1 Corinthians 6:12–20

¹²"All things are lawful for me," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be enslaved by anything. ¹³"Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food"—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. ¹⁴And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. ¹⁵Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! ¹⁶Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, "The two will become one flesh." ¹⁷But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. ¹⁸Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. ¹⁹Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, ²⁰for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

"May God the Father, who created this body; may God the Son, who by his blood redeemed this body; may God the Holy Spirit, who by Holy Baptism sanctified this body to be his temple, keep these remains to the day of the resurrection of all flesh." These words are, of course, the words spoken at the committal in the Service of Christian Burial. At that most sober and somber moment they proclaim the truth about the body of the believer; it is a body created by the Maker of heaven and earth, purchased with the blood of Christ had hallowed by the washing of the water with the Word. It is not a leftover carcass to be tossed aside. Quite the contrary, YOUR BODY IS GIVEN BY GOD AND IS RENDERED BACK TO HIM.

The body is yours; it is uniquely you. Yet it does not belong to you. You did not create yourself. You did not redeem yourself. You are the Lord's. He is the potter and you are the clay. While we may read of the wizardry of post-human futures, with synthetic parts that replace worn-out limbs and organs, ultimately we cannot transcend the reality that we are flesh and blood that will perish.

Today in our culture many treat the body as an instrument of our hedonism. That means, we act as if the body were a plaything for our pleasure. Many people today use their bodies to fulfill their selfish desires and lusts in two basic ways. One, to enjoy the physical pleasures of life, and second, to commit grossly sinful deeds.

First of all, as in the context of the Corinthians to whom St. Paul was talking, our society today seeks after sensual pleasures. Many in our oversexed society today use their body for sensual pleasure, sexual immorality, fornication and adultery. It is seen as something normal today to engage in sex outside of marriage, or other sexual perversion. Paul was talking specifically of using the body for sexual immorality, but the same general principle applies to those today who seek other physical pleasures as well. Pleasures such as overeating, drugs, alcohol, or even taking extreme risks, jeopardizing their lives just for the thrill of it. While for others in our society appearance is all important leading some to take extreme measures of dieting and exercise, or abusing the body with piercings for jewelry on virtually every body part and so forth because of an obsession with appearance. Seeking such physical pleasure and obsession with appearance is nothing other than sin against the First Commandment, not to mention the fifth and sixth.

Still another way people misuse the body is to use it as an instrument for overt sin. Such as using your hands to steal or murder. Using the tongue to lie or gossip. Some, under the mantra of "freedom of choice" say that it is their body so they can do whatever they want with it, even if that means murdering an unborn baby in the womb, just so that they can enjoy life without the burden and responsibility of raising a child.

Whether it be for the enjoyment of pleasure, for self-worship, or to steal, kill, destroy, slander, or gossip, it is all the work of the sinful man that lives in each of us who hates God and wants to be free from God's authority.

So we should not be surprised at assisted suicide and euthanasia. When the toy of the flesh breaks down it comes as no surprise that people seek ways to be relieved of the burden of the body. If we can't master the body and control the suffering of disease or old age, we will put an end to it at the time and place of our choosing. We speak of people committing suicide as "taking their own lives" as though it were theirs to take. We think, at last, that we will be done with the burden of the body. Death is seen as a welcome escape from the body. Stated in simple words, we want to be able to do whatever we please without regard for good or bad, right or wrong, or the judgment and wrath of God.

The underlying pre-supposition to all of this is that the body is ours to do with as we please. People today think that what we do with the body, whether it be sexual immorality, prostitution, homosexual practice, or abusing the body in other ways has nothing to do with one's relationship with God. That is simply false! God created your body. Jesus redeemed your body. The Holy Spirit will raise your body on the last day, it is not yours to do with as you please. It belongs to God. You can either use your body to glorify God or use it to sin. And sin separates you from God, now and for eternity.

