1 Corinthians 6:19

What! know ye not, &c.— This question is repeated six times in this chapter, and seems to carry with it a very strong irony on their pretence to extraordinary wisdom. See ch. 1 Corinthians 4:10. Locke, Wetstein, and Cicero de Leg. lib. 1: ad fin.

Inferences.—How great a reproach do we bring on our Christian profession by so immoderate an attachment to our secular interests! How much does the family of our common Father suffer, while brother goes to law with brother!—What are these little interests of mortal life, that the heirs of salvation, by whom angels are to be judged, should wrangle about them, and for the sake of them do wrong, and that even to their brethren! 1 Corinthians 6:1. Men had need, where such a temper prevails, to examine themselves, and take heed that they be not deceived; for though good men may fall into some degrees of this evil, through negligence, mistake, or the infirmities of our common nature; yet certainly it looks too much like the character of those, concerning whom the Apostle testifies that they should not inherit the kingdom of God, 1 Corinthians 6:9.

We may observe, that in the catalogue here given are contained, not only the most infamous and enormous offenders, but some who perhaps may be tempted, because of their freedom from flagitious crimes, to think much better of themselves than they ought. We find here the effeminate and covetous, the revilers and extortioners, ranked with adulterers and fornicators, with thieves and drunkards, with idolaters and sodomites. We can never be secure from danger of falling into the greatest sins, till we learn to guard against the least; or rather till we think no evil small, viewing every sin in its contradiction to the nature of God, and in the sad aspect that it wears with regard to an eternal state.

But how striking is it to reflect, that when the Apostle is speaking of persons of such infamous character, he should be able to add, in his address to his Christian brethren at Corinth, (1 Corinthians 6:11.) and such were some of you! Who must not adore the riches of divine grace?—Were such as these the best of the heathen world?—Were such as these prepared by their distinguished virtues to receive further assistance?—Let us pay our homage to the all-conquering grace of God; and let the greatest sinners hence learn not to despair of salvation, when made sincerely desirous of being washed and sanctified, as well as justified in the name of our Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

It is that Name, it is that Spirit alone, which accomplishes wonders like these; and, blessed be God, all the wonders of this kind were not exhausted in those early ages; but some have been reserved for us, on whom the end of the world is come. The Gospel has had its triumphs in our own days, and they shall be renewed in those of our children: only let none hence presume to turn the grace of God into wantonness, lest, instead of being among those who are made trophies of the divine mercy, they should perish with the multitude of the ungodly world.

With what incomparable advantages does our holy religion, in this respect peculiarly excellent, enforce all the lessons of moral virtue which it teaches!—With what holy disdain should we look on the baits of sense, and the pollutions which are in the world through lust, if we seriously and often reflected on these two things,—that our bodies are the members of Christ, and that they are the temples of the Holy Ghost!—It should be our unwearied care, as it will be our peculiar happiness, that they may not only nominally, but really be such; that by a living faith we may be united to the Lord, so as to become one Spirit with him, animated by that Spirit which resides in him, and dwells in all who are truly his, 1 Corinthians 6:15.

Whenever we are tempted to alienate ourselves from the service of God, we should reflect upon the price with which we are bought; 1 Corinthians 6:20.—That great, that important price, which we should never think of, but with secret shame, as well as with love and admiration. O Lord! hast thou paid such a ransom for me, and shall I act as if I thought even this not enough?—as if thou hadst acquired only a partial and imperfect right to me, and I might divide myself between thee and strangers, between thee and thine enemies?—Oh may I be entirely thine, and make it the business of the latest day and hour of my life, to glorify thee with my body, and with my spirit, which are, and ought to be, for ever thine!

REFLECTIONS.—1st, The Apostle proceeds to censure another grievous abuse among them. A litigious spirit prevailed, and, to the shame of their holy profession, brother went to law against brother, and that before the unbelievers, the heathen magistrates.

1. He rebukes them for thus going to law among themselves, and that too, as appears, 1 Corinthians 6:2; 1 Corinthians 6:7 on matters of small importance, which, without great detriment to themselves or families, they might have quietly passed by, and borne the loss of, rather than seek a litigious redress: and, worst of all, they chose rather to carry their causes before the heathen tribunals, than refer them to the decision of their own members, the saints of God; thereby giving the enemy occasion to triumph in their quarrels.

2. He suggests, as an aggravation of their fault, the honour and dignity to which the saints of God must shortly be exalted, as assessors with the eternal Judge on his throne, while fallen angels and a guilty world stand at his bar, and receive from his lips their eternal doom. And if so, how strange must it be that they should not now be able to judge of the smallest matters, and determine concerning the trivial affairs of this life. (See the Annotations.)
3. With a warm expostulation on their folly and perverseness, he points out to them a remedy for the evil. I speak to your shame. In what an unbecoming and unchristian manner do you act? Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? No, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren? Where they boasted of such high attainments in wisdom, it would be very strange if they could not find a better umpire of their disputes among the whole body of their church, than to have recourse to Gentile tribunals. There was therefore, no doubt, a fault in this matter; and far better was it for them to suffer some wrong and loss, than to seek redress in such a way. But, instead of this meekness, patience, and forgiveness, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren, to the great dishonour of your Christian profession. Note; All differences among Christians should be amicably determined by their brethren: at least, in lesser matters, it were better to quit our right than have recourse to the wrangling bar.

