Glorifying God in Body and Spirit

12 “Everything is permissible(A) for me,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me,” but I will not be mastered by anything. 13 “Food(B) is for the stomach and the stomach for food,” and God will do away with both of them. However, the body is not for sexual immorality(C) but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 God raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.(D) 15 Don’t you know that your bodies are a part of Christ’s body?(E) So should I take a part of Christ’s body and make it part of a prostitute? Absolutely not! 16 Don’t you know that anyone joined to a prostitute is one body with her? For Scripture says, The two will become one flesh.[a](F) 17 But anyone joined(G) to the Lord is one spirit(H) with him.

18 Flee(I) sexual immorality! Every other sin[b] a person commits is outside the body, but the person who is sexually immoral(J) sins against his own body. 19 Don’t you know that your body is a temple(K) of the Holy Spirit(L) who is in you,(M) whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought(N) at a price. So glorify God with your body.[c]

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Footnotes

  1. 6:16 Gn 2:24
  2. 6:18 Lit Every sin
  3. 6:20 Other mss add and in your spirit, which belong to God.

Avoiding Sexual Sin

12 You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. And even though “I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a slave to anything. 13 You say, “Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food.” (This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them.) But you can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies. 14 And God will raise us from the dead by his power, just as he raised our Lord from the dead.

15 Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never! 16 And don’t you realize that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, “The two are united into one.”[a] 17 But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.

18 Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. 19 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

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Footnotes

  1. 6:16 Gen 2:24.