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Even with Your Body
From 1 Corinthians 6:12-20: "All things are lawful for me," but not all things are beneficial. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be dominated by anything. "Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food," and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, "The two shall be one flesh." But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the body itself. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.
I was able to sit in a Sunday school class this past week, and the teacher asked me what was the difference between a disciple and an apostle? She then said that a preacher once said there was no difference and to leave it at that. I said the way I had learned it was that a disciple is one who learns from and is dedicated to a teacher or master; and an apostle is a disciple who takes that learning and puts it into practice. I mentioned that is why Paul is called the Apostle Paul, for his work in carrying the message of Jesus into so much of the world. And she then said, we wouldn't have much of a New Testament if it wasn't for Paul. And that's true. Paul as he taught and shared what had been taught and shared to him, raised up congregations almost everywhere he went. And after a while, he would move on, and start the work somewhere else. And the former congregation might then have a problem or a question and they would write to him and ask him for his understanding and teaching. One such question comes from the church in Corinth. Apparently, some of the members loved to say what is mentioned in the first verse above, "All things are lawful for me," and were using that as a rationalization, or justification, of bad behavior and in this case, sexual misconduct. "What I do with my body does not affect my spiritual life!" I have heard that before. Some have believed, "God cares more about my soul than anything I'm doing to my body!" Wrong. Paul knows as should we, that there is no division between our bodies and spirits. Paul goes as far as saying that the "body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?" Those who have been baptized in the name of the God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, have invited the presence and power of God in three persons into every realm of our lives. Further study of scripture will also reveal to us that we belong to God, because God bought us with a price; the death of His own Son on the cross, and "therefore glorify God in your body."
The tempter is still as slick as when he was with Adam and Eve in the garden. Smooth, attractive invitations to sin easily come our way. And most of us will sometimes think yeah, that's right, I deserve this, or who am I hurting? One can imagine the reputation of that Christian church in Corinth whose members were patrons of brothels. Paul wants them, and us, to glorify God in every aspect of our lives.
Brothers and sisters, remember the closing part of Our Lord's prayer, "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." There's a reason that is in that precious and powerful prayer, and more of a reason we should pray that often.
PRAYER: Loving God, thank You for buying me with that costly price. Let me not take that for granted. Instead, let me live in a way that invites others to glorify You in all areas of their lives. I pray that prayer that Jesus taught us, Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed by thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; for Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