2nd, The Apostle, having warned them against some particular offences, passes on to enumerate a black catalogue, of which they had formerly been guilty, and under the power of which, whoever continued to walk, he never could inherit the kingdom of God.
1. The sins mentioned are fornication, idolatry, adultery, effeminacy and lasciviousness, sodomy, theft, avarice, drunkenness, reviling, extortion, crimes which, if indulged, must necessarily exclude the soul from any part in the kingdom of grace, and for ever banish it from the presence of God in glory.
2. He warns them against all self-delusion in this matter. There was a lie in their right hand, if they flattered themselves with any vain imaginations that they had yet hope towards God, while walking in such abominations; which then, now, and for ever, if not forsaken and forgiven, must inevitably destroy both body and soul in hell.
3. He reminds them of the blessed change which had passed upon them, that they might not again return unto folly. Such were some of you. But glory be to God's rich and boundless grace, ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God: ye are washed in the Fountain opened for sin and uncleanness: by the atoning Blood of the adored Redeemer your iniquities are pardoned, great and aggravated as they were; and you are not only accounted righteous, but made pure in heart by the mighty operation of the Divine Spirit, and in body, soul, and spirit renewed, that you might be made meet for the inheritance among the saints in light. Note; (1.) The greatest crimes exclude none from salvation who fly to the atoning blood of Jesus. In him there is grace abounding for the chief of sinners. (2.) All who are justified by grace, are in a blessed measure sanctified by the Spirit. We deceive ourselves, if we think that we have an interest in the one, if we do not experience the effectual operation of the other. (3.) Nothing is so strong an argument to a genuine Christian to fly from sin, as the remembrance of the mercy that he has tasted, and of the ransom which has been paid.

3rdly, As some at Corinth appeared to have too light thoughts of the sin of fornication which the Apostle ranked under the damning sins, and seem to have set it on a footing only with the meats forbidden to the Gentile converts, (Acts 15:29.) the Apostle strongly sets himself to shew their dangerous error. With regard to meats forbidden by the Levitical law, or offered to idols, all things are lawful unto me, which Christ has not forbidden, and are not in their own nature sinful; but all things are not expedient; even in indifferent matters, for the sake of others, it is right to forego our Christian liberty. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any, so as to have my affections enslaved by them, or to have my conscience subjected to any human arbitrary authority. Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats; all wholesome food is designed for our use; but these are things of trivial consequence, since God shall shortly destroy both it and them. In the eternal world the glorified will not need these bodily refreshments, for they shall hunger no more, nor thirst any more: but respecting fornication, the matter is very different; though the belly is not at all defiled by meats, the body is by fornication.

He urges this matter by various arguments.
1. Now the body is not for fornication; it was not made to be prostituted to impurity; but for the Lord, to be employed for his glory, and the Lord for the body, who, as the bridegroom of his church and people, requires their bodies as well as souls to be under his holy government. And,

2. God hath both raised up the Lord Jesus from the dead, that his quickened body might be the pledge and earnest of our resurrection; and will also raise up us by his own power: our bodies therefore, which, if we be faithful to his grace, shall be fashioned like to his glorious body, ought not now to be polluted by fornication and uncleanness.

3. Know ye not, that your bodies are the members of Christ? Through faith we are united to Christ as our living head, and compose a part of his body mystical: shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? How horrid the very suggestion! and every Christian heart, with detestation of the thought, cannot but cry, God forbid! What, know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot, is one body? Such an unhallowed connection is most contrary to the union of the heart with Jesus: for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. A fornicator becomes united to a harlot, and not to Christ; but he that is joined unto the Lord, in real vital union of heart and person, is one spirit, actuated and influenced by the same divine Spirit, which in all its fulness dwells in our exalted head. Therefore flee fornication, as one of the highest indignities that we can offer to the Lord, of whose body we are members. Note; In temptations to lewdness, flight is often the only preservative.

4. Every other sin that a man doeth, is without the body, and terminates upon an object without himself, not immediately defiling the body, though it brings guilt upon his soul; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body; not only offending against God and his neighbour, but immediately contaminating his own flesh by such an abomination.

5. What shall I farther urge? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God? And, since he hath been pleased to take up his abode in your hearts, ye are not your own, but bound to yield yourselves to his will and guidance, and to do nothing which should provoke the divine Inhabitant to quit his temple with abhorrence.

6. For, to finish with one argument more, ye are bought with a price, even the amazing price of a Redeemer's blood, from the curse of the law, and the bondage of corruption, that you might be restored to the service and enjoyment of the blessed God. Therefore, since this was one great end of your redemption, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's, nor dare to alienate your affections from him, or to dishonour your bodies by fornication, which should be employed in his blessed work, and wholly and unreservedly devoted to his glory.