Jesus was one with his own

JESUS WAS ONE WITH HIS OWN
EDITE BY GLENN PEASE
1 Corinthians6:17 17But whoeveris united with the
LORD is one with him in spirit.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
Christ And His People Are One
1 Corinthians 6:17
J.R. Thomson
It was the wont of the apostle to associate the commonestduties of life with the
highest motives drawn from spiritual realities and relations, in dissuading
from the sin of impurity, he might have adduced considerations drawn from
physical laws or from socialconditions; but it is more in harmony with his
convictions and habits to appeal to the loftiestprinciples of the Christian
religion.
I. THE BOND WHICH UNITES CHRISTIANS TO THEIR LORD. It is a
personalrelation which is here asserted, and evidently not one of mere
external association, but of vital and spiritual union.
1. It is a bond of faith. "Whom not having seen," etc. Christians receive with
cordiality the gospelconcerning Christ; they receive Christ himself to dwell in
their hearts by faith.

2. It is a bond of love. They are joined to him as the bride to the bridegroom,
in a spiritual affection, in love "strongerthan death."
3. It is a bond of affinity. Drawnto Jesus as sinners to the Saviour, they
remain with him as friends congenialin character, in disposition, and in aims.
II. THE CONSEQUENT UNITYBETWEEN CHRISTIANS AND THEIR
LORD. They are "one spirit."
1. They are in a spirit of subjection to the Father, whose will and law are
authoritative and supreme.
2. They are one in the love of all that is holy and morally admirable. The
sympathy that exists is sympathy with regard to matters of the highest
moment, with regardto the principles that animate and the aims that dignify
the moral life.
3. They are one in the bonds of an immortal fellowship. Christ's prayer for his
people was, "Thatthey may be with me where I am" - a prayer which the
Father is graciouslyand constantly answering.
III. THE PRACTICAL PROOFS OF THIS UNITY.
1. A repugnance on the part of Christians to all which is repugnant to their
Lord; as e.g. those vices to which allusion is made in the context, practisedby
the heathen, but hateful to those who name the Name of Christ.
2. A cultivation of the spirit of brotherly love. The "one spirit" must needs be
a spirit of true love, linking togetherthe members of the mystical body of
Christ, and disposing them to a sympathetic and harmonious action. - T.

Biblical Illustrator
He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
1 Corinthians 6:17
The saint one with his Saviour
C. H. Spurgeon.
Note —
I. A MYSTERIOUS DEEP.
1. There is a joining to the Lord —(1) In election. We were chosenin Christ
from before the foundation of the world.(2) In covenant, when Jesus became
of old the Head of His Church.(3) In the incarnation. All this makes up a
glorious joining unto the Lord, but the union taught here is vital and spiritual
which is wrought in us when we are born again.
2. But what does that word "one spirit" mean? The union betweenChrist and
His people is described by —(1) The marriage union. It is said, "These twain
shall be one flesh"; but to take off the carnal edge of the metaphor "one
spirit" is here substituted.(a) Christ and His people have one spirit. The Holy
Spirit who quickens us anointed Him. The foot is baptized into the same spirit
as the head.(b) We are of one spirit with Him, i.e., we come to think and feel
as Jesus does.(c)Yet the text saith not that we are of one spirit, but we are one
spirit. This is a matter to be understood only by the spiritual mind, and not to
be expounded in words. "I in them and Thou in Me, that they may be made

perfect in one." We have known on earth friends who have become one spirit;
intimacy and mutual admiration have ripened friendship into unity, till the
one seemedto be the complement of the other; one soulin two bodies.(2)The
branch and the stem, which are one vine, and are nothing separatedfrom
eachother, their life one and their designone.(3) The member and the body. If
there be life in this finger, it is identically the same life that is in the head; and
so in the whole Church the life and Spirit of Christ are the life and spirit of
His people.
II. A MANIFEST GRACE.
1. To be one spirit with Christ much more is needed than —(1) To bear the
Christian name. Call a poppy a rose and you will not thereby give it
perfume.(2) Mere outward profession. Ye may be baptized in water, but
unless ye are baptized into the Holy Ghost, ye know not what union with
Christ is, for Simon Magus though baptized had no part nor lot in the
matter.(3) The performance of some apparently goodactions and the use of
religious words in conversation. The superficial, the nominal, and the outward
will not suffice. Deepdown in the very vitals of our being must this union with
Jesus Christ most eminently reside.
2. As an illustration of what unity of spirit is take that rare conjugalunion of
those who realise the highest ideal of the married life founded in pure love and
cementedin mutual esteem. Their wishes blend, their hearts are indivisible.
By degrees they come very much to think the same thoughts. Intimate
associationcreatesconformity. So the true Christian grows to think as Christ
thinks till the teachings ofJesus are plain to him. Blessedconsummationwhen
their hearts at lastare all wrapped up in Jesus, evenas the bush at Horeb was
all on fire with God!
3. Where such union exists, what does it produce? They who are thus one
spirit with Christ live —(1) For the same end — God's glory.(2) For the same
reason— the love of the Father.(3)By the same means. By the conversionof
souls:not by being made a king, not by being calledrabbi.(4) By the use of the
same modes-teaching, preaching, living, suffering, and dying. Some nowadays
seemtired of Christ's plans, and hunt up more rapid methods. Jesus never

strained after effectby animal excitement.(5)With the same emotions. Oh
that we felt as He did the weightof souls, the guilt of sin, the terror of the
wrath to come, and the tenderness of Divine mercy!
4. Let me add that if we are fully joined to our Lord, and of one spirit with
Him, we shall have —(1) The same tastes. WhatHe loves will charm us, what
He hates we shall loathe.(2)The same will.(3) Oneness ofaim in our service of
God. We have a dozen aims now, but if we were of one spirit with Jesus we
should have but one objectin life.(4) Greatforce and fervour. Our prayers
would be very different from what they are, and our public service of God
would never be so sleepy as it now is.(5) Abiding pertinacity. Defeatedin one
place we should try in another.(6)Wonderful serenity of spirit. We should not
be disturbed with little, petty remarks of men, nor should we even be moved
by great calamities.Conclusion:
1. A word of rebuke. We have been joined to Christ, but have we been
manifestly one spirit with Him? Angry — was that Christ's spirit? Worldly —
was that Christ's spirit?
2. A word of hope. We want to have the same spirit as Christ. Well, our hope
is that we shall have it, for we are joined to the Lord, and he that is joined to
the Lord is one spirit.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
The true believer's union with Christ
I. THE EXPLICATION OF THIS TRUTH.
1. Who are "true believers"?(1)Notsuch as are united unto Christ by a mere
external profession, sacramentaladmission, orpresumptuous persuasion
(John 2:23, 24). These are dead branches (John 15:2). sapless stakesin the
Church's hedge, woodenlegs of Christ's body (2 Timothy 3:5; Revelation
3:1).(2) But such as are united unto Christ by internal implantation. Living,
fruit-bearing branches (John 15:5); so that now Christ is in them, and they in
Christ (John 17:21, 23).

2. What kind of union is this?(1) Negatively.(a)Nota ,corporealunion. Christ
is in heaven (Acts 1:11; Acts 3:21), we on earth.(b) Nota hypostatical,
personalunion; such as that of the Divine and human natures in the person of
Christ. Believers make not one person with Christ, but "one body" (1
Corinthians 12:13); and that not one body natural, but mystical.(c)Not an
essential, substantialunion; not such an union as makes believers in any wise
partakers of the substance of Christ's Godhead.(d) Notsuch an union as
mounts up believers to an equality with Christ in any respect. "In all things
He hath," and must have, "the pre-eminence" (Colossians1:18).(2)
Positively.(a)A spiritual union.(b) A mystical, profound union (Ephesians
5:32; John 17:20).(c)And yet a true, real union. Not a fancy only (Ephesians
5:30). As the head communicates realinfluences to the body, so Christ
communicates to us His Spirit and graces (John1:16).(d) An intimate union.
Like that of the food with the body which it nourisheth (John 6:54).(e)A
perpetual, indissoluble union (Romans 8:35).
3. What are the efficient causes ofthis union? They are —(1) Principal. This
greatwork ascribed—(a) To the whole Godhead(chap. 1 Corinthians 1:9: 1
Peter5:10; John 6:44, 45; Ephesians 2:6, 7).(b) But more especiallyto the
Spirit of God. He it is that knits this marriage-knot(1 Corinthians 12:13;
Titus 3:5).(2) Less principal, or the means or instruments of union.(a)
Outward. Generallyall the ordinances of God (Zechariah 4:12). More
especially— First, the word read, preached, meditated on, believed,
improved. Second, the sacraments. Thosespiritual seals and labels which God
hath fixed to His covenantof grace.(b)Inward faith. Nota bare historical,
dead faith; but a living, working, justifying, saving faith (Ephesians 3:17;
John 1:12; 1 Corinthians 6:56; Galatians 2:20).
II. CONFIRMATION. Thatthere is such a union appears —
1. From those many equivalent expressions wherebythe Scriptures hold forth
this union.(1) Christ is said to "be in" believers (Colossians 1:27;Romans
8:10), to "dwell in" them (Ephesians 3:17), to "walk in" them (2 Corinthians
6:16).(2) Believers are saidto "abide in" Christ (John 15:7), to "dwellin"
Christ (John 6:56; 1 John 4:16), to "put on" Christ (Galatians 3:27).

