1st Corinthians Ch 6: 12-18

Glorifying God In Body and Spirit / Avoiding Sexual Sin

Okay picking up where we left off from 2 weeks ago

I hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving

Paul two weeks ago was calling out the church of Corinth for there carnality

the first 11 verses of chapter 6 , specifically he warned about suing one -another as believers

and how suing one another, does not look good for the believers to the outside world

not only that but it affects the relationships we have with one another by tarnishing reputations

allowing outsiders, non believers judge matters that can be taken care of in house makes no sense as a believer

we are all brothers and sisters in christ and should have the ability to handle matters without going to a court of Law

at times also we are to turn the other cheek and allow ourselves to be cheated , for the sake of the relationship in christ

1 Corinthians 6:7 “7 Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated?”

biblical wisdom is the ultimate Judge , the rights we have do not supersede who we are suppose to be in the body of christ (expound)

if that means being cheated to save a relationship or to save the integrity of the church, then so be it

yes it is a sin to sue a brother over something that can be worked out !

suing a brother in the church is the same as those who practice any other sin

Proverbs 20:22 “22 Do not say, “I will recompense evil”; Wait for the Lord, and He will save you.”

Romans 12:17 “17 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men.”

1 Corinthians 6:9–11 NKJV

9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

unrighteousness is unrighteousness , wether its suing a brother, worshiping idols , or being a homosexual , Sin is sin

suing a brother is unrighteous and sin

so that was two weeks ago and now we are going to Jump into the text for tonight

Now starting in vs 12-20 we are going to be talking about a very relevant topic that we see in todays culture. It was also very much an issue during the time of the church of Corinth and that is Sexual Sin

back in chapter 5 we got a glimpse into a specific sexual sin ( a son sleeping with step mom) but now today we are going to go deeper than that

before we start in vs 12 lets look at vs 9-10 AGAIN

Now Paul here in the last few verses refers to 4 different forms of sexual Sin

Fornicators ( sex outside of marriage)

adulterers ( people who have willfully sinned sexually outside of marriage while married) ,

homosexuals ( gays and lesbians, Expound,) people who like the same sex which is not how God designed it,

sodomites ( referring to homosexuals engaging in sexual acts with the body that the body was not designed for)

so these 4 sexual sins are referenced because these sexual sins were what the church of Corinth was dealing with

now staring in vs 12 Paul is going brake this down for us so that we can understand the severity of Sexual sin and the Sin against our own body

so lets begin

1 Corinthians 6:12 “12 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.”

A) as believers we have liberty . God does not hold our hands like children and force us to live the way he has commanded us to

we have the liberty to chose wether or not we want to follow Him

Matthew 16:24–26 “24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”

so all things are lawful for us , yes we can do what ever we want we can live how ever we want , we can sin how ever we want , But not all things that we chose to do are helpful ( expound ) we often don’t know whats best for us even when we have the liberty to do so

B) all things are lawful for me ,

you see the christians at the church of Corinth were so use to this mentality that their freedom in christ allowed them to do what ever they wanted, that they applied this freedom to areas of their life that they shouldn’t have ( sexually )

liberty as a believer is not a license to sin , you can not abuse the grace of God for the sake of your pleasure ( if you are you are no longer serving the lord but sin )

now he’s setting the stage here to bring up his main point of Sexual sin

C) But i will not be brought under the power of any

you see when we use our liberty for things we shouldn’t we become stuck in bondage with what ever that is. Here he’s going to be talking about sexual sin so in context, that sin causes us to be slaves to it

if you have to serve it to feel satisfied, you are in bondage, you are a slave to it

you will see later that he’s referring to a prostitute in the last part of the verse

1 Corinthians 6:13 “13 Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.”

1 Corinthians 6:14 “14 And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.”

so here we see Paul addressing a little more in detail the mindset the church of Corinth had

the culture of the church minimized the severity of their sin by playing it off as not a big deal

the church of Corinth had become so off that they viewed their needs for physical intimacy as nothing more than satisfying a physical appetite like eating food when you are hungry

a prostitute to them was like a plate of food to the average person

sex is something that God designed as a privilege and something that should be cherished within a marriage

its not suppose to be another thing on the menu

we all have desires that we were created with but that does not mean we have to give into them

I Just want to tell you guys that you are all normal when it comes to having physical and sexual desires, boys more so than girls but God created us that way , but God also has designed it to be used a certain way

Sex outside of marriage is Destructive , sex within a marriage can be beautiful and creative ( its a privilege)

our bodies are not our bodies , they are a temple and they are the Lords

our bodies will be raised up after death just as the Lord was raised up after death

our bodies are temples therefore we should not sin against them with sexual immorality

1 Corinthians 6:15 “15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not!”

1 Corinthians 6:16 “16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.””

so Paul is referencing Genesis chapter 2 vs 24 Here ( read )

( talk about the joining together through Sex )

Genesis 2:24 “24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

So id like to brake this down further

we read this reference and the verses before and its easy to look at it and think oh well you just become closer through an intimate relationship, no its much deeper than that and thats why Paul warns us and the church of Corinth about sexual sin

you See when a married couple has intercourse our bodies produce chemicals inside us that cause us to quite literally become one with each-other

1) oxytocin:AKA( the love hormone) that is responsible for feelings of intimacy and bonding, this is also produced in us when we hug our parents or loved ones ,

