Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 1 Corinthians 6:20

"for ye were bought with a price: glorify God therefore in your body." — 1 Corinthians 6:20 (ASV)

Now Paul talks positively about how Christians should view their bodies. (1) They should consider that their bodies, including their whole personality, form “the temple” (GK 3724)—the sacred dwelling place—of God, the Holy Spirit. (2) Christians have received the Spirit from God to help them against sin. (3) They have no right to pervert and misuse their bodies, for they are not their own master but have been purchased by God at a price (v.20). That price, though not mentioned here, is the blood of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18–19; et al.). The picture is of a slave (Romans 6:17; cf. 1 Corinthians 7:23) being purchased from the horrible system of slavery. Christians have been freed from being overpowered by sin (Romans 6:17–18) and Satan (Colossians 1:13) and are enslaved to Christ (Romans 1:1) and to righteousness (Romans 6:18).

The conclusion of the matter is that Christians must glorify God in their bodies. Since Paul has been writing about individuals and since the individual Christian is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, it is best to understand v.19 to mean that each individual Christian’s body is a temple of the Holy Spirit (contrast 3:16– 17).