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First Corinthians 6:15-20

The pagan culture in Corinth was renowned for its extreme promiscuity. This means that sexual immorality
- fornication - would have been the former manner of life for many in the Corinthian church; a life they had
left behind, when they believed into Christ.
But now, their Greek philosophical thinking was causing them to take a look back at that life - perhaps even
to revisit it - and Paul is intent on showing them the ramifications of this sin, for a Christ One.
At issue is the purpose of the human body. Greek philosophers observed the physical body eventually died,
and then it corrupted, and returned to the dust of the ground. Therefore, they reasoned that God purposed
the human body for destruction - a dishonorable end - which gave them a degraded view of the physical
body - and since the body was unimportant, it didnt matter how one conducted oneself in it.
But Paul maintains to the Corinthian believers that God places great value on the human body. The body is
for the Lord Jesus, for the accomplishment of His purposes, to bring many sons into the Kingdom of His
Father. And the Lord Jesus Himself is correspondingly for the body - God the Son, coming in a mortal
body, in order to bring the Fathers life down from heaven, and share it with mankind, through His death.
It was in His incarnation into a body that the Son united Himself to mankind - joining Himself to them, in
their humanity. And it is in the death of that body that each man must unite himself to Christ, by faith, in
order to fulfill the Fathers purpose for him.
That union with Christ ensures that the believer will be raised up a son of God - because the believer has
been forever joined to Christ, who has already been raised from the dead - the firstborn Son of God, in a
body of glory. Christ is the Seed grain, for all of the sons of glory; and we are of that Seed. Of the
resurrection - His - we shall be (Rm 6:5); and in eternity, we already are.
So Paul has shown the Corinthian believers the high value which God places on the physical human body.
It is a vessel that God has purposed to honor with immortality (2 Tim 1:9-10), so as to render it a suitable
house, for a son of God (2 Cor 5:1) - and a fitting garment, for all eternity (Rev 3:5).
Now as Paul continues, he questions the understanding of the Corinthian believers concerning their bodies.
[First Corinthians 6:15-20]
Notice that Paul is speaking of believers individually here; this is not about them as a church collectively,
and not about the Body of Christ; this is the believer, as an individual person. Paul has the Corinthian
believers consider the ramifications of the fact that each one of them has been joined to Christ, by believing
into Him.
In verse 15, Paul is asking the Corinthian believers if they understand that their bodies are members of
Christ. Remember, Paul is speaking of each believer separately, here. So what does he mean? He means
that their individual bodies are part of Christ; and in using the term members of Christ, we understand
that Paul is referring to Christ in His body.
What body does Christ occupy, now? His resurrected, glorified body, enlifed with eternal life. The body of
each believer is part of that body. The believer has that same life - eternal life - for Christ had shared that
Life with him, the moment he believed. The believer is in Christ; in union with Him.

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Now Paul suggests a possibility designed to create an image in the minds of his listeners - to take the
believer, who is forever joined to Christ in a holy, sacred, sanctified union, formed on the basis of love and
trust, and as Paul says, make that same believer a member of a harlot - a prostitute - in a most unholy,
defiled union, based on the lust of the flesh.
The concept is meant to create revulsion in the mind - and so it does. And Pauls conclusion to this is
designed to bear that out - certainly not! - the strongest negative, in the Greek. Perish the thought! May
it never be! To truly understand ones union with Christ is to understand that such a vile union is
unthinkable.
As Paul continues, he again questions the Corinthian believers whether they truly understand - this time,
the significance of being joined to a harlot; a prostitute. Paul is using this as his point of illustration for any
and all fornication, committed with the body; this was just the most common kind of fornication, in
Corinth. Well read this again.
v. 16 the words with her do not follow one body in the original manuscripts; they have been added by
the translators, with the thought of creating better understanding in the English. But in reality, they skew
the meaning.
The translators - and many commentators - are thinking that Paul is speaking here specifically and only of
sexual union in the physical body, with a prostitute; and so they add the words with her; a man who is
joined to a harlot is one body with her, in the sexual act.
But this isnt what Paul means, and the supporting verse that he quotes from the OT Scripture doesnt mean
this, either: The two shall become one flesh. So in order to understand what that does mean, and what
Paul is saying here, we need to look at the original passage more closely.
Turn to Genesis chapter 2. After the LORD God formed the first man out of the dust of the ground, and
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, man became a living being; a soul of spirit-life. The LORD God
created a garden home for the man, and commanded the man concerning the prohibition of eating from the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
It was after this that the LORD noted something that was not good.
[Genesis 2:18-24]
v. 18 It was not good that the man should be alone; why? Because alone, how could the man fulfill the
purpose that God intended - to create sons of God? In order to have sons in the image of God, according to
His likeness - in ever-living bodies of glory - there would first have to be men who were in Adams own
likeness, after his image (Gen 5:3) - in flesh bodies.
For that, Adam would have to reproduce after his kind - according to the design of the Creator, God - which
required a union with one who was comparable to him - who was both like him, and suited to him - a
complementary being. Together, the two would be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth - with flesh men
- in accordance with the purposes of God.
v. 19-20 In the naming of the animals, the LORD God gave Adam to see that there was no helper
comparable to him, on the earth. Now Adam was able to see the need, that the LORD God saw; and Adam
was also able to recognize that only the LORD God could meet it.

