After reminding the Corinthian believers of their deliverance from the sins that previously characterized their lives and the lives of those among whom they now lived, Paul gave a stern warning to depart from sexual sin. He wrote to them, “Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against the body” (I Corinthians 6:18).
Fornication includes all forms of sexual sin and deviancy. The warning is to flee rather than fight. This sin is too powerful. It is best for us that we keep ourselves rightly distanced from its presence and power. A good example in the Scriptures is Joseph who served as the steward of Potiphar’s household. Potiphar’s wife sought frequently to entice Joseph to commit adultery as he necessarily went about doing the business under his care. As the invitations became more frequent and bold “she caught him by the garment, saying, lie with me” and the Scriptures tell us that “he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out” (Genesis 39:12). We overcome some sins by running from them. Paul understood that sexual sins are just this type.
Having shared this admonition with his audience, Paul explained why it was necessary. He asked, “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? For ye are bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (I Corinthians 6:19-20). The “price” Paul refers to is the blood of Jesus Christ by which we have been redeemed. Peter reminds us that as Christians, we “were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold…, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (I Peter 1:18-19).
Paul declares unto these believers that the third Person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, dwells in them and this is true of every child of God! Paul wrote to the believers in Galatia, “God sent forth his Son…to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons and because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father” (Galatians 4:4-6, emphasis added). Because the Spirit dwells in us, we are His temple.
Finally, because we have been redeemed and the Spirit of God dwells in us, we are not our own. We belong to God. Consequently, we are to glorify God in our body (and in our spirit) because He goes where we go! Paul’s warning to flee fornication has this truth behind it – we are God’s, purchased at great price, for his glory.
From the Chaplain 