not formed to serve a purely material end, but is the instrument of the spirit, and its end the glory of God, through Christ.
and the Lord for the body] Because from our point of view Christ came that we might serve and honour Him in our bodies. This sentence answers to ‘meats for the belly, and the belly for meats,’ above.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv13–19 (13) Meats for the belly.—The Apostle proceeds now to…
(13) Meats for the belly.—The Apostle proceeds now to show that the question of eating meats offered to idols does come into that catalogue of indifferent things on which an exercise of Christian freedom is permissible, and that the question of fornication does not. Lawful matters are to be decided upon the highest principle of expediency; but fornication is an unlawful matter, and therefore the question of its expediency does not arise at all. The stomach is adapted to the digestion of food, and food is adapted to it. This is, however, only for this life; both shall be destroyed by death. But the person (“body” being equivalent to “us” in 1Co_6:14) of the man is enduring. No food which enters defiles the man. Fornication is not a mere transitory gratification; it affects the man. The use of the stomach is to receive and digest food, and only the animal organisation is affected by that. It cannot be said that the man is made for fornication. The person of each is made for the Lord; the whole Church is His body; each baptised person is a limb of that body; and the Lord is for the body. He came to earth and died for it, and for each member of it; therefore what affects that body, or any member of that body (i.e., any Christian), cannot be an indifferent matter. Neither shall the man perish, as meats and the belly shall; he is immortal. (See 1Co_15:51-52.) Such seems to be the argument by which St. Paul maintains liberty to be right regarding meats, and shows that the same principle does not apply to sensual indulgence. It may be put argumentatively thus:
1. Eating meats offered to idols is an “indifferent matter,” because—
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(a) Meats only affect the particular organ designed for them;
(b) Meats and that organ shall perish together.
2. Fornication is not an “indifferent matter,” because—
(a) It affects the man, and he is not designed for the purpose of this indulgence,
(b) The man is immortal, and therefore the moral effect of the fornication on his nature does not perish at his death.
Conclusion.—Only indifferent matters are to be the subject of Christian liberty; and the decision must be according to the utility of each act. Fornication is not an indifferent matter; therefore it is not so to be decided upon.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv13–19 Meats for the belly, etc. The argument of the…
Meats for the belly, etc. The argument of the Corinthians about the indifference of eating "meats" which were merely ceremonially unclean was quite tenable. Things Levitically unclean might be essentially pure, and both food and the body which lives thereby are things "which perish in the using". (Col_2:22) Shall destroy; shall bring to nought. This would occur when the physical body becomes a spiritual body, like that of the angels of God. (1Co_15:51, 1Co_15:52) How vile, then, is it to make a god of the belly only to sleep and feed! Both it and them. There shall be no need for the belly when men "shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more"; (Rev_7:16) and the meat alluded to is "meat which perisheth". (Luk_15:16) Now the body is net for fornication, but for the Lord. The argument, therefore, which would class this sin as a matter of indifference, as was the Levitical distinction between different kinds of food, at once fell to the ground. Food was a necessity, and the stomach was formed for its assimilation. Fornication is not a venial but "a deadly sin." It is not a natural necessity, but a consuming evil. The body was created for higher ends namely, to be a temple of God. "God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness". (1Th_4:7) And the Lord for the body. Therefore our members ought to be used "as instruments of righteousness unto God", (Rom_5:13) and our bodies presented as a living, holy, reasonable, acceptable sacrifice to him. (Rom_12:1) The end of our existence is "to serve God here and enjoy him forever hereafter.
Vers. 13-19.
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Duties to the body.
Christianity concerns itself about man"s body as well as about man"s soul. Christianity is a religion for man for a whole man. When considering matters of religion, we are apt to leave the body too much out of account. Our remissness might be corrected if we remembered how large an influence the body has upon the mind and soul.
I CONSIDER WHAT CHRISTIANITY SAYS ABOUT THE BODY. It is:
1. For the Lord.
(1) For his service and glory. We may serve Christ with our body. We may glorify God with our body (ver. 20). With our whole being we should serve the Lord. Our body should be "set apart" for God. How much more useful many would be if they did but cultivate physical health! Their uncared for bodies become grievous burdens and woeful hindrances. Disorder in the body is contagious, and often spreads to mind and soul.
