So Sunday’s discussion of 1 Corinthians 6 contained enough significant material, I felt it merited additional post. If you’d like to read more on what 1 Corinthians 6 doesn’t say about modern LGBTQ relationships, click here. Otherwise, continue on.
The esteemed Scottish poet and minister George MacDonald is often quoted as saying, “I don’t have a soul. I am a soul; I have a body.” I’m convinced Paul would have cocked an eyebrow at MacDonald and said, “What the hell are you talking about?”
Ancient Greek philosophy presented a stark contrast between the physical and the spiritual, with the physical being imperfect and temporary, while the spiritual is sublime and eternal. We talked a little about this back in our Hebrews study, but this commonly held Greek philosophical view (which no doubt influenced the Corinthian Christians) wouldn’t have sat well with a 1st Century Jew like Paul. In the Hebrew tradition, body and spirit and mind were certainly distinct from one another, but they weren’t wholly separate entities to be fully severed at death. Rather, they were all aspects of a person in need of full redemption and resurrection. Paul will speak to this resurrection more in chapter 15, but here in chapter 6, he has a bone to pick with the Corinthians.
Influenced by the popular philosophy of their day, the Corinthian Christians see themselves as redeemed souls trapped within polluted sin sacks they will cast off at death. Their bodies are not gifts or masterpieces or wonderlands; they’re encumbrances. Because the Corinthians see their bodies this way, they have a choice: they can completely reject the needs of their bodies to focus on the soul, or they can go ahead and indulge their bodies since these bodies will just be cast aside anyway. If you’ve been attending our study or following these posts, it probably won’t shock you the Corinthians opted for indulgence— food, wine, sex, and all of it in excess. “After all,” the Corinthians thought, “if our souls are forgiven, why not let our bodies do whatever?”
Paul mocks this choice in verse 13: “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” No! It’s not just our souls which belong to God; we should honor God with our bodies as well because God made them and loves them. We should avoid excesses of food and sex which may be harmful to us. Just because we can do all the indulgent stuff doesn’t mean we should. We should take care of our bodies just as we take care of our souls, and we should approach the two as if there is no separating them. Paul puts it this way:
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
Hear this good news:
God made your body, and God loves your body!
God intended good for your body, and God wants you to take care of your body.
You are neither a “soul with a body”
nor a “body with a soul.”
You are a whole person with body, mind, heart, and soul,
and all four require maintenance and love.
You are God’s temple,
beloved by Christ and inhabited by the Holy Spirit,
so make sure you’re treating yourself like it!