The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Corinthians — Section 201

the human body; and, furthermore, if Christ's edncation of his own body to tbo offices he fille<l as Teacher, Miracle-Worker, Philanthropist, Uedeemer, etc., as to the· spirit actuating him, an example to his followers ;-then surely we have the weightiest of reasons for rcgar<ling the body as the "temple of the Holy Ghost." Greek philosophy' had abused the truth that all creatures are for man, and that he is the measure of all things. Professing Christians had followed a carnal philosophy in .the application, of this truth. And now that St. Paul has rescued it from its perversions and set it in its proper light, he may well urge the conclusion," Ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." Could anything more timely, more momentous, more si1snificant of the aim of Christianity ns it respected the social regeneration of mankind, have been said by St. Paul? The sin of the body; that one sin which surrenders the body to another and de()'rades it ns nothing else can degrn,le; that sin of sins, which debauches the body where it ought to be purest, and sinks lowest that which should be highest ;-could it~ wickedness be set forth in stronger language than when he speaks of the body as the tabernacle, in wl1ich not only tbe soul but the Holy Ghost dwells? "Which ye have of God," and therefore "not your own," but " bought with a price." And yet this redeemed possession, the purchase of Christ's blood, a member of his mystical bo<ly, a. tabernacle of the Spirit, alienated, abused, prostituted to the most shameful and the most fatal of all vices. Of nothing is it so true as of this vice, that we become like that with which we associate. Association is assimilation, and, in this case, nssimilation is the most dreadful form of desecration. 'l'hese verses (18-20) contain, as bas been suggested (Alford), the germ of the three weighty sections of the Epistle about to follow. And we do well to enter into their meaning and implore the grace of God to assist us, lest we fail to receive the profound impression sought to be made. It iN useless to blink the fact that among Christian nations and in the nineteenth century this colossal vice of a desecrated human body is the Satanic citadel of iniquity. Take- all the vices and sins on earth, aggregate them in one huge bulk, and the misfortunes, evils, catastrophes, tragic disasters, put together, would not outweigh the consequences morally and socially viewed of this enormity. Half of th.e man goes straight and quick into the hands of the devil, and the other half, unless God interpose, follows on in a fascination of blindness exceptional among illusions. God help us! For verily "vain," in this instance, "is the help of roan." ·we need a much larger and bolder discussion of the religion of the human body; and if writers and preachers would study the art of doing this work, the Church and the world would be vast gainers. Any way, this is open to us all, viz. to lay a much greater stress than is commonly clone on the dignity, worth, and glory of the human body as seen in the light of Christ's. teaching. Full justice is not done this subject, not even approximative justice, and, therefore, no wonder the body is disparaged, vilified, tolerated by many as a nuisance, and immolated by thousands as a creature of appetite and Inst. "Bought with a price," the blood of the Lord Jesus paid for it-a glorious thing to be bought and not too precious a ransom pain, and now sprinkled by that blood and hallowed by the indwelling Spirit. Oh what intenseness of soul should go into the pleading, "Glorify God in your body"! -L. Vers. 1-8.-Litigation; or, How shall Christians settle their differences and diryutes 1 Remarkable is the insi"ht which this Epistle affords us into the interior life of a Church of the first age. We s~em to be brought into the presence of remarkable virtues and of remarkabl~ faults, and are impressed with the incongruity of the picture. One thing is certain, that human nature was then what it is now, and that Christianity offers- the one Divine remedy for individual and for social ills. I, JT IS TO BE EXPECTED THAT DIFFERENCES AND DISPUTES WILL ARISE WITHIN THE llOUNDAHIES OF CHRISTIAN COl1MUNl'l'IEB. 'l'he occasions are manifold; the conflict of interests and of opinions and of tastes will account for not a few. It i8 irrational to- suppose that human nature can be at once transformed from the condition of the self- indul()'ent pagan, for example, to the position of a mature and holy servant of Goel. 'JhPr; are to be found in the Church on earth persons occupying every point intermediate between these extremes; and among such "offences will come." ll. lT IS SCANDALOUS THAT SUCH DISPUTES SHOULD llll BROUGHT BEFORE ·A BEATHE!\ oH, VI. 1-20.) 'l'HE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE COr.I:N"THIAXS. 203-