Divine Ownership
1 Corinthians 6:12-20
(Focus = verses 19-20)
The Corinthian church was much like the church in America today. They lived in a culture that was hedonistic, seeking to gratify their physical appetites for pleasure. The city was consumed and obsessed with sensuality and promiscuity. Over time, little by little, the Corinthian church became infected by this culture. They heard from those outside the church that it was normal to have pre-marital and extra-marital sex. They were told that they were old-fashioned, adhering to the standards of purity and sobriety. They were told that there was a dichotomy or division between their souls and their bodies. The church acquiesced to the culture. They reasoned that God had saved their souls but that their body was different. They began to develop the mindset that said, "What I do with my body has no impact on my spiritual walk." They began to live like the world. Someone has said that we find ourselves living in a "Corinthianized Culture" in America, a culture in which morality has been discarded and replaced with an open-minded, politically correct, anything goes attitude. To those living in Corinth and to those of us living in America’s post-Christian society, Paul refutes this lie, that in our Christian liberty we can do what we want, by drawing our attention to the truth that those who have been given new life in Christ have a Divine Owner.
I. You have a Divine Owner – You Belong to God
A. 1 Corinthians 6:19 “...do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?”
B. You are not your own - "Not" is a Greek particle (ouk) signifying absolute negation. One can properly translate this as "You are absolutely not your own" (no exceptions to this statement for believers).
C. The reason you are not your own is that you were bought at a price.
D. 1 Corinthians 6:20a “For you were bought at a price...”
E. Prior to becoming a true child of God by grace through faith, th Bible tells us that we were in bondage to sin
F. The idea of redemption, in Paul's day, conveyed two related, but distinct meanings:
1. The payment of a ransom price to set one free (e.g. a slave or a prisoner of war)
2. The payment of a price by which one purchased a slave from (out of) the slave market so that the one purchased was now the property (possession) of the purchaser.
G. First, as sinners we are set free or liberated from (spiritual) bondage or slavery.
H. John 8:24 “Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.”
I. The price that was paid to redeem us, set us free from the wrath and penalty of sin and reconcile us back to God was the cost of "Blood" which was shed by God's own Son, Jesus Christ at Calvary while we were yet sinners who were separated from God because of our sins.
J. Hebrews 9:12-14 “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”
K. 1 Peter 1:18-19 “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
L. Second, as sinners purchased out of the slave market by Christ, we are now His possession.
M. Titus 2:14 “(Christ)...gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”
N. 1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light”
O. Jesus went to Calvary and paid the price for our sins. When we came to Christ by faith in His shed blood, we entered into a covenantal relationship with God. This covenant is both eternal and indissoluble to which we are held accountable. God has promised to love us, keep us, provide for us and conform to the likeness of Christ, and provide us with an eternal home. Our promise was and is to turn from sin and follow Him totally.
P. In truth, when we came to Jesus for salvation, He gave His all for us and we gave up all claims to our body and what we desire to do with it. We do not belong to ourselves, we belong to the Lord!
Q. The Lord Jesus is everything in redemption, for he is both the Buyer and the price. – Spurgeon
R. Harry Ironside - "Ye are not your own." Does your heart respond to that? "Ye are not your own. For ye are bought with a price." And what price? The precious blood of God's dear Son (1Pe 1:18, 19) Yonder at Calvary He purchased us to be His own. An old Puritan writer said, "Calvary was the marketplace where the Savior bought us with His blood, but He never got His money's worth."
II. You have a Divine Owner – Belonging to God, your body does no longer belong to you anymore.
A. In today’s society we hear statements like; “ We’re two consenting adults. What we do behind a closed door is nobody’s business.”; “My body’s nobody’s body but mine”; “You run your own body, let me run mine!”; “It’s My Body, I’ll Do What I Want.” The Corinthians had a problem with their thinking. They believed that what they did with their bodies was separate from their spiritual life, including their relationship with Christ. Paul quickly puts the brakes on this thinking stating, “You are not your own” – You no longer have any claim to ownership of your entire being.
B. You now belong doubly to God: He made you, and he bought you. As Creator, He owns you. (Ezekiel 18:4 “All souls are mine...”) As Redeemer, He owns you.
C. That our bodies "are not our own" means we cannot do with them whatever we want or whatever enters our mind.
D. J. C. Philpot in commenting on this fact points out that;
1. Our eyes are not our own—where we may feed the lusts of our eyes. It matters what we look at.
2. Our ears are not our own—that we may listen to every foolish tale—drink in every political, worldly, or carnal tidbit which we may fall upon — and feed that natural desire for news, gossip, and even slander. It matters what we listen to.
