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.
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1 Corinthians 6:15-18 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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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.
-
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.
Show all 3 translations
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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.
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 (56)
- 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…
- 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;
- 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…
Show all 55 cross-references
- 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…
- 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.
- 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.
- 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…
- 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.
- 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,
- 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 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…
- 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…
- 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…
- 1 Corinthians 6:19 (v15) 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,
- 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…
- Ephesians 5:23 (v15) 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.
- 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.
- 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,…
- 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…
- 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…
- 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 7:7 (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…
55 distinct cross-references across this passage (56 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (23 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv15–18 15. Know ye not that our bodies are the…
15. Know ye not that our bodies are the members, etc. Here we have an explanation, or, if you prefer it, an amplification of the foregoing statement. For that expression, the body is for the Lord, might, owing to its brevity, be somewhat obscure. Hence he says, as if with the view of explaining it, that Christ is joined with us and we with him in such a way, that we become one body with him. Accordingly, if I have connection with an harlot, I tear Christ in pieces, so far as it is in my power to do so; for it is impossible for me to draw Him into fellowship with such pollution. Now as that must be held in abhorrence, he makes use of the expression which he is accustomed to employ in reference to things that are absurd — God forbid Observe, that the spiritual connection which we have with Christ belongs not merely to the soul, but also to the body, so that we are flesh of his flesh, etc (Ephesians 5:30.) Otherwise the hope of a resurrection were weak, if our connection were not of that nature — full and complete.
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 vv15, 16, 18 A declaration of the former argument by contraries, and…
A declaration of the former argument by contraries, and the applying of it.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv15–18 15 Know ye not that your bodies are the…
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.
Ver. 15. Shall I then take] Scipio, when a harlot was offered him, said, Vellem, si non essem imperator, I would, if I were not a general. Say thou, if I were not a Christian.
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And make them the members of a harlot] A saint cannot indeed be made the member of a harlot (saith a reverend man), because not κολλωμενος, glued or knit to any sin. Though a member of Christ and sin may fall one upon another, and touch each other; yet they are of a mouldering nature, and will not cleave together. Water and oil violently shaken together may seem to mingle, but will not continue so long; there is no coalition, because they are of diverse natures; the one remaineth water still, and the other oil.
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 vv15–18 Christ is united to the person of the believer,…
Christ is united to the person of the believer, and he is the Head of the church, which is his mystical body; so that the bodies of believers are in a sense the members of Christ, and should be used by us as the members of Christ, which we should not rend from him: but he that doth commit fornication, rends his body from Christ, and maketh it
the member of an harlot; for as the man and wife are one flesh by Divine ordination, Gen 2:24, so the fornicater and the harlot are one flesh by an impure conjunction.
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 vv15, 16, 18 A third argument here follows: "Our bodies are the…
A third argument here follows: "Our bodies are the members of Christ, as well as our souls; that is, the union is made between Christ and us, consisting of soul and body both.
Now, shall we dispose of our bodies, the members of Christ, to so base an use? Shall our bodies, which are joined to Christ, ever condescend to so base a conjunction, as that of being joined to an harlot? God forbid that such an indignity be done by us."
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 vv15–18 Know ye not that your bodies are the members,…
Know ye not that your bodies are the members, of Christ,.... The whole persons of God's elect were chosen in Christ, and given to him, and made one with him, their bodies as well as their souls; and both are redeemed by him, and, in union with him, are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones:
shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. Signifying, that it is a most absurd, indecent, abominable, and detestable thing, that the bodies of the saints, which are the members of Christ, should be joined in carnal copulation with an harlot.
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 vv16–18 Gen. ii, 24.
Gen. ii, 24.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv15–18 Verse 15. Know ye not that your bodies are…
Verse 15. Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ?] Because he has taken your nature upon him, and thus, as believers in him, ye are the members of Christ.
Shall I then take, &c.] Shall we, who profess to be members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones, connect ourselves with harlots, and thus dishonour and pollute the bodies which are members of Christ? God forbid! These passages admit of a more literal interpretation. This, if given at all, I must give in a strange language.
