Monday, October 19, 2009

The Body is the Temple - 1 Corinthians 6:19

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? (KJV)

Then: Here Paul goes again. It's back to the basics. Thiselton (p. 474) remarks that this is Number eight in the "Don't-you-know?" list. These items are not ranked according to their importance, but according to their necessity. Being included marks them as basic Christian concepts. Baker (p. 95) notes that Paul is personalizing the idea to each individual, not leaving a vague sense that the Spirit is present only in the gathered, corporate church.

Now: If anything good can possibly come from immorality, it's this assurance that individual believers, not just the corporate body are the temple of God, that therefore, we are each claimed by God. None of our actions bring glory or shame to any one but him. The verse is rarely used in relation to sexual immorality, but is a constant help and reminder that the Lord is always with us. We are not alone.
[As an aside, this precept of each individual being the temple of God, makes a problematic thorn in Paul's presentation about women having to be verified by paternal/spousal/ecclesial approval of a male ordered society. The precept does fit in with Paul's concept of a mutual-submission ordered society.]

Extra source: The First Epistle to the Corinthians: a commentary on the Greek text by Anthony C. Thiselton (Authentic Media, c2000) online at http://books.google.com/books?id=IHG_DNLpmroC&dq=1st+Corinthian+commentaries&printsec=frontcover&source=in&hl=en&ei=W9fQSpC1GILplAfHiumoCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=11&ved=0CB8Q6AEwCg#v=onepage&q=&f=false
Cornerstone Biblical Commentary 1 Corinthians (William Baker), 2 Corinthians (Ralph Martin & Carl Toney), ed. by Philip Comfort. Carol Stream: Tyndale House Publishers, c2006.

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