Scripture
By Deborah Hillman
Scripture Lesson Text: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
Related Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 5: 1-13; 6: 1-11; 1 Thessalonians 4: 3-8; Colossians 3: 1-11; Romans 6: 1-14
In this week’s lesson we are reminded that fornication is a sin that we should flee from at all times. For it is written that this sin is against God directly causing contamination to our bodies which is His temple (1 Corinthians 6: 18,19). The way in which we live has a direct impact to those around us who do not know our Lord, and to glorIfy Jesus should be our main focus.
1 Corinthians 5:1-13, tells us we are not to keep company with those persons practicing adultery, fornication, idolatry & drunkenness. 1 Corinthians 6:1-11, shows us that we are to settle disputes among ourselves within the church, and to not involve non believers. Christians can never be unloving or uncaring towards them( sinners), because they are right where we used to be. “ And such were some of you.”
1 Thessalonians 4: 3-8 reminds us that we are the light of the world and must therefore stay alert, sober minded. Paul made it clear the will of God was for the Christian is sanctification .
Colossians 3: 1-11 speaks of new persons in Christ Jesus and how we are to set our sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits at the right hand of God. To allow Christ fill our thoughts and take hold of our will, so we need not give a thought to earthly troubles and fears. Romans 6: 1-14 reminds us that as we accepted Christ Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we/I became dead to sin. That sin no longer had the power to make us act on the sins of this world.
Synopsis
By Janice Hall
In these verses of scripture, Paul brought up the issue of sexual conduct of Christians. Paul addresses some of the questions and problems, the Corinthian Christians had about what God wanted them to do in regard to sex. The Corinthians used their” liberty” as a license to sin. Paul gives two commands: 1) flee when faced with any temptation of sexual immorality 2)to honor and dedicate our bodies to God.
Sexual activity, of all kinds was common in the Greek and Roman culture of Corinth. Paul targets each of these serious issues. The standard for believers should not be whether something is “unlawful “ in the sense of being condemned, but whether it is”helpful”, that it destroys our self control. God designed sex to work exactly that way within marriage. Our bodies belong to God and are meant for Jesus, just as He is meant for us.
What a Christian does with his/her body matters because we will be resurrected from the dead just as Jesus was. We have been through three levels of God’s care, the creation, redemption, and the bestowing and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. A temple is a place sacred to God, and pure from immorality. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, our bodies belong to God, and not to ourselves.
Practical Application
By Raufu Spagnoletta
Paul admonished the Corinthian Christians, “For ye are brought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” Would you agree identity influences lifestyle? Before salvation, we identified with the world, and were servants of sin using our bodies as instruments of unrighteouness pleasing our flesh with its passions and lusts. But in salvation we are cleansed, made holy, and made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. Now clothed in our true identity, we are servants of righteousness in pursuit of true holiness, for this pleases God!
Living in a culture where sexual promiscuity is an accepted lifestyle, we choose not the broad path that leads to destruction but the narrow path of obedience that leads to life. The body is not for fornication; but for the Lord. Our bodies are members of Christ. Shall we take the members of Christ and unite them to a harlot?, God forbid! When our body is joined in sexual immorality, the two people become one flesh!, but when we are joined with the Lord, we become one spirit with Him.
The account of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife, in Genesis 39 (NIV), paints a vivid picture of Paul’s command, “Flee fornication.” Potiphar’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he refused. “My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” One day she caught him by his cloak and said, “Come to bed with me, But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.” Therefore let us not defile or pollute the temple of the Holy Ghost with sexual sins!