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Membra humana, ad generationem pertinentia, vocantur Membra Christi, quia mysterium conjunctionis Christi et Ecclesiae per conjunctionem maris et faeminae indigitatur, Eph 5:32. In Vet. Test. idem valebat de membro masculino, guippe quod circumcisione, tanquam signo faederis, honoratum est. Vide Schoettgen, Hor. Hebr.
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 v15 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 vv15, 17, 18 Know ye not ... - This is the third…
Know ye not ... - This is the third argument against licentiousness. It is, that we as Christians are united to Christ (compare the notes at Joh 15:1 ff); and that it is abominable to take the members of Christ and subject them to pollution and sin. Christ was pure - wholly pure. We are professedly united to him. We are bound therefore to be pure, as he was. Shall that which is a part, as it were, of the pure and holy Saviour, be prostituted to impure and unholy embraces?
God forbid! - See the note at Rom 3:4. This expresses the deep abhorrence of the apostle at the thought. It needed not argument to show it. The whole world revolted at the idea; and language could scarcely express the abomination of the very thought.
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Know ye not ... - This is designed to confirm and strengthen what he had just said.
He which is joined - Who is attached to; or who is connected with.
Is one body - That is, is to he regarded as one; is closely and intimately united. Similar expressions occur in Classic writers. See Grotius and Bloomfield.
For two, saith he ... - This Paul illustrates by a reference to the formation of the marriage connection in Ger. Rom 2:14. He cannot be understood as affirming that that passage had original reference to illicit connections; but be uses it for purposes of illustration. God had declared that the man and his wife became one; in a similar sense in unlawful connections the parties became one.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv15–18 Resuming the thought in Co1 6:13, "the body is…
Resuming the thought in Co1 6:13, "the body is for the Lord" (Co1 12:27; Eph 4:12, Eph 4:15-16; Eph 5:30).
shall I then--such being the case.
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take--spontaneously alienating them from Christ. For they cannot be at the same time "the members of an harlot," and "of Christ" [BENGEL]. It is a fact no less certain than mysterious, that moral and spiritual ruin is caused by such sins; which human wisdom (when untaught by revelation) held to be actions as blameless as eating and drinking [CONYBEARE and HOWSON].
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 vv15–18 15. The nature of this last blessed correlation he…
15. The nature of this last blessed correlation he will now declare.
Know ye not—As you seem, by your easy dealing with the fornicator, not to know. Members of the mystical body of Christ—A oneness foreshadowed in the Church below, but to be gloriously disclosed in the Church of the resurrection.
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Members of a harlot—Under this awful conception (explained in next verse) St. Paul opens to his Corinthians the intense opposition of Christianity to the characteristic vice of their city.
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 vv15–18 15. Know ye not that your bodies are the…
15. Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ?] This solemn truth, that by our calling as Christians we are so closely united to Christ as to be ‘members of His Body, of His Flesh and of His Bones’ (Eph_5:30) is employed here to remind us of the restrictions placed upon our Christian liberty. Our body is Christ’s, nay it is, in a sense, a part of Christ Himself. It may not be used in violation of the laws imposed upon it from the beginning by God. Nor may it be used to the detriment of others, who equally, with ourselves, belong to Christ. And the sin here reproved leads to all kinds of misery and wretchedness, and that because (1Co_6:18) it is a violation of the eternal law of God impressed upon the human body.
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 vv15–18 (15) Shall I then . . .?—Having shown the…
(15) Shall I then . . .?—Having shown the great dignity which attaches to our bodies as immortal members of Christ, the Apostle asks with indignant emphasis, “Shall I take them out from that high and holy membership, and make them members of an harlot?” The double act of taking them away from their glorious union with Christ, and joining them to a base body, is implied in the Greek.
