According
to the apostle Paul, “God shall
destroy”
both “meats” and
“the body”.“The
body” was
not to be used “for fornication”
by the church members in Corinth, but were rather to be used “for
the Lord”.
He also declared how “God has both
raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power”,
and in chapter six and verse fifteen of
First Corinthians, Paul asked the church members in Corinth if they
knew their, “bodies are members of Christ”
where we read:
Know
you not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take
the members of Christ,
The
verse begins, “Know
you not that your bodies are the members of Christ?”
Paul began
with the words, “Know you not”
which means
“do the church members not perceive with the eyes or senses,
notice, discern, discover, pay attention to or observe” “that
your bodies”
which refers to “that the church members' living corpses” “are
the members”
which means “limbs or parts of the body” “of
Christ” or
“belonging to the anointed one, the Messiah and the Son of God”.
Paul desired to know if the Corinthian church members perceived they
were “the body of Christ” as a church.
The
verse goes on to say, “shall
I then take the members of Christ, and make them
the members of an harlot? God forbid.”
Paul
continued with the words, “shall I
then” which
means “should Paul at that moment” “take
the members” or
“raise up, elevate, bear up or move from their place limbs or parts
of the body”“of Christ”
or “belonging to the anointed one, the Messiah and the Son of God”,
“and make”
which means “cause, make ready, prepare, produce, render and
provide” “them the members”or
“limbs or parts of the body” “of
an harlot”
which means “a prostitute or woman who sells her body for sexual
uses or indulges in unlawful sexual intercourse for gain or lust”?
“God forbid”
or “perish the thought, let God never allow it to come into
existence, begin to be or receive being”. Since the church members
made up “the body of Christ”, how could they ever allow
themselves to be connected to or hooked up with a “prostitute”?
When
we think through these words from Paul, we understand the sacredness
of “the body of Christ”. Although some of the Christians within
the Corinthian church may have been involved in sinful sexual
behavior in the past, they were not to be indulging in those
practices now. When a person receives Jesus Christ as their Savior
and Lord, they become a part of “the body of Christ”, and any
involvement in “sinful practices” is like taking His body and
joining it to that activity. Paul said, “God forbid!” or
“Perish the thought!” As “members” of “the body of
Christ”, we are to keep ourselves from sin, and through the power
of the Holy Spirit and yielding to His will, we shall be able to
obey. May the Lord Jesus help us to know not only our position in
Him, but also the importance of keeping ourselves “pure” before
Him as His body.
Next
time Paul asks the Corinthians if they knew, “he
which is joined to an harlot is one body?”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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