3. Our tongues are not our own—where we can speak what we please and blurt out whatever rises from the chambers of our hearts, without check or fear. It matters what we say.
4. Our hands are not our own—that we may use them as implements of evil — or employ them in any other way than to earn with them an honest livelihood. Our hands were not given us for sin—but for godly uses. How we use our hands does matter.
5. Our feet are not our own—that we may walk in the ways of the world—or that they should carry us to haunts where all those around us are engaged upon errands of vanity and sin. Where we walk and how we walk matters. – adapted from “Not Our Own–Bought with a Price” by J. C. Philpot, Preached at Gower Street Chapel, London in 1868.
6. Because we have been redeemed and are owned by God, God expects us to live as His possession.
7. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”
III. You have a Divine Occupant – Belong to God, You now have a special relationship with the Holy Spirit.
A. 1 Corinthians 3:19b “...do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, Whom you have from God “
B. There are two great truths that I would have you see in this passage from God’s Word: As a believer you are body is nothing less than "a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Triune Godhead. As the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit, you have the abiding presence of the God of Creation within you twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year.
C. Paul says that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Greek term Paul uses is naos, which is used only of the inner sanctuary, the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, within the temple. Paul sees the church collectively as the composite temple of the Holy Spirit which each believer as well, being the temple of the Holy Spirit true in the spiritual sense.
D. The Temple was a holy, set apart place which God would jealously guard. The temple was to be a place sacred to God, and pure from immorality or anything that would defile it.
E. Paul warns in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.”
F. Some years ago, a government investigation discovered that some truckers were hauling garbage in the same refrigerated trucks that were used to transport food. Part of the problem was that trucks making long trips could not afford to return empty. According to the truckers, some considered garbage a dream commodity. They were paid to transport something that couldn't be damaged. During congressional hearings, a food science professor likened the problem to serving potato salad from a cat's litter box. Sadly, so many Christians are like those drivers seeking to have it both ways, serving God and serving the world.
G. If you are saved, God lives in you. Therefore, everywhere you go, everything you do, everything that touches you, in effect, touches God.
H. The Psalmist asked in Psalm 139: “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.”
IV. You have a Divine Objective – Belonging to God you have a special responsibility.
A. 1 Corinthians 6:20 “For you were bought at a price; THEREFORE, GLORIFY GOD in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
B. The word used translated glorify, doxazo, means to praise, honor or magnify.
C. The Westminster Catechism, written in 1647, consisting of a summary of Christian doctrine in 107 questions and answers, asks… What is the chief end of man? Which is then answered Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.
D. Joseph Benson, commenting on Romans 6:12-13, (“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.) wrote as a believer you are to “Glorify him with your body and your spirit; that is, yield your bodies and all your members, as well as your souls and all their faculties, as instruments of righteousness to God: or devote and employ all you have, and all you are, entirely, unreservedly, and forever, to his glory.”
E. Glorifying God does not merely mean to not dishonor Him; it means to demonstrate in the use of our bodies the glory and the holiness of the Sovereign Lord Who has taken ownership of our person.
F. 1 Peter 4:11 “Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to Whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
G. 1 Corinthians 10:31. "Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."
H. Romans 12:1 “I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service (act of worship).”
I. How do I glorify God in my life? Glorifying God consists of four things:
1. Appreciation - We glorify God when we are God-admirers; admire His attributes, His promises his power and wisdom. His handiwork in creation, His mercy and grace". In Romans 1, we see man has glorified the creation rather than the Creator. Verse 21 says “they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” As believers, we are called to relish in the God of Creation. Listen to opening words David penned in Psalm 8. “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth, Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens! From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength because of Your adversaries, to make the enemy and the revengeful cease. When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; what is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him?
2. Adoration – (Worship, Esteem, Respect) - Psalm 29:2. "Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness." Our worship should and must reflect His holiness. Worship is not about us it; it is about God.
3. Affection – (love for God) Deuteronomy 6:5 "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul." Do we demonstrate our love for Christ in our daily lives?
4. Subjection – Obedience - When God’s children obey their Heavenly Father, He is glorified. Genuine submission and obedience to God is a willing sacrifice to God of my rights and of myself, as God’s possession, to do God’s will and bring Glory to God. Obedience results in the outward demonstration of a surrendered heart. 1 Peter 2:11-12 “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God...”
Disclaimer - Please note that all my sermons come from the Lord. But I get my info drawing from many sources both from my library and other sources. I do not claim originality. I attempt to give credit for most sources but don’t quote all sources. I do, however, give credit to the Lord who is the author of all biblical sermons.