Athletics, rightly ordered, lie within the realm of religion. The man who, not neglecting other duties, seeks to make his body thoroughly strong and vigorous, is more pious, not less. With others, diseases the fruits of old sins, abide and greatly check them in active service for God.
(2) The body of the Christian is a member of Christ (ver. 15). Closely united to the great Head. He took our nature not only our spiritual and mental nature, but our bodily nature. We are one with him in our whole being.
(3) Purchased by Christ. When he redeemed man he redeemed man in his entirety. Our bodies have a part in "the great salvation." And at what a price was the purchase made!
1. A temple of the Holy Ghost. Solemn thought! How true yet how often forgotten! Whilst in the body, God dwells in us. The body is the outer framework of the sanctuary of the Divine Spirit. It is thus consecrated for a high, holy, and sacred purpose. It is God"s possession and dwelling place, like the temple of old. Thus:
2. It is not our own. Then we must not deaf with it as though it were. It has been bought by Christ, and should be freely and fully surrendered to him. When we give him our heart we should give him our body also. Many forget to do this.
3. Cared for by God. "The Lord is for the body." He preserves, feeds, clothes, shelters, guards it. How soon it would perish if uncared for by him!
4. To be raised. The resurrection of the body is a cardinal doctrine of Christianity, and insisted upon at great length by the apostle in the fifteenth chapter of this Epistle. We are but too apt to ignore this, and practically to conclude that at death we shall part with the body forever. We think it worthless, but God does not. He will raise it in a glorified form. Its present constitution will be greatly changed, as the apostle intimates in ver. 13. The time will come when the body will not be sustained, as it now is, by meats. It will be a "glorious body", (Php_3:21) a "spiritual body". (1Co_15:44)
II THESE TRUTHS RESPECTING THE BODY SHOULD:
1. Greatly ennoble it in our estimation. It is not to be thought lightly of or treated with contempt. Ancient philosophy taught hatred of the body, but
2. ancient philosophy is not Christianity. We must not despise the body; this is a dire mistake often perpetrated. The body has a great part to play both here and hereafter. It has been an occasion of sin often is a burden; but it is in the hands of God, and he will fully redeem and glorify it. It is his workmanship, thrown much out of gear by evil; but he shall rectify its defects, and make it "meet for the inheritance.
3. Lead us to use it most carefully. Being precious in God"s sight, purchased by Christ, tenanted by the Divine Spirit, shall we deal with it as though it were a common thing? There is one sin mentioned by the apostle which injures the body grievously, and utterly outrages the Divine intent concerning it. Let us guard carefully against this and kindred evils; terrible will be the punishment of those who defile the temple of the Holy Ghost, and who prostitute to base uses the "members of Christ. Pure body, pure mind, pure soul; may this trinity of blessings be ours! H.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv13, 17, 19 Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats.
1Co_6:13-16
Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats.
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Christianity in relation to the body
The apostle here states, perhaps in answer to a question on the subject, that there is a limitation to Christian liberty. As the liberty which the Corinthians seemed to covet was to gratify the bodily appetites, he takes occasion to state certain things in relation to the body. Christianity recognises--
I. Attention to the natural needs of the body as proper (1Co_6:13).
1. The body has appetites, and there are provisions intended to satisfy them. To act thus is in harmony with the constitution of nature. All animal existences act in this way. Christianity, instead of requiring you to starve the body by lastings, and to exhaust its energies by pilgrimages and self-mortifications, says, Eat and be satisfied and strong; take care of your bodies.
2. Feeding the body, however, Christianity regards as temporary; both the food and the body must perish. They are not like spiritual existences, and spiritual supplies that have regard to an unmeasured hereafter. All flesh is grass.
II. Indulgence in the gratifications of the body as wrong. Now the body is not for fornication, &c. This is not a necessity of the body, like eating and drinking, but an immoral indulgence of its propensities. Man should attend to his bodily propensities, as reliefs, not as gratifications. Hence intemperance, whether in eating or drinking, is a moral outrage. The crime and curse of men in all ages have been seeking happiness out of the gastric, the sexual, and other propensities of their physical being.
