1 Corinthians 6:13-16 Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication… The apostle here states, perhaps in answer to a question on the subject, that there is a limitation to Christian liberty. As the liberty which the Corinthians seemed to covet was to gratify the bodily appetites, he takes occasion to state certain things in relation to the body. Christianity recognises — I. ATTENTION TO THE NATURAL NEEDS OF THE BODY AS PROPER (ver. 13). 1. The body has appetites, and there are provisions intended to satisfy them. To act thus is in harmony with the constitution of nature. All animal existences act in this way. Christianity, instead of requiring you to starve the body by lastings, and to exhaust its energies by pilgrimages and self-mortifications, says, "Eat and be satisfied and strong; take care of your bodies." 2. Feeding the body, however, Christianity regards as temporary; both the food and the body must perish. They are not like spiritual existences, and spiritual supplies that have regard to an unmeasured hereafter. "All flesh is grass." II. INDULGENCE IN THE GRATIFICATIONS OF THE BODY AS WRONG. "Now the body is not for fornication," &c. This is not a necessity of the body, like eating and drinking, but an immoral indulgence of its propensities. Man should attend to his bodily propensities, as reliefs, not as gratifications. Hence intemperance, whether in eating or drinking, is a moral outrage. The crime and curse of men in all ages have been seeking happiness out of the gastric, the sexual, and other propensities of their physical being. III. THAT THE PROPER TREATMENT OF THE BODY IS TO IDENTIFY IT WITH CHRIST. 1. It is the property of Christ. It is not ours; we are its trustees, not its proprietors. We hold it "for the Lord," and we should use it according to His directions. It is to let in God to the soul, and to reveal God to our race. 2. It is a member of Christ (ver. 15). The Christian's body has a vital connection with Him. He had a human body which now raised to heaven is the model into which our bodies shall be changed. This being so, sensual indulgence is an outrage on the body (vers. 15-17). 3. It is a temple of the Holy Ghost (vers. 19, 20) in which He is to dwell, be revealed and worshipped. (D. Thomas, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body. |
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