Matthew Henry Commentary 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

"All things are lawful for me; but not all things are expedient. All things are lawful for me; but I will not be brought under the power of any. Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall bring to nought both it and them. But the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body: and God both raised the Lord, and will raise up as through his power. 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. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. Or know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have from God? and ye are not your own; for ye were bought with a price: glorify God therefore in your body." — 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 (ASV)

Some among the Corinthians seem to have been ready to say, All things are lawful for me. This dangerous notion St. Paul opposes. There is a liberty with which Christ has made us free, in which we must stand fast. But surely a Christian would never put himself into the power of any bodily appetite. The body is for the Lord; it is to be an instrument of righteousness for holiness, and therefore it is never to be made an instrument of sin.

It is an honor to the body that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead; and it will be an honor to our bodies that they will be raised. The hope of a resurrection to glory should keep Christians from dishonoring their bodies by fleshly lusts. And if the soul is united to Christ by faith, the whole man has become a member of His spiritual body. Other vices may be conquered by fighting them; the one cautioned against here can be conquered only by fleeing.

And vast multitudes are cut off by this vice in its various forms and consequences. Its effects fall not only directly upon the body, but often upon the mind. Our bodies have been redeemed from deserved condemnation and hopeless slavery by the atoning sacrifice of Christ. We are to be clean, as vessels fitted for our Master's use. Being united to Christ as one spirit, and bought with a price of unspeakable value, the believer should consider himself as wholly the Lord's, by the strongest ties.

May we make it our business, to the latest day and hour of our lives, to glorify God with our bodies, and with our spirits, which are His.