III. That the proper treatment of the body is to identify it with Christ.
1. It is the property of Christ. It is not ours; we are its trustees, not its proprietors. We hold it for the Lord, and we should use it according to His directions. It is to let in God to the soul, and to reveal God to our race.
2. It is a member of Christ (1Co_6:15). The Christians body has a vital connection with Him. He had a human body which now raised to heaven is the model into which our bodies shall be changed. This being so, sensual indulgence is an outrage on the body (1Co_6:15-17).
3. It is a temple of the Holy Ghost (1Co_6:19-20) in which He is to dwell, be revealed and worshipped. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
The permanent element in our bodily organism
The apostle distinguishes two opposite elements in our bodily organism: the organs of nutrition, which serve for the support of the body, and to which, by a Divinely established correlation, there correspond external meats. The morally indifferent character of this domain appears from the fact of its approaching destruction; God will abolish those functions in the day of the redemption of our bodies. But it is not so with our bodies, strictly so called, which Paul identifies with our personality. This is the permanent element in our earthly organism, that which forms the link between our present and our future body. Now this element is that which is involved in the vice of impurity. And hence the profound difference between impurity and the natural functions of physical life. There exists between our body and Christ a moral relation analogous to the temporary relation which exists between the stomach and meats. The body is for Christ, to belong to Him and serve Him, and Christ is for the body to inhabit and glorify it. In consequence of this sublime relation, the body will not perish. As God raised up Christ, He will also raise the body which has become here below the property and the sanctified organ of Christ. The apostle says, Will raise us also; he thus expressly identifies our personality with the body which is to be its eternal organ. As the Church in its totality is the body of Christ, the organism which He animates with His Spirit, and by which He carries out His wishes on the earth, so every Christian is a member of this body, and consequently an organ of Christ Himself. Hence the practical conclusion: This organ of Christ must not be taken from Him and given to a harlot. Therein is a double crime: on the one hand a revolt, an odious abduction; on the other an act of ignoble self-abasement and the acceptance of a shameful dependence. And hence the apostles cry of indignation, Let it not be so! (Prof. Godet.)
Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord.--
Fornication is
I. Inexcusable. On the ground of--
1. Christian liberty (1Co_6:12).
2. Necessity.
II. Morally evil. It is--
1. To prostitute the property of God.
2. To incur a fearful penalty in the resurrection.
III. Degrading.
1. To all.
2. Especially Christian professors, who dishonour Christ, themselves, and their bodies.
IV. Sacrilegious.
1. The body designed as the temple of the Holy Ghost.
2. Redeemed by Christ.
3. Consecrated to God. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
Fornication
1. In remonstrating with the Corinthians for their litigiousness, Paul was forcibly reminded how imperfectly they understood the moral requirements of the kingdom of God, and that they were quoting some of his own sayings in defence of immoral practices. If all things were lawful to them, then this commonest of Greek indulgences was lawful; if abstaining from the meat which had been killed in a heathen temple was a matter of moral indifference, then this other common accompaniment of idolatry was also a matter of indifference.
2. St. Paul there-fore lays down two principles. First he insists that the question of duty is not answered by simply ascertaining what is lawful; we must also ask, Is it expedient? The Christian is a law to himself; he has an internal guide that sets him above external rules. Very true; but that guide teaches him to consider, not how much indulgence he may enjoy without transgressing the letter of the law, but how he can best forward what is highest in himself and in others. Again, all things are lawful for me; all things are in my power. Yes, and therefore I will not be brought under the power of any. I am free from the law; I will not on that account become the slave of indulgence. There are several practices and habits which no one would call sinful, but which enslave a man quite as much as worse habits. And it is the very lawfulness of these indulgences which has ensnared him. He alone attains the true dignity and freedom of the Christian man who can say, with Paul, I know both how to be full and to be hungry, &c. All things are in my power, but I will not be brought under the power of any.
