1 Corinthians 6:12-20 meaning

Sex is not merely physical but spiritual also; sexual sin hurts us spiritually. It is not that we need to follow rules for the sake of rule-keeping, but to realize we are, in our essence, like temples who contain Christ. We should not defile our temples with sin. We are sons of God who have been declared righteous and raised from spiritual slavery. We are not our own gods; God is God. He rescued us from the slavery of sin to live as reflections of who He is, which entails living purely with our bodies, which is to our own benefit and fulfills part of our calling.

In 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, Paul the Apostle addresses how believers are meant to steward their physical bodies as people who belong to Jesus Christ. Paul writes this letter to the church in Corinth, a wealthy Roman-era port city situated on the narrow isthmus connecting northern and southern Greece, with two ports and therefore constant traffic, trade, and cultural influences.

Paul confronts a Greek mindset in which many people treated bodily appetites as morally "neutral." So far in this letter Paul has dealt with divisions arising within the church over which leader to follow (1 Corinthians 1:11-13). He has dealt with sexual immorality and wanton living (1 Corinthians 5:1, 6:8-10). He has dealt with division arising from disputes between members within the church (1 Corinthians 6:1-7). Now he returns to the topic of sexual immorality and argues both biblical/spiritual and practical reasons it should be strictly avoided.

It is important to note that the New Testament is consistent in encouraging robust sexual relationships within marriage. We can see this in 1 Corinthians 7:5 and Hebrews 13:4. It is also implied in this chapter, as Paul will assert, one reason to avoid sexual immorality is because sexual union has a deep, spiritual dimension. This means that sexual relationship within marriage is a component of a healthy spiritual walk.

Paul begins with an assertion that All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything (v.12). In saying All things are lawful for me Paul asserts that in Christ, law-keeping is not what produces righteousness. As Paul asserts in Romans, "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes" (Romans 10:4).

When Paul speaks of the law, he is speaking of God's Law. This would include any law God has made throughout time, including those He gave humanity prior to the Mosaic Law, which He gave to Moses on Mt. Sinai. Paul states in Romans, "I would not have come to know sin except through the Law" then goes on to mention that the Law says "You shall not covet," quoting one of the Ten Commandments (Romans 7:7). He then says that sin produced sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, leading him to death (Romans 7:8-9).

But through Christ we died to the Law, having been placed into His death (Romans 7:6). Having been freed from the Law, all things are now lawful. This is because Jesus has died for all our sins. The power of the Law to bring us death is broken through the cross of Christ. All the Law's requirements against us were nailed to the cross with Him (Colossians 2:14). However, even though all things are lawful because the power of the Law to bring us death has been broken, not all things are profitable.

Paul desires the Corinthians to understand their true self-interest. It is in their true self-interest to pursue life rather than death. Sin disconnects us from God's design, bringing us destruction. The world sells death as life. But the ways of the world and its lusts are a broad road that leads to destruction. The way to life is difficult, because it requires us to set aside self and the world’s pleasures, but it connects us with God's design, which is our only path to fulfillment (Matthew 7:13-14).

The world, and all that is in it, says our self-interest is to pursue desires: the lust of the flesh and eyes and the boastful pride of life (1 John 2:15-16). But this all leads to death, it separates us from God's design and therefore robs us of the joy that comes from fellowship with God and with others (Romans 6:23). When Paul says I will not be mastered by anything, he alludes to the addictive nature of sin.

When we pursue desires, it leads to more desire. Eventually the desire becomes our master. This is in the progression of God’s "wrath" that He pours out on sin in Romans 1:24, 26, 28 by giving us over to our desires. As Paul says in Romans, sin becomes our master if we serve it:

"Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?"
(Romans 6:16)

God sets us free from sin, giving us the power to choose to walk in the Spirit. However, it is still our choice whether to walk in the Spirit or the flesh. As Paul states in Galatians:

"For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another."
(Galatians 5:13)

We see that being in Christ gives us the power to choose the Spirit, but it is still our choice whether to follow the Spirit or the flesh. Paul argues that following the Spirit is highly profitable while following the flesh leads to destruction. Do we have the ability to choose sin? Yes, we are free from the law and can sin. Does that mean we should? No, that leads to addiction, loss of mental health, and loss of rewards in the age to come. These are all bad results that are highly unprofitable.

Choosing what produces spiritual fruit and eternal reward is profitable. What merely gratifies in the moment is not profitable. What is truly profitable is measured by kingdom outcomes: holiness, love, unity, clarity of witness, and a conscience trained to prefer God’s will. All these things lead to a good account at the judgement of Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11-15, 2 Corinthians 5:10).

