fill. This principle of expediency the Apostle enforces at length in Rom. 14, 15-23, and 1 Cor. 8, 7-13, and 10, 23-33. The second limitation of our liberty in the use of things indif- ferent, is self-respect. Because it is lawful to eat, that is no reason why I should make myself a slave to my appetite. " I will not," says Paul, " be brought under the power of any thing." I will not make myself its slave. It is of great im- portance to the moral health of the soul that it should pre- serve its self-control, and not be in subjection to any appetite or desire, however innocent that desire in itself may be. This is a scriptural rule which Christians often violate. They are slaves to certain forms of indulgence, which they defend on the ground that they are not in themselves wrong ; forgetting that it is wrong to be in bondage to any appetite or habit.
13. Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats : but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body (is) not for fornication, but for the Lord ; and the Lord for the body.
Meats for the lelly^ and the belly for meats. The one is- evidently adapted and designed for the other. It is a legiti- mate inference from this constitution that it is lawful to eat, and to eat every thing adapted for food. But this is a mere temporary arrangement. God will destroy both it and them. The time shall come when men shall no more be sustained by food, but shall be as the angels of God. The fact that the present constitution of the body is temporary, is a proof that meats belong to the class of things indifferent. They can
^ have no influence on the eternal destiny of the body. This is not true with regard to fornication. The body was never de- signed for promiscuous concubinage. And such a use of it is inconsistent with the design of its creation and with its future destiny.
The body is for the Lord ; and the Lord for the body. The one stands in an intimate relation to the other. The body is designed to be a member of Christ, and the dwelling-place of his Spirit. And he so regards it ; redeeming it with his blood, uniting it to himself as a member of his mystical body, making it an instrument of righteousness unto holiness. With
• this design of the body the sin in question is absolutely m- compatible, and destructive of the rolatiou which the body sustains to the Lord.