3. Paul then proceeds to apply these principles. The Corinthians argued that if meats were morally indifferent, so also a man was neither better nor worse for fornication. To expose this error Paul draws a distinction between the organs of nutrition and that body which is part of our permanent individuality, and which is to flower into an everlasting body. These two differ from one another; and if you are to argue from the one to the other, you must keep in view the distinction as stated in 1Co_6:13-14. The organs of nutrition have a present use; they are made for meats, and have a natural correspondence with meats. Any meat, therefore, which the digestive organs approve is allowable. Besides, these organs form no part of the future spiritual body. They pass away with the meats for which they were made. They serve a temporary purpose, like the houses we live in and the clothes we wear; and as we are not morally better because we live in a stone house, and not in a brick one, or because we wear woollens, and not cotton--so long as we do what is best to keep us in life--so neither is there any moral difference in meats. But the body as a whole--for what is it made? For the Lord. He finds in it His needed instrument; without it He cannot accomplish His will. And the Lord is for the body. Without Him the body cannot develop into all it is intended to be. Our adoption as Gods children is incomplete until the body also is redeemed and has fought its way through sickness and death, into likeness to the glorified body of Christ. But this cannot be believed, far less accomplished, save by faith in the fact that God has raised up the Lord Jesus, and will with Him raise us also. And the Spirit of Christ within us inclines us while in the body, and by means of it to sow to the Spirit and thus to reap life everlasting. The only future of the body we dare to look at without a shudder is the future it has in the Lord. The Lord is for the body, and as well might we try to sustain the body now without food as to have an endurable future for it without the Lord. But if the body is thus closely united to Christ, then the inference is self-evident that it must be carefully guarded from such uses and impurities as involve rupture with Christ (1Co_6:15). And if any frivolous Corinthian still objected that such acts went no deeper than the eating of food ceremonially unclean, that they belonged to the body that was to be destroyed, Paul says, It is not so; these acts are full of the deepest moral significance (1Co_6:18), i.e., fornication is the only sin which by its very nature alienates the body from Christ, its proper Partner. Other sins indirectly involve separation from Christ; this explicitly and directly transfers allegiance, and sunders our union with Him.
4. These weighty reasonings are concluded by the statement of a twofold truth which is of much wider application than to the matter in hand (1Co_6:19-20). We are not our own; we belong to Him who has loved us most; and His love will be satisfied when we suffer Him to dwell in us, so that we shall be His temples, and shall glorify Him. And it is the consciousness that we are Gods temples which constantly incites us to live worthily of Him. In nothing can God reveal Himself as He can in man. It is not a building of stone which forms a fit temple for God; nor even the heaven of heavens. In material nature only a small part of God can be seen and known. But through us God can express and reveal what is best in Himself. Our love is sustained by His, and reveals His. Our approval of what is pure and hatred of impurity has its source in His holiness. But if so, what a profanation is it when we take this body, which is built to be His temple, and put it to uses which it were blasphemous to associate with God! (M. Dods, D. D.)
Fornication is an awful crime
1. It robs God of His property.
2. Dishonours the members of Christs body.
3. Makes a man one flesh with the harlot.
4. Degrades a mans own body.
5. Profanes the temple of God.
6. Sins against the sacrifice of Christ.
7. Devotes body and soul, which are Gods, to the devil. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
And God hath both raised up the Lord.
The resurrection of the body
I. Is possible. Christ is risen.
II. Certain.
1. God has revealed it.
2. Is able to effect it.
III. Is a powerful argument for the right use of the body. If God honours it, shall man dishonour it? (1Co_6:13, &c.). (J. Lyth, D. D.)
Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ?--
Christ and the body
I. His right over it.
1. Not only by creation and redemption.
2. But by our union with Him.
II. The consequent obligation.
1. To care for it.
2. To keep it pure.
3. To use it for His service. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
The thought of the love of Jesus for us the remedy for sins of the body
I. The word made flesh, changed by that act the whole relation of the creature to the Creator. Before they were distinct. God chose man to knit both together. Could there be envy in heaven, surely the angels must have envied our race; nay, it has been believed that Satan fell through envy at the incarnation revealed beforehand. Nothing so illustrates the self-forgetting love of those blessed spirits, as that they should joy to be passed over, and to see us the fallen preferred to themselves. True! the purpose of God is to unite both under and in one head (Eph_1:10). Their ranks, it is a pious opinion, broken by the fall of the apostate angels, will be filled by redeemed men. But even this equality has not been enough. God has willed to give us a closeness of union with Himself, which He gave not to the Seraphim. And this for all eternity,
II. This constitutes the claim of Jesus on our love.
1. This is more than compensation for the fall of Adam. Jesus, in this special way, is ours; He is our near Kinsman, and more than brother. Jesus must love me with a special love, for He has not the nature of angels, but this of mine.
2. And how did He love us? What did He withhold from us, for love of us? His glory! He emptied Himself (Php_2:7). He who was and is one with the Father, entered this mortal life. He began it an outcast, and ended it by giving Himself to be numbered with the transgressors. In those dread hours on the Cross, what part of His sacred body did He reserve from suffering for us? (Psa_22:14). And His Fathers face was hid from His human soul. And what doth He now? He is in that unspeakable glory, upholding all things by the word of His power; governing also the Church and sanctifying her by His presence. But as something nearer to ourselves individually, He ever liveth to make intercession for us. Calvary lives on in heaven, and pleads for us still. And all this has been, is, shall continue to be done for us through the body. By taking our whole human nature, soul and body, God the Son gave us, in His own person, that special prerogative of nearness to Himself.
III. With what sacredness does this invest our bodies.
1. Limb by limb, they are the same bodies as that which God the Son took, which for us was crucified, which now is in glory at the right hand of God. All sin is misery, but sins of the flesh have yet this special misery, that they degrade that body which Jesus took. To sin as to the flesh is to insult Christ.
2. Trials you have or will have. But trials which are only of Gods allowing injure neither body nor soul. He will give the victory who allows them (2Co_12:9). But now, if thou art liable to temptation, from which thou mightest have been blessedly free, or over which thou mightest have had, by Gods grace, an easy victory--
(1) Observe well, whence mostly it begins now; from imagination? or from the eye? or from past memories? or from over-fulness of food? For there the entrance of thy battle lies.
(2) In the trial itself. I know but of one effectual remedy--to clasp the hands together, and pray earnestly to God for help. And when thou so prayest, think how Jesus hallowed this poor body; think how He suffered in this body for love of us. Look well at that holy frame, racked on that hard bed of the Cross. But above all, look at that thorn-crowned head, and that yet open, mild, forgiving eye, which won the blaspheming robber to sue for pardon from his Lord. Does it not say to thee, Poor wanderer, this have I endured for love of thee; I loved thee and gave Myself for thee. Love Me at least now? Wilt thou not look up to Him and say, By Thy grace henceforth I will love Thee; let me rather die than again profane the body, which Thou didst so redeem, and wound Thy love? Or look up and gaze on that glorious form at the right hand of God. All else is spirit. One body is there, above all, adored by all. There, with a special lustre of their own, stream forth the rays of Divine light and love from those two pierced hands, those once wounded feet, that opened side and heart. There, at that moment, the moment of thy temptation, they intercede for thee. There is that human eye resting still in love upon thee. Christ is not ashamed to wear in heaven the tokens of His humiliation; be not thou ashamed of Him and His service. Remember that He willeth to fashion this our now vile body, that it may be made like unto His glorious body, and resolve by His grace to degrade no more the body which He so longs to glorify with Himself. (E. B. Pusey, D. D.)
