Most of us like to keep a clean house. We don’t just throw our trash onto the floors. You certainly wouldn’t see that in some of the grand houses of the world, such as the White House or Windsor Castle! I’m sure that Christians would be quite upset, even appalled, if they went into the great cathedrals around the world, or even just a humble place of worship, and found open bags of garbage just strewn all over, including up by the altar! We just wouldn’t tolerate that, would we? In our Scripture today from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he speaks of a certain temple that some Christians have allowed to become polluted with all sorts of vile garbage. Let’s take a look at what Paul is talking about, and see whether we might be one of those Christians.
As our Scripture opens, Paul gives a list of some rather grievous sins, sins that no Christian would want to admit in taking part in (vs. 9-10). The Apostle then reminded his readers that some of them had taken part in committing one or more of these sins before they were saved. However, after coming to the Lord Jesus and getting saved, they were washed and sanctified from those sins.
Paul wanted to clear up some faulty thinking and beliefs that were starting to be spread around in the Corinthian church, and other churches, as well. This faulty thinking was that if God forgave each of the sins that a believer committed, both when they were initially saved, and then on throughout the remainder of their life, then what is the harm in continuing to sin? They said that God’s grace and mercy will forgive them every time they commit a sin, so why not just indulge in their favorite sins. These Christians said that they had liberty, had freedom to do what they wanted. They stated that they were not under the Old Testament Law any more, and were free to do what they wanted. Paul stated here in this passage that this thinking is not correct or godly.
Today we have people who claim to be Christians, and who think similarly. They say they are free to do whatever they want. They say that many of the activities that the Bible calls sinful are no longer so, and that God will bless anything that they feel like doing, that all is good, that their favorite sins are no longer sins. God’s Word here in our passage says that this is faulty thinking. We read in our passage that those who say they are Christians but who persist in these practices, with no sign of remorse, will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
The freedom of a Christian does not mean that we can do anything we want. Trying to live free from all control is a guaranteed disaster. Just because Jesus has taken away our sin does not give us freedom to go on doing what we know is wrong (vs. 12). Self control is important. We have a lot of freedom, but we should not use that freedom to compromise our Christian walk. We should be consistently asking ourselves if our actions will honor and glorify God.
In this Scripture passage the Apostle Paul specifically highlights sexual immorality, naming it not only as a sin, but one that is a sin against the body, one that defiles us (vs. 15-18). Many people today say that this is an outdated prohibition, and that there is nothing wrong with any type of sexual activity. However, God, in His divinely inspired Word, the Bible, says otherwise. The Holy Spirit could never sanction the sin of fornication or immorality. Sexual immorality is a black and white issue in the Bible. No shades of gray anywhere here!
In closing, Paul reminded the Corinthians, and us today, that no one owns their body. It either belongs to God or is enslaved by sin. When a person is saved several things happen. Their sins are forgiven them, their names are written in the Book of Life, they are adopted into God’s family, and as is mentioned here, the Holy Spirit comes to indwell that individual (vs. 19). Our bodies become the Temple of the Holy Spirit. Everything that had to do with the Tabernacle, and then later the Temple in the Old Testament had to be completely sanctified and purified in a specific manner. Our bodies are now the Temple of the Holy Spirit, and should not be used for unrighteousness.
In other words, Paul is telling us to get all the garbage out. No one would allow the grand cathedrals of Europe to become the village garbage dump. You don’t see garbage trucks backing up to the doors and emptying all the filth in there! Likewise, we should not be partaking of any of the sins listed at the beginning of our Scripture. Remember, the Lord Jesus paid a price, that of His precious Blood, to purchase you (vs. 20). You are valuable to your Heavenly Father. Trust in His Word, not your feelings, and allow the Holy Spirit to change your perception. Grace does not give us a license to sin, but rather it gives liberty to live a holy life.
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