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 vv15–18 Members of Christ. We find the same metaphor in…
Members of Christ. We find the same metaphor in 1Co_12:12, 1Co_12:27; Eph_5:30. The Church is often alluded to as "the body of Christ". (Eph_1:23; Col_1:18 Col_2:19, etc.) Elsewhere the union between Christ and Christians is described by the metaphor of a tree and its branches; a building and the stones of which it is composed. (Eph_2:21, Eph_2:22) God forbid. An admirable idiom to express the real force of the original, which means, "May it never be!" (for the rationale of the Greek phrase, I may refer to my "Brief Greek Syntax," p. 135). It occurs in Rom_3:4, Rom_3:6, 31 6:15 7:7, 13 9:14 11:1, 11; Gal_2:17 Gal_3:21. The formula, which involves the indignant rejection of some false conclusion, is characteristic of the second group of St. Paul"s Epistles, but especially (as will be seen) of the Epistle to the Romans.
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 v17 He that is joined unto the Lord is one…
1Co_6:17
He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
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--The apostle was wont to associate the commonest duties with the highest motives. In dissuading from the sin of impurity, he might have adduced considerations drawn from physical laws and social conditions; instead of this he appeals to the loftiest principles of Christianity. Note
I. The bond which unites believers to their Lord is a bond of--
1. Faith, Whom having not seen, &c. Christians receive with cordiality the gospel concerning Christ; they receive Christ Himself to dwell in their hearts by faith.
2. Love. They are joined to Him as the bride to the bridegroom, in a spiritual affection, in love stronger than death.
3. Affinity. Drawn to Jesus as sinners to the Saviour, they remain with Him as friends, congenial in character, disposition and aims.
II. The consequent unity between Christians and their Lord.
1. They are in a spirit of subjection to the Father, whose will and law are authoritative and supreme.
2. They are one in the love of all that is holy and morally admirable. The sympathy that exists regards the principles that animate and the aims that dignify the moral life.
3. They are one in the bonds of an immortal fellowship. That they may be with Me where I am.
III. The practical proofs of this unity.
1. Repugnance to all which is repugnant to Christ; as, e.g., those vices to which allusion is made in the context.
2. Cultivation of the spirit of brotherly love. The one spirit must needs be a spirit of true love, linking together the members of the mystical body of Christ, and disposing them to a sympathetic and harmonious action. (Prof. J. R. Thomson.)
The saint one with his Saviour
Note--
I. A mysterious deep.
1. There is a joining to the Lord--
(1) In election. We were chosen in Christ from before the foundation of the world.
(2) In covenant, when Jesus became of old the Head of His Church.
(3) In the incarnation. All this makes up a glorious joining unto the Lord, but the union taught here is vital and spiritual which is wrought in us when we are born again.
2. But what does that word one spirit mean? The union between Christ and His people is described by--
(1) The marriage union. It is said, These twain shall be one flesh; but to take off the carnal edge of the metaphor one spirit is here substituted.
(a) Christ and His people have one spirit. The Holy Spirit who quickens us anointed Him. The foot is baptized into the same spirit as the head.
(b) We are of one spirit with Him, i.e., we come to think and feel as Jesus does.
(c) Yet the text saith not that we are of one spirit, but we are one spirit. This is a matter to be understood only by the spiritual mind, and not to be expounded in words. I in them and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one. We have known on earth friends who have become one spirit; intimacy and mutual admiration have ripened friendship into unity, till the one seemed to be the complement of the other; one soul in two bodies.
(2) The branch and the stem, which are one vine, and are nothing separated from each other, their life one and their design one.
(3) The member and the body. If there be life in this finger, it is identically the same life that is in the head; and so in the whole Church the life and Spirit of Christ are the life and spirit of His people.
II. A manifest grace.
1. To be one spirit with Christ much more is needed than--
(1) To bear the Christian name. Call a poppy a rose and you will not thereby give it perfume.
(2) Mere outward profession. Ye may be baptized in water, but unless ye are baptized into the Holy Ghost, ye know not what union with Christ is, for Simon Magus though baptized had no part nor lot in the matter.
(3) The performance of some apparently good actions and the use of religious words in conversation. The superficial, the nominal, and the outward will not suffice. Deep down in the very vitals of our being must this union with Jesus Christ most eminently reside.