Fornication
I. Destroys all pretence to Christianity.
1. The body belongs to Christ.
2. Should be employed in His service.
3. To give it to another is to deny Him--and court destruction, which God forbid!
II. Degrades the man.
1. The harlot is the refuse of humanity.
2. To be joined to her is to be one with her--by a natural law.
III. Is impossible while we are joined to Christ--we are one spirit with Him. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19 13. Meats for the belly, etc. Self-indulgence was also…
13. Meats for the belly, etc. Self-indulgence was also excused, because food and the stomach were made for each other. But these are both perishable. Moreover, if “the belly was made for meats,” the body is not for fornication. It was not made for this, but for a nobler purpose—for the Lord. Hence, sensuality cannot be thus justified.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On vv13, 14, 18, 19 13. “Meats for the stomach, and the stomach for…
NO PHYSICAL ORGANS IN THE GLORIFIED BODY
13. “Meats for the stomach, and the stomach for the meats: but God will destroy both this and them.” All the quibbles and controversies over meats and drinks, except from a merely hygienical standpoint, are utterly nugatory. We must abstain from tobacco, opium and intoxicating drinks, from the simple fact that they are narcotic poisons. We are to avoid gluttony, swine, and use the intelligence God has given us, living hygienically for the sake of health, mentality and spirituality. If I did not observe the laws of hygiene, I would be incompetent to perform the mental and spiritual work God has given me. I know not the taste of coffee, never use tea, from the simple fact that they, when participated in, in due time subjugate their patron and get him in such a fix that he can’t do without them. Like Paul, I will not be brought under the power of anything nor any person. I have no master but God. I do so much enjoy this wonderful freedom, in which I am dependent on nothing but God, and consequently always happy. “God will destroy both this,” i. e., the stomach, “and them,” i. e., the mortal food. We are hastening into a state of glory and immortality. There are two methods by which God glorifies the human body:
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(a) Translation, which is really the primary, peculiar to the Edenic state, and will doubtless much prevail in the coming Millennium.
(b) The resurrection is the other method by which the body is glorified. I am on the daily outlook for my Lord to come and translate the living members of His Bridehood. Here we learn explicitly that the glorified body will have no digestive organs, neither will it partake of material nutriment, but subsist on celestial ambrosia and drink the sweet nectar among the angels, as finite beings will never cease to partake of nutriment in some way or other.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv13–19 Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats:…
Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall bring to nought both it and them. But the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body :
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v15 shall I
shall I
Paul does not invoke the authority of the seventh commandment, but appeals to the believer’s sacredness as a member of Christ.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v15 An earnest warning against immorality:
An earnest warning against immorality:
v. 15. Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I, then, take the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid!
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v. 16. What? Know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? For two, saith He, shall be one flesh.
v. 17. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
v. 18. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
v. 19. What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
v. 20. For ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
The apostle speaks in holy zeal, with righteous indignation, without reservation, bringing the truth in its hideous nakedness. His aim is to bring to the distinct consciousness of his readers the abominable character of the vice which flaunted its banners so shamelessly in their city; he unfolds it in all its repulsiveness, by vivid concrete presentment: Do you not know that our bodies are members of Christ? Should I, then, take away the members of Christ and make them a harlot’s members? By no means. Christ is the Head of the Church, and every believer by faith becomes a member of this one Head; he is one of the organs of that great body and is intended to function only in the interest of the Lord. Should, then, any one so far forget the dignity which is due to Christ and to His service as to make his body a harlot’s member and thus become unfaithful to his calling and unfaithful to his Lord? The very suggestion fills the apostle with horror; for how could one choose a harlot in preference to Christ? How could one alienate his affections from their proper owner and center them in such an unhallowed connection?
For fear that the Corinthians may not yet have understood him or might deliberately misconstrue his words, St. Paul amplifies still more: Or do you not know that he who joins himself to the harlot is one body with her? For, says God, the two will be one flesh, Gen 2:24. This blessing of God was intended to sanctify the legitimate intercourse of marriage. But he that breaks the ordinance of God and seeks the gratification of mere lust outside of the marriage-bond, becomes one body with one that is not his wife. But the word of the Lord stands: Carnal intercourse means unity of the bodies. Sexual union constitutes a permanent bond between the guilty parties, for the word of the Lord holds of every such union, whether lawful or unlawful, honorably true or shamefully. No presentation could portray the sin of fornication more exactly in its hideous repulsiveness than that which is here used by the apostle.
