Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Corinthians 6:15-16

"Know ye not that your bodies are members of Christ? shall I then take away the members of Christ, and make them members of a harlot? God forbid. Or know ye not that he that is joined to a harlot is one body? for, The twain, saith he, shall become one flesh." — 1 Corinthians 6:15-16 (ASV)

Do you not know, etc.? This is the third argument against licentiousness. It is that we, as Christians, are united to Christ (compare to John 15:1 and following), and that it is abominable to take the members of Christ and subject them to pollution and sin. Christ was pure, wholly pure. We are professedly united to him. We are therefore bound to be pure, as he was. Shall that which is a part, as it were, of the pure and holy Saviour, be prostituted to impure and unholy embraces?

God forbid. (Romans 3:4).

This expresses the deep abhorrence of the apostle at the thought. It did not need argument to show it. The whole world revolted at the idea; and language could scarcely express the abomination of the very thought.

Do you not know, etc.? This is designed to confirm and strengthen what he had just said.

He who is joined. Who is attached to, or who is connected with.

Is one body. That is, he is to be regarded as one; he is closely and intimately united. Similar expressions occur in classic writers. See Grotius and Bloomfield.

For two, he says, etc. This Paul illustrates by a reference to the formation of the marriage connection in Genesis 2:24. He cannot be understood as affirming that that passage had original reference to illicit connections; but he uses it for purposes of illustration. God had declared that the man and his wife became one; in a similar sense, in unlawful connections the parties became one.