2. As an illustration of what unity of spirit is take that rare conjugal union of those who realise the highest ideal of the married life founded in pure love and cemented in mutual esteem. Their wishes blend, their hearts are indivisible. By degrees they come very much to think the same thoughts. Intimate association creates conformity. So the true Christian grows to think as Christ thinks till the teachings of Jesus are plain to him. Blessed consummation when their hearts at last are all wrapped up in Jesus, even as the bush at Horeb was all on fire with God!
3. Where such union exists, what does it produce? They who are thus one spirit with Christ live--
(1) For the same end--Gods glory.
(2) For the same reason--the love of the Father.
(3) By the same means. By the conversion of souls: not by being made a king, not by being called rabbi.
(4) By the use of the same modes-teaching, preaching, living, suffering, and dying. Some nowadays seem tired of Christs plans, and hunt up more rapid methods. Jesus never strained after effect by animal excitement.
(5) With the same emotions. Oh that we felt as He did the weight of souls, the guilt of sin, the terror of the wrath to come, and the tenderness of Divine mercy!
4. Let me add that if we are fully joined to our Lord, and of one spirit with Him, we shall have--
(1) The same tastes. What He loves will charm us, what He hates we shall loathe.
(2) The same will.
(3) Oneness of aim in our service of God. We have a dozen aims now, but if we were of one spirit with Jesus we should have but one object in life.
(4) Great force and fervour. Our prayers would be very different from what they are, and our public service of God would never be so sleepy as it now is.
(5) Abiding pertinacity. Defeated in one place we should try in another.
(6) Wonderful serenity of spirit. We should not be disturbed with little, petty remarks of men, nor should we even be moved by great calamities.
Conclusion:
1. A word of rebuke. We have been joined to Christ, but have we been manifestly one spirit with Him? Angry--was that Christs spirit? Worldly--was that Christs spirit?
2. A word of hope. We want to have the same spirit as Christ. Well, our hope is that we shall have it, for we are joined to the Lord, and he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The true believers union with Christ
I. The explication of this truth.
1. Who are true believers?
(1) Not such as are united unto Christ by a mere external profession, sacramental admission, or presumptuous persuasion (Joh_2:23-24). These are dead branches (Joh_15:2). sapless stakes in the Churchs hedge, wooden legs of Christs body (2Ti_3:5; Rev_3:1).
(2) But such as are united unto Christ by internal implantation. Living, fruit-bearing branches (Joh_15:5); so that now Christ is in them, and they in Christ (Joh_17:21; Joh_17:23).
2. What kind of union is this?
(1) Negatively.
(a) Not a ,corporeal union. Christ is in heaven (Act_1:11; Act_3:21), we on earth.
(b) Not a hypostatical, personal union; such as that of the Divine and human natures in the person of Christ. Believers make not one person with Christ, but one body (1Co_12:13); and that not one body natural, but mystical.
(c) Not an essential, substantial union; not such an union as makes believers in any wise partakers of the substance of Christs Godhead.
(d) Not such an union as mounts up believers to an equality with Christ in any respect. In all things He hath, and must have, the pre-eminence (Col_1:18).
(2) Positively.
(a) A spiritual union.
(b) A mystical, profound union (Eph_5:32; Joh_17:20).
(c) And yet a true, real union. Not a fancy only (Eph_5:30). As the head communicates real influences to the body, so Christ communicates to us His Spirit and graces (Joh_1:16).
(d) An intimate union. Like that of the food with the body which it nourisheth (Joh_6:54).
(e) A perpetual, indissoluble union (Rom_8:35).
3. What are the efficient causes of this union? They are--
(1) Principal. This great work ascribed--
(a) To the whole Godhead (chap. 1:9: 1Pe_5:10; Joh_6:44-45; Eph_2:6-7).
(b) But more especially to the Spirit of God. He it is that knits this marriage-knot (1Co_12:13; Tit_3:5).
(2) Less principal, or the means or instruments of union.
(a) Outward. Generally all the ordinances of God (Zec_4:12). More especially--First, the word read, preached, meditated on, believed, improved. Second, the sacraments. Those spiritual seals and labels which God hath fixed to His covenant of grace.