2. From those severalsimilitudes by which the Scriptures shadow out this
union. Believers are said to be —(1) "Lively stones" (1 Peter2:4-6), Christ,
the living "foundation, the chief corner-stone," onwhich they are built
(Ephesians 2:20, 21).(2)"Branches" ofChrist, "the true vine," into whom
they are engrafted, and in whom they bring forth fruit (John 15:1, 5).(3) The
loyal, affectionate "spouse"ofChrist (Ephesians 5:31, 32; Song of Solomon
2:16; Song of Solomon 5:1).(4) Christ's "body" (Ephesians 1:23; Ephesians
5:30), Christ being the believers' "Head" (1 Corinthians 1:22). In a word, the
Head and mystical body are called"Christ" (1 Corinthians 12:12).
3. From that communion which there is betwixt Christ and true believers.(1)
Believers communicate with Christ —(a) In "His fulness" (John 1:16).(b) In
His merits (2 Corinthians 5:21).(c)In His life and graces (1 Corinthians
1:2).(d) In His privileges and dignities. Is He a King, a Priest? So are believers
(Revelation1:6; 1 Peter2:9). Is He a Son, an Heir, by nature? Saints are so by
adoption (Romans 8:17).(e)In His victories (Romans 8:37).(f) In His triumphs
and glory; they share with Him in His throne. All that believers are, is from
the grace ofChrist (1 Corinthians 15:10;Philippians 4:13), so that they do not
so properly live, as Christ in them (Galatians 2:20).(2)Christ communicates in
the believers'graces.All that they are is from Christ; and therefore all that
they have is to Christ; what they receive in mercy they return in duty.
III. APPLICATION. Information. Are believers thus closelyunited unto
Christ? Hence see —(1) The crimson dye of their sin, who oppose and
persecute them. In touching them, they "touch the apple of His eye"
(Zechariah 2:8).(2) The quality of Christ's love to them beyond and above all
others (Ephesians 3:18, 19).(3)The high honour which Christ casts upon them
— an honour not vouchsafedto heaven's courtiers, the angels. Theyare
Christ's servants, subjects;not His members.(4) Their stability and
perseverance in their estate ofgrace.(5)A cogentand conclusive argument for
their resurrection(chap. 1 Corinthians 15:12-23). If the Head be gotabove,
surely the body shall not always lie under, water.
2. Examination. To ascertainwhether there be such a union betwixt our souls
and Christ, let us ask —(1)Hath Christ given unto you His Holy Spirit
(Romans 8:9; 1 John 3:24). Now this Spirit is —

(a)A praying Spirit (Zechariah 12:10).
(b)A mourning Spirit.
(c)A sanctifying Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:11; 1 Peter1:2).(2) Doth "Christ dwell
in thy heart by faith"? (Ephesians 3:17.) Namely, by such a faith as purifies
the heart, works by love and overcomes the world.(3) Dostthou "crucify the
flesh with its affections and lusts"? Theythat are united unto Christ do so
(Galatians 5:24; Romans 8:13).(4)Art thou "a new creature"? He that is in
Christ is so (2 Corinthians 5:17). Hast thou a new head, heart, lip, life?(5)
Dostthou bring forth fruit? Every branch in Christ is a fruit-bearing branch
(John 15:5; Philippians 1:11).
3. Consolation.(1)With relation to Christ, to whom believers are united. On
their union with Him, there redounds to them a peculiar interest —(a) In
Christ's person. Christ Himself is theirs (Jeremiah 32:38;Isaiah 9:6).(b) In
Christ's properties. Has Christ an arm of power? It is for your protection.
Has He an eye of knowledge? It is for your direction. Has He a stock, a
treasury, of perfect righteousness?It is for your justification, &c.(c)In
Christ's promises (2 Peter 1:4). Which are the believers'Magna Charta, to the
confirmation whereofGod has been pleasedto add both His oath and blood
for seals (Hebrews 6:17, 18).(d) in all Christ's providences (Romans 8:28).(e)
In all (1 Corinthians 3:22, 23).(2)With respectto believers themselves. In a
threefold regard; namely, of their persons, graces, duties.
4. Exhortation.(1)To sinners, that are as yet "without Christ, God, hope in
this world" (Ephesians 2:12). Be persuadedto give your eyes no sleeptill you
are united to Christ! Consider —(a) The dreadful, dismal dangerof thy
present estate. A soul not united unto Christ lies open to all danger
imaginable.(b) Christ's condescending willingness to be united to thee.(2) To
saints that are united to Christ.
(a)Be very fearful of that which may in any sort weakenyour union with
Christ.
(b)Wisely improve it.
(c)Labour for a frame of spirit suitable to it.

(d)Walk worthy of it.
(T. Lye, A. M.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(17) One spirit.—The union betwixt Christ and eachmember of His Church is
a spiritual one. This explains the sense in which we are the Lord’s body, and
intensifies the argument againstany degradationof one who shares so holy
and intimate a union.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
6:12-20 Some among the Corinthians seemto have been ready to say, All
things are lawful for me. This dangerous conceitSt. Paul opposes. There is a
liberty wherewithChrist has made us free, in which we must stand fast. But
surely a Christian would never put himself into the power of any bodily
appetite. The body is for the Lord; is to be an instrument of righteousness to
holiness, therefore is never to be made an instrument of sin. It is an honour to
the body, that Jesus Christ was raisedfrom the dead; and it will be an honour
to our bodies, that they will be raised. The hope of a resurrectionto glory,
should keepChristians from dishonouring their bodies by fleshly lusts. And if
the soulbe united to Christ by faith, the whole man is become a member of his
spiritual body. Other vices may be conqueredin fight; that here cautioned
against, only by flight. And vastmultitudes are cut off by this vice in its
various forms and consequences.Its effects fall not only directly upon the
body, but often upon the mind. Our bodies have been redeemedfrom
deservedcondemnation and hopeless slaveryby the atoning sacrifice of
Christ. We are to be clean, as vessels fitted for our Master's use. Being united
to Christ as one spirit, and bought with a price of unspeakable value, the
believer should considerhimself as wholly the Lord's, by the strongestties.

May we make it our business, to the latestday and hour of our lives, to glorify
God with our bodies, and with our spirits which are his.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
But he that is joined to the Lord - The true Christian, united by faith to the
Lord Jesus;see John15:1 ff.
Is one spirit - That is, in a sense similar to that in which a man and his wife
are one body. It is not to be takenliterally; but the sense is, that there is a
close and intimate union; they are united in feeling, spirit, intention,
disposition. The argument is beautiful. It is, "As the union of souls is more
important than that of bodies;as that union is more lasting, dear, and
enduring than any union of body with body can be, and as our union with him
is with a Spirit pure and holy, it is improper that we should severthat tie, and
break that sacredbond, by being joined to a harlot. The union with Christ is
more intimate, entire, and pure than that can be betweena man and woman;
and that union should be regardedas sacredand inviolable." O, if all
Christians felt and regardedthis as they should, how would they shrink from
the connections whichthey often form on earth! Compare Ephesians 4:4.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
17. one spirit—with Him. In the case ofunion with a harlot, the fornicator
becomes one "body" with her (not one "spirit," for the spirit which is
normally the organof the Holy Spirit in man, is in the carnal so overlaid with
what is sensualthat it is ignored altogether). But the believer not only has his
body sanctified by union with Christ's body, but also becomes "one spirit"
with Him (Joh 15:1-7; 17:21;2Pe 1:4; compare Eph 5:23-32;Joh3:6).
Matthew Poole's Commentary
This phrase joined unto the Lord, is thought to be takenout of Deu 10:20: To
him shalt thou cleave. He that hath attained to that mystical union which is
betweenChrist and every one that is a true believer, is not essentially, but
spiritually and mystically, one spirit with Christ; his spirit is united to the
Spirit of Christ, and he is one by him in faith and love, and by obedience,
Christ and he have one will, and he is ruled and governedby Christ: therefore

