You are bought with a price

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? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. – 1 Corinthians 6v19-20

I remember learning this verse at Tennessee Temple in a PE class. The teacher was a closet masochist, I am certain. We had to do hundreds and hundreds of sit ups. He would walk around and if we could not give a Bible verse from his list of memory verse we had to do several thousand more. If you could look at me today you would know that the millions of sit ups I did for him had little long lasting benefit, but I do remember this verse.

In context, Paul is addressing the sexual sins and the acceptance of them that led to the member of the church having sex with his step mother. Paul is especially concerned because sexual involves and affects the body. That concern is based on the fact that as believers our bodies are not really ours, but they are the purchased possession of Jesus Christ who paid for them on the cross. It is abhorrent and almost sick when we think about it Paul’s terms. When we commit sexual sin we are dragging Christ, the perfect sinless one into that sin with us. No wonder his words are so strong.

While there is a specific application of this truth, I think we can draw an obvious conclusion. Whenever we sin with our bodies we are doing so with something that does not belong to us. We have no right to harm these bodies or do anything with them that would shame their Owner.

What are we to do? Glorify God in our body as well as our spirit, for they truly are God’s