(b) Inward faith. Not a bare historical, dead faith; but a living, working, justifying, saving faith (Eph_3:17; Joh_1:12; 1Co_6:56; Gal_2:20).
II. Confirmation. That there is such a union appears--
1. From those many equivalent expressions whereby the Scriptures hold forth this union.
(1) Christ is said to be in believers (Col_1:27; Rom_8:10), to dwell in them (Eph_3:17), to walk in them (2Co_6:16).
(2) Believers are said to abide in Christ (Joh_15:7), to dwell in Christ (Joh_6:56; 1Jn_4:16), to put on Christ (Gal_3:27).
2. From those several similitudes by which the Scriptures shadow out this union. Believers are said to be--
(1) Lively stones (1Pe_2:4-6), Christ, the living foundation, the chief corner-stone, on which they are built (Eph_2:20-21).
(2) Branches of Christ, the true vine, into whom they are engrafted, and in whom they bring forth fruit (Joh_15:1; Joh_15:5).
(3) The loyal, affectionate spouse of Christ (Eph_5:31-32; Son_2:16; Son_5:1).
(4) Christs body (Eph_1:23; Eph_5:30), Christ being the believers Head (1Co_1:22). In a word, the Head and mystical body are called Christ (1Co_12:12).
3. From that communion which there is betwixt Christ and true believers.
(1) Believers communicate with Christ--
(a) In His fulness (Joh_1:16).
(b) In His merits (2Co_5:21).
(c) In His life and graces (1Co_1:2).
(d) In His privileges and dignities. Is He a King, a Priest? So are believers (Rev_1:6; 1Pe_2:9). Is He a Son, an Heir, by nature? Saints are so by adoption (Rom_8:17).
(e) In His victories (Rom_8:37).
(f) In His triumphs and glory; they share with Him in His throne. All that believers are, is from the grace of Christ (1Co_15:10; Php_4:13), so that they do not so properly live, as Christ in them (Gal_2:20).
(2) Christ communicates in the believers graces. All that they are is from Christ; and therefore all that they have is to Christ; what they receive in mercy they return in duty.
III. Application. Information. Are believers thus closely united unto Christ? Hence see--
(1) The crimson dye of their sin, who oppose and persecute them. In touching them, they touch the apple of His eye (Zec_2:8).
(2) The quality of Christs love to them beyond and above all others (Eph_3:18-19).
(3) The high honour which Christ casts upon them--an honour not vouchsafed to heavens courtiers, the angels. They are Christs servants, subjects; not His members.
(4) Their stability and perseverance in their estate of grace.
(5) A cogent and conclusive argument for their resurrection (chap. 15:12-23). If the Head be got above, surely the body shall not always lie under, water.
2. Examination. To ascertain whether there be such a union betwixt our souls and Christ, let us ask--
(1) Hath Christ given unto you His Holy Spirit (Rom_8:9; 1Jn_3:24). Now this Spirit is--
(a) A praying Spirit (Zec_12:10).
(b) A mourning Spirit.
(c) A sanctifying Spirit (1Co_6:11; 1Pe_1:2).
(2) Doth Christ dwell in thy heart by faith? (Eph_3:17.) Namely, by such a faith as purifies the heart, works by love and overcomes the world.
(3) Dost thou crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts? They that are united unto Christ do so (Gal_5:24; Rom_8:13).
(4) Art thou a new creature? He that is in Christ is so (2Co_5:17). Hast thou a new head, heart, lip, life?
(5) Dost thou bring forth fruit? Every branch in Christ is a fruit-bearing branch (Joh_15:5; Php_1:11).
3. Consolation.
(1) With relation to Christ, to whom believers are united. On their union with Him, there redounds to them a peculiar interest--
(a) In Christs person. Christ Himself is theirs (Jer_32:38; Isa_9:6).
(b) In Christs properties. Has Christ an arm of power? It is for your protection. Has He an eye of knowledge? It is for your direction. Has He a stock, a treasury, of perfect righteousness? It is for your justification, &c.
