1 Coríntios 6
John Piper · Citado em PreceptAustin
1 Coríntios 6
Piper - What that means very simply is use your body in ways that will show that God is more satisfying, more precious, more to be desired, more glorious than anything the body craves. A large group of European pastors came to one of D. L. Moody’s Northfield Bible Conferences in Massachusetts in the late 1800s. Following the European custom of the time, each guest put his shoes outside his room to be cleaned by the hall servants overnight. But of course this was America and there were no hall servants. Walking the dormitory halls that night, Moody saw the shoes and determined not to embarrass his brothers. He mentioned the need to some ministerial students who were there, but met with only silence or pious excuses. Moody returned to the dorm, gathered up the shoes, and, alone in his room, the world’s only famous evangelist began to clean and polish the shoes. Only the unexpected arrival of a friend in the midst of the work revealed the secret. When the foreign visitors opened their doors the next morning, their shoes were shined. They never know by whom. Moody told no one, but his friend told a few people, and during the rest of the conference, different men volunteered to shine the shoes in secret. Perhaps the episode is a vital insight into why God used D. L. Moody as He did. He was a man with a servant’s heart and that was the basis of his true greatness. He gave a proper opinion of his Master. J C Philpot - How deep, how dreadful, or what awful magnitude, of how black a dye, of how ingrained a stamp must sin be, to need such an atonement—no less than the blood of Him who was the Son of God—to put it away. What a slave to sin and Satan, what a captive to the power of lust, how deeply sunk, how awfully degraded, how utterly lost and undone must guilty man be to need a sacrifice like this. “Ye are bought with a price.” Have you ever groaned, cried, grieved, sorrowed, and lamented under your miserable captivity to the power of sin? Has the iron ever entered into your soul? Have you ever clanked your fetters, and as you did so, and tried to burst them, they seemed to bind round about you with a weight scarcely endurable? But have you ever found any liberty from them, any enlargement of heart, any sweet going forth from the prison-house, any dropping of the manacles from your hands, and the fetters from your feet, so as to walk in some measure of gospel liberty? “Ye are bought with a price.” Ye were slaves of sin and Satan; ye were shut up in the dark cell, where all was gloom and despondency; there was little hope in your soul of ever being saved. But there was an entrance of gospel light into your dungeon; there was a coming out of the house of bondage; there was a being brought into the light of God’s countenance, shining forth in His dear Son. Now, this is not only being bought with a price, but experiencing the blessed effects of it. Ears from Harvested Sheaves. Rob Mattoon - The Purchase and Purpose of Your Life 1 Corinthians 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. We are not to pollute the palace because we belong to the Lord. We are bought with the price of His blood. For this reason we are to glorify God in our body, soul, and spirit.... with our entire being. This is the purpose of the life of the Christian. * Matthew 5:16—Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. * 1 Corinthians 10:31—Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. Great men of the Bible desired to glorify God with their lives. • * Daniel why are you praying? Don't you know the punishment is death in the lions' den? "Yes, but I have purposed in my heart to glorify God in my body." • * Shadrach, Mechech, and Abednego, why will you not bow down to the idol of the king? "It is our desire to glorify God with our bodies." • * Paul, why are you still preaching after those people stoned you and left you for dead? "It is my desire in whatever I do to glorify the Lord with my body." • * Joseph, why are you running from the clutches of that beautiful woman? "I am determined to glorify God in my body." Beloved, we are to glorify God with our bodies and not pollute the palace because we have been bought with a price. The purchase of our lives provokes a number of great truths. Bought with a Price • * Being bought with a price Verifies our need for a Savior. • * Being bought with a price is Vital for our salvation and deliverance from Hell. • * We 're bought with a price because of the Vileness and Vices of Sin. • * We 're bought with a price because of the Vanity of our good works and self righteousness. • * Because we are bought with a price, we have Victory over sin and death. • * Because we are bought with a price, the Veil between God and man is removed. • * Being bought with a price reveals our Value to the Lord and the fact we are important to Him. • * Being bought with a price Verifies God's love for all of us. • * Being bought with a price expresses the Vastness of God's wealth, power, and love. • * Being bought with a price, the Void in our hearts is filled with the Holy Spirit. • * Being bought with a price Validates God's ownership of our lives. Being bought with a price, may God help us all to not pollute His palace. On this Day - An Evening Sermon