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v. 21-22 So the LORD God removed a rib from the side of the unconscious Adam, closed up the flesh, and
then made - that is, He fashioned, or built - the rib into a woman - the helper, comparable to Adam. And
once Adam had returned to consciousness; and once the LORD God had finished building the woman; the
LORD God brought her to the man - it was the LORD God, then, who joined them together.
And this was Adams response.
v. 23 The first part in the Hebrew reads more strongly than in the English; like This is it!! - as if Adam
said, Wow, LORD, you really did it!! Adam understood that the woman was indeed comparable to him bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh - she was like him, and suited to him - a complementary spirit being of
humanity.
The name that Adam gave her reflects this - it can be seen in both the Hebrew and the English - the word
for the female human is derived from the word for the male human. It reflects that they were part of one
another; that they were of the same kind - flesh.
The next verse is what Paul had quoted from, in Corinthians.
v. 24 Now, is this statement about Adam and Eve? No; why not? Did they have a father and a mother?
No; they were the first human beings; God created both of them.
The writer of Genesis, Moses, was inspired to see, in the creation and union of the first man and woman, a
beautiful illustration of marriage in general. In marriage, a man leaves his father and mother - that was his
family. He leaves that family, to be joined to his wife.
Joined means to stick to one another in affection and loyalty. Maybe thats where we get the expression,
Im stuck with her (or him)! The word literally means to glue, implying a permanent bond.
The husband and wife are now one - one flesh. So what does this union between the man and his wife
create? A new - what? A new family. Theyre now one flesh - theyre joined together in the life that they
live, in their bodies of flesh. The sexual union is only one aspect of this union of joined lives, now lived
together.
Jesus also quoted this verse, when He was contesting with the Pharisees. Turn to Mark chapter 10.
[Mark 10:1-9]
v. 1-2 Is it lawful - is it right. So the Pharisees were once again trying to trap Jesus, with the intent of
destroying Him. In that day, there were two schools of thought among the Jews on divorce. The liberals
thought that a man could divorce his wife for virtually any reason; the conservatives believed that a man
could only divorce his wife on the grounds of adultery.
But Jesus didnt affirm either school of thought, concerning divorce. Instead, He would go back to the
original thought on the subject of marriage, recorded by Moses in their Scriptures. But before He did this,
Jesus answered the question of the Pharisees with a question of His own, for them.
v. 3-5 Moses here means the Law of Moses. Jesus asked what the Law of Moses commanded; but they
responded with what the Law of Moses permitted. This is significant.