you must take heed what you do in making your bodies the members of
harlots, which they cannotbe, and the members of Christ also.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
He that is joined unto the Lord,.... As every electpersonis; his whole person,
soul and body, is united to the Lord Jesus Christ, to his whole person, as God-
man and Mediator;even as Adam and Eve, whose marriage was a
representationof the marriage betweenChrist and his church, were
personally united, and were calledby the same name; and as the whole human
nature of Christ, consisting of a true body and a reasonable soul, was united
to the personof the Son of God; and as appears from the influence that union
with Christ has upon the redemption, sanctification, andresurrection of the
body. The ground, foundation, and bond of which union is, not the Spirit on
Christ's part; for the Spirit being receivedas a spirit of regeneration,
sanctification, &c. is a fruit of union to Christ, and an evidence of it; nor faith
on our part, which as a grace is not ours, but the gift of God, and is a fruit of
union; nor is it of an uniting nature, but is a grace ofcommunion; and the
foundation of all its acts, as seeing Christ, going to him, receiving of him,
walking on in him; &c. is a previous union to Christ; but it is the everlasting
and unchangeable love of Christ to them, shown in his choice of them, in his
covenantwith his Fatheron their behalf, in his engaging forthem as a surety,
in assuming their nature, and acting, both in time and eternity, as the
representative of them, which is the bond and cement of their union, and from
which there canbe no separation. This union is first discoveredin the
effectualcalling, and will be more manifest hereafter. Now he that is in this
sense united to Christ,
is one spirit; for this union is a spiritual one; it is complete and perfect; near
and indissoluble; by virtue and in consequence ofit, God's chosenones come
to have and enjoy the same spirit in measure, which Christ their head and
Mediatorhas without measure:hence they have the Spirit of God, as a spirit
of illumination and conversion, of faith and holiness, of adoption, and as the
earnest, pledge, and sealof their future glory. And since so it is, fornication,
which makes them one flesh with an harlot, ought studiously to be abstained
from.

Geneva Study Bible
But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary
1 Corinthians 6:17. Weighty contrastto ὁ κολλώμ. τῇ πόρνῃ ἓν σῶμά ἐστι, no
longerdependent on ὅτι.
κολλᾶσθαι τῷ Κυρίῳ, an expressionof close attachmentto Jehovah, which is
very common in the O. T. (Jeremiah13:11; Deuteronomy10:20;
Deuteronomy 11:22;2 Kings 18:6; Sir 2:3, al[991]). It denotes here, inward
union of life with Christ, and is selectedto be setagainstthe κολλ. τῇ πόρνῃ in
1 Corinthians 6:16, inasmuch as in both casesanintima conjunctio takes
place, in the one fleshly, in the other spiritual. We are not to assume that Paul
was thinking here, as in Ephesians 5:23 ff. (comp 2 Corinthians 11:2; Romans
5:4), of the union with Christ as a marriage (Piscator, Olshausen, compalso
Osiander); for in that mystical marriage-union Christ is the Bridegroom,
filling the man’s place, and hence the contrastto κολλ. τῇ πόρνῃ would be an
unsuitable one. Olshausen’s additional conjecture, that when the apostle
spoke of τῇ πόρνῃ there floatedbefore his mind a vision of the greatwhore
who sitteth upon many waters (Revelation17:1), is an empty fancy.
ἓν πνεῦμά ἐστι] conceivedof as the analogue to ἓν σῶμα. Comp 2 Corinthians
3:17. This is the same Unio mystica which Jesus Himself so often demands in
the GospelofJohn, and in which no ethical diversity exists betweenthe
πνεῦμα of the believing man and the πνεῦμα of Christ which fills it; Christ
lives in the believer, Galatians 2:20, as the believer in Christ, Galatians 3:27,
Colossians 3:17, this being brought about by Christ’s communicating Himself
to the human spirit through the power of the Holy Spirit, Romans 8:9-11.
Now, be it observedhow, by fleshly union with a harlot, this high and holy
unity is not simply put in hazard (Hofmann), but excluded altogetheras a

moral impossibility! Comp the idea of the impossibility of serving two masters
(Romans 6:16), of fellowship with Christ and Belial, and the like. It is
unnecessaryto say that this has no application to union in marriage, seeing
that it is ordained of God, “ob verbum, quo actus concubialis sanctificatur,”
Calovius. Comp Weiss, bibl. Theol. p. 421.
[991]l. and others; and other passages;and other editions.
Expositor's Greek Testament
1 Corinthians 6:17. ὁ δὲ κολλώμενος τῳ Κυρίῳ κ.τ.λ.:“But he who cleaves to
the Lord is one spirit (with Him)”. Adhesion by the act of faith (1 Corinthians
1:21, etc.)to Christ (as Lord, cf. 1 Corinthians 12:3, etc.)establishes a
spiritual communion of the man with Him as real and close as the other,
bodily communion (“tam arcte quam conjuges sunt unum corpus,” Bg[986]),
and as much more influential and enduring as the spirit is above the flesh.
“The Spirit” is the uniting bond (1 Corinthians 3:16, Romans 8:8 f., etc.), but
the Ap. is thinking of the nature and sphere of this union; hence the
anarthrous, generic πνεῦμα, contrastedwith σάρξ (1 Corinthians 6:16). In 2
Corinthians 3:17 “the Lord” is identified with “the Spirit.” and believers are
repeatedly said to be ἐν Πνεύματι; so that betweenthem and Christ there
exists a κοινωνία Πνεύματος (1 Corinthians 1:9, 2 Corinthians 13:13;John
16:14, etc.). For the intimacy of this associationofmembers with the Head, see
Galatians 2:20, Ephesians 2:5 f., 1 Corinthians 3:16 f., Colossians 2:10;
Colossians 3:1 ff., John 15:1 ff; John 17:23 ff., etc.
[986]Bengel’s GnomonNovi Testamenti.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
17. he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit] Literally, cleavethto the Lord.
No words, save perhaps those in St John 17, could more forcibly express the
closeness ofthe union betweenChrist and His faithful disciple.
Bengel's Gnomen

1 Corinthians 6:17. Τῷ Κυρίῳ, to the Lord) Christ. It is the same syllepsis [the
Lord and he who is joined to Him are, etc.]—ἓν πνεῦμα, one spirit) so closely,
as husband and wife are one body. Make this your experience.
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 17. - That is joined unto the Lord. This phrase, indicating the closest
possible union, is found in Deuteronomy10:20; 2 Kings 18:6. Is one spirit.
There is a "mysticalunion," not only "betwixt Christ and his Church," but
also betweenChrist and the holy soulHence, to St. Paul, spiritual life meant
the indwelling of Christ in the heart - the life "in Christ;" so that he could say,
"It is no more I that live, but Christ that liveth in me" (Galatians 2:20;
Galatians 3:27; Colossians 3:17).
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
CALVIN
17.He that is joined to the Lord. He has added this to show that our
connectionwith Christ is closerthan that of a husband and wife, and that the
former, accordingly, must be greatly preferred before the latter, so that it
must be maintained with the utmost chastityand fidelity. Forif he who is
joined to a womanin marriage ought not to have illicit connectionwith an
harlot, much more heinous were this crime in believers, who are not merely
one flesh with Christ, but also one spirit Thus there is a comparisonbetween
greaterand less.
ALAN CARR

