1 Corinthians 6:19, NKJV, “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?” 1 Corinthians 6:19 NKJV
Considering the issue Apostle Paul was dealing with, namely, sexual immorality in the Corinthians church, the two questions became inevitable:
- Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you?
- (Do you not know that) you are not your own?
It was a timely reminder for some of them and a revelation for others that the fact of having the Holy Spirit indwelling makes one God’s own – you’re not your own, or you don’t belong to yourself (see Ephesians 1:13-14 & Romans 5:9)- and, one with God/Christ Himself. It means that no knowledgeable Christian, in the biblical sense of the term, should ever say “it’s my body and I can do with it whatever I want”!
We’re talking about the body metaphor.
Apostle Peter writes, 2 Peter 1:13-14, “Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me.”
See, the body becomes a temple when the Holy Spirit lives in it, otherwise it is a tent for Man’s (male & female) spirit. Additionally, we recall an incident that marked de beginning of the Lord Jesus’ ministry as described in Luke 4:33-34: “Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!””
We’ve mentioned the Holy Spirit already, but now we’re being told about “a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon” (unclean spirit) and he cried out with a loud voice. However, what he said clearly suggests that it was not the man speaking but the unclean spirit in him!…. A reminder that a spirit in a human body is not a passive or dormant host, but active/dynamic one.
See, the body of a human being is really a dwelling for his/her spirit (tent) but as such could also host the Holy Spirt (temple of God) or an unclean spirit (“temple/synagogue of Satan”) -in fact, a human being who doesn’t have the Spirit of God (Holy Spirit) is vulnerable/exposed to unclean spirits (see Luke 11:24-26)….
Now, imagine a harlot or prostitute’s body and what spirit(s) could possibly be dwelling in it (her)! For Apostle Paul it was clear: It was not, for it could not be, the Holy Spirit. In fact, it cannot be the Holy Spirit so long as the person is called a harlot, or someone openly rebelling against God….
Hence Apostle Paul writes, 1 Corinthians 6:15-16, “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! 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.””
Please note, Apostle Paul is speaking literally, not metaphorically. Having the Spirit of God (Spirit of Christ) dwelling in me makes me one with Him (God/Christ), that is, the two of us share the same (one) body with all the members thereof! -but as Christian I need to understand that my body is not (no longer) my own but belongs to Christ -He has authority over my body.
Similarly, the unclean spirit’s dwelling in a harlot’s body makes her one with it, hence she is considered unclean…. Interestingly, Apostle Paul goes on remarking that this kind of oneness is also created by physically joining two bodies through sexual intercourse: We note Paul’s asking, “Or do you not know that he who joined to a harlot is one body with her?”
Accordingly, a Christian who joins his body to a harlot’s becomes one with the latter which, in actual fact, is becoming one with the unclean spirit’s dwelling in her by virtue of being one flesh/body with her -talking about evil spirits having authority over someone’s body. God have mercy….
This message comes to remind us that the human body is actually a house or dwelling. God created it as such as a place of his fellowship with Man on earth. It is important to understand that being Spirit God can only interact with Man’s spirit who is in Man’s body (see Romans 8:16 and John 4:24).
Sadly, however, a human being without the spirit of God has a vacant space within (spiritual vacuum) that evil/unclean spirits take advantage of to occupy and hold Man’s spirit in bondage/servitude. Such a person can become a channel of spiritual transference through sexual intercourse. Hence, with all the energy he could gather, apostle Paul entreats, “Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.” 1 Corinthians 6:18 , NKJV.
