Joined as One Flesh to a Harlot 1 Corinthians 6:16

Paul the apostle asked the church members in Corinth if they knew their “bodies are members of Christ?”, and he questioned rhetorically, “shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them members of an harlot”? Paul answered, “God forbid”, and in chapter six and verse sixteen of First Corinthians, Paul asked the church members in Corinth if they knew, “that he which is joined to an harlot is one body” where we read:

What? know you not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body?

for two, says he, shall be one flesh.

The verse begins, “What? know you not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body?” Paul began with the word, “What” or “either, save, except”?“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 he which is joined” which refers to “being glued together, cemented, fastened and to cleave” “to 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” “is one body” or “is only as a single living corpse”? Paul desired to know if the church members were aware that when they “joined” or “glued themselves” together with a “harlot”, they were becoming as “one body” with them.

The verse continues, “ for two, says he, shall be one flesh.” Paul added the words, “for two” which means “both or twain”, “says he” or “utters, declares and proclaims God” “shall be” or “will come to pass, will follow to be and happen as” “one flesh” which means “toward a single unified living being”. When “two” people “join together sexually” they become as “one body” or “one flesh”.

When we consider these words from Paul, we see the importance of the church members not “joining” themselves to “harlots”. The “physical” act of “sexual immorality” has greater implications than just “two bodies” coming together. They become “spiritually” “glued together or fastened” as one, and the deep connection for the church members is they would bring Jesus into that type of relationship. Jesus Christ desires for His bride, the church, to be a “pure” and “holy” bride, and as Paul continued to manage those who were “defiling” not only their bodies but Christ's as well, we should pay particular attention to what we do with our “members” that belong to Jesus.

Next time Paul declares, “he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit”, 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.