IT MAY BE YOUR BODY, BUT IT'S STILL GOD'S TEMPLE
1 Cor. 6:15-20
Intro: When we speak of the church, we are often referring to this building
where we meet throughout the week and gather for worship. However, this
building is not the church! It is a place where the church gathers. The church
is that universal, mystical body made up of every person who has trusted
Jesus Christ by faith and has been born into the family of God. What we are
sitting in today is not the sanctuary, you, if you are saved, are the sanctuary of
God. The word "temple" in verse 19 refers not to the whole place of the
temple, but just to the Holy of Holies, the place where God dwelled. What
Paul is trying to tell us is that we are the dwelling place of Almighty God! I do
not know how that touches you, but that is a sobering realizationto me.
Somehow, we have the opinion that what we do has no effecton us spiritually.
The truth, however, is vastly different. If you are saved, God lives in you.
Therefore, everywhere you go, everything you do, everything that touches
you, in effect, touches God. That is why Paul tells these Corinthian Christians
that they are God's Temples. It appears that many were using their bodies for
immoral purposes and were defiling their temple. (Ill. In Corinth, there was
the Temple of Diana. Diana was the goddess of sexand love. In her temple,
there were over 1,000 female priestesses. In reality, they were nothing more
than prostitutes. Because to worship Diana, you had to have sexual
intercourse with one of the temple prostitutes.) Many in this church were used
to this lifestyle. They reasonedthat God had saved their souls and that their
body was different. They had the mind set that said "WhatI do with my body
has no impact on my spiritual walk." This is worlds awayfrom the truth!
When God gave His plans for the Tabernacle, and later on the Temple, He set
forth in no uncertain terms the plain fact that He demanded purity in the
materials and construction, otherwise, He would never fill it with His glory.
God will not fill a dirty temple. This morning, I want to focus for a while on
this conceptof Christians being the "temple of God." I would like, in doing so,
to draw some comparisons betweenthese earthly, fleshy temples and the
temple that stood there in Jerusalem. I would like to preachfor a while on the

idea of It May Be Your Body, But It's Still God's Temple. As I bring this
message, pleaseallow the Lord to speak to your heart. It may be that you have
been letting your guard down and using your body to do things that aren't
right in the sight of God. If that is the case, I want you to know that there is
forgiveness in Jesus Christ. Perhaps, we just all need a reminder of whose we
really are. Think on these things as we look at It May Be Your Body, But It's
Still God's Temple!
There are severalcomparisons betweenour bodies and the originalTemple of
God. It is that common ground I would like to address this morning.
I. A PLACE OF DEDICATION
A. The earthly Temple was a place wholly dedicatedto God and His glory.
Nothing that defiled was allowedon the grounds. When something out of the
ordinary occurred, God took immediate steps to take care of the problem. (Ill.
Nadab and Abihu - Lev. 10:1-2 - These sons ofEleazaroffered strange fire
before the Lord and God killed them. It appears from the text, Lev. 10:8-11,
that these men were guilty of drunkenness before the Lord.) Be that as it may,
the earthly temple was a place setapart for God and His glory.
B. These earthly bodies we dwell in are also setapart for His glory! According
to our text, no one in this room has the right to use his/her body for anything
other than that which glorifies the Lord, v. 19b, 20. The reason? We have
been bought with a price!
(Ill. Jesus wentto Calvary and paid the price for our sins. When we came to
Him by faith in His shed blood, we enteredinto a covenant relationship with
God. In that relationship, He has promised to love us, keepus, provide for us
and ultimately take us to Heaven to spend eternity with Him. Our promise
was to turn from sin and follow Him totally. In truth, when we came to Jesus
for salvation, 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!)
C. Therefore, regardlessofwhat we are doing, if it does not bring honor and
glory God, then it is sin - Rom. 14:23;1 Cor. 10:31!

(Ill. Jack Hyles was askedby a girl in college to go to a dance. His reply is
classic.He said, "I'd love to go to the dance with you, but I can't." When
askedwhy, he said, "I have no feet." The girl was quick to see that he really
did have feetwith which he could have danced and told him so. He simply told
her that when he got saved, he lost controlof those feetand that now he didn't
have any feetto use for dancing. His feet had become God's feet.)
II. A PLACE OF DEVOTION
A. The temple was place where men gathered to worship God. They came to
the temple and glorified the Lord. It was a place where songs were sung,
prayers were prayed, hands were raised, praise was rendered and God was
magnified. The temple was a place of worship - Isa. 56:7.
B. Just as that temple was devoted to God as a place of worship, these bodies
are to be places where God is worshiped. The truth is, these bodies will render
worship to one God or another! (Ill. These Corinthian believers. With their
mouths they acknowledgedJesus Christ, then with their bodies they
participated in the worship of Diana.)
C. The question may arise, "How canI worship God with my body?" The
answers are many, but here are a few.
1. PresentIt As A Living Sacrifice - Rom. 12:1-2, covenantwith God that you
will use your body for nothing that will dishonor and degrade His Name. (Ill.
Make WWJD a standard for living, not just a catchy slogan!)
2. Prostrate It In Prayer - Jer. 33:3, Take you body aside from the world and
go to the Lord in prayer on a regularbasis. Nothing glorifies the Lord quiet
like people who trust Him enough to call on Him in faith.
3. Practice His Presence -Heb. 13:5; Matt. 28:20, never forgetthat Jesus is
ever with you. Learn to walk in the knowledge ofHis abiding presence. If you
will stop to considerthat Jesus is there and He is watching, it may prevent you
from engaging in activities that would dishonor His name.

4. Praise Him Continually - Heb. 13:15;Psa. 47:1, determine in your heart
that you will no circumstance oflife, no bump in the road to stop you from
having a thankful heart of praise before the Lord.
5. Place Your Body In His Hand For Service - Rom. 6:16, you will yield your
body to one master of the other. It will either be the gods of this world, (The
world, the flesh, the Devil), or it will be the Almighty. Yield yourself to the
Lord and He will use you for His glory and bless you. These other things, will
just leave you brokenand empty.
D. Can you honestly saythat you are using your body as a "House of
Worship" before the Lord?
III. A PLACE OF DUTY
A. The temple was a place where men carried out the duties they had been
given by the Lord. Things such as the sacrifice, the tithe, the offerings and
prayers were all carried out here at the temple. It was a place where duties
were performed.
B. These fleshly temples are also places where we are to carry out the duties
we have been given by God. (Ill. We need to adopt the same mind setas the
greatApostle Paul. Even though Godwas using him to pen the Scriptures and
to preach the Gospelunder a mighty manifestation of divine power, Paul still
referred to himself as a "servant." The word there is literally a "Bondslave."
One who has made a consciousdecisionto give the totality of himself up to
Jesus and to His will. A person who relinquishes all claims to self, to gain and
to glory. A person who wishes nothing more than just to be exactlywhat God
wants him to be.)
C. Is your temple a place where the duties of the Lord are carriedout? There
are many areas where we are duty bound before the Lord. In witnessing, in
worship, in prayer, in tithing, in obedience, in holiness, in righteousness and in
thousands of other ways, we are duty bound before God. So then, how do we
stack up?
IV. A PLACE OF DEATH

A. That old temple in Jerusalemwas the scene of many deaths. Millions of
animals were takenthere and slain on the altars in obedience to God's
commands. While there was praise, singing and worship in this great place,
there was also the stench of death. Every time anyone went to the temple, they
were immediately confronted with a death scene.
B. Like it or not, men should be confronted with the same scene whenthey
come into contactwith God's temples. You and I are challengedto be dead to
certain things in this world. According to the Bible, we have been born again,
1 Pet. 1:23. As a result, we are a totally "new creation", 2 Cor. 5:17.
Therefore, we are expectedto be dead to our old wayof life, and to the way of
life held so dear by this world system. Col. 3:1-9. In these verses, we are told
to put off, or considerourselves dead to, certainactivities. Among them are:
1. Fornication- Any illicit sexualsin. Premarital sex, extra-marital sex,
homosexuality, lesbianism. This term runs the gamut of sexual sin and is all
inclusive. (Ill. The only safe sexknow to God is that which occurs within the
boundaries of marriage. I'm not just talking about intercourse, I am referring
to ANY sexual expression. It is forbidden by God. That may seemrepressive,
but it is right. It is by the Book, andif you want to dishonor and defile your
temple, you will have to deal with God about it.
2. Uncleanness - Impurity of thought or life.
3. Inordinate Affections - Evil desires and passions.
4. Evil Concupiscence -An evil lust for the forbidden. (Ill. This is the sin that
fueled Adam and Eve's fall into sin!)
5. Covetousness -Greed, or the sin of not being satisfiedwith what you
already have.
6. Lying - We should always speak the truth and never try to gray it out.
There is such a thing as absolute truth.
C. What this boils down to is that we are put these bodies to death for the
glory of God. He doesn't want us killing ourselves. He does want us to retrain
ourselves and reign our bodies in. We are to control them and not the other

