Vers. 12-20.-.Abuse of Christian liberty. It appears that the principle of Christian liberty, "All things are lawful for me," had been greatly abused by some in the Church at Corinth. It was cited in defence of fornication, as well as of eating all kinds of meats. They confounded it with the philosophical maxim that man is the measure for himself; from which thty drew tbe conclusion that the sexual appetite may be aratified in the same indiscriminatci way as that of hunger. '!'his pernicious abuse rhe apostle corrects, first by setting the doctrine of Christian freedom in its true light, and then by presenting a variety of arguments against the sin of fornication. I. CHRISTIAN LIDEl!TY, ITS GROUNDS AND LIMITS. "All things are lawful for me." Under the old dis1Jensation there was curtailment of freedom in respect of meats and OH. VI. 1-'.:!0.J THE FIUST EPISTLE TU nm CORINTHIA~S. -··----------------------------- drinks and dnys; but this is now remover]. In ,Jesus Christ the believer is restore,\ to dominion over the creatures, all things bei11g put under his leet (Ps. viii. G; Heb. ii. 7-9). "All things are yours" (eh. iii. 22). The world ancl its contents exist for the sons of Goel, to subserve their welfare. But this large freedom has obviouu limitations. I. The limit of expediency. Many things in our power may not be for our good, either in themselves or because of special circumstances. This is true of foods, and of many forms of work and pleasure lawful in themselves. Here, too, the good of others comes into view as a limiting consideration. The exercise of my liberty must be tempered by a regard to the weHare of my brother (eh. viii. 13). Apply this to certain forms of amusement, the use of wine, etc. 2. The limit imposed by the duty of preserving our liberty. "I will not be brought under the power of any." "Every creature of Goel is gootl" (1 Tim. iv. 4), hut only when used as a servant. '\Ve must not suffer ourselves to be brought iuto bonda;!e to anything. Music, e.g., is a legitimate and healthful enjoyment, but I must not become its slave. II. THE SIN OF Fon?.ICA'l'IOY. 1. Fornication is not warranted by the analogy of meats. "Meats for the bellv, and the bellv for meats." The one bas been created for the other. The stomach demands food, and all kinds of food have been made for the stomach ; hence it is lawful to eat whatever is good for us. But there is no similar adaptation between the body and sensuality. The one was not made for the other. Again, both the belly and its food belong to a transitory ~ondition of things. Both shall be brought to nought when this present world-age is completed, and the natural body becomes the spiritual body. Dut the .body shall not thus perbh; it has an eternal destiny. In both these respects, therefore, the analogy fails; and furnicatio11 cannot be defended as a case of nature. 2. It takes away from Christ that which belongs to him. 'l'he Christian's body is the Lord's. (1) It exists for him, and he for it. The relalion is mutual. Christ redeems, sustains, rules, and glorifies the body ; the body is subject to him for his service. (2) It is a "member of Christ" (ver. 15). Our bodies are essential parts of onrsclves, and as such belong to Christ's body (Eph. v. 30). '!'he same Spirit dwells in him and in us (ver. 17): the life of the Head is the life of the body and its members. How awful the sin of prostituting that which is a member of Clirist ! 3. It is inconsistent with the eternal destiny of the body. The relation of the body to Christ is abiding. He who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also quicken our mortal bodies (Rom. viii. 11), raising them to a glorious life in him (comp. eh. xv.). 'l'he resurrection of the body tells us that it is not to be treated as a temporary thing, belonging only to this stage of existence. It is not to be destroyed like the belly and meats, but is united to Christ for ever. Fornication, therefore, degrarles the body, inasmuch as it is thereby treated as the instrument of a perishable appetite. 4. It is in its own nature deyrading. 'l'hc act itselr is a union with the vilest characters (ver. lG). Think of the dignity of the Christian's person as a member or Christ, standing in everlastin~ union with him; and with what holy horror should we regard this sin! . 6. It is peculiarly a sin against the body. (Ver. 18.) "Drunkenness an,\ gluttony are sins done in and by the body, and are sins by abu1r. of the body; but they are still without the body-introduced from without, sinful not in their act, but in their effect, which effect it is each man'8 duty to foresee and avoid. But fornication is the alienating that body which is the Lord's, and making it a harlot's body; it id sin against a man's own body, in its very nature-against the verity and nature of his body; not an effect on the body from participation of things without, but a contradiction of the truth of the body, wrought within itself" (Alfurd). '!'he awful effects of this sin are frequently written in characters of fire in the physical system. G. It is a prnfu,natio11 of the Divine temple. 'l'he body is "a temple of the Holy Ghost" (ver. 19). What was said before of the believer is here said of the body (eh. iii. 16, where see homily). • 'l'he body is the outer court of tho temple, but still 11 part of it, and therefore holy. Dare we admit unholy feet to tread this court? Dare we profane the sanctuary by devoting it to sacrilegious uses? Will the Spirit of God continue to dwell in a polluted temple? 7. It contradicts the Divine proprietorship of the body. Believers are not their own, but the purchased possession of God, bought for himself with precious bl~od (v'lr. 20; Acts xx. 28; 1 Pet. i. 18, 19). Our bodies are not our own to do with them as we please. '\Ve arc God's bondscrvants, bou5ht for the purpose of serviug and glorifying him (1 Pet. ii. 9). How weighty an argument for entire devotion to Gocl's 214 THE FIRS'l' EPISTLE TO THE COnINTllIANS. [en. vr. 1-20.
~crdce ! LoYe to our redeeming God is the only sufficient motive for a. holy life. "Glorify God the1·~fore in your body." LEARN: 1. The sacredness of the body. 2. The extent -0f sanctification-it reaches to the utmost circumference of our beinµ; (1 'l'hess. v. 23). 3. Flee fornication. Victory here is to be won by flight, not by fight (Gen. xxxix.12). 4. Watch against everything that might lead to t.his sin.-B.