1 Corinthians 6:18

Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body (KJV)

Then: Since Paul tells the Corinthians to get away from sexual immoralities as fast as possible, you'd think that would be his final word. It's not. Their reasonings needed an overhaul so that the most important element would govern their convictions. Baker reviews the Greek attitude of dividing a human's life so that the spiritual was always pure while sinful actions involved the physical being (Baker, p. 94). The Corinthians latched onto that explanation. It let them sin sexually and supposedly maintain purity before God. Paul says unh, unh! All other sins bring hurt and pain to fellow human beings and can be easily ignored. Sexual sins afflict the partner, the sinner himself and the participating body of Christ.

Now: In terms that we don't ordinarily consider, Paul's reasoning still holds true. We think about the abusive use of alcohol, drugs, food, or some who cut their own bodies. Don't those actions afflict harm on the person himself? Since they do, we know Paul directs his concern to what he's already said about "His own body" being joined, united, with Christ. Even though, sexual immorality causes personal emotional and psychological pain, its most egregious harm is its betrayal of the body of Christ. Paul doesn't delineate the aggressive versus the passive partner here. His advice is for both. Flee. That has to happen before restoration and reconciliation with Christ - issues which Paul discusses elsewhere, not here.

Extra source: Cornerstone Biblical Commentary 1 Corinthians (William Baker), 2 Corinthians (Ralph Martin & Carl Toney), ed. by Philip Comfort. Carol Stream: Tyndale House Publishers, c2006.

1 Corinthians 6:17

But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit (KJV)

Then: Paul works with the principle of "Don't just give the guy a fish." It's a whole lot better to "Give the guy a fish net." The fish is a behavioral rule, but this verse is the net, the principle explaining an action (Wright, p. 73-4). When partners in sexual experiences unite, they completely use the body and mind. Union is not incidental or unintentional. Joining with the Lord is the same. Paul wants the Christians to understand that when they are joined in spirit with the Lord, they have full access to his mind. The two become one in body, mind, and spirit.

Now: The popular axiom is that teens will explore sex, no matter what. The opposing axiom is "Abstinence works every time it's tried." We're stuck in a generation that has lost out on the sacredness of the human spirit, so the rule doesn't make sense. Everyone needs the principle. God keeps calling; very few hear him.

1 Corinthians 6:16

What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh (KJV)

Then: An understanding of union includes a definition that the two become one flesh (physical). It also believes that prostitutes are non-believers. Those two explanation detail Paul's abhorrence of Christ joining with a harlot (Fee, p. 259). Members of the Corinthian Church ought to instinctively feel the same way. If not, their committment is thoroughly shambled.

Now: For years, the Catholic church upheld a standard of its members being barred from marrying anyone but another member of the church. Protestants focused on the hope that marriage would ultimately bring the non-believer into salvation. Hays (p. 109) rightly asserts that the call to confront the culture is no less than in Paul's days. Teaching, upholding and promoting reverence for the body as God's temple calls out for a major priority of today's church

Extra source: The First Epistle to the Corinthians by Gordon D. Fee (Eerdman's 1987) online at http://books.google.com/books?id=XlBp10nUTXAC&dq=Gordon+Fee+Bible+commentator&printsec=frontcover&source=in&hl=en&ei=SwLNSu3nA4v6Mf2XlDo&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=12#v=onepage&q=&f=false
First Corinthians by Richard B. Hayes (John Knox Press, 1997) on line athttp://books.google.com/books?id=M_PC0PAs3VYC&dq=1+Corinthians+and+Richard+B.+Hays&printsec=frontcover&source=in&hl=en&ei=2oPcStDCIIvf8Aaq0Ki3BQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=11&ved=0CCMQ6AEwCg#v=onepage&q=1%20Corinthians%20and%20Richard%20B.%20Hays&f=false

1 Corinthians 6:15

Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid (KJV)

Then: Corinthians took a hard hit with this "Don't you know?" question. The thing attacked their belief that continuing their daily social practices had no affect on anyone's commitment to Christ. They heard the word "members"and knew it specifically meant the various parts of the body (Baker, p. 91). Paul slams them with the thought that their actions connected Christ to prostitutes. No one could imagine the lamb of God like that. God forbid (Baker, p. 94).

Now: Sex is everywhere - Television, newspapers, books, magazines, radio, internet. It cannot be avoided. Entice or shock, the advertisers aren't particular. The point is to attract attention and then sales. Even those with a shred of decency, usually hoping to protect children, are under attack by the politically-correct. Secular theologians denying Christianity and worshiping elsewhere march willy-nilly through the land. Christians' eternal commitments need the strengthen of absolute convictions in order to avoid today's harlotry.

