What we do with our bodies really matters, says Paul, because they matter to God (v 13). Jesus had a body – that’s how he saved us. So as Christians, we too use our bodies – along with everything else that we are – to serve God, not ourselves.

Maybe we think that death will be the end of our bodies, but notice the astonishing news in verse 14. One day God will raise them up to create something gloriously new that will last for ever. So we can’t just use and abuse them any way we like.

More hard thinking required! Somehow all we are – including our bodies – is not just part of us, but part of Jesus (vs 15–17; John 17:20–23). How might this challenge us about how we use our bodies, and especially how we use them sexually? The Holy Spirit lives within us with all his holiness (v 19), so we’d better make sure his temple – our body – stays holy too. After all, God paid a very high price to set us free from anything that enslaves us (v 20), so that we can bring glory to him.

‘Take my will and make it thine; / it shall be no longer mine. / Take my heart, it is thine own; / it shall be thy royal throne.’¹  

Paul has lived in Corinth. He knows the people and their lifestyle. In his earlier letter, no longer in existence,² Paul had tried to deal with uninhibited sexual lifestyles.³ He had since discovered that his advice concerning sexual behaviour was misunderstood and so he devoted much of this letter to dealing with it. Graeco-Roman culture spawned numerous maxims that justified or winked at unfettered pleasure-seeking; ‘I can do whatever I choose’ (see v 12); ‘My body is mine to use as I like’ (see v 13). These sayings have a modern ‘me generation’ ring to them: ‘If it feels good, do it.’

Our bodies are not a commodity, something we own to use as we wish. The word translated ‘body’ here has a deeper, more holistic meaning, sometimes translated ‘self’ or ‘being’.⁴ All that we are, flesh, spirit and mind, no longer belongs to us to do as we like with. We are holy, that is, we are set apart for God. We who were ‘bought at a price’ (v 20) no longer belong to ourselves. Our salvation in Christ is not only the redemption of an inner, spiritual self but the saving of our whole integrated being. Our beings, our very selves, are members of Christ’s body and the temple in which the Holy Spirit dwells. 

How do we ‘honour God with our bodies’ (see v 20)? Paul will spend most of the rest of this letter demonstrating that, but it can be summarised in two statements. First, we, as individuals who belong to God, must exercise stewardship of our own bodies, practising self-control. This is not weakness but managing ourselves to fulfil God’s purposes. Second, as Christian sisters and brothers, we must strive to live lovingly and in an edifying manner, supporting and encouraging each other as fellow members of the body of Christ. 

‘… the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.’⁵

¹ Frances Ridley Havergal, 1836–79, ‘Take my life and let it be’  ² 1 Cor 5:9,10  ³ Greek porneia ⁴ Greek soma  ⁵ 2 Tim 1:7