1 Corinthians 6:17

But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. ONE SPIRIT - with Him. In union with a harlot, the fornicator becomes one "body" with her, not one "spirit;" for the spirit-the normal organ of the Holy Spirit in man-is in the carnal so overlaid with what is sensual that it is in abeyance. The believer not only has his body sanctified by union with Christ's body, but also becomes "one spirit" with Him (John 15:1; ; : cf. )....

17._He that is joined to the Lord. _He has added this to show that our connection with Christ is closer than that of a husband and wife, and that the former, accordingly, must be greatly preferred before the latter, so that it must be maintained with the utmost chastity and fidelity. For if he who is joined to a woman in marriage ought not to have illicit connection with an harlot, much more heinous were this crime in believers, who are not merely _one flesh _with Christ, but also _one spirit _Thus there is a comparison between greater and less....

12-20 Some among the Corinthians seem to have been ready to say, All things are lawful for me. This dangerous conceit St. Paul opposes. There is a liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, in which we must stand fast. But surely a Christian would never put himself into the power of any bodily appetite. The body is for the Lord; is to be an instrument of righteousness to holiness, therefore is never to be made an instrument of sin. It is an honour to the body, that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead; and it will be an honour to our bodies, that they will be raised. The hope of a resurrection to glory, should keep Christians from dishonouring their bodies by fleshly lusts. And if the soul be united to Christ by faith, the whole man is become a member of his spiritual body. Other vices may be conquered in fight; that here cautioned against, only by flight. And vast multitudes are cut o...

Verse 17. _IS ONE SPIRIT._] He who is united to God, by faith in Christ Jesus, receives his Spirit, and becomes a partaker of the Divine nature. Who can change such a relationship for communion with a harlot; or for any kind of sensual gratification? He who can must be far and deeply fallen!...

BUT HE THAT IS JOINED TO THE LORD - The true Christian, united by faith to the Lord Jesus; see John 15:1 ff. IS ONE SPIRIT - That is, in a sense similar to that in which a man and his wife are one body. It is not to be taken literally; but the sense is, that there is a close and intimate union; they are united in feeling, spirit, intention, disposition. The argument is beautiful. It is, “As the union of souls is more important than that of bodies; as that union is more lasting, dear, and enduring than any union of body with body can be, and as our union with him is with a Spirit pure and holy, it is improper that we should sever that tie, and break that sacred bond, by being joined to a harlot. The union with Christ is more intimate, entire, and pure than that can be between a man and woman; and that union should be regarded

EXPOSITION 1 CORINTHIANS 6:1 _Litigation before heathen courts forbidden._ 1 CORINTHIANS 6:1 DARE ANY OF YOU? rather, _Dare any one of you? _It is in St. Paul's view an _audacious _defiance of Christian duties to seek from the heathen the justice due from brother to brother. A MATTER; some ground of civil dispute. AGAINST ANOTHER; _i.e. _against another Christian. When one of the litigants was a heathen, Christians were allowed to go before heathen law courts, because no other remedy was possible. GO TO LAW BEFORE THE UNJUST. The "unjust" is here used for "Gentiles," because it at once suggests a reason against the dereliction

HE THAT IS JOINED UNTO THE LORD,.... As every elect person is; his whole person, soul and body, is united to the Lord Jesus Christ, to his whole person, as God-man and Mediator; even as Adam and Eve, whose marriage was a representation of the marriage between Christ and his church, were personally united, and were called by the same name; and as the whole human nature of Christ, consisting of a true body and a reasonable soul, was united to the person of the Son of God; and as appears from the influence that union with Christ has upon the redemption, sanctification, and resurrection of the body. The ground, foundation, and bond of which union is, not the Spirit on Christ's part; for the Spirit being received as a spirit of regeneration, sanctification, c. is a fruit of union to Christ, and an evidence of it nor faith on our part, which as a grace is not ours, but the gift of God, and is...

CHAPTER 6 __ 1. Concerning Disputes before Heathen Courts. (1 Corinthians 6:1). 2. The Holiness of Believers; Their Bodies the Temples of the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 6:8). Instead of settling their disputes amongst themselves, as it becomes the Saints of God, they brought their difficulties before a heathen court. In doing this they had lost sight of the dignity of their calling. The Saints of God are to reign with Christ and share His glory; they shall judge the world and angels in that day. Going to a heathen court to have these matters settled by one who was not a child of God, but unrighteous, was unworthy of them; they were making known their own shame before the world. If they had remembered that coming day of glory, when as Saints they were to par

IMPURITY IS NO TRUE EXPRESSION OF CHRISTIAN FREEDOM, BUT INCOMPATIBLE WITH THE BELIEVER'S UNION WITH CHRIST. The special case of incest and the warnings against impurity in the last section (1 Corinthians 6:9 f.) have prepared the way for this explicit and reasoned denunciation. Impurity was defended on the principle that all things were lawful, possibly a maxim in which Paul had expressed his own doctrine of Christian freedom. If so, here, as elsewhere, illegitimate inferences were drawn from his antinomianism, here to defend licence, elsewhere to discredit his doctrine of freedom by exhibiting its moral dangers. More probably the maxim was coined by those who defended licentiousness; Paul opposes to it the counter-maxim, All things are not expedient, _i.e._ there are things which involve moral and spiritual loss. All are lawful, he repeats, retorting: Yes, but if they are at m

THE FOLLY OF THE LAW COURTS (1 Corinthians 6:1-8)...