By Collin Ross
Offer up any age in human history, and I can tell you about the unpopularity of the Christian sexual ethic. The scriptural approach to sex has long been a great stumbling block, and contemporary times are no different. In fact, the Corinthian theological slogan in verse twelve, “Everything is permissible for me,” goes a long way toward summing up the world’s understanding of sexual activity, largely abandoning the idea of restraint and sometimes going so far as to denigrate or mock those few who strive to live according to the biblical standard.
However, Christians who live according to a scriptural approach to sexual integrity are not all prudes or legalists. Rather, the diversion from the cultural norms originates in the foundational belief that God has purchased us for higher things—namely, redemption and resurrection. When we pursue sexually immoral activities, we leave behind the greater things that we are destined for in Christ. This is why Paul says that sexual sin is unique in that it is a sin against our own selves! Why do we settle for lesser pleasures when God has freely offered us abundant life in Jesus?
And this is the crux of the issue for Paul. God has gone to the greatest of lengths to secure our redemption. He has paid the highest cost imaginable by sending His own Son to pay our debt of sin. And all of it was done free of charge for us. In verse 11, Paul reminds us through his word choice that God is the One who has paid every cost: “But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God.”
How should we then respond to this outpouring of sacrificial love? We honor God with our hearts, our minds, and yes, even with our bodies. “You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body” (1Corinthians 6:19–20). Once again, it must be stated that we do not honor God out of a sense of obligation to repay God for all that He has done. Rather, we honor God with our bodies out of a deep sense of gratitude for His boundless and never-failing love.
To say that we are not our own is a wonderful thing. We are the Lord’s. Though once we were enslaved to sin, our lives have been purchased by the blood of Christ. We aren’t just running from sexual immorality. We are running to something far greater, our Redeemer.
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