way around - 1 Cor. 9:27! Here, Paul says that He "Keeps under his body."
That phrase means to "hit under the eye." It is a boxing term and it means to
punch or to beat into submission. If you do not control your body and its
passions, it will controlyou!
V. A PLACE OF DISPLAY
A. When men saw the temple standing there in Jerusalem, they were
reminded of God. They were mad to recallthat there is a God in Heaven who
loves sinners and has made a wayfor their redemption.
B. These bodies, as temples of the Lord, are our witness to the world that we
have been redeemed. Every time the world sees a child of God, they see a
manifestation of the power and the grace of Almighty God. That is why Paul
referred to the Corinthian believers as "his epistle", 2 Cor. 3:2. Paul is telling
them that everywhere they turn, everywhere they go, they are living,
breathing love letters to humanity. Letters that sayto sinners, "What Godhas
done here, He can do in you." You may be the only sermon some people ever
see. Thatis a message thatneeds repeating!
(Ill. The Temple in Jerusalemwas coveredoverwith gold. It saton the highest
hill in the city facing east. Everymorning, when the sun broke over the
horizon it castits light onto this greatstructure. It literally blazed in the glory
of the sun. Ill. Perhaps this was the reference point for Christ's words in
Matthew 5:14. Day of night, the temple of God was always alight with the
glory of God. There is a lessonhere for you and me. We are to be such
reflectors of the glory of Godthat men can see His powerworking in and
through our lives. We are to be bright shining examples of His saving power.)
C. Whether you like it or not, you are a witness. Your life either speaks wellof
Jesus, oryou bring dishonor to him by the things you do and how you live. His
plan for us is summed up by Paul in Phil. 1:27, "Only let your conversationbe
as it becometh the gospelof Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else
be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one

mind striving togetherfor the faith of the gospel;" What kind of statementare
we making about Jesus?
Conc:Yes, it is your body, but if you are saved, it is still the temple of God. So,
how are you treating the House of God this morning? Are you totally
Dedicatedto Jesus this morning? Are you using your body to worship Him in
true Devotion? Are you fully executing your Duties before the Lord? Have
you put those things to Death in your life that dishonor Him? Is your life a
pleasing Display to the saving grace of God? If there are needs, bring them to
Jesus, won'tyou? Some here are not even saved. You are not God's temple,
but you can be if you will make your way to this altar and callon God, He will
save you by His grace. Godis doing business today, will you give Him the
right of way in your life?
The Saint One With His Savior
BY SPURGEON
“He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.”
1 Corinthians 6:17
THE connectionof our text is very terrible. When we are reading the
sixteenth verse one seems to remember Sodom, its infamy, and the fire and
brimstone that came down from Heaven upon it. But here in our text we enter
into Jerusalem, the holy city, whose streets are of purity so rich and rare as to
be comparable to gold clearas transparent glass. And there we seemto behold
the GreatWhite Throne of the thrice Holy, surrounded by the white robed
bands of the immaculate. In looking at the text I callto mind John Bunyan’s
description of the way through the Valley of the Shadow of Death. It was an
“exceedinglynarrow” path, not readily kept. On the right hand the dreadful
gulf, and on the left the fearful quagmire.
See in my text a road fit for angels, and for the angels'Master, and yet on
either hand, in the sixteenth and eighteenth verses behold the fiends and devils
howling for their prey! Happy is he who finds that path which the eagle’s eye
has not seen, that centerof the King’s highway of which it is written, “No lion
shall be there, neither shall any ravenous beastgo up thereon.” How glorious

is that “wayof holiness”!Gaze on it–it is clearas the sapphire, bright as the
brilliant crystal. Deepdown in its depths your eyes may look, and in it there is
nothing to obscure, it is as the holiness of God Himself, a purity so wonderful
that conscious ofour shortcomings we cry, “It is high, I cannotattain unto it.”
The exceeding elevationof the Believerin being joined unto the Lord appears
all the more marvelous when it is set, as in the text, in contrastwith the
dreadful impurity into which we might have fallen, and againstwhich we are
still solemnly warned, as if to remind us that our indwelling corruption would
drag us down if Divine Grace did not prevent it. Brethren, sin is never seento
be so truly horrible as when we behold it in the light of Christian privilege. It
is a terrible thing for a creature to rebel againstits Creator, but for the
adopted son of God to be disobedient to his ever loving Father, this is worse
by far.
Sin is black if we see it in the dim twilight of spiritual conviction when our
conscienceis half awakened, but it grows blackerthan Hell’s murkiest
midnight when we setit in contrastwith the amazing brightness of the Divine
favor which has shone upon us, His elect–redeemed, justified, and adopted
people. That yonder professorshould be so carelessandso inconsistentis sad,
but when I remind him that he is one of the redeemed I trust he will feelhis
lukewarmness to be monstrous. When man is chosenof God and washedin
the Savior’s blood, must it not seemto angels a prodigy of human depravity, a
marvel of human corruption, that such a one should for a moment forgetthe
way of holiness and desire the paths of iniquity?
In ourselves how heinous is all transgression, seeing we have been the objects
of such ceaseless,boundless, loving kindness!For us to follow afar off, to
backslide, to grow indifferent is indescribable baseness, a violation of the
sacreddemands of gratitude. If the more frequent sins of Christians appear
thus heinous in contrastwith their greatprivileges, much more loathsome
must be vices of the fouler kind, such as Paul here speaksof–sins notto be
named among us, or even thought of without horror. God forbid that any of
us who claim to be of the body of Christ should degrade ourselves by filthy
lusts of the flesh.
Casting a veil overthe matter forbidden, not that we may forgetit altogether,
but may turn our eyes awayfrom beholding vanity, we shall now endeavor to
conduct you to the elevatedplatform of the text itself. I see in it, first, a
mysterious deep which I cannot fathom. And, therefore, in the secondplace,
we will sail across itwhile we speak of a manifest Grace which glistens on its
surface.

1. First, then, there is in the text A MYSTERIOUS DEEP. “He that is
joined unto the Lord is one spirit.” What does that joining to the Lord
mean which is mentioned here? There is a joining to the Lord in
election. We were chosenin Christ Jesus from before the foundation of
the world, and by SovereignLove we were predestinatedto the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ. There was a further joining to the Lord in
Covenant, when Jesus became of old the Head of His Church. As Adam
was the head of all that came of his loins, so is Christ the Head of a
spiritual seedto whom the promise belongs by the Everlasting Covenant
signed, sealed, and ordered in all things and sure.
Further, Christ was joined to us when He took upon Himself our Nature.
When He came into this world and was made a Man, then He was truly joined
to us. He left His Father, and was joined unto His bride, and they two became
one flesh. “Forboth He that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of
one: for which cause He is not ashamed to callthem Brethren.” He was one
with us in Nature, one in our sufferings, one in our life and death, one, too, in
bearing our curse, taking upon Himself our sin. All this makes up a glorious
joining unto the Lord–but it is not the doctrine taught here–forall that are
joined to Christ in the Divine purpose are not yet made of one spirit with Him,
for many of them are still living in their natural ignorance, little aware of the
Grace ordained of old for them.
They are yet to be brought out from the house of bondage. Their electionis to
be followedby their calling. The Lord Jesus who is God’s Covenantis yet to
be revealedto the eye of their faith, and a living union to Christ is yet to be
created. This last work of Grace is not yet workedin the uncalled, and they
are not in that sense joined to the Lord. A vital and spiritual union is meant in
the text, a union which is matter of living experience, and is workedin us
when we are born again, when we pass from darkness into Christ’s marvelous
Light–when we rise from the death of sin to find the Lord Jesus to be our life.
From that moment we are “dead, and our life is hid with Christ in God.”
From the moment of our regeneration, we who were once the branches of the
wild olive are graftedinto the goodolive. We who were castout like withered
branches to be burned, are grafted into the ever-living Vine, and become one
with Jesus Christ our Lord. This is the union here spokenof, and he that is
joined unto the Lord in that way by a work of the Holy Spirit radically and
thoroughly changing him, and renewing him, and bringing him into oneness
with Christ, is said to be the “one spirit.”
But what does that word, “one spirit” mean? Well, we must get at it by
degrees. Youmay guess at its meaning from the fact that in other parts of