Paul now speaks of the temporal nature of bodily desires: Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both of them (v. 13a). Apparently in the new earth, food will not be necessary for life (Revelation 21:1). We will have resurrected bodies, what Paul calls a "spiritual body" (1 Corinthians 15:44). That our resurrected bodies will be substantially different is apparent since the new earth will be as bright as the sun with God’s unveiled glory, and we will live and not die (Revelation 22:5).

Paul's point is that fleshly desires are temporary. So instead of feeding what will not last, we should sow to the Spirit and invest in what is permanent (Galatians 6:8-9). Deeds done in service to Christ will be greatly rewarded in the age to come (2 Corinthians 5:10-11). Conversely, all we gain here will be left behind, and will ultimately burn (2 Peter 3:12). Notwithstanding that the body has desires, that is not its primary purpose. Paul now asserts:

Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body (v. 13b).

We eat to satisfy the body's hunger. We seek immorality to satisfy sexual desires. However, the purpose of the body transcends mere desire. Paul asserts that our body is for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. In Chapter 3, Paul asserted that our body is a temple of God because the Spirit dwells within us (1 Corinthians 3:16). He will assert that again in this chapter in verse 19.

That means our body is a place where God abides, through His Spirit, and is therefore His. So, our body is for Him, and He is for our body because He chooses to dwell within it. This means our body is not disposable. It is not morally irrelevant. It belongs in a relationship: for the Lord. And the phrase the Lord is for the body declares that Jesus cares about embodied human life—He took on flesh, He rose bodily, and He intends to redeem bodily existence, not discard it (John 2:19-21, Philippians 2:5-9, 1 Corinthians 15:44).

Paul grounds this claim of God’s care about our bodies in resurrection reality: Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power (v.14).

The believer's future is not a disembodied cloud-life; it is bodily resurrection. Just as Jesus was raised, so shall we be raised. That gives the body great significance. It is a temple to be cared for with great intentionality. The body is headed toward glory, not meaninglessness (Romans 8:11).

This also means the believer's bodily choices are never private, in the sense that it affects only us. The Holy Spirit is part of all we do. If God will raise our bodies, then our bodies are included in discipleship. Paul is building a perspective where we will see that it is greatly in our true self-interest to bring sexuality, appetites, and habits under Christ's lordship. This is not to diminish happiness but to live in our true design and find lasting joy.

In following Christ, we can avoid addiction and loss of mental health (Romans 1:26, 28). We avoid this negative outcome while protecting joy and aligning with what is true and life-giving.

This resurrection promise that the Lord will raise us up through His power also challenges Corinth’s hedonistic culture. In a world that often treated the body as a tool for pleasure, Paul says the body is destined for God’s power to be raised up. That future dignity calls for present dignity. Resurrection is not merely comfort after death; it is motivation for holiness now.

Paul now joins what is individual and physical with what is spiritual and corporate: Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? (v.15).

Paul does not speak as if believers are loosely associated with Jesus. He describes a real union—believers belong to Christ so intimately that their bodies are described as His members. This raises the stakes of sexual sin: it is not merely "breaking a rule." It is acting out of harmony with a sacred union. It is a betrayal not only of our membership with the body of Christ, but also of our true identity in Christ.

It is important to note that it is not only our souls, lives, or minds that are members of Christ. It is our bodies that are members of Christ. It is true that in our bodies dwells the flesh. But it is also true that in our bodies dwells the Spirit of God. Our union with Christ makes our bodies also members of Christ.

Paul now provides a perspective that illustrates the perversity of immorality: Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? (v.15).

Paul's answer is absolute: May it never be! (v.15). Paul is calling the Corinthians to see themselves not as autonomous individuals, but as people whose lives—including the body—are completely intertwined with their Savior.

Paul explains why sexual immorality carries special gravity: Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? (v.16a). Sexual union forms a real one body bond. Even if the culture tries to call it casual, scripture claims that sexual union is a deeply spiritual act. This passage indicates that when we sexually join with another body we also join with them spiritually.

He anchors this claim of oneness in God’s design from His original design: For He says, “THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH” (v.16b). This quotes Genesis 2:24, and it frames sex as something designed to unite. Joining a prostitute may be intended as an act to merely satisfy, but it does much more. It unites two spiritual beings and makes them one. This indicates that God’s design for marriage and sexual union are inseparable.

