Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, “The two shall become one flesh.” But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. - 1 Corinthians 6:13-20
The secular world doesn't understand why christians are so hung up on sex. What's the big deal? Why is sex outside of marriage wrong?
The pressure to compromise our beliefs about sexual purity is rapidly growing, whether it's Dan Brown trying to make christianity into a pagan sex cult in his book The DaVinci Code, the current push to redefine marriage, or the media and public schools attempting to sexualize our children at a young age. Unfortunately most christians can't explain why God wants us to abstain from immorality.
The typical reasons that are given usually focus on STD's, saving ourselves for that one special person, not becoming a single parent, etc. But the biblical reasons are much deeper and more spiritual.
The Old Testament, with it's laws, sacrifices, holy days and feasts in many ways foreshadows (Colossians 2:16-17) the spiritual revelations of the New Testament. The Old Testament points most frequently to Christ, but it can also point to heavenly realms and to the church and individual believers as well.
In 1 Corinthians 6 the verse is pointing to the physical body of the believer as being a temple of the Lord, for indeed the Holy Spirit indwells us. We are the priests of our temples (You are a priest) and offer our bodies as living sacrifices to God. However, when we use our temples to worship an idol such as sex, we are in essence defiling the temple.
The ritualistic cleansings, preparations, and sacrificial systems in the Old Testament shouldn't lead us to set up our own rituals and traditions. They should lead us to understand the importance of preparing and cleansing our hearts for worship and service. We should take our calling seriously because we are serving the Almighty God.
The Old Testament, with it's laws, sacrifices, holy days and feasts in many ways foreshadows (Colossians 2:16-17) the spiritual revelations of the New Testament. The Old Testament points most frequently to Christ, but it can also point to heavenly realms and to the church and individual believers as well.
In 1 Corinthians 6 the verse is pointing to the physical body of the believer as being a temple of the Lord, for indeed the Holy Spirit indwells us. We are the priests of our temples (You are a priest) and offer our bodies as living sacrifices to God. However, when we use our temples to worship an idol such as sex, we are in essence defiling the temple.
The ritualistic cleansings, preparations, and sacrificial systems in the Old Testament shouldn't lead us to set up our own rituals and traditions. They should lead us to understand the importance of preparing and cleansing our hearts for worship and service. We should take our calling seriously because we are serving the Almighty God.
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