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? 20For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
6:19
Or do you not know
Paul calls attention to something important by the phrase, “do you not know.” This verse shows why sinning with the body is distinctly different from other sins – immorality defiles the temple of the Holy Spirit, the body of the believer.
that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you,
Paul contrasts the body as the temple of the Holy Spirit with the Temple of Aphrodite at Corinth. The temple is a place of worship. The proprietor of the temple of the body of the believer is the Holy Spirit, “who is in you.” Our bodies, therefore, belong to God and are not for our disposal. They are to be used for the purpose for which God designed them. Before a person becomes a Christian, her body is nothing more than a shack; but at conversion her body becomes a cathedral, a temple.
whom you have from God,
The believer receives the Holy Spirit at the point of salvation (Ephesians 1:13, 14). The Holy Spirit seals his eternal salvation immediately at the point of initial salvation. The word “from” emphasizes the supernatural origin of the indwelling Holy Spirit in us.
and you are not your own?
God owns us and not we ourselves. We have no right to do with our bodies what we wish, for they are not our own.
Romans 14:8, For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 9For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
6:20
For you were bought at a price;
Jesus paid the price for our sins at Calvary. His blood was the purchase price. This caused a change in the rights of ownership. The Greek word for “bought” denotes a ransom. Jesus delivered us from our sin by purchasing the price of our sin by shedding His blood. Jesus met all the holy demands of God’s justice by this payment.
Acts 20:28, Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
1 Peter 1:18, …knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit,
Giving God the glory for the ransom for sin is a matter of gratitude and not a matter of obligation.
which are God’s.
God owns the rights to our bodies. That is why we glorify Him with our bodies.
PRINCIPLE:
God is the proprietor of our bodies and therefore owns the rights to our bodies.
APPLICATION:
God does not dwell in an auditorium, but in the body of the believer. A building is not the sanctuary; believers are the sanctuary.
We do not have the right to do with our bodies what we wish. If we borrow our neighbor’s car, we take care not to abuse it. We do not take a chance with someone else’s property. Jesus paid for us as the highest Bidder. Our body is now His, so He says, “Hand it over; it’s mine now.” If we purchase something from the store and wait for the delivery to come, but it never comes, we get agitated about that. We paid for it, so we deserve to get it. “Jesus paid it all, all to Him we owe.” Some of us have never handed over our bodies to the Lord, although we have been Christians for ten years. We have not delivered the goods. Isn’t it about time? God reserves the right to your body.
Very consise and insightful commentary
I was told at church by a rather aggressive member that if I’m not taking good care of my ‘sacred temple’ by not dealing with my t2 Diabetes, abusing drugs and making my body as healthy as possible that the Holy Spirit will NOT dwell and reside in me because ‘using our bodies in any act of sin or immorality desecrates His holy temple’. I feel the aggressive church member was exaggerating to scare me and make me feel guilted into improving my physical health. I feel God and the Holy Spirit are and have been alive and well and I have daily constant contact with Him and the Holy Spirit, I do NOT feel my ‘sacred temple’ has been abandoned. I’ve been studying 1 Cor, 6:19-20 and understand clearly what it says, but it adds nothing about God and The Holy Spirit abandoning my body because I have been fighting health and addiction issues. Can you help clarify this for me? It feels odd that a sister in Christ would lie to me to make me cry and feel unloved by God.
Tamra, I not sure whether your friend is trying to deceive you or that she simply does not understand Scripture. Once a person receives Christ the Holy Spirit baptizes into the body of Christ at the point of salvation and remains there until the person goes to be with the Lord. See my study beginning at 1 Cor 12:13 and then advance to 12:13b and following: http://versebyversecommentary.com/1-corinthians/1-corinthians-1213/ It is true, however, that if we abuse our body that we take the Holy Spirit who indwells permanently our body with us.
Ok, so I need to know what exactly this is referring to. I am honoring my body. Maybe too much? My nutrition is on point with my exercise. I do not understand what else this is in reference to. I am in recovery from drugs. I do not have sex. Etc. Please clarify.
Jamie, there are passages that argue we are to take care of our bodies. There is no biblical position against what you are doing.
actually i wanted to learn more about the bible. i was searching for more detail explanation of the bible so that i could inter prate the good news to my believers and unbelievers friends
I believe this scripture is saying that we should treat our bodies as if it was God’s body. We wouldn’t give God drugs or any thing unholy. But we take our bodies and do these things with ours.
