Day 2 

Lisa Scheffler, author

This week we are focused on breaking free from the idol of sexuality. We can hurt each other, ourselves and our relationship with Christ when we ignore God’s design for sexual behavior.

Holding to a biblical view of sexuality in 21^st century America is challenging, and not just because sexual images and provocative messages provide near constant temptation. Our culture often tries to make behavior that the Bible would call sexual immorality seem like the most reasonable thing to do.

For example, pre-marital sex is now considered a normal part of serious dating so a couple can be sure they are “sexually compatible” before they get married. Living together is thought to provide a proving ground for marriage and decrease the chance of divorce. Even pornography is considered beneficial by some because it supposedly adds spice to one’s sex life. There is still a social stigma against cheating on your partner, but only if they expect monogamy. The current thinking seems to be, as long as adults are engaging in consensual behavior, anything goes as long as you are being “true to yourself.” Not surprisingly, these justifications fit with our culture’s emphasis on pragmatism and an individual’s right to live in whatever way they think will make them happy.

Several thousand years ago arguments for polygamy probably seemed convincing too if you take into account the priorities of the ancient near east. There was a desire for lots of children to work the land and increase the family’s wealth, along with an emphasis on having boys to carry on the family line. Marriages could be politically advantageous and solidify agreements between tribes. To a man of means, having multiple wives could have seemed like the best choice he could make for his family. That doesn’t mean the practice was approved by God. If you read the Old Testament you’ll see that polygamy often brought strife and destruction to the families involved.

The point is this: any culture at any point in history can justify breaking with God’s design for sexuality. As the cultural values change, so will the ways in which sexual attitudes and behaviors deviate from God’s plan. So how do turn from the gods of sexual immorality when our culture provides easy justifications?

In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul was fighting a sexual practice common in the culture of that city. Worship of the local gods often included sex with temple prostitutes. As we look at this passage, let’s consider the reasons Paul gives for turning from idols and worshipping the one, true, God with our bodies.

Read

1 Corinthians 6:12–20

¹² “All things are lawful for me”—but not everything is beneficial. “All things are lawful for me”—but I will not be controlled by anything. ¹³ “Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both.” The body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. ¹⁴ Now God indeed raised the Lord and he will raise us by his power. ¹⁵ Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! ¹⁶ Or do you not know that anyone who is united with a prostitute is one body with her? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” ¹⁷ But the one united with the Lord is one spirit with him. ¹⁸ Flee sexual immorality! “Every sin a person commits is outside of the body”—but the immoral person sins against his own body. ¹⁹ Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? ²⁰ For you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.

Ask yourself

• The quotations in verses 12 and 13 are likely slogans or catch phrases that were popular in Corinth at the time of Paul’s writing. What do you think they mean? How do they relate to sexual behavior?
• What does Paul say about a believer’s body in verse 15?
• How does Paul describe the bodies of believers in verses 19 and 20?

Reflect

Paul carefully ties moral principles to rich theological concepts. Paul makes it clear: what Christians do with the body is determined by what God has done for them. Biblical scholars believe that the slogan, “I have the right to do anything” may have been a distortion of Paul’s earlier teaching that the gospel freed Christians from following the law of Moses. Corinthian Christians may have twisted Paul’s meaning into an “anything goes” attitude. As a rebuttal, Paul responds with two qualifications we can use whenever we are faced with a “gray area,” particularly a sexual one.

For example, in youth groups everywhere, the question of “how far is too far” is often nervously brought up by embarrassed teenagers in discussions of sexuality. Or how should Christians respond to movies, television, books, video games or websites that contain sexual content?

Paul helps us with those questions. Firstly, is it beneficial? Will an action reflect and encourage a whole-hearted, loving devotion to God and a sacrificial love that puts another’s needs first? Secondly, can it control you? Is this behavior something that is mastering or enslaving you?

The second slogan Paul attacks is, “Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away both” (verse 13). It may have been assumed that indulging one’s sexual desire was no different than indulging an appetite for food. In the popular view of the day, the body was seen as temporary and corrupt, whereas the soul was thought to live on. Therefore whatever you did with your body was thought to be irrelevant to you spiritually.

Paul counters these distortions with the Christian idea that the physical body is important to God. Like Jesus, our bodies will be resurrected. God not only has an earthly claim and purpose for our bodies, but a future one as well. As creator and sustainer, he knows best how we can fulfill his intended purpose for us now and forever. Furthermore, our bodies are united to Christ and express his presence in the world. ^[1]

These realities lead him to make two commands in verses 18 and 20. We are to flee sexual immorality and honor God with our bodies because sexual sin affects our relationship with God.

Marvel at the reality that your body is a temple for the Holy Spirit. Where once only the male priests of Israel were able to approach God on prescribed days and only after all the appropriate sacrifices had been made, we have his presence living within us all the time. Jesus Christ gave up all the privileges of heaven, lived among us, died on the cross, paid the penalty for our sins and now gives us his Spirit to reside within us.

Why would we not worship and serve God alone with our bodies? He only wants what’s best for us. Why would we allow the temperamental, dehumanizing, self-serving rationales of our culture to sway us? Why would we not sacrifice momentary pleasure for the Savior who sacrificed everything for us?

Pray

Maybe you’ve never thought of your body in the way Paul describes here. Thank God for your body. Praise him that after death, you will be resurrected as Jesus was. Commit your body to God. Ask the Spirit to teach you what it means to worship God with your body.

Talk about it

• Discuss how our culture views the human body. How does it differ from the way Paul describes it here?
• Discuss how Paul’s teaching helps flee sexual immorality and honor God with our bodies.

^[1] Johnson, A. F. (2004). 1 Corinthians (Vol. 7, p. 101). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.