Genesis 2:24 applies to biblical marriage. It was first spoken by Adam, and was later repeated by Christ to describe God's design for marriage (Matthew 19:4-6). Paul also quotes Genesis 2:24 in Ephesians 5:30-32, where he says "we are members of His body" then quotes Genesis 2:24. Paul cites a "mystery" that infers the church is spiritually one with Christ in a similar manner that two people joining in sexual intercourse in marriage are one.

The picture is that when believers unite their bodies in ways that contradict God's design, we fracture fellowship with God and others and act against our true spiritual identity.

Paul then offers the positive alternative: But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him (v.17). The Greek verb translated joins himself is present tense, passive participle. That describes an action happening to someone (passive), in the present, on an ongoing basis. The passive nature indicates submission. The contrast is living in submission to Christ in oneness with Him as opposed to pursuing oneness with a harlot. It is obvious that oneness with Christ is the superior option.

The believer's deepest bond is not with appetite, pleasure, or self-expression, but with the Lord Himself. Walking in the Spirit is walking in oneness with Christ, which is fulfilling God's design for us. In Ephesians 5:31-32, Paul says oneness in marriage pictures the great mystery which is Christ and His church. Scripture pictures living according to the world's standards as spiritual adultery (James 4:4).

In 1 Thessalonians 4:3, Paul asserts that God's will for our lives is to be sanctified, which is to live apart from the lusts of the world. The first example he gives of what sanctification looks like is to "flee sexual immorality" (1 Thessalonians 4:3).

Believers have an inner battle between what Paul calls the "flesh" and God's Spirit (Galatians 5:17). The way to live by the Spirit is to "walk by the Spirit" (Galatians 5:25). When we choose the flesh, we display fruits of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21). When we choose the Spirit, we display the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). The true identity of a believer is presented in this verse:

"Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."
(Galatians 5:24)

All believers "belong to Christ Jesus" which means they are in Christ and are new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). Paul is showing the shame of immorality—everything we do is done while we are indwelt by the Spirit of God.

Immorality is typically done in secret, at night, under cover. But Jesus is there (Matthew 28:20). He is part of it, "Would you take Jesus with you to a prostitute?" Shifting our mindset to living as one in Christ helps us reframe sexual temptation from life-giving (which it is not) to death-producing (which it is). 

The deepest desire of a believer is connected with their true identity in Christ, but our initial desires for action come from our flesh. This is evidenced in experience, but also in this verse:

"For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please."
(Galatians 5:17)

We see in this verse from Galatians that our initial "doing" comes from the flesh, but our deeper desire, what we "please" or wish to do, is to follow the Spirit. Having a mental model that immorality and exploiting others leads to death helps us make the choice to set aside the desire of the flesh and choose to walk in the Spirit. As Paul says in Romans 8:13: "for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live."

The means to put to death, to disable, to disempower the flesh is accomplished "by the Spirit." It is the Spirit that gives us the resurrection power of Jesus to resist sin.

And thinking of ourselves as united with Christ, as one with Him, helps us realize the spiritual battle taking place within us. It is vital for us to learn to make choices that are life-giving. Paul is leading us to understand that it is in our true self-interest to make the right choice. Immorality leads to self-harm.

By elevating the reality that we are one with Christ through the Spirit, Paul is elevating the shame in participating in immorality. He elevated the reality that we will all stand before Christ's judgment seat to have our deeds evaluated in 1 Corinthians 3:11-15. The solution follows: Flee immorality (v. 18a).

This is a short sentence that is full of action. The Greek word translated flee is used to describe Joseph and Mary fleeing to Egypt to escape from Herod. After being warned in a dream, Joseph packed up immediately and left while it was still dark (Matthew 2:13-14). Mark 14:52 uses the word to describe a young man who pulled himself out of his robe, which was held by those who seized him, and escaped naked.

In each case the image is of immediate and vigorous action. Following are some proverbs that echo Paul's sentiment, and might provide the basis for his assertion that the solution is to flee immorality:

• Proverbs 5:8 says the way to flee immorality is to stay completely away from it.
• Proverbs 4:14-15 urges us to completely stay away from the wicked.
• Proverbs 6:32 says, "The one who commits adultery with a woman is lacking sense; He who would destroy himself does it."

The proverb that asserts that the one who commits adultery is destroying himself is mirrored in the next verse:

Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body (v. 18).

Paul adds an additional reason to avoid immorality—it leads to self-destruction. It is a sin against his own body. Sexual immorality creates self-harm. Sexual sin distinguishes itself among all the sins as being cited for particular damage to one's body.

Paul asserts that every other sin that a man commits is outside the body. Sin leads to death, which is separation from God's good design for us, and from fellowship with Him and others, regardless of what form it takes. But sexual sin is also a sin against our own body.