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The Pharisees here were conceding to Jesus that the Law did not actually contain ANY command to
divorce. The Law merely sought to regulate divorce, that is to say, if it was being pursued, by a man (see
Deut 24:1-4).
The certificate ensured that the reason for the divorce was recorded, as well as indicating the wifes legal
release from the marriage. It was to serve as a protection for the wifes reputation as well as for her right to
remarry - if she was not guilty of adultery (Mt 19:9).
Jesus was indicating that this was written into the Law because the LORD knew the hardness of the human
heart - that mans selfish pursuit of his own lusts and desires would result in him hurting others - and so the
LORD, through the Law, instituted protections such as the certificate of divorce to shield others from such
harm.
But now Jesus explains what the LORDs intention was, in marriage - from the beginning.
v. 6-9 Jesus quotes from the same passage of Genesis as Paul did in Corinthians, showing Gods original
design for marriage. And in verse 9, Jesus draws the conclusion: Therefore, what God has joined together
- joined together in what? In marriage. let not man separate. - separate by what? By divorce.
As with Adam and Eve, it is God who joins man and wife in marriage - as one flesh - a union of two lives,
now lived as one - a sharing and partaking of life, together.
[Return to First Corinthians 6]
So in verse 16, it is not the sexual union that Paul has in view, in particular; instead, it is the idea of sharing
and partaking of life together.
This is borne out by the verb form of the word joined that Paul uses, in this verse; it repeated or recurring
action. So Paul is describing a man who is continually joining himself with a prostitute - sin as a way of
life; a life of fornication. What kind of man is Paul describing, then? A man who is still in the flesh.
The man, and the prostitute to whom he is repeatedly joining himself, are one body - flesh. They are both
still part of the flesh creation, in Adam. There, they are pursuing the lusts and the desires of their flesh
through defiled, irregular union with one another, using each other to attain their own selfish ends - and
both making a living out of it.
Now Paul creates a contrast to this, with the man who is joined to the Lord.
v. 17 Again we see that with Him is in italics, added by the translators; and the verb form of joined is
again continuous action. He who is continuously joined to the Lord - the Lord Jesus - is one spirit.
What does Paul mean? Well, lets begin with the idea of being continuously joined to the Lord Jesus. Who
is joined to the Lord, in this way? Believers. The man who believes into Christ is united to Christ, in His
death. Is the believer ever separated from Christ, after that? NO; its a permanent union; its forever.
The believer is baptized into Christs death - and in this way, his old man, Adam, is crucified with Christ the man dies out of that old creation, in Adam. He is no longer part of that creation. Is that forever, too?
Yes; theres no going back. Thats now his former manner of life.

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What is his current manner of life? Well, though his union with Christ, the believer has been raised with
Christ, a new creation. Its like marriage, where the two leave their former life behind; they are joined in
the marriage union to become one flesh - beginning a new life together. And since like marriage, it is the
work of God, this new life is forever.
But Paul doesnt say that they become one flesh, or one body, does he? Instead, he says that the believer,
joined to the Lord, is one spirit.
So what does Paul mean by that? Well, we must keep in mind what Paul has been talking about,
throughout this whole passage. Hes been talking about the human body, and the purpose of God for it; to
glorify it, as the forever dwelling place, for His sons of God.
For that purpose, God the Son came in a mortal body - bringing life for the bodies of men down from the
Father - eternal life. Through His death and resurrection, that Life for the body was availed to men, and is
received by all who believe into Christ.
Through their union with Him, they are born again, a new creation, with His life - spirit life, for the body.
As Paul will say later in this letter, the body is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body - a body of
flesh - into which one is born, in the creation in Adam; and there is a spiritual body - a body of spirit life into which one is born again, a new creation in Christ Jesus.
The believer, joined to the Lord is one spirit. He already has received spirit life for the body of glory
through his union with Christ, even while he is still in his body of flesh. And through that spirit life, the
believer is joined together to the Lord, living the spirit life that Christ has shared with him through his
mortal body, in the here and now; they share and partake of that Life, together; joined together, in the Life
they live, in their bodies.
Pauls point is that you can only be of one creation; the old or the new. Either youre still in the flesh, or
youre in the spirit - the spirit of Life, in Christ Jesus (Rm 8:2). Sin characterized your former manner of
life. It is no longer your way of life - righteousness is.
So for one to be consorting with a prostitute raises the question as to what creation they are joined to; Adam
or Christ. It cannot be both. While Paul is not saying that it is impossible for a genuine believer to commit
fornication, it must be wondered whether a man who does so is a genuine believer.
From his thoughts, Paul now draws a wise and simple conclusion, for the Corinthian believers.
v. 18 Now, we could certainly say that everyone should flee fornication. But think of how essential this
was, in the case of the believers in the church in Corinth. They were surrounded by a city full of prostitutes
and fornicators, and in addition, that was the former manner of life for many of them.
The idea of fleeing basically means to avoid it, and to do so continually. Fleeing involves not putting
yourself in compromising situations, in the first place; but if you happen to find yourself in such a situation,
you are not to try to reason your way through it, nor to try to resist the temptation, but instead you are to
run; to turn and go the other way.
There is no shame in fleeing sin. In fact, for the Corinthian believers, it was sure to be a necessary measure
to guard the pure holiness of the new life that they had received, in Christ.