So what do we do with the body? That's not just a question at the time of death, but every day of our life as we live in the body. Here in our text we see an entirely different attitude from our hedonistic sinful one. "The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body," St. Paul tells us. In other words, what you do with your body does matter. Listen to St. Paul again: "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?" It is a matter of ownership. You can't take the body that belongs to Christ—bought with his blood and washed by his Spirit in Holy Baptism—and use it for sinful purposes. It must not be joined to a prostitute. To do so is to sin against your own body, the very body that God has created, redeemed and sanctified. Therefore, flee from sexual immorality. Flee from using your body for any sin. Flee from abusing your body or using it for mere hedonistic pleasure. Turn from doing the acts of sin and deeds of evil that you have been doing. In our text St. Paul was specifically talking in the context of sexual sin. But the fact is, all sinful deeds are using our body for sin. "In baptism you died to sin, therefore consider yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Do not use your bodies as instruments of unrighteousness, but as instruments of righteousness, instruments for doing good, for helping your neighbor.

Christ Jesus will not have the body that belongs to him rendered unclean. Christ Jesus would not have you live in bondage to another lord, the lord of sin and evil, for he has made you his own. With his body, Jesus "purchased and won you from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with his holy, precious blood and with his innocent suffering and death, in order that you may be his own and live under him in his kingdom and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness," as Luther says in the Catechism.

That is what Jesus Christ did for you. He presented his body as a sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God on your behalf. A sacrifice for your sin. So that the sins you have committed with your body, your deeds and actions, have been paid for by Christ. They are forgiven. Your body and lives have been redeemed by Christ and washed in Holy Baptism. So then, renounce the sinful desires that are in your flesh. Renounce and flee from all sinful deeds and actions and from using your body to satisfy its own fleshly, sinful, evil desires. For these lead only to death and condemnation. These incur the wrath and punishment of God. You have used your body for evil, for sin, for hedonistic pleasure. Repent and turn away from this sin. In Christ there is forgiveness and life. Now, you are set free from the condemnation and wrath of God. The sinful use of your bodies has been forgiven. Your broken relationship with God has been restored. Therefore, present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. This is your spiritual worship. Go! Glorify God with your bodies.

Therefore, St. Paul says, "Do not join your body to a prostitute for you become one with her. Do not make the members of Christ's body members of a prostitute." "But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him." Now this is a remarkable and wonderful thing. If joining our body to a sinner contaminates our body with sin, then what about Jesus who joins his body to ours in Holy Communion? Doesn't our sin then contaminate his body with sin? Indeed it does. St. Peter says, "Jesus himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed." Yes, indeed, Jesus, by joining his body to yours absorbs your sins into his body. Your sin is transferred to him. He takes your sin into himself. He became sin in your place so he could take your sin to the cross where his body was crucified and your sin along with it. Moreover, by joining his righteous body to yours in Holy Communion, his righteousness is absorbed and transferred to you. He exchanges his righteousness for your sin in order that you might die to sin and live to righteousness. Taking your sin, he gives you his righteousness. As St. Paul says, "He who knew no sin was made sin that you might become the righteousness of God." You are now, by your baptism, given the righteousness of God, and the Holy Spirit dwells in you, making you the body of Christ.

Therefore, your body will not simply be discarded, even at death. It is neither evil nor irrelevant, but, as Christ's body was raised on the third day, your body will be raised again to live in glory with Christ for all eternity. Then, as now, it belongs to the Lord, so that the apostle says, "glorify God in your body." Your body is the temple of his Spirit and it is destined for the resurrection of the flesh. You are the temple of the Spirit. That means, the place where the Spirit of God abides or dwells. You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. As the Book of Romans says, "present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. This is your spiritual worship." Go! Glorify God in your body.

What, then, are we to do with the body? How do we glorify God with our body? In Christ you can use it for the well being and good of your neighbor. By the faith that is in you use your hands to help others; to feed the hungry. Use you mouths to speak the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to witness and evangelize. Use your arms to embrace a lonely person, your feet to walk the extra mile for someone. Your ears to hear their cries for help. Your eyes to see their need. Help one another; serve each other in the church and in the community.

You are set free in Christ; free from the sinful use of your body that you have done up to now. Free from the wrath and condemnation of God on account of your sin. Free to serve your neighbor with the body that God has given you; the body he has purchased with his own blood; and the body he will raise at the end. Amen.