Scripture the union betweenChrist and His people is describedby that of a
marriage union, and then it is said, “these two shall be one flesh.” But to take
off the carnal edge of the metaphor, lest we fall into any grossnessofthought,
we are told that we in union with our Lord are one spirit. The union is a
spiritual one. It is a greatmystery, says the Apostle, when he speaks
concerning Christ and His Church.
You geta glimmer, then, of what he means. There is a spiritual union, as real
as when two are made one flesh. But it is not to be misread, and corruptly
thought of as a carnal, material matter. It is a deep Truth of God belonging to
the world of spirit. Try to get at it again. Remember that Christ and His
people have one Spirit. The Holy Spirit who quickens us anointed Him. The
Holy Spirit who illuminated us gave to Jesus Christ the unction with which He
came to preach the reconciling Word to man. “The Spirit of the Lord,” says
He, “is upon Me, for He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted.”
The Holy Spirit on Christ is the same Holy Spirit as upon us. The oil which
ran down Aaron’s beard, and descendedto the skirts of his garments, was the
same holy anointing which was poured upon his reverend head. Yes, and
glory be to God for the Truth–we have the same Spirit with the Lord Jesus
Himself. The Apostle says, “There are diversities of operations, but it is the
same God which works all in all.” And again, “Forby one Spirit are we all
baptized into one body, whether we are Jews or Gentiles, whether we are
bond or free. And have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” But we need
not staythere, for we may add–we all have the same Holy Spirit as Jesus had.
The foot is baptized into the same Spirit as the head. The ear not only has the
same Spirit as the hand, but has the same Spirit as the glorious crownedand
adored Head of the Church.
That is not all the meaning of the text, though it helps us to come near it. We
have a greatermystery here. Some have read it, “we are of one spirit with
Him,” that is to say, we come to think and feel as Jesus does, have common
motives, aims, emotions, and desires. This is most true, and is the practical
meaning of the text, but a more spiritual sense is under it. Let us, however,
turn this over a moment. We who are joined unto the Lord are of one spirit
with Him–the one Holy Spirit has workedus unto the same thing.
As Jesus is actuatedby an intense desire for the glory of God, the Holy Spirit
has workedus unto the same fervent longing. His meat and drink is also ours.
Into His labors and His joys we enter. This meaning is high–O for Grace to
reachit in our own characters!Yet the text says not that we are of one spirit,
but we are one spirit. We not only have one spirit, and are of one spirit, but
we are one spirit. Now, whatshall I say of this? I shall say nothing but that

this is a matter to be understood only by the spiritual mind, and not to be
readily, if at all, expounded in human words. It is not a Truth for which we
have adequate expressions–letters,syllables, words fail us.
This much we cansay though more is left unsaid–there is a union between
Christ and His people most deep, most mysterious, most essential. If you
would know it, ponder this sentence ofour Lord’s prayer, “I in them and You
in Me, that they may be made perfectin one.” Christ and His saints actually
are one spirit. Ah, the depth! Your contemplation, if aided by the heavenly
Interpreter, may assistyou. As for me, I should but darken counselby words
without knowledge if I tried to open up what these words rather concealthan
reveal.
Yet an illustration or two. We have known on earth friends who have become
one spirit–intimacy and mutual admiration have ripened friendship into unity
till the one seemedto be the complement of the other–andthe mention of one
suggestedthe other. They pursued one objectwith equal footsteps. Theynever
differed, but appeared to have one soulin two bodies. The death of one almost
necessarilyinvolved the death of the other–the two were inseparable
companions. Damon and Pythias lived over againin them. Jonathan and
David seemedrisen from the dead. Feebly, and but feebly, this reflects the
image of our text.
So have we seenone spirit in another relationship, which is often used as the
tokenof the union betweenChrist and His people, betweenthe husband and
the wife, of which we shall speak more particularly later, where there has
been one love, one aim, one object. Like two stars, the wedded pair have shone
with such blended rays as to have seemedmore one than two. One name, one
heart, one house, one interest, one love–they have also had one spirit. More
fully, still, our text is illustrated by the branch and the stem. The branch in
the vine is nothing if separatedfrom the stem. Its sapis the very same sap that
is in the stem–one life is in the stem and the branch–and they are both
struggling for the same object, both seeking to produce and ripen the fruit.
They have no different aim, or even existence. The stem does not hoard for
itself, nor the branch blossomfor itself. The branch and stem are one vine.
They are nothing separatedfrom eachother, their life one and their design
one. See here again, as in a glass darkly, an amazing spiritual Truth. Yet more
fully is this gracious union betweenus and our Lord brought out in the
metaphor of the union of the member with the body. In that case there is,
indeed, one spirit, not only in a vital but in an intellectual sense. If there is life
in this finger, it is identically the same life that is in the head. But one spirit

quickens all the parts of the body, whether comely or uncomely, whether base
or honorable.
And so in the whole Church of God the life of Christ is the life of His people.
The spirit of Christ is the spirit of His people. They are not two but one. The
mystical union is so complete that even the marriage bond, of which we spoke
just now, cannot fully come up to it–it is but an earthly symbol of a yet truer
heavenly reality. We who are joined unto the Lord are one spirit. I sayno
more. What I have said may rather conduct you to the door than open it. But
there is One whose work it is to be the Revealerofsecrets, ask Him and He
shall revealeven this unto you.
II. May the Holy Spirit help us while considering the secondhead. On the very
surface of the text, there is A MANIFEST GRACE. Our one spirit with Christ
reveals itself practicallyin a manifest sympathy of spirit betweenus and our
Lord, so that we, being one spirit, are seento be actuatedand impelled by the
same influences. We are of one spirit with Jesus. Thatmeaning I shall try and
bring out. Union with Christ in these days, when religion wears her holiday
garments, is a word with a pleasantsound, and because ofits honorable
esteemmen would gladly possessit.
But alas, they know not what it is! They hang a cross attheir necks, or
embroider it on their garments, or stamp it on their books–andfancy that this
gives them some degree of unity to the Crucified. But, Brothers and Sisters,
this matter lies quite out of their reach. To be one spirit with Christ, much
more is needed than to bear the Christian name. You may call yourselfa
Christian, or a Brother, or a Sister, or one of the Societyof Jesus, and in so
doing you may have selectedwhatyou think to be the most orthodox of terms
by which to designate yourselfand the congregationto which you belong–but
union to the Lord stands not in name only.
There were those of old who called themselves Jews andwere not–their taking
the name did not give them the nature of Israelites. Theythat are joined unto
the Lord may not always be known by the same name. They may be called
Christians at Antioch and Jews atPhilippi (Acts 16:20), but a right or a wrong
name will not change the real character. Calla poppy a rose and you will not,
thereby, give it perfume. Perhaps none in all the world are less joined to the
Lord than some who adore the very name of Christian, and make an idol of
the outward sign of the Cross. Neitheris true union to Christ to be gainedby
mere outward profession. You may be baptized in water, but unless you are
baptized into the Holy Spirit, you know not what union with Christ is. If in
Baptism we are buried with Him, then it is well, indeed, but the sign in itself is
nothing, for Simon Magus, though baptized, had no part nor lot in the matter.

We may sit at the Lord’s Table with His people, yes, in the company of
Apostles, and yet be sons of perdition! He may eatand drink in our streets,
and yet may never know us. To eat the visible bread is not to be one with His
mystical body. Union with Christ lies deeper than name, lies deeper than
outward signs and seals ofChurch fellowship–andit even lies deeperthan the
performance of some apparently goodactions and the use of religious words
in conversation. We may do many things in His name, yes, and greatthings,
too, for in His name many castout devils and did many wonderful works and
so were partakers of the powers of the world to come. And yet they were
rejectedby Him at the last as unknown of Him.
When judgment begins at the House of God small store will be set by mere
visible union, for the branches in Christ after this fashion, not bearing fruit,
will be castforth, and withered, and burned in the fire. We must be rooted
and built up in Him. He must be formed in us or it will little avail us to have
been numbered with His disciples. The superficial, the nominal, and the
outward will not suffice. He that is joined unto the Lord must be one spirit–
deep down in the very vitals of our being must this union with Jesus Christ
most eminently reside, and in our hearts and minds must His Truth be found.
This is solemn teaching, and it ought, like the candle of the Lord, to searchthe
secretparts of our nature. The carnal mind loves that which is outward, for it
can readily comply with it, and that without Divine assistance.But the
unregenerate heart kicks againstthatwhich is purely spiritual, for it cannot
understand it, and here it is compelledto feel its own powerlessness, exceptto
counterfeit with base imitations. My Brethren, this is a discerning Word,
dividing betweenthe joints and marrow, and discovering the thoughts and
intents of the heart. You who are quickenedwith the incorruptible Seed, and
discern spiritual things, come to the search, and see wellto it that you are
joined unto the Lord. Not in the form of godliness only, but in the power of it,
also.
Let us give you, for your assistance,anillustration of what unity of spirit is as
we see it among men, for here we may dimly see it as betweenthe Lord and
our souls. We will take a copy from that rare conjugalunion which exists
among those who realize the highest ideal of the married life. Sometimes we
have seena model marriage, founded in pure love and cemented in mutual
esteem. There the husband acts as a tender head, and the wife, as a true
spouse, realizes the model marriage relation, and sets forth what our oneness
with the Lord ought to be. She delights in her husband, in his person, his
character, his affection.

