Scripture

You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honour God with your body.

Observation

We can do anything we like, but not everything is good for us. Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food, but we must not apply that argument to justify sexual immorality. Our bodies were made to honour the Lord.

Our bodies are a part of Christ. To join my body to a prostitute is to join Christ to them.

We are to flee from sexual sin. Sexual sin is a sin against our own body. My body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. I do not belong to myself, for I have been bought by God at the price of Christ.

Application

When Jesus died on the cross, He was the price for my sin, and the sin of the whole world. We look at that side of the transaction and gladly accept it.

The other side of the transaction is this: having purchased me from sin, God now owns me. I stopped being a slave to sin, and instead became a slave to God.

My body is no longer my own to do as I wish with it. It is now a temple of the Holy Spirit.

My life belongs to Christ. I am being made holy, that is, set apart for God’s purposes.

Although Paul here is talking about sexual sin, the principle applies to all sin. Everything in my life belongs to God, and I am responsible to give everything to him, to glorify the name of the Lord.

Prayer

Thank you, Lord that you have paid the price for my sin. I yield myself to you, giving my body and my mind to you. Amen

Scripture

Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed, you were made holy, you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God.

Observation

Paul is shocked by the Corinthian christians who take their disputes with one another to the secular courts. They should take them to other believers to adjudicate.

We believers will judge the world, and even judge angels. Surely there must be someone in the church who can settle mundane arguments.

Those who do wrong will not enter the Kingdom of God. Adulterers, homosexuals, idolaters and thieves will not inherit God’s kingdom. Some of us were once like that, but we have been cleansed, sanctified and made right with God through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

Application

We were once the outsiders, living lives that were displeasing to the Lord. But we called on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and He set us free from the bondage of sin.

We were cleansed. The blood of Jesus washed away our sin. The mark of iniquity was washed away.

We were made holy. That means that we were given the ability to live a life of righteousness. It also means that we have been set apart for God’s use. I am no longer my own master; I belong to the Lord.

We have been made right with God. The enmity that existed between us and God has been destroyed. We were once far away from God, but by His free gift, we are now His friends.

Prayer

Hallelujah! What a great salvation you have given to me. Thank you Lord. Amen.