1 Corinthians 6:12-20

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

[12] All things  are lawful  but  all things  not  expedient:  all things  are lawful  but  I  not  be brought under the power  of  any.  [13] Meats  for the belly,  and  the belly  for meats:  but  God  shall destroy  both  Now  the body  is not  for fornication,  but  for the Lord;  and  the Lord  for the body.  [14] And  God  both  raised up  the Lord,  also  raise up  by  his own  power.  [15] Know ye  not  that  bodies  the members  of Christ?  then  take  the members  of Christ,  and make  them the members  of an harlot?  God forbid.  [16] What?  know ye  not  that  he which is joined  to an harlot  one  body?  for  two,  saith he,  one  flesh.  [17] But  he that is joined  unto the Lord  one  spirit.  [18] Flee  fornication.  Every  sin  that  a man  doeth  without  the body;  but  he that committeth fornication  sinneth  against  his own  body.  [19] What?  know ye  not  that  body  the temple  of the Holy  Ghost  which is in  which  ye have  of  God,  and  not  your own?  [20] For  ye are bought  with a price:  therefore  glorify  God  in  body,  and  in  spirit,  which  God's. 

What does 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

The apostle proceeded to point out the sanctity of the believer"s body as the temple of the Holy Spirit. He wanted to help his readers realize the seriousness of the sins that marked them to some extent as a church.
"The Greeks always looked down on the body. There was a proverbial saying, "The body is a tomb." Epictetus said, "I am a poor soul shackled to a corpse."" [1]
"The question is: If there are no restrictions in food, one appetite of the body, why must there be in sexual things, another physical desire?" [2]
"Apparently some men within the Christian community are going to prostitutes and are arguing for the right to do so. Being people of the Spirit, they imply, has moved them to a higher plane, the realm of the spirit, where they are unaffected by behavior that has merely to do with the body. So Paul proceeds from the affirmation of 1 Corinthians 6:11 to an attack on this theological justification.
"As before, the gospel itself is at stake, not simply the resolution of an ethical question. The Corinthian pneumatics" understanding of spirituality has allowed them both a false view of freedom ("everything is permissible") and of the body ("God will destroy it"), from which basis they have argued that going to prostitutes is permissible because the body doesn"t matter." [3]
This is one of the more important passages in the New Testament on the human body.