To her he is not only the chief and foremost of mankind, but in her eyes he is
all in all, her heart’s love belongs to him and to him only. She finds sweetest
content and solacein his company, his fellowship, his fondness. He is her little
world, her Paradise, herchoice treasure. To please him she would gladly lay
aside her own pleasure to find it doubled in gratifying him. She is glad to sink
her individuality in his. She seeks no name for herself. His honor is reflected
upon her, and she rejoices in it. She would defend his name with her dying
breath–safe enoughis he where she can speak for him. The domestic circle is
her kingdom, and that she may there create happiness and comfortis her
lifework, and his smiling gratitude is all the reward she seeks.
Even in her dress she thinks of him. Without constraint she consults his taste
and thinks nothing beautiful which is obnoxious to his eye. A tear from his
eye, because ofany unkindness on her part, would grievously torment her.
She asks nothow her behavior may please a stranger, or how another’s
judgment may be satisfiedwith her behavior. Let her Belovedbe content and
she is glad. He has many objects in life, some of which she does not quite
understand, but she believes in them all, and anything that she cando to
promote them she delights to perform.
He lavishes love on her and she on him. Their objectin life is common. There
are points where their affections so intimately unite that none could tell which
is first and which is second. To see their children growing up in health and
strength, to see them holding posts of usefulness and honor is their mutual
concern. In this and other matters they are fully one. Their wishes blend, their
hearts are indivisible. By degrees they come very much to think the same
thoughts. Intimate associationcreatesconformity.
We have knownthis to become so complete that at the same moment the same
utterance has leaped to both their lips. Happy woman and happy man! If
Heaven is found on earth they have it! At lastthe two are so welded, so
engraftedon one stem, that their old age presents a lovely attachment, a
common sympathy by which its infirmities are greatly alleviated, and its
burdens are transformed into fresh bonds of love. So happy a union of will,
sentiment, thought, and heart exists betweenthem that the two streams of
their life have washedawaythe dividing bank and run on as one broad
current of united existence till their common joy falls into the main oceanof
felicity.
Such a sight, it may be, is not commonly seen, but it is inexpressibly beautiful,
and is a fair type of what the Christian ought to be in his oneness with his
Lord. For the Believerthere should be no attractive beauty but in Christ,
nothing that cancharm him, stir the deeps of his soul, or move his nobler

passions, but the glorious person of Emmanuel, the chief among ten thousand.
He loved us and gave Himself for us–we also must love Him and give Him our
whole selves. Forus the one objectof life is to please our Lord. We should not
dare to sin, not because we are slavishly afraid of punishment, but because we
would not grieve the Bridegroomof our souls. We must labor for His cause,
not because oflegaldemands, but because we know no higher happiness
under Heaven than to make Him honored and to let Him see in us, and
through us, of the travail of His soul.
Our Lord has greatends and objects. We cannotunderstand them all, but to
our utmost we desire to promote them by suffering or by service. Our prayer
is, “Lord, show me what You would have me to do.” We would be tenderly
sensitive to His desire, not surrendered to it only, but delighting in whatever
He wills. We reckonit our honor to be permitted to help Him, however
humbly, to work out any of His designs. As to the children of His Grace, both
His and ours, regeneratedby His Spirit and converted by our ministries, they
are doubly dear to us, and their perfection we seek with Him. Our constant
enquiry is, canwe do anything for them? Can we callhome the backsliding?
Can we comfort the desolate?Canwe help the poor and needy? Can we be of
any service to the lambs of His flock?–
“There’s not a lamb in all His flock
We would disdain to feed.”
We would do anything by which we might show our love to Him, for our
union of heart, and our union of purpose, our union of thought with Him, are
all deep and true. Such a Christian grows to think as Christ thinks till the
teachings of Jesus are plain to him. He never tries to tone down the Gospelas
certain philosophic minds are ever doing, because theyare not in union with
the greatTeacher’s heart. But he comes to see things from the Lord’s point of
view, and knows his Master’s meaning as by a sacredinstinct. Blessed
consummation when our hearts at lastare all wrapped up in Jesus, evenas the
bush at Horeb was all on fire with God.
Just as Jesus has setall His love on them, so they come to set all their love on
Him, and they can say with the Apostle, “Forme to live is Christ,” while the
gain which they anticipate in death is the gain of being nearer to their
Beloved, and forever beholding the glory of His face. I have given you an
illustration, and have workedit out but poorly, but even had I workedit out
to perfection, it must necessarilyfall short of the incomparable “one spirit”
which dwells in our glorious Head and all His members. Go on till you sing
with quaint old Francis Quarles–

“Evenlike two little bank-dividing brooks,
That washthe pebbles with their wantonstreams,
And having rangedand searcheda thousand nooks,
Meetboth at length in silver-breastedThames,
Where in a greatercurrent they conjoin.
So I my best Beloved’s am; so He is mine.
Even so we met. And after long pursuit,
Even so we joined, we both became entire.
No need for either to renew a suit,
For I was flax, and He was flames of fire.
Our firm united souls did more than twine,
So I my best Beloved’s am; so He is mine.”
Where such union as that exists, what does it produce? Its fruits are precious.
They who are thus one spirit with Christ live for the same end. He lived for
God’s glory. “Know you not,” said He in His youth, “that I must be about My
Father’s business?” In His riper years He said, “It is My meat and my drink
to do the will of Him that sent Me.” He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit
in that respect. Forhim the great, one, only thing is to glorify God. In such a
case the soul sees everything in this one light, and asks concerning all, how
will it affectthe kingdom of God? Even in reading the newspaperone says,
“Greatevents are transpiring in politics, how will these work for the glory of
God?” The engineer considers the effect the war may have on the world, the
politician thinks of the balance of power, the reformer meditates on its results
as to human progress, but the man who is joined unto the Lord prays only,
“Father, glorify Your name.”
To him the profit of his business is only profit so far is it will enable him to
help the Master’s cause, andhis honor is no honor unless he can raise out of it
some matter for Jehovah’s praise. The glory of God, the glory of God, the
glory of God–this was the one targettowards which our Lord went onward in
His life. Like a shot that crashes througheverything until it reaches its mark,
so must our spirits find no targetbut the glory of God! And if we are one
spirit with Christ, it will be so. God’s glory, God’s glory will be first, last,
midst, everywhere, everything. All for God, and God in all, will be our motto,
as “hallowedbe Your name, Your kingdom come,” is our daily prayer.
Further, if we are joined to Christ, so as to be one spirit, we shall seek the
same end for the same reason. He desired the glory of Godnot for His own
glory, but because He loved God. He was one with the Father. He loved the
Father, therefore would He see the Fatherglorified. Brethren, it is easyto
seek the glory of God with a view to your own glory. Did you ever find