March 8 Charles Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers, read voraciously through the week, but not until Saturday night did he determine and develop his message for the following morning. Only on Sunday afternoon did he prepare his evening address. But it worked. For 30 years, he kept London’s Metropolitan Tabernacle packed. On Sunday night, March 8, 1874, Spurgeon preached from 1 Corinthians 6:20: God paid a great price for you. So use your body to honor God. Had you entered Metropolitan Tabernacle that evening, you would have heard Spurgeon’s carillon voice pealing these words through the lamplit hall: … you young men who come to London amidst its vices, shun everything that is akin to lewdness or leads on to unchasity, for your bodies were bought with your Lord’s lifeblood, and they are not yours to trifle with. Shun the strange woman, her company, her wine, her glances, her house, her songs, her resorts. Your bodies are not yours to injure by self-indulgence of any sort. Keep them pure and chaste for that heavenly Bridegroom who has bought them with his blood. And then your soul is bought too. I was obliged to mention the body, because it is mentioned here, and it is so needful it should be kept pure. But keep the soul pure. Christ has not bought these eyes that they should read novels calculated to lead me into vanity and vice, such as are published nowadays. Christ has not bought this brain of mine that I may revel in the perusal of works of blasphemy and filthiness. He has not given me a mind that I may drag it through the mire with the hope of washing it clean again.… Your whole manhood belongs to God if you are a Christian. Every faculty, every natural power, every talent, every possibility of your being, every capacity of your spirit.… It is all bought with blood. Therefore keep the whole for Jesus, for it belongs to him. Don’t be immoral in matters of sex. That is a sin against your own body in a way that no other sin is. You surely know that your body is a temple where the Holy Spirit lives. The Spirit is in you and is a gift from God. You are no longer your own. God paid a great price for you. So use your body to honor God.1 Corinthians 6:18-20 JUST A LITTLE PORN References: Job 31:1+; Matthew 5:28+; Romans 6:16+; 1 Corinthians 6:18; Colossians 3:5+; Hebrews 13:4+; 1 Peter 2:11+; 2 Peter 2:19+ My friend looked like a good Christian. He was a faithful elder in the church and a devout husband and father. He had a reputation for honesty, courage, and integrity. But he also had an issue with pornography. He said he wasn’t addicted to porn, and there was no reason not to believe him. He could go weeks without it, he said. Porn didn’t affect his relationship with his wife. It didn’t interfere with his church work or prayer life. It was just a little recreational pleasure that he indulged in now and then, especially after working long hours for his company or the church. "I’ve justified it in my mind a thousand times," he said, "and I could out-argue anyone who wants to give me all that bull about potential addiction and how it ruins your marriage. Well, it’s only made my marriage easier, since I don’t pester my wife as often, and yet I don’t do porn so much that I don’t have any ardor for her when she’s ready. Still," he conceded, "I feel so unclean." At first he thought the guilt was just a leftover from his fundamentalist upbringing. But he noticed he didn’t feel bad about other post-fundamentalist behaviors, such as drinking wine or going to the movies. Just porn. I suggested that this feeling might be the prodding of the Spirit. "Why don’t you just give up porn?" "I’ve thought about that," he replied. "If God does want me to give it up, I know it’s because that’s ultimately good for me. Yet the thought of giving up porn cold turkey is one of the most frightening things I can imagine right now. And I don’t know why." —Mark Galli, Jesus Mean and Wild (Baker, 2006) PERSONAL NOTE -- Some 35 years ago I was born again and switched to a Bible church, got baptized and sought to join the church, all immediately. To join you had to be interviewed by an elder. I knew the elder who interviewed me as his son was friends with my son. I can't remember how it came up but he shocked me when he told me that he and his wife watched pornographic movies to enhance their sex life! Talk about deceived! And he was a prominent elder at the most prominent Bible church in Austin! Woe! You Have Value You were bought at a price. 1 Corinthians 6:20 Today's Scripture & Insight: Romans 5:6–11 After my mother-in-law died, my wife and I discovered a cache of US Indian Head pennies in a dresser drawer in her apartment. She wasn’t a coin collector, as such, but she lived in the era when these pennies were in circulation and she had accumulated a few. Some of these coins are in excellent condition; others are not. They are so worn and tarnished you can hardly see the imprint. All bear the stamp “One Cent” on the opposite side. Although a penny these days has little value and many consider them useless, this one-cent coin would have bought a newspaper in its day. And collectors still find value in them, even those that have been battered and abused. Perhaps you feel tarnished, worn, old, or out of circulation. Even so, God finds value in you. The Creator of the universe wants you—not for your mind, your body, your clothes, your achievements, your intellect, or your personality, but because you are you! He would go any distance and pay any price to possess you (1 Cor. 6:20). As I think about Your love for me, Father, I wonder with amazement how You could love someone like me—and I praise You. Christ’s death is the measure of God’s love for you. Fleeing to Strength You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. 