1 Corinthians

496 Dickson Teacher’s New Testament
16 Or do you not know that he who is joined
to a harlot is one body with her For He says,
“The two will become one flesh.”
17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one
spirit.
18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man
does is outside the body. But he who commits
fornication sins against his own body.
19 Or do you not know that your body is the
1 Corinthians 7
temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom
you have from God, and you are not your
own
20 For you have been bought with a price.
Therefore, glorify God in your body.
Chapter 7
1 Now concerning the things about which
you wrote to me. It is good for a man not to
ship of lawful marriage. In this context he is talking about
unlawful sexual activity outside the bond of marriage.
In the unlawful sexual intercourse of fornication outside
the bond of marriage, one is bringing together into one
the male and female as they are sexually brought together
in marriage. Through the act of fornication, therefore,
one desecrates the law of God in reference to marriage
and sexual intercourse within the bounds of marriage.
17 One spirit: Since the Christian’s body is one
with the Lord, then to unite with a harlot in fornication is
to take a part of the body of Christ into the bed of fornication.
The oneness that one establishes with the Lord
is greater than any sexual relationship with another person.
Therefore, the Christian should guard his membership
with Christ by keeping himself away from fornication
(See 6:15; Jn 17:21-23; Rm 8:9-11; Ep 4:4).
18 Flee fornication: The Greek word here is
porneia (fornication). Since the Christian is united in
body and mind with the Lord, he should flee from the
temptation of sexual immorality (6:9; Rm 6:12; 2 Co
12:21; Ep 5:3; Cl 3:5; Hb 13:4). Against his own body:
Except for the sin of fornication, all sin affects some
who is the victim of the evil motives of the individual
(Rm 1:24; 1 Th 4:4). However, in the act of fornication
the individual’s body becomes the instrument by which
the sin is committed. Therefore, in the act of committing
fornication the Christian cuts himself off from the
body of Christ by using his own body as an instrument
of sin. 19 Temple of the Holy Spirit: In 3:16 Paul
discussed the indwelling of the Spirit in each disciple.
The Spirit indwells the Christians as he or she behaves
after the manner of the body of Christ. In this context,
he is emphasizing the importance of the physical body
of every member by reminding them that the Spirit
indwells each member (See Jn 2:21). Therefore, those
who commit fornication rob God of one’s own body by
defiling the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit. Not your own:
When one becomes a Christian, he gives the totality of
his life to the Lord (Rm 12:1,2; 14:7). Therefore, he
should not behave in a manner that portrays selfish living
after the lusts of the flesh (See comments Gl 2:20).
20 Bought with a price: The price was the sacrificial
offering of the incarnate Son of God (At 20:28; Gl 3:13;
Hb 9:12; 1 Pt 1:18; 2 Pt 2:1). Since the price was high,
then Christians should behave after a manner that is
worthy of the price that was paid (Rm 12:5; Ep 4:1; Ph
1:27). Paul’s point is that since we have been bought
with such a great price, our lives should be lived in
thanksgiving to God for giving His Son for our redemption.
Redeemed people, therefore, do not belong to
themselves. They belong to the One who redeemed
them (See comments Gl 2:20).
Chapter 7
QUESTIONS ON MARRIAGE
The material that Paul gives in this chapter is challenging
to understand if we read into the context our
preconceived ideas. Bible students have disagreed over
portions of this chapter for many years because they
have come to the content of this material with ideas that
would have not been known by the Corinthians who were
the first recipients of this letter. This is especially true in
reference to the material that Paul covers in the area of
separation and divorce. However, we must first commit
ourselves to interpret the chapter according to what it
actually says. We must not come to this material with
preconceived ideas of our own background. We must
remember that the Corinthians had only this letter to
make a decision concerning what Paul meant. We must
remember that it was written specifically to them in their
cultural and social background. When they received
the letter, they could not make comparative studies with
other New Testament letters. They could not because
this and the previous letter that Paul wrote to them were
the only inspired letters they possessed (See 5:9). It is
also helpful to understand this material if we can place
ourselves in the historical situation in which the
Corinthian church was at the time the letter was written
and received. They had been converted from a behavioral
manner of life that was based on idolatrous beliefs
that were contrary to the word of God (6:11). Since they
were only a few years in the faith, we would assume
that they were still struggling with some of the beliefs
and behavior of their past life. In conjunction with this
point, we must keep in mind that they were still living in
Corinth, in a culture that was very immoral and idolatrous.
They were also suffering persecution in an idolatrous
environment. They were in times of distress,
though Paul does not go into detail concerning the exact
nature of the distress (vs 26). With these thoughts
in mind, we must allow this text to state what it means
from our simple reading of the material almost two thousand
years removed from the events that were taking
place in Corinth.
1 Not to touch a woman: What Paul means is
that it is best not to become married in view of the present
distress. This advice to remain celibate must be understood
in the context of the persecution the Christians
were enduring at this time and would endure during the
tyrannical rule of Nero who eventually died in A.D. 68
(vss 8,26). Therefore, Paul is not establishing celibacy
as a commandment of God. He is giving his own advice.
They had the freedom to accept or reject his advice.
Simply because he gave this advice did not mean