Once more he emphasizes the contrast: But he that cleaves to the Lord is one spirit with Him. A wonderful, real, lasting, and blessed union is that which the believer enters into in and by regeneration. For the act of faith establishes a bond of intimate communion with Christ, it makes the believer one in spirit with his Savior in love, not only on account of the gracious imputation of His righteousness, but also by the indwelling of His Spirit in the heart, Joh 14:20; Joh 15:4; Joh 17:23; Eph 3:17. No wonder this fact urges the apostle to repeat his urgent admonition: Flee fornication. In the case of this sin it would be foolish to stand and attempt to give battle, for here "the strongest oath is straw against the fire in the blood. " As in the case of Joseph, courageous flight is the only solution of the difficulty, Pro 6:28. And let no one deceive himself with the excuse that he is harming no one by his indulgence in this sin: Every sin which a person commits is outside of the body, but he that commits fornication sins against his own body. The sins against all the other commandments of the Decalogue have their aim outside of the body; if they involve the organs of the body, as in the case of intemperance, they affect and injure only the transient, perishable organs of the body, and require for their commission some means that are taken from without and are in themselves foreign to the body. But the sins against the Sixth Commandment involve violation of self, of the inmost mental desires and physical abilities; the entire body is contaminated and dishonored, not only in one sex, but in both, for the Christian religion knows no double standard.
To make the Corinthian Christians feel the weight of his argument, the apostle refers them to the well-known dignity which the bodies of the believers as such possess: Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own, your own masters? "What are all the other gifts altogether," says Luther, "besides this gift, that the Spirit of God Himself, the eternal God, comes down into our hearts, yea, into our bodies, and lives in us, governs, leads, and conducts us!" Although Paul is addressing the entire congregation, he yet speaks of the body in the singular, in order to bring out once more the fact that they are all one in Christ Jesus. Each one for himself and all of them together are the temple of the Holy Ghost, who has deigned to make them His abode, to take up His dwelling-place in their hearts and in their bodies. And therefore they are no longer masters of their own bodies, to perform their own lusts and desires. According to the heathen idea, prostitution was a consecration of the body; according to the Christian idea, it is the filthiest desecration of the body. The Christians may no longer use their bodies for the gratification of their sinful passions, but are bound to employ them in doing the holy will of God. And to this end St. Paul concludes with a powerful appeal: For bought you were at a price; then glorify God in your body! We Christians were bought, delivered, redeemed, from the power of sin and the devil, not with corruptible things, as silver and gold. The price of our redemption rather was of a nature to make us stand in adoring astonishment and praise in all eternity: with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot, 1Pe 1:18-19. Through this redemption we have become Christ’s very own and are to serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. That is the inference of the apostle: Glorify God in your body; let all the acts of all your organs and members be undertaken with the object of increasing His honor and glory, let your body be a temple wherein each man serves as a priest to the most high God in all chastity and decency.
Summary.The apostle rebukes the Corinthian Christians for going to law with their brethren before the Gentile courts; he warns them against various sins, but especially against fornication, since their bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv14, 16, 18, 19 raised the Lord
raised the Lord
"caused the Lord to live again"
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Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?
The word translated as "members" refers to parts of a body. Our belonging to Christ is spoken of as if we were parts of his body. We belong to him so much that even our bodies belong to him. Paul uses this question to remind the people of something they should already know. AT: "You should know that your bodies belong to Christ" (See: Metaphor and Rhetorical Question)
Shall I then take away the members of Christ and join them to a prostitute? May it not be!
Paul uses this question to emphasize how wrong it is for someone who belongs to Christ to go to a prostitute. AT: "I am part of Christ. I will not take my body and join myself to a prostitute!" or "We are parts of Christ's body. We must not take our bodies and join ourselves to prostitutes!" (See: Rhetorical Question)
May it not be!
"That should never happen!" or "We must never do that!"
translationWords
raise
lord
power
know
body
member
Christ
prostitute
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv13, 15, 18 6:13-14 “Food was made for the stomach, and the…
6:13-14 “Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food”: This statement was apparently used by some Corinthian Christians to rationalize their sexual immorality on the analogy that “the body was made for sex, and sex for the body.” It is a false analogy, because our bodies . . . were made for the Lord, and sexual immorality does not glorify him. In light of his concern for our bodies and the coming resurrection from the dead, our bodies must be used for holy purposes in God’s service.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.