1 Corinthians 6:20 Today's Scripture & Insight: 1 Corinthians 6:12–20 “Parry four!” When I began fencing in high school, my coach would shout the correct defensive position (“parry”) against the move he was making. When he extended his weapon and lunged, to repel the attack I had to listen and respond immediately. That active listening brings to mind the prompt obedience Scripture calls for in the area of sexual temptation. In 1 Corinthians 6:18 Paul writes to believers tempted to solicit pagan temple prostitutes, telling them to “flee from sexual immorality.” Sometimes we are to “stand firm” in challenging circumstances (Galatians 5:1; Ephesians 6:11), but here the Bible practically shouts our best defense: “Run away!” Immediate action guards against compromise. Small compromises can lead to devastating defeats. An unrestrained thought, a glance in the wrong place on the Internet, a flirting friendship when you’re already married—each are steps that take us where we shouldn’t go and put distance between us and God. Lord Jesus, out of love You gave Yourself on the cross for us. I give myself to You in obedience to Your will. God alone can meet our deepest needs and give us soul-deep satisfaction. Learn The Cost You were bought at a price. — 1 Corinthians 6:20 Today's Scripture & Insight: 1 Peter 1:17-21 We gave our 2-year-old son a pair of new boots recently. He was so happy that he didn’t take them off until it was bedtime. But the next day he forgot all about the boots and put on his old sneakers. My husband said, “I wish he knew how much things cost.” The boots were expensive, but a young child doesn’t know about working hours, salaries, and taxes. A child receives the gifts with open arms, but we know that he can’t be expected to fully appreciate the sacrifices his parents make to give him new things. Sometimes I behave like a child. With open arms I receive God’s gifts through His many mercies, but am I thankful? Do I consider the price that was paid so I can live a full life? The cost was expensive—more than “corruptible things, like silver or gold.” As we read in 1 Peter, it required “the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1:18-19). Jesus gave His life, a high price to pay, to make us part of His family. And God raised Him from the dead (v.21). Lord, help me to understand, to take in what it meant for You, the Holy One, to bear my sin. Remind me to give You thanks for salvation and for all the ways You show me Your love throughout my day today. Salvation is infinitely costly, but absolutely free. Return On Investment You were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit. — 1 Corinthians 6:20 Today's Scripture: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 Long before the US professional baseball season begins each spring, team owners and managers are busy negotiating trades and contracts. They’ll pay large sums of money to get the athlete who will help them win the championship. When the season starts, all eyes are on the newly acquired talent to see if he was worth the cost. The ultimate measure of the player’s success is whether his contribution to the team is a good return on the investment. In 1 Corinthians 6:20, Paul reminds us that we too have been “bought at a price.” The context paints a compelling picture of Christ’s great sacrifice. He liberated us from the cruel slavemaster of sin by buying us with the high price of His own life. Getting a grip on God’s great and loving investment in us should motivate us to gladly consider making His sacrifice rich in dividends. How is that return on His investment measured? By living to bring glory to Him! Our eyes, hands, feet, thoughts, dreams, and desires have been purchased to reflect the wondrous glory of God’s will and wisdom. In other words, we are no longer our own. Redemption's price our Savior paid When all our sins on Him were laid; He took our guilt, He bore our shame That we may glorify His name. —D. De Haan Our choice to bring glory to God yields a great return on Christ's investment. Spared From Death You were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. — 1 Corinthians 6:20 Today's Scripture: Colossians 1:24-29 On August 6, 1945, Kanji Araki, then a toddler, was playing on the floor. Although an air-raid siren had sounded a warning, few paid it any heed since Hiroshima had previously escaped bombing. Then a blinding flash lit up the sky. Superheated air rushed at tremendous speed, knocking down buildings and setting the center of the city ablaze. In the days that followed the nuclear detonation, Kanji’s grandmother, brother, and sister died from radiation sickness. As Kanji grew up, he experienced emotional conflict about those who suffered and died because of the bomb. His parents were Christians, but Kanji adopted a secular