“’I have the right to do anything,’ you say—but not everything is beneficial. ‘I have the right to do anything’—but I will not be mastered by anything. You say, ‘Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.’ The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, ‘The two will become one flesh.‘ But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.
“Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
The crossroads of Corinth meant the church there was influenced by various religions and philosophies. Paul speaks practically to them regarding the nature of those joined to Christ. When saved, the whole being becomes one spirit with the Lord, a body of flesh transformed to be a temple indwelt by His Spirit. He calls them to apply their spiritual reality to day-to-day temptations and decisions. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
From the beginning made and meant for God, a Christian is no longer to live for self, to satisfy cravings of the flesh, but for the Lord. This spiritual ownership has the power to influence every aspect of the body, inverting natural impulses, infiltrating it with divine dimension, parameters, focus, and raison d’être. Yet, the devil constantly works against the Spirit- taunting, pulling, deceiving, doing all he can to get us to fall. He delights when we believe his lies over reckoning what is true. (Genesis 1:26-28; 1 Corinthians 8:1-13; Romans 6:1-14; 14:7-9; 1 Peter 4:2)
How are we handling the battle? To whom or what do we look for strength and will? How effectively are we putting off the old, renouncing unrighteousness, and putting on and practicing the new? What growing evidence is there in our lives that our old self is decreasing and the new is increasing? God knows the struggle is real, and offers us Jesus who triumphed over sin and death. (John 3:30; Romans 7:15-25; Colossians 3:5-17; Titus 2:11-14)
“May the mind of Christ, my Savior,
live in me from day to day,
by His love and pow’r controlling
all I do and say.
May the word of God dwell richly
in my heart from hour to hour,
so that all may see I triumph
only through His pow’r.
May I run the race before me,
strong and brave to face the foe,
looking only unto Jesus
as I onward go.” ~ Kate Barclay Wilkinson (1925)
Lord, fill me to honor You with body, soul, and spirit, and love You with all my strength.
As the rain and snow 