2) dopamine: a neurotransmitter released during intimacy, associated with pleasure and reward, contributing to the positive feelings experienced during intimacy

3) vasopressin: a hormone that is linked to long-term monogamous relationships that can strengthen bonds between a husband and a wife

with those three hormones that are produced in our bodies during an intimate relationship it creates a bond that should only be created in marriage

now when we take that bond and we bond it to other things like pornography, fornication, lust , homosexuality, adultery , sodomy we are actually bonding to those things

for example when you watch porn, what you don’t realize is your creating a bond to variety and fantasy

when you experience homosexuality, your creating a bond that is attached to homosexuality

when you experience adultery , you are creating a bond to cheating

when you entertain lustful thoughts in your head, you are creating a bond to those thoughts

and what you don’t realize is that you are creating a bondage that is only satisfied by experiencing those things

and the sad part is it doesn’t even last that long, its not fulfilling in any way

guilt and shame follow after the experience and the high from it only lasts so long and then you crave that desire again

and the next thing you know you are enslaved by it

its a vicious cycle that many of you may have already experienced

that is why Paul is warning us of Sexual Sin here

not only is it this physical oneness with these earthly bodies that we have but it also bonds our spirit together, i’m going to talk about this more

so again our bodies are not ours as believers , they are the lords , our bodies are actually members of christ

1 Corinthians 12:12 “12 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.”

we are actually individual parts of christ

so why would we take what is not ours to take and join it with a Prostitute ? why would we take the temple that God has given us and become one with a prostitute ?

why would we take our temples and join them with someone that we are not married to ? Or something that takes the place of our natural use like a computer screen

1 Corinthians 6:17 “17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.”

those of us who know the Lord , who have accepted the Lord and have an intimate relationship with Him , we are joined to the Lord and we are one with him

So before we get Into VS 18

Its important to know and understand a little more of the culture and the Background of the church of Corinth

Spiritually Believers / people were really caught up in the greek God’s

and at the center of the city was a temple to the Goddess ( Aphrodite) and she was the goddess of Sensuality (sex) and Love

now 1000 prostitutes every night would come out to spread their religion

it was an act of worship to Aphrodite

In the days of Paul there was a great deal of sexual laxness in the city of Corinth

sex of all kinds had been normalized for everyone

and this included prostitution, fornication, adultery , pedophilia , and homosexuality

the average person in this time would struggle to see that sex outside of marriage was wrong

to them it was normal , it was again just like eating food and satisfying their hunger

But when we look at this we see that Gods view for Sex is very different than the worlds view of Sex

God created sex therefore he has the right to tell us how to use it

Sex was designed as an expression and enjoyment between one man and one woman that are married

Any sexual activity that is not in the confines of marriage is defilement to that person and the institution God created

Hebrews 13:4 “4 Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.”

So now lets look at vs 18 where Paul gives christians a strategy for dealing with Sexual Immorality

1 Corinthians 6:18 “18 Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.”

A) Flee from sexual immorality; run away from it , get away from it, its not worth it !

its better to run away from sexual sin than it is to be conquered by it

Genesis ch 39 vs 7-12 is a great example of this

Genesis 39:7–12 NKJV

7 And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me.” 8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. 9 There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” 10 So it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he did not heed her, to lie with her or to be with her. 11 But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside, 12 that she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside.

B) Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own Body

so when it comes to sexual immorality , yes it is still sin but it is different than any other sin

i think i may have slightly mentioned it

but its different because its a form of Self Harm , let me explain

we can commit sin with our bodies but sexual sin has the power to bond us or unite us with another person or thing, and it occurs on a much deeper physical and spiritual level, therefore we will experience the consequences and that same deep Level ( for example share a brake up story)

Proverbs 6:32 “32 Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding; He who does so destroys his own soul.”

so again sexual sin is different because it hurts your soul !

C)Every sin that a man does is outside the body

sins like lying and stealing do not affect the body the same way, but the body is the instrument of sin and immorality

1 Corinthians 6:19 “19 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?”

so our bodies are temples that are not our bodies

who ever commits sexual immorality sins against His own body

yes your sinning against your body when you sin sexually

Fornication, is violating to the body, and the body, this temple we have is where the holy spirit dwells

So sexual sin , sexual immorality is like no other sin, it is internal and it violates the temple of the Lord

think about it this way

would you have intercourse with someone in church ?

would you watch porn in church ?

would you do what ever it is in terms of sexual sin in church ?

No you wouldn’t because hopefully you have the conviction that Gods church is a sacred place

Same with our bodies , they are temples so why would we bring that stuff in to defile our temples

1 Corinthians 6:20 “20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

A) For you were bought at a price

as christians we should not do what we please with our bodies because again we do not belong to ourselves

we have been bought / purchased by God through His son Jesus

we belong to God therefore he has the ultimate Authority to tell us what to do and what not to do with our bodies

B) therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit , which are God’s

when we use our bodies as God has required us to use them, we glorify God ( in our body physically ) which relates to this world, and in our spirit ( the inner part that connects us with God and with our spouse through intimacy)

In summary as believers we should be pursuing Purity ! not sexual immorality

we should flee from sexual immorality and pursue holiness

Ill leave you guys with some verses

Colossians 3:5 “5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”

Psalm 51:10 “10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

James 1:27 “27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”

Hebrews 13:4 “4 Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.”

Titus 1:15 “15 To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled.”

1 Thessalonians 4:3 “3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality;”