yourself doing so, desiring that the children in your class should be converted,
that in the schoolit might be said what a successfulteacheris so-and-so? Oh,
how have I soughtto wring that black drop out of my spirit, when the desire
to bring souls to Christ has been backedwith the desire that I might have a
goodstanding as a successfulminister!
Into Christ’s thoughts so base an element never entered–He sank Himself in
God. He knew His Father would give Him the reward, and for the joy that
was setbefore Him He endured the Cross, despising the shame–but Self-
seeking neverthrew its alloy into the pure gold of His devotion to the Father.
If we are one spirit with Christ, self will be swallowedup in God. Lord, do
what You will with me, so long as You are glorified! If I can glorify You best
in silence, then let me never speak again.
If it is most for Your glory that I should die, though my life appears to be
useful to Your Church, yet let me end my days. If it will glorify You that I
should be unsuccessful, that I should be in the world’s judgment a
disappointed man, perhaps a fool without brain enough to succeed, Lord, let
me be a fool, or an idiot for You! Only glorify Yourself in me, and that is
enough. This is true oneness of spirit with Jesus. Selfis nothing. God is to be
All in All. Comfort, esteem, joy, and even life will be as the small dust of the
balance to a man filled with Christ’s spirit.
Then we shall come, if we are one spirit with Christ, to aim at the glory of God
by the same means. How did He aim at it? By the conversionof souls–notby
being made a king, not by being called rabbi. He sought for the souls of little
children, of peasantwomen, and of outcasts. If my mind is as Christ’s mind, I
shall seek God’s glory by following after the waifs and strays of society–by
bringing in backsliders, by seeking the lostsheep of the house of Israel–
laboring by any means to save some.
How, my Brethren, are you bending your souls towards the conversionof
sinners? It is a great mark of oneness ofspirit with Christ when we have a
greattenderness towards lost souls. Do you everthink of lost souls? Do you
ever bring yourselves to the painful considerationof this huge city, so much
largerthan Jerusalemin our Savior’s day, and, I was about to say, equally
wicked? Do you never pour out floods of tears for it because it knows not its
day, and is neglectful of the invitations of Grace? Ifyou are one spirit with
Christ you will weepwith Him. You will burn with an ardent passionto
gather this city’s children beneaththe wings of mercy.
You will pray for them, sigh for them, live for them, and persevere in labor
for them. Your thought about a personwill not merely be what trade you can

do with him, or how much you may trust him in business, but, “How much
goodcan I do him, and can I find an opportunity in any way of bringing him
as a jewelto adorn my Savior’s crown?” If our spirits were one with Christ’s
we should eachone be missionaries of the Cross, bearing witness to His saving
power.
Beloved, with such a spirit we should be content to use the same modes as our
Lord. Christ’s modes of winning souls were very simple, and He always
adhered to them–teaching, preaching, living, suffering, and dying were His
whole art. Some nowadays seemtired of Christ’s plans, and hunt up more
rapid methods. I do not believe that Jesus ever strained after effectby animal
excitement. He did not strive and cry, and become fanatical, and try to excite
poor ignorant people, who know not what they do, to say what they do not
understand. He went to work by instructing the ignorant, enlightening their
consciencesand understandings, and gradually leading them to Himself.
When His spirit is ours we shall be better satisfiedwith that old-fashioned way
of Gospelpreaching which the critics nowadays are so fond of sneering at. We
shall feel this is the best way–this hard, plodding way that does not usually
produce a greatmass of converts all at once–this is best, for Jesus thought so.
We shall pine for large harvests, but go on sowing the same Seed, and
preaching His Gospeland no new one of our own. What was wisdom to Him
will be wisdom to us.
Then shall we, if we are of one spirit with Jesus, go to work as He did, with the
same emotions. If we had but six men thoroughly of one spirit with Jesus,
London would soonbe shakenfrom end to end. But where are they? God
make all His servants such, and we shall hear a new sort of preaching to what
is current at this hour. Forwhen Jesus preached, it was tremendous
preaching! True, it was pleasing, attractive, interesting, but was far more–it
was full of deep heartpower, suchas made men see His solemn earnestness–
and such as overcame men’s souls.
His soul, as it were, leapedupon them in all the majesty of love’s
Omnipotence. O that we felt as He did the weight of souls, the guilt of sin, the
terror of the wrath to come, and the tenderness of Divine mercy! If these great
principles actuatedand moved our spirit as they moved His, we should rise to
a higher standard, and our age would know it.
Let me add that if we are fully joined to our Lord, and of one spirit with Him,
we shall have the same tastes as Jesus. WhatHe loves will charm us, what He
hates we shall loathe. We shall then come to have the same will with Him. As
one said, “If God wills not as I will, yet at any rate we will be agreed, forI will

will as He wills if He will but graciouslyenable me.” If I cannot have things as
I would like, I will like to have them as Jesus pleases. Oh, to have the two
wills, the human and Divine perfectly coinciding–this is perfection!Brethren,
if this unity betweenour spirit and Christ’s spirit goes onwe shall abide in
Him, and He will abide in us.
Oh, to be our Beloved’s and to know that He is ours! I cannotresist quoting
another two verses from old Quarles, they so depict my ideal–
“Nortime, nor place, nor chance, nor death can bow
My leastdesires unto the leastremove;
He’s firmly mine by oath. I His by vow;
He is mine by faith. And I am His by love;
He’s mine by water. I am His by wine;
Thus I my bestBeloved’s am; thus He is mine.
He is my altar. I His holy place;
I am His guest. And He my living food;
I’m His by penitence. He mine by Grace;
I’m His by purchase. He is mine by blood
He’s my supporting wall. And I His vine–
Thus I my bestBeloved’s am; thus He is mine.”
I have many things to say, but time fails me, and therefore let me just pour
out a few thoughts. There would be produced in you and in me, if we were
joined unto the Lord, greatoneness ofaim in our service of God. We have a
dozen aims now, but if we were of one spirit with Jesus we should have but
one objectin life. A man dies, and they say, “Ah, he died a martyr to his
science.”Another dies, and they say, “He killed himself with attention to his
business.” When will men be thus said to die for Christ?
Men commonly sayof their fellows, “He is a man of one idea, he lives for it.
Wherever he is he must always ride his hobby.” How I wish they would say
the same of Christians! Whereverour Lord was, not imprudently, but with
true wisdom, He was sure to pursue His life work. Where Jesus was there
would the Gospelbe heard or seenbefore long. If He sat to eat bread at a
Pharisee’s house nobody could suspectHim of being a Pharisee, orneed to ask
who He was. His speechbefore long betrayed Him, for the one objectof His
soul was uppermost. May it ever be so with us! May we be of one idea and
that one idea to glorify God through the salvationof sinners by Jesus Christ!
This would give us, beside unity of purpose, greatforce, greatfervor. We
should feelthis in private. Our prayers, if we had the spirit of Christ would be
very different from what they are. This would be visible in public, also. Our

public service of God would never be so sluggishand sleepy as it now is. With
what ardor did the Saviorburn! Would God that same fire dropped into my
soul, and utterly consumedme as a living sacrifice. This would produce in
eachof us an abiding pertinacity. Defeatedin one place we should try in
another. It would be with us a determination never to be overcome in doing
good. Like Jesus who soughtthe souls of men, not in a languid search, but
over hill and dale till He went down into death’s cold shade and traversedthe
sepulcherthat He might deliver them, so we also in honor and dishonor, in
evil report and goodreport, in poverty and wealth, in life and death, should
still be seeking the glory of God and the salvationof the sons of men.
This same spirit would work in us a wonderful serenity of spirit. If our spirit
were like Christ’s spirit–altogetherseton God’s glory–we should not be
disturbed and vexed so soonas we are with little, petty remarks of men, nor
should we even be moved by greatcalamities. If any disasterhappened to us
we should only say, “How canI use this for God’s glory?” If prosperity smiled
on us, we should ask, “How can I make this glorify my Lord?” We should not
be castdown by the one nor lifted up by the other. If men sneeredat us we
should say, “It is wellthat they think little of me, for now if God will bless my
efforts they will think the more of God and know that the work was not done
by my power.”
If, on the other hand, we find men thinking highly of us, we should say, “How
can I use the influence I thus obtain to advance the greatcause of my Lord
and Master?”When selfis dead our sorrows are sweet. Whenself-seeking is
gone, then serene is the calm lake of the soul, unruffled by the storms of
ambition which continually toss with blustering breath the minds which seek
themselves. I am persuaded, Brethren, your highest state, your happiest
condition–will be when you are so joined with the Lord as to be one spirit.
Lastly, what does all this teach us by way of practicallesson? These three
things–First, see here a rebuke for us. We have been joined to Christ, but have
we been manifestly one spirit with Him? Angry–was that Christ’s spirit?
Worldly–was that Christ’s spirit? Frivolous, verging upon impropriety–was
that Christ’s spirit? Proud, dictatorial, slothful, repining, or unbelieving–was
that Christ’s spirit? O Brothers and Sisters, if you canread that verse without
a tear you are either better or worse men than I! You are worse perhaps, for
you do not feelthe penitence you should. Or you are better, and you have no
need to confess the same faults which unhappily rise before my memory. The
spirit of Jesus, we have a measure of it I trust, but does not our own spirit
adulterate it dreadfully!

The next practicalword is one of hope. We want to have the same spirit as
Christ. Well, Brethren, our hope is that we shall have it, for we are joined to
the Lord, and he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit. Are you not joined to
Jesus, my Brother, my Sister? I know what you say, “I sometimes fearI am
not.” Well