1 Corinthians 6:12-20

 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Many of us would like to be able to compartmentalize our lives to make sure that what happens in one area does not bother or affect any other area. That simply is not the case. In this passage, Paul addresses two issues, which he will address in greater detail later. He begins with a play on words that is missed in English. It is almost as if he says, “All things are under my power, but I will not surrender that power to anything.”

Paul was the champion of Christian liberty, rejecting sanctification by the rituals of the Mosaic Law. But apparently the Corinthians took this so far as to become libertarian. They may have even used the phrase, “all things are lawful for me,” as a rallying cry. The Corinthians may have argued that their liberty permitted them to eat whatever they liked, even food dedicated to idols. The ceremonial law of Moses forbade certain foods. Jesus declared all foods in themselves acceptable. But the Corinthians were going to the point of eating food sacrificed to other gods. Since both body and food will eventually go away, what is the big deal? The big deal is the resurrection means the body is important. To eat a sacred meal is to worship the deity with that meal. In much the same way that the bread and the wine of communion are more than just food when they are eaten in worship. The food sacrificed to an idol is more than simply a piece of meat.

Paul now turns to the practice of hiring a prostitute. The practice was legal but absolutely wrong. When a person has sex, they become one flesh with their partner, married or not, in love or not. This union is as much spiritual as it is physical. Sex has been described as two bodies connected at the spirit. The sex union of a Christian and a non-Christian is an attempt to unite the Holy Spirit within the believer with whatever spirit directs the life of their lover. In the case of a prostitute, that spirit is demonic.

Our lives are not made up of compartments; they are an integrated whole. The food offered to an idol or demon, which a person eats, opens their whole person to the dark powers, not just their stomachs. A sexual union opens the whole being to union with that person and their spirits. Because Christ has ransomed us from our sentence of guilt, we belong to Him. We are not free based on the laws of man or even Moses. We are free in Christ, and that freedom and power must not be surrendered to the control of anyone or anything.

"Lord, I am Your's and only Your's. AMEN"