view of life. Yet he felt a growing emptiness inside. He began to study the Bible to discover for himself who Jesus is. At a spiritual turning point, Kanji put his trust in Christ, and his empty heart was filled with God’s wonderful assurance. When the Lord led him into the ministry, he cited 1 Corinthians 6:20 and said, “I was spared from death so that my life might have a higher purpose in serving God.” Lord, I thank You for salvation, For Your mercy, full and free; Take my all in consecration, Glorify Yourself in me. —Codner Knowing God gives meaning to life, and obeying God gives purpose to life. The Total Package You were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit. —1 Corinthians 6:20 Today's Scripture: Colossians 1:19-23 Our family had lived in the same house for many years, and it was time for a change of scenery. When we finally discovered a house we liked, we began negotiating for its purchase. We had to find out if the refrigerator stayed. And the stove. But we knew some things were not going to stay. The furniture didn’t come with the house. And I jokingly wondered if we could keep the cars in the garage. When you buy a house, you may not get the total package. The owner takes his belongings with him, although you may have the option to buy some of them. Many things in life have purchase options. But that’s not how it is with our faith in Jesus Christ. When Jesus purchased us with His blood on the cross, He didn’t get only a portion of us. He’s not just the Lord of the religious stuff; He owns everything. So why do we sometimes live as if parts of us don’t belong to Jesus? That’s not fair to the buyer. “You were bought at a price,” Paul wrote. “Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:20). You have bought us, and no longer Can we claim to be our own; Giving freely, naught withholding, We shall serve You, Lord, alone. —Murray Jesus gave His all; He deserves our all. Question - What does it mean that “you were bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23)? Answer: Twice the apostle Paul informed believers at Corinth, “You were bought with a price.” In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul was making a passionate appeal against sexual immorality. He concluded his argument, stating, “Or 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, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20ESV). A Christian’s body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. At salvation, the Holy Spirit takes up residence, transforming the believer’s body into a sanctified place, a home for God’s holy presence (Hebrews 10:10). In union with Christ, the Christian receives a new nature and a new identity (2 Corinthians 5:17). When a believer engages in sexual immorality, he or she violates that new creation, which was purchased at a very high price. The price we were bought with is disclosed in 1 Peter 1:18–19NLT: “For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God”. When Paul said, “You were bought with a price,” he meant that believers were purchased and paid for with the sinless, spotless perfection of Jesus Christ’s blood. Jesus Himself said that He came to give His life as a ransom for us (Matthew 20:28). Since we were obtained at such a tremendous expense, we are to use our bodies to honor God with good deeds: “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago” (Ephesians 2:10NLT). Paul reminded the Corinthians that ownership of their bodies had been transferred to Christ. They no longer had the right or freedom to use their bodies any way they wished. Just as slaves were purchased in the ancient world, we were bought with the price of Christ’s blood on the cross. We now belong to Him (1 Corinthians 7:22). We don’t have the right to rebel against our Master by using our bodies in ways He forbids. Paul repeated this teaching in 1 Corinthians 7:23, but with an emphasis on spiritual freedom: “You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of human beings.” Believers are set free from the dominion of sin through the death of Christ (Galatians 1:4). Our spiritual freedom comes at the price of Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross (1 Peter 2:24). Consequently, since we now belong to Christ, we must not let ourselves come under the control of other humans. Paul’s phrase become slaves of human beings was meant metaphorically. We are not to let human ideas and worldly systems rule over us. Legalism, for example, should not rule us; we are not bound by the rules of men. Rather, we are “responsible to God” (1 Corinthians 7:24). Jesus Christ alone is our Master. In one sense, the blood of Christ paid for our liberation, setting us free from sin; but in another inference, His sacrifice changed our ownership, making us slaves to God alone. “You were bought with a price” means God was willing to obtain possession of us on Calvary by paying the ultimate price—the blood of His own Son (Acts 20:28). GotQuestions.org Alan Redpath - THINGS GOD EXPECTS YOU TO KNOW — II - 1 CORINTHIANS 6:12–20 These chapters of Paul’s letter require very careful and prayerful treatment in public ministry. But I believe they concern matters of importance to the whole Christian church and to each one of our lives today. Paul addresses himself straightforwardly to