tween the body and Christ. Our bodies are the members of Christ, because they belong to him, being included in the re- demption effected by his blood ; and also because they are so united to him as to be partakers of his life. It is one of the prominent doctrines of the Bible that the union between Christ and his people includes a community of life ; and it is clearly taught that this life pertains to the body as well as to the soul, Rom. 8, 6-11. Eph. 2, 6. 7. 5, 30. This is the truth which the Apostle recalls to the minds of the Corinthians, and makes it the ground of his indignant condemnation of the sin of which he is speaking. That fornication is incompatible with the relation of the bodies of behevers to Christ, arises out of the peculiar nature of that sin. The parties to it be- come partakers of a common life. Whether we can under- stand this or not, it is the doctrine of the Bible. Therefore as w^e cannot be partakers of the life of Christ, and of the life of Belial, so neither can our bodies be the members of Christ, and at the same time have a common life with " one who is a sinner," in the scriptural sense of that phrase.
17. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
That is, has one Spirit with him. This does not mean has the same disposition or state of mind, but the same principle of life, V. 12, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is given with- out measure unto Christ, and from him is communicated to all his people who are thereby brought into a common life with him, Rom. 8, 9. 10. 1 Cor. 12, 13. John 17, 21. 23. Eph. 4, 4. 5, 30. This being the case, it imposes the highest con- ceivable obhgation not to act inconsistently with this intimate and exalting relationship.
18. riee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth, is without the body ; but he that committetb fornica- tion, sinneth against his own body.
This doe's not teach that fornication is greater than any other sin ; but it does teach that it is altogether peculiar in its effects upon the body ; not so much in its physical as in its moral and spiritual effects. The idea runs through the Bible that there is something mysterious in the commerce of the bexes, and in the effects which flow from it. Every other sin,
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