"GOD'S PROPERTY" (An Article by Christian Henry) ~ 11/6/25

“Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” (I Corinthians 6:18-20)

Paul is writing this letter to the Corinthian Church, seeking unity as well as providing correction. He confronts Corinthian Christians over their present issues, discussing problems of division and tolerance of heinous sexual sin. Paul urges them to live up to their new identities in Christ instead of living down to the sexually immoral standards of the culture. The apostle detests this lax attitude held by the people, stating that, beyond formal laws, the standard for Christian behavior must be whether a practice is helpful or enslaving.

The text cuts straight to the chase: “Flee fornication!” Paul gives reasons for the strong imperative. Sexual intimacy is designed by God to unite two people into one body in marriage. That union with another person drags Christ into the union with us. Our bodies will be resurrected and are meant even now to bring glory to God.

These last three verses of chapter six contain a solemn exhortation to purity: to forsake the secular ways of the present time. To “flee fornication” is a command of God, one as explicit as any that was thundered from Mount Sinai. It is not to be taken lightly, as none can violate it without being exposed to the awful vengeance of the Almighty. True believers should do everything in their power to escape from sin. We must flee sin instead of making excuses for or debating our actions altogether.

There are some sins that one can resist easily, but this is a sin where a person is safe only when they get away and refuse to entertain the thought of it. The only path to victory over sexual sin is through retreat aided by our Lord. There is no way of avoiding the pollution of this sin but in the flight prescribed by Paul. Perhaps no single sin has done so much to produce the most painful and dreadful consequences as sexual immorality. All sin has some effect in destroying the body, of course, but it is true of this sin in an eminent degree.

He makes clear that our bodies are temples of God and are thus to be dedicated to Him and inhabited by Him. Because Christians are the temple of God, by virtue of His Holy Spirit consecrating their bodies to His service, we should make chastity the keeper of those sacred houses and so allow nothing unclean or profane to enter into it.

We belong to God, not only by creation and preservation, but by redemption. In fact, we were bought at a price which is infinitely beyond what we can even imagine it to be worth. The precious blood of Christ was the payment. By it, we are redeemed out of the hands of divine justice and rescued from the bondage of sin and Satan. We have thus become subjects and servants of Christ. We are His property and are to live as His temples. We must live by temperance, chastity, and purity to yield our bodies and souls completely to be instruments of righteousness to God, devoting all we have and are fully to His glory.