the sin which lay at the root of the situation in the Corinthian church and gives the supreme answer to it. Victory and deliverance are yet possible. He is always seeking to point people away from their failure, to get them to look up to the Lord; Paul’s answer to every situation is Calvary. He has already dealt with the individual who was personally responsible, telling the church what they must do: deliver him to Satan for the destruction of the flesh and the saving of the soul in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then he goes on to rebuke them for their petty disputes and calls upon them to remember what they are as Christians: washed, sanctified, justified. Now we hear him saying, “Remember to Whom you belong,” and telling us to bring that relationship between the soul and the Savior to bear upon every matter of life. The whole theme of this portion of Scripture is the Christian’s attitude toward his body. His moral standards must be recognizably different from others, and he must be able not only to explain why they are necessary but also how they can be maintained. The apostle who writes this letter under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is the one who, perhaps above all others, proclaims salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ by faith alone. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves . . . not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9). This is Paul’s great gospel, that a man comes to know Jesus Christ only on simple faith in the atonement for him at Calvary. Yet the apostle Paul also relentlessly declares that no one can claim salvation and go on practicing sin like an unbeliever. If the outer life of a child of God is not made pure, it is evidence that the inward heart has never been renewed. The faith that does not produce holiness is not New Testament faith; it is not saving faith, for “without [holiness] no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14+). (ED: This Series was published in 1960 - imagine what Redpath would think now some 60 years later in 2021!) With that background in mind, let us turn to what Paul has to say concerning our relationship to our body and think of it carefully, prayerfully, and soberly in the presence of God. First of all, Paul lays down some principles of Christian liberty: “All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any” (1 Cor 6:12). That was a master stroke on Paul’s part, for that was exactly what everyone in Corinth said: “All things are lawful” was their attitude on the matter of sex relationships. That is also what the twentieth century is saying: “Have your fling! Go to the registrar, if you like, to get a little legal authority to practice what you have already been doing.” There are to be no inhibitions, no frustrations because, we are told, these things are not sin. “Express yourself! Away with the prohibitions that come from an outmoded method of life and thinking!” That is what Corinth said, and the spirit of the city had got into the church. Who can say that the spirit of what is practiced today has not penetrated our churches? Has not this very thing eaten into the vital testimony of professing Christianity today? “All things are lawful unto me,” writes Paul, “and there is not a single faculty or appetite of the body which is not for me to use lawfully.” But because we are Christians there are two things we must bear in mind as we exercise our liberty. The first is this: “All things are not expedient.” That word means “bearing together,” “helping together.” Paul is saying, therefore, that he no longer lives to himself; as a Christian he is one of a fellowship, and he can only use the appetites of the body so long as he is not hurting another. He is governed by the effect upon other people, not upon himself. Not only that, says Paul, but “I will not be brought under the power [authority] of any.” If through the unrestrained use of the body he is mastered by these things, then he is denying the right of Jesus Christ to the sovereignty of his life. Notice his simple illustration here: “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. And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power” (6:13–14). We need food for our physical appetite, but a day is coming when God is going to destroy both. That does not mean the body will be destroyed. That will mark the end of its physical desires and physical limitations, the end of its demand for physical satisfaction. Although this thing in which we live may be put in a grave, one day it will be raised and transformed into the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ. The body is not finished when it is put into a coffin; it is to be brought into the very presence of God. This body is for the Lord, for His use and not for mine. That gives us a new slant on the problem of sex, an attitude peculiarly Christian, rooted in the fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ as the “firstfruits of them that sleep.” It is based on the reality of eternity; we were not created only to live down here. Our body is God’s, and we cannot play fast and loose with it, because it is for His use. We have Christian liberty, but only in consideration of others and in carefulness with regard to the damage we might