I am confused
Lyn, tell me what you do not understand about this Scripture
Tattoos are not glorying God with our bodies Just like drugs & excessive
Alcohol!!! Or anything that causes harm to our bodies including
Obesity!!!!
6:20
For you were bought at a price;
Jesus paid the price for our sins at Calvary. His blood was the purchase price. This caused a change in rights of ownership. The Greek word for “bought” denotes a ransom. Jesus delivered us from our sin by purchasing the price of our sin by shedding His blood. Jesus met all the holy demands of God’s justice by this payment….. It is very clear from the preceding sentence that only Jesus Christ met all the holy demands of GOD. Therefore, we should not be confused of what to do of how to honor our GOD with our bodies. The physical body of Jesus Christ that is displayed in the cross that we should all have. Obesity or bulging stomach is not honoring our GOD but the god of Buddhism.That is the purpose of GOD to allow Jesus to be stripped to the barest cloth on the private part of his body that he has no bulging stomach, not obese, no tattoo, no drugs mentioned in the bible during his time except wine. The best WINE in the world is made by Jesus in his first miracle in a wedding ceremony in Canaan attended by the Virgin Mary and his disciples. IF YOU WANT TO HONOR GOD WITH YOUR BODIES, “BE CHRISTLIKE IN BODY FORM AND IN HIS LIFE STYLE BEFORE HIS CRUCIFIXION”..
I Know some people do not understand The Bible our bodies are not our bodies since we have been born again. In John Chapter 2;21-22 Jesus said He would destroy the temple and build it up again. He was talking about His Body, and His Resurrection our bodies our the temple we are the building of God, The Holy Ghost who is in every believer to teach and guide you by way of The Word Of God. We must study The Word Of God so that The Word who is also Jesus can speak to your spirit .Romans Chapter 8;14-15-16 verse 16 our spirit and The Holy Spirit will agree because you are now being led by The Holy Spirit. And also Christ is in you as The Hope of Glory ColossiansCH;1-27. When you become a born again child of God; Paul says in Galatians CH; 2;20 He was also crucified with Christ, meaning his old life was what Christ died for in his place. Therefore the new birth is a New Life in Christ who Lives His Life through Paul and every believer it is Christ who now lives His Life in every believer,when we grow in Christ He The Holy Spirit will give you insight into Gods Word and Christ The Hope of Glory will help you live His Life Who IS Our life first John 5;12 and Acts 17;28 we live and move in Him our Psalm27;1 . God Bless I hoped this helped someone is my prayer.
When we received Jesus Christ or in time of salvation we are sealed by Holy Spirit.The Holy Spirit that in us will lead us to the truth which who is God. Holy Spirit also has the sanctification process for us to see and experience the super natural. To those that are not in Christ will have hard or not understanding at all what his words means and see his miracles.
Obese is sin only if it is cause by your not taking care of your body. Like eating to much or eating unhealthy food and other things, like dringking beer sometimes make you obese.
well articulated.. everything is well explanatory…
To glorify God in your body could also mean taking care of our physical body, i.e cleanliness as at when due is of great importance.
Moreover to glorify God in our spirit has to do with more of our spiritual life, 1thes5:16 we are to rejoice evermore. praising God always when things are good or otherwise, we are to also encourage others as its been written that we are the light of the World.
In-conclusion whatever we do or say must bring Glory to his name, there must not be any form reproach that we make people to question the name of God in our lives.
If our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit does that mean cremation is wrong???
William, when the believer dies he is separated from his body (2 Co 5:8). At that point the Holy Spirit’s relationship to the body had changed.
Who can help with the message for the unsaved in this verse
Moh,
For the unsaved that desire God to dwell in their body, they need to take the first step of giving their lives to Jesus by realising they are sinners, confess and forsake their sins. Invite Jesus into their lives as Lord and Saviour. God will make their body His temple through the Holy Spirit and they will glorify God.
Revelations 3:20
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door. I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me.
Moh, I must have missed your post.
There are 3 essential points for one to become a Christian:
1. Acknowledge that you have sinned before God (Romans 3:23).
2. Know that Jesus died for your sins.
3. Believe or trust in His death on your behalf.
Grant