We can note the propensity for disease to be sexually transmitted, and this transmission is largely mitigated through monogamy. We can also note the addictive nature of immorality. We see from the progression in Romans 1:24, 26, 28 that the progression of sin, when not disrupted by repentance, ultimately leads to "a depraved mind" (Romans 1:28).

The Greek word translated "depraved" in Romans 1:28 is rendered elsewhere "disqualified" (1 Corinthians 9:27), "fail" (2 Corinthians 13:5), "unapproved" (2 Corinthians 13:7), "rejected" (2 Timothy 3:8) and "worthless" (Titus 1:16). The picture is that giving in to sexual sin leads us down a path that steals from us the opportunity to walk in the ways of Christ and inherit the immense rewards He has for those who love Him and follow His ways (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Paul's concern for the Corinthians as their spiritual father is that they understand the immense damage sin does to them. Sexual immorality was normalized behavior within Greek culture. The idea of the damage it does to our own bodies might have been novel to many of them. God’s commands are given in order to guide us into harmony with His design for us. The path to true fulfillment lies in aligning with God’s design for us—it leads to life, which is connection to God’s design. To live apart from His design is death.

Paul's command from verse 18 to Flee immorality makes all the more sense when we understand that fleeing immorality is like fleeing from a fire in the house; both will harm us. To flee immorality is to flee harm against our own bodies. This echoes the pattern of godly wisdom elsewhere—like Joseph fleeing sexual temptation (Genesis 39:12).

Paul then appeals to something sacred the Corinthians must remember: Or do you not know your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you (v.19a). In Corinth, temples to pagan gods were everywhere—visible symbols of worship and allegiance. Paul says, in effect, "You are the temple of the true and living God because God has chosen to dwell in you." That means your body is not common property; it is holy space.

This verse makes it clear that all believers in Jesus are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. This occurs at the moment of belief. The pattern was set in Acts 10:44-45. The first Gentiles to believe had the Holy Spirit poured out on them. Peter confirmed this at the council of Jerusalem in Acts 15:8.

He continues: the Spirit who is in you is the Spirit whom you have from God (v.19b). The indwelling Spirit is not an achievement. It is a gift from God. God has come near, taken residence, and made the believer’s body part of His dwelling place through His Spirit.

Paul then states the ownership issue plainly, adding and that you are not your own? (v.19c).

Human instincts may resist this idea, but the gospel insists on it: believers in Jesus belong to Christ. We are not our own. Rather, we belong to Christ. This is a great thing, because if we were our own we would be all alone. A world full of "I belong to myself" people would be a completely atomized world without belonging. The need to belong to something is observable as a fundamental human need. This verse tells us that as believers, we have that need fully satisfied; we belong to Christ.

God freely gives us belonging to His family through Christ. We are not oppressed slaves. Rather we are redeemed people who have been rescued from sin's tyranny and been brought into life. This belonging is the foundation for true freedom—freedom from being mastered by our appetites.

Finally, Paul gives the reason believers are not their own: For you have been bought with a price (v.20a). The price of our redemption is the priceless life of Christ—His blood and His cross (1 Peter 1:18-19). Paul does not motivate holiness with shame alone; he motivates it with the knowledge that our redemption was purchased with a price.

Then comes the conclusion that gathers the whole passage into a single aim: therefore glorify God in your body (v.20b). To glorify God is to make His nature visible. It is to live in a way that displays His goodness, wisdom, and beauty to others (John 15:8). The temple that is our body becomes a venue for worship. All we do as unto the Lord is worship to Him. All we do in walking in the Spirit, exhibiting the fruits of the Spirit, honor God through abiding in Him.

Paul's vision is not "escape physicality," but "redeem physicality." God made humans male and female (Genesis 1:27). He created them to marry and become one (Genesis 2:24). Sexual union is a holy, spiritual experience. It is part of a great mystery that represents the relationship between Christ and His church, which is also His body. When we redeem sexual relationship within marriage, we elevate holiness, and when we violate God’s design through immorality, we sin against ourselves.

In this admonition Paul calls the Corinthian believers, and by extension all believers who come after, to live up to the lofty calling to which we have been called. In that calling we can gain the fulfillment of our original design, which is to reign with Christ as servant leaders. This is the inheritance of all believers. But this is an inheritance that can be squandered, as pictured by Esau. Paul desires the best for his spiritual children, which is why he speaks to them directly, exhorting them to have renewed minds that perceive correctly that the logical thing to do is to be living sacrifices unto God (Romans 12:1).