do. Our liberty is only within the fellowship of God’s people and under the authority of the Lord Jesus. The body is not to be played with; it is for Him. Here, very briefly, is the principle for Christian living. Now, in what sense is the body for the Lord? It is not only that it is going to be transformed into His likeness, but that we will be held responsible before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor 5:10+), as Paul himself tells us, for the deeds done in this body. That will put discipline and restraint into life. It will mean that certain habits must stop because I am a Christian. Certain practices that the world may consider “the thing to do” are going to have no part in my life, because I am a Christian. When we look further into this chapter, I think we will see why — it is the prevention of license. Notice again one of Paul’s great questions: “Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. What? Know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? For two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit” (1 Cor 6:15–17). May I ask you to follow me very carefully here. We who have been redeemed by His precious blood are His body here on earth, the channels through which He works. Our Lord, instead of being subject to the time and space limitations of one physical body, as when He was here on earth, now acts through the bodies of His people in whom He lives. “He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit,” says Paul. Wherever He can find a body surrendered to Him, a man or woman who will receive Him as their Lord and Sovereign, then they become His means of revealing Himself to the world around them. “Ye are members of Christ.” You will always find in Scripture that God works through a human body. That is why it was said of the Lord Jesus, “Lo, I come to do thy will, O God . . . by the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:9–10). It was in a body that man sinned; it is in a body that we sin. It was in a body that Jesus came to earth; it was in a body that He lived triumphantly and overcame where we have been overcome. It was in a body that He died and rose again, and now by His Spirit He comes to live within the body of His people. Satan always works through a body, also. The only way he can thwart God’s purposes is to get a body surrendered to his use, available for his diabolic power and ugly purposes. This is the question of choice in a Christian’s life: shall he take that which is a member of Christ and give it to some unworthy use? Shall he take his body, the means through which God’s will is to be done, and yield it to the immoral, sinful purposes of Satan? What will happen if he does? He becomes one body if he is joined to that which is sinful. But if he is joined to the Lord, he is one spirit. That means that in every physical faculty the human frame is under the control of the Lord’s Spirit. That Spirit enabled Jesus Christ to live day by day in a human body and never deviate from the will of God, never yield to all the tremendous temptations of the devil. If we are joined to Christ, we are therefore enabled by His grace to control the body. But if we join ourselves to that which is immoral, we become one flesh with that which we love, and therefore we become part of judgment, condemnation, and punishment, the inevitable result of such action. Here is the issue from the moment of our birth until the moment when we meet God face to face: either the Spirit of God is to triumph and the life of the flesh die out, or that which is of sin and of the flesh will control us that the Spirit of God ceases to speak. That tremendously solemn alternative faces everyone. Everything is lawful for the child of God, but only under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. What He permits, I will do; what He refuses, I will reject. What His Word tells me is right, I will accept; what His Word tells me is wrong, I will refuse. This is the battleground where you and I fight every day. However, lest I seem to place burdens upon you that are impossible to carry, there is something else Paul tells us, the answer to “how.” I repeat, Paul always brings his hearers back to the cross, back to the place where Jesus died for them. He is never afraid to reveal the ugliness of sin for what it is; he exposes it and drags it to the very foot of Calvary that it may be dealt with there: “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (6:19–20). Here is Paul’s plea for loyalty, and it is sufficient to make a man stand when otherwise he would fall. In making his greatest argument for holiness and purity, for power to keep the body in subjection, Paul points back again to the place where “ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, . . . but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:18–19). An infinite price, the price of His precious blood, suggests infinite pain. I can never enlarge upon the physical point of our Lord Jesus, great as that must have been. But I don’t believe that was by any means the depth of the horror of the cross. The pain of Christ was expressed in His cry, “My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” It was in being made sin for me: coming all the way down the shame and agony of the cross, enduring the judgment