CLEAN LIVING IN AN UNCLEAN WORLD

1 CORINTHIANS 6:12-20

We live in an era of sexual permissiveness. I have seen this era grow and develop throughout most of my life. I was a child of the 60's when what was termed as the sexual revolution came on the scene and promised to set people free to enjoy their sexuality. Instead it had just the opposite effect.

• Homosexuality and its resulting diseases have spread like wildfire. There are entire countries today in which the majority of the population are infected with HIV.
• Abortions and single mothers have become the accepted norm.
• Pornography need not be sold on the street corner or at the local food mart; it is also freely available on the Internet and is delivered unsolicited to people’s E-mail.
• Divorce has become a way of life while the exceptions to the rule have become those who remain faithfully married for life.

All too often, the church has stood silent on these issues, either pretending that they are not problems encountered by Christians, or else watering down the purity of the church and merely ignoring the issues. Yet the Bible is not silent on these subjects. God does not hide His head when talking about sexual relationships and the time has long past when the church ought to follow suit.

Christians live in a real world with real issues and they are tempted with real sins. We are called to be different. We are called to be clean in an unclean world.

We have already noted that chapters 5-6 deal with three specific problems that were infecting the church:

It is interesting that this one is sandwiched between two issues that deal with sexuality among Christians. While the first two problems called for the church to act corporately in coming to a solution, the solution in this section will be seen in an understanding of our identity in Christ.

A "grace movement" had come to Corinth. There seem to have been those in the church who were teaching that, since Christ has paid for sins and set us free from the penalty of God’s law, it is okay to live as you please. They taught that, if you want to sin a little, it is okay because Jesus took your sins away. If you want to divorce your wife and trade her in on a younger model, it is okay because God wants you to be free. If you go up to the Temple of Aphrodite and engage in immoral acts, it is acceptable because you are not under the Law.

Paul is going to counter this sort of false teaching, but he does not do it by saying that there is no such thing as grace or that we do not have freedom in Christ Jesus. He teaches instead that grace and Christian living are mutually compatible.

• The Problem of Profitability: All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable (6:12).

• The Problem of Possession: All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything (6:12).

The Corinthians had a rebuttal to Paul’s call to holy living. They responded by saying, "We aren’t really living in sin. We are only filling the natural desires that God has given to us. If God didn’t want us to live this way, then He wouldn’t have given us these desires." Paul has an answer to such a statement.

• A Pagan Proverb: Food is for the stomach, and the stomach is for food; but God will do away with both of them (6:13).

• A Principle from Design: Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord; and the Lord is for the body (6:13).

There was a false teaching going around Corinth that said there is no resurrection from the dead. This teaching had its roots in Greek philosophy. It stated that the body is evil while the spirit is good. Therefore it was reasoned that, if the body died, the spirit could be free to be good.

Paul is going to deal with this false teaching at length in chapter 15. But for now, he merely points out that God builds bodies to last.

You see, it could be argued that, since our bodies are only temporary, it does not really matter what we do with them during this relatively short period we are here on earth. If I want to engage in immoral conduct with a temple prostitute, then it is only my body that is involved and my spirit remains without sin.

To combat such a suggestion, Paul has pointed out that my body is the dwelling place of God. It has been designed for a purpose. And now he goes on to show that this is an eternal purpose. It is an eternal purpose because I am going to have an eternal body. This body in which I currently reside is going to die one day, but God will raise me from the dead. I am going to have a new body and it will also be the temple of God.

We have been joined with Jesus. We have a new identity. We have become everything that He is with respect to His communicable attributes.

That is not all. Christ has also been identified with us. He became human and we are human. He was born as we are born. He lived as we live, yet without sin. He was tempted as we are tempted. He died as we die.

Just as we are in the body of Christ, so also He lives within our bodies. This is important. This is not mere Bible trivia. This is not meaningless theology. It has some very practical applications.

The Fact that I am Joined to Jesus means that for me to engage in sexual immorality is to identify the body of Jesus Christ with a sinful situation. For a Christian to commit adultery is to bring the body of Jesus Christ into an adulterous relationship.

Paul asks this in the form of three rhetorical questions:

• Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? (6:15).
• Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? (6:15).
• Do you not know that the one who joins himself to a harlot is one body with her? (6:16).

When you enter into a sexual union with someone, it is much more than two bodies rubbing together in the night. There is a bonding that takes place. Two people become one. This is the way your body was designed. It was designed to become one with another of the opposite gender. We call this bonding MARRIAGE. The first marriage was described in exactly this way.

God designed the first man and the first woman so that the could come together to become "one flesh." This "one flesh" relationship is not to be taken lightly. It is only to be entered into with one who is also of one spirit.

This is why the believer is commanded not to be bonded together with an unbeliever. Believers should not marry unbelievers because they don’t have anything in common.

On the other hand, we are one spirit with other believers because we are one spirit with Christ.

Now let me issue a disclaimer. The fact that believers share the same spirit does NOT mean that it is okay for believers to engage in extra-marital relations.

I often hear the argument that says, "The wedding license is just a piece of paper." The problem with such a statement is that, if the wedding license is just a piece of paper now, then it will be just a piece of paper after you are married. People who see marriage as just a formality will consider it nothing but a formality when they see a prettier girl or a wealthier guy or someone who is better at flattering their ego.

The importance of marriage is that it signifies COMMITMENT. If you have such a commitment, then you have determined at the outset to flee fornication.

Here is the message that Paul brings to the Corinthians who are having sexual problems. He says to flee immorality. He does not say to conquer immorality. He does not say to argue with immorality. If you begin to argue with immorality, then you will probably lose. The thing to do with temptation is not to stay and argue with it. Flee it!

Do you remember the example of Joseph and the wife of Potiphar? Joseph had been sold as a slave into the land of Egypt. He found himself in the house of the Egyptian captain of the guard, a position that was usually held by a eunuch. If this was the case with Potiphar, then we can understand some of his wife’s desire toward Joseph. She wanted to take him to bed.

I imagine that if Joseph had stopped to share in Christian counseling with this woman, he might have fallen prey to her temptation. He might have gotten emotionally involved and felt sorry for her and perhaps even rationalized their relationship. Instead, he ran.

There is a principle here. It is that continued exposure to a temptation to which you are inclined will result in a weakening of your will. You need to cover your exposures. You need to flee temptation and then you need to stay away from places where temptation is likely to be.

For the Corinthians, this might have meant staying away from the Acrocorinth and the Temple of Aphrodite. Or it might have involved staying away from a certain purpose to whom one was attracted.

There is a story told about Augustine when he encountered a woman on the street with whom he had once had an affair before coming to Christ. As soon as he recognized her, he turned and began to run in the opposite direction. She called after him, "Augustine, it is I." Without even turning, he called back, "But it is not I."

There is a truth here. It is that we are no longer the people we once were. Our bodies are no longer only our bodies. They are now temples of God.

Have you ever heard someone talk lightly about sin, commenting that certain sins between consenting adults are okay because they don’t hurt anyone else? This isn’t true. It is especially wrong for Christians because the Christian is always involving a third party. He is involving the holy God of the universe. If you are a Christian, then Paul has several truths that are directed toward you.

At this point, I need to address those of you who might be thinking, "How can God ever use me? I have already dishonored my body in all of the ways that are described in this passage." There is good news for you here. It is the good news of the gospel. It is the good news that tells of new beginnings when you come to Christ in faith. It is the good news that is echoed in verses 9-11 of this chapter when it says, "You used to live like that, but then you were washed and you were sanctified and you were justified."

_____________________________