(c) In Christs promises (2Pe_1:4). Which are the believers Magna Charta, to the confirmation whereof God has been pleased to add both His oath and blood for seals (Heb_6:17-18).
(d) in all Christs providences (Rom_8:28).
(e) In all (1Co_3:22-23).
(2) With respect to believers themselves. In a threefold regard; namely, of their persons, graces, duties.
4. Exhortation.
(1) To sinners, that are as yet without Christ, God, hope in this world (Eph_2:12). Be persuaded to give your eyes no sleep till you are united to Christ! Consider--
(a) The dreadful, dismal danger of thy present estate. A soul not united unto Christ lies open to all danger imaginable.
(b) Christs condescending willingness to be united to thee.
(2) To saints that are united to Christ.
(a) Be very fearful of that which may in any sort weaken your union with Christ.
(b) Wisely improve it.
(c) Labour for a frame of spirit suitable to it.
(d) Walk worthy of it. (T. Lye, A. M.)
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 vv15, 17, 18 15. Know ye not that your bodies are members…
15. Know ye not that your bodies are members of Christ? This is a doctrine emphasized by Paul. Our bodies are a part of Christ's mystical body, the Lord's holy temple, designed for the indwelling of the Spirit. How sacrilegious to take a member of Christ's body and degrade it to fornication, or to any act of licentiousness! It is a duty which a Christian owes to Christ to keep his body pure. As the arm or finger has the life of the body until cut off, so we have the life of Christ until we sever ourselves from him by sinful acts.
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 v18 18. “Every sin which a man may do is…
18. “Every sin which a man may do is without the body: and he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.” Here the apostle forever sweeps away that Gnostic heresy, recognizing sin resident in the body after the soul is made pure; involving that awful and fatal heresy that your body must commit sin so long as it lives. Of course it is the very doctrine of the bottomless pit, concocted by Satan for the damnation of souls, because every one acquiescent in this transparent sophistry is actually committing sin and hastening to his own damnation, vainly gulled by the silly delusion that he will leave his sins in his body when he dies. Here we have the case settled forever that the sin is not in the body, except in the sense that the soul lives in the body, but all sin is really spiritual and immaterial, the work of the devil, who has no body, and homogenous with his nature. Consequently it is utterly impossible for sin to be materialistic, however it may involve material entities. While the body is as incapable of committing sin as the tree by the roadside, it is frequently instrumental in the commission of sin; and, as a rule, instead of committing the sin, it only suffers thereby, as Paul here specifies, “He that committeth fornication, sinneth against his own body.” So here you see even in case of fornication the body does not commit the sin, but on the contrary is sinned against.
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 vv15–18 Know ye not that your bodies are members of…
Know ye not that your bodies are members of Christ? [parts of his body ( 1Co_12:27 ; Eph_5:30 ); branches of the Vine-- Joh_15:5 ] shall I then take away the members of Christ, and make them members of a harlot? God forbid . [Literally, let it never be; a phrase often used by Paul when indignantly rejecting a false conclusion.]
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 vv16, 18 Do you not know that ... her?
Do you not know that ... her?
Paul begins to teach the Corinthians by emphasizing a truth that they already know. "I want to remind you that ... her." (See: Rhetorical Question)
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he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one flesh with her
This can also be stated in active form. AT: "when a man joins his body to the body of a prostitute, it is as if their bodies become one body" (See: Active or Passive)
he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him
This can also be stated in active form. AT: "when the Lord joins his spirit to the spirit of a person, it is as if their spirits become one spirit" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
know
prostitute
flesh
word of God
lord
spirit
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 vv15, 18 6:15-17 To be a Christian is to be spiritually…
6:15-17 To be a Christian is to be spiritually joined to Christ in both life and death (cp. Rom 6:3-11). As a result, believers’ bodies have become parts of Christ (cp. 1 Cor 12:12-28; Rom 12:4-5). This spiritual union (cp. John 14:20; 17:21-23) means that they are not free to violate their bodies by physical union with a prostitute.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.