of a holy God on the sin that was mine, paying the price I could never pay. You who have been playing fast and loose with your body, you who have been letting the standard down and not caring, you who have allowed the spirit of the age to catch you: remember you have been bought with a price. Therefore it follows that you are not your own. The greatest tyrant in life is self: the demand for freedom from restraint, a “me first” attitude, touchiness and loneliness. But the Bible says we are not our own, and what a real comfort that is! Again I say, if you refuse to acknowledge that, you have no right to claim salvation. If you refuse the implication of His claim upon you, then what business have you to hide in the shelter of John 3:16? You cannot have the grace of God without the government of God. Real deliverance demands real holiness. The price of His precious blood demands a practical surrender of all your body. You cannot have free salvation unless, as you accept it gladly from the risen Savior, you acknowledge, “I am no longer my own; I am bought with a price.” Then if that is true, let me say this quietly but firmly: you have no right to injure God’s property. “If any man defile the temple of God, him will God destroy.” You have no right to drunkenness, immorality, uncleanness. You have no right to indulgence or laziness. You have no right to lack of control in any appetite. Furthermore, you have no right to let yourself lie waste. If you belong to the Lord, then you should be going to work for Him. You have no right to any reservations, no right to self-government. When Satan comes with all his insinuations, you must tell him that you are not your own. Every power and faculty, all the time, is altogether God’s. Paul concludes his argument by saying, “Therefore glorify God in your body.” How can you? By chastity, discipline, temperance in the way you eat and drink and sleep: whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. The feet that led you into sin should now take you to the house of God and to the place of prayer. The eyes that once looked upon things that aroused lust should now be turned upon your wonderful Savior. The ears that listened to doubtful stories should now be eager to hear the Word of God. The hands that once squandered your money should now labor in the cause of the Lord Jesus Christ. The tongue that talked so loosely and glibly should now be singing His praises and telling others of His love. Your body is the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit. Is everything in the temple singing “Glory to God!” today? I could not conclude more appropriately than to remind you of the great words of Paul in the conclusion of his letter to the church at Rome: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1).
1 Coríntios 6:19
Piper - The ultimate question is not who you are but whose you are. In his book Don't Waste Your Life Piper writes The Bible says, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1Cor 6:19, 20). I have written this book to help you taste those words as sweet instead of bitter or boring. You are in one of two groups: Either you are a Christian, or God is now calling you to be one. You would not have picked up this book if God were not at work in your life. If you are a Christian, you are not your own. Christ has bought you at the price of his own death (cp Titus 2:14+). You now belong doubly to God: He made you, and he bought you. That means your life is not your own. It is God’s. Therefore, the Bible says, “Glorify God in your body.” God made you for this (Isa 43:7). He bought you for this (1Pe 1:18+, 1Pe 2:24, 25+, 1Pe 2:21+). This is the meaning of your life. If you are not yet a Christian, that is what Jesus Christ offers: doubly belonging to God, and being able to do what you were made for. That may not sound exciting. Glorifying God may mean nothing to you. That’s why I tell my story in the first two chapters, called “Created for Joy.” It was not always plain to me that pursuing God’s glory would be virtually the same as pursing my joy. Now I see that millions of people waste their lives because they think these paths are two and not one. There is a warning. The path of God-exalting joy will cost you your life. Jesus said, “Whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” (Mk 8:35, context Mk 8:34, 35, 36, 37, 38 cp Lk 9:23, 24, 25, 26, 27) In other words, it is better to lose your life than to waste it. If you live gladly to make others glad in God, your life will be hard, your risks will be high, and your joy will be full. This is not a book about how to avoid a wounded life, but how to avoid a wasted life. Some of you will die in the service of Christ. That will not be a tragedy. Treasuring life above Christ is a tragedy. Please know that I am praying for you, whether you are a student dreaming something radical for your life, or whether you are retired and hoping not to waste the final years. If you wonder what I am praying, read Chapter 10. That is my prayer. For now, I thank God for you. My joy grows with every soul that seeks the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Remember, you have one life. That’s all. You were made for God. Don’t waste it. (Download and read John Piper's challenging book - Don't Waste Your Life) Dave