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Our society is becoming more like that of Corinth every day. The view on the human body has become
increasing degraded. The sanctity of marriage - in which God unites a man and a woman as one flesh,
joining their lives together - that sanctity has been profaned in various ways, corrupting what God has
established as sacred.
In its place, our society has chosen fornication as their standard - as the Corinthians did. And we, as
believers, are surrounded by it - not just by those practicing it, but in the web of information and images
that hold our society, spellbound.
Avoiding fornication, in all of its insidious forms is as necessary for us today, as it was for the Corinthians
of Pauls day. We also must keep ourselves, in the love of God (Jude 21) - and actively avoid that which is
profane.
As Paul continues in verse 18, he is bringing out what makes this so important; he shows why fornication is
such a dire sin.
The question we must ask is how he is setting fornication apart from all other sin - every sin. Clearly, it
has to do with the body, again. Paul is once again using as his example a man in the flesh, who continually
practices fornication. He is saying such a man sins against his own body - in a way thats not true of any
other sin.
We can see that Paul cannot simply mean its harmful to the body, then - for that would be true for abuse of
drugs or alcohol also, for example.
What Paul is bringing out here has to do with his opening statements, in the passage. The body is for the
Lord; the Lord intends to glorify it, through the union with Him, by faith.
That union results in a personal, intimate relationship with the Lord through the shared life of spirit, a
relationship of love and trust, by which the believer is being sanctified, to fit him for his body of glory.
But the fornicator instead accepts a cheap counterfeit, in place of that - in which there is physical intimacy,
without any personal relationship; without any love, any trust. Through this perverse substitution of the
profane for the sacred, the man dishonors his body, sinning against it; prohibiting his body from fulfilling
the purpose that God intends for it, as a vessel of honor (2 Tim 2:21); a body of spirit life.
But what about those who believed, in Corinth - who had already trusted in the Lord, and now shared His
life? How could they consider even for a moment returning to their former manner of life, and violating the
sanctity of their bodies, that Christ Himself had cleansed?
Paul then gives two final reasons why the Corinthian believers are to flee fornication.
v. 19-20 Paul has already asked the believers in Corinth in this letter if they know that as a church, they are
collectively the temple of God; that the Spirit of God dwelling in their midst (3:16). But now he asks if they
understand that each one of their bodies individually is a temple of the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit of God has made His home in each one of their bodies; their bodies have become the dwelling
place of Deity; His sanctuary, through which He desires to shine out His light - the radiance of holiness.
Everywhere those bodies go, the Spirit goes with them. Everything their bodies do, He is aware of,
firsthand.

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The Holy Spirit is right there within them, to lead them into all truth; to lead them away from sin. Will they
say no to His leading, and turn their bodies back over to sin; presenting their members as slaves of
uncleanness (Rm 6:19), as they did before? Would they so grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph 4:30)? As Paul
would say, May it never be!
And finally, Paul points out, You are not your own. The believers in Corinth dont own their bodies; we
dont own our bodies; in fact, we never did. This body was created by the Lord. He chose to bring it into
this world. He appointed a time for it to be born, and a time for it to die. That means that this body is His,
by rights of creation.
And for the believer, the body is the Lords, twice over. He created it, and He also redeemed it. This body
was sold to the Master, Sin; Sin owned it, and had all the say over what was done in it.
But then Christ came in a body, to redeem our bodies from the master, Sin - to buy our bodies off of the
slavemarket of the Master Sin.
And what did it take, to free us from the sin? It took His death; and the price was His precious blood, shed
for us on the cross. Having paid the price, Christ now owns us - all of us - and He owns our bodies, having
both created them and redeemed them. Our bodies belong, not to us, but to Him.
Paul had said to the Corinthian believers, Do you not know? Their issue was fornication; our issue is whatever it may be, for each one of us.
So do we know and understand these things? If we do, then we also understand that we have a part to
fulfill, in the purposes of God: to allow the light of His Spirit, that dwells within our bodies, to shine forth
the holiness of God; His purity; His truth; and to present the members of these bodies as slaves of
righteousness, for holiness (Rm 6:19).
This is what it is to glorify God - each one of us - with our bodies; it is to possess our vessel in
sanctification and honor (1 Th 4:4) - for our Lord, who has so honored us.
Reading: 1 Cor 7, Matt 19:1-12.