Extra source: Cornerstone Biblical Commentary 1 Corinthians by William Baker, 2 Corinthians by Ralph Martin and Carl Toney; ed. by Philip Comfort. Carol Stream: Tyndale House Publishers, c2006.

1 Corinthians 6:14

And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power (KJV)

Then: God's power? Yes, Corinthians knew about it and would agree that he's in charge of the spiritual world and all of creation. They knew the truth of Paul's statement, but they missed the question of how that related to their sexual behaviors. They needed an explanation about the Christian belief in resurrection of the body, not just salvation of the spirit (Hayes p. 104). If the entire physical body belongs to the Lord, then all actions pertaining to it, require extreme care. Commitment to and becoming one with the Lord is sacred and more intense than earthly, sexual bonding. Paul spends no time discussing these specific immoralities because it's more important to understand the first commandment "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."

Now: We recognize, but don't spend much time thinking about Paul's three main points. Because the body is resurrected, because the body is a temple for the Holy Spirit, and because the body belongs to the Lord, sexual immoralities count as a betrayal of the Truth (Hayes, p. 107). We are often like the Corinthians who didn't clearly understand the implications of sexual immoralities. We fall prey to that same fuzziness which leaves believers unprepared to choose God's way rather than the way of temptation. And then, like the Corinthians, we need to know "the only restorative for a guilty conscience is a sight of Jesus suffering on the cross" (Spurgeon).

Extra Source: First Corinthians by Richard B. Hayes (John Knox Press, 1997) on line at http://books.google.com/books?id=M_PC0PAs3VYC&dq=1+Corinthians+and+Richard+B.+Hays&printsec=frontcover&source=in&hl=en&ei=2oPcStDCIIvf8Aaq0Ki3BQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=11&ved=0CCMQ6AEwCg#v=onepage&q=1%20Corinthians%20and%20Richard%20B.%20Hays&f=false
February 2nd, Morning; Morning and Evening Daily Readings by Charles H. Spurgeon (1834-1892) on line at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/spurgeon/morneve.d0202am.html

1 Corinthians 6:13

Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body (KJV)

Then: Corinthians recognized this as another contemporary slogan. Paul used "Meats for the belly" and "belly for meats" to match and explain "all things are lawful." He limited its intent to the physical world. While not always edible, meat has a purpose for a time. While not always healthy, the belly has a purpose for a time. Eventually, just by the structure and dominion of God's laws of nature, men are born, men die (Fee, p. 255). By extrapolation, the Corinthians applied this statement to all other organs - hands, head, eyes, sexual organs, etc. (Baker, p. 93). That didn't work for Paul. He set forth to show that the spiritual implications of those behaviors couldn't allow their continued existence. Spiritually, the life purpose of the body is to do the Lord's will by uniting with him in daily service and avoid union with idols of any kind. Theologically, idols include anything that keeps someone from putting him first and from being obedient to him.

Now: We look further into the "belly for meat" phrase to understand how it equals the ideas "not all things are expedient/beneficial or the idea of self-control? If the belly wants meat, meat and more meat, then the product is an obese, out-of-control eater. By the slow laws of nature created by the Lord, the belly eventually throws all of the body's other functions out of whack, allows diseases to attack, and finally produces death. The belly and the eaters are destroyed prematurely. Many people also abhor extra marital behaviors due to their coinciding diseases. That analysis is a side issue to Paul's main theological point.

Extra Source: The First Epistle to the Corinthians by Gordon D. Fee (Eerdman's 1987) online at http://books.google.com/books?id=XlBp10nUTXAC&dq=Gordon+Fee+Bible+commentator&printsec=frontcover&source=in&hl=en&ei=SwLNSu3nA4v6Mf2XlDo&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=12#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.

Extra Maritals - 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Then and Now:
Paul's no Victorian. Neither is he an Elizabethan. These verses attack the attitudes and behaviors which gave Corinth its everlasting reputation. At the same time they show his passion to extinguish the church's hidden and open sexual problems. His words were meant to stoke the fires of each member's internal controversies, smoke out the tinders of unrighteousness, and incinerate all extra marital impurities. However, he didn't want the end product to be a charred Christian. He wanted the Corinthians to use their private introspective flames and engage in the process themselves (Wright, p. 73). Being told isn't good enough. It requires intuitive knowledge that freedom in Christ equals a lifelong alignment of honoring the Lord. That honor cries out for service with all one's heart, all one's mind and all one's soul. When succesful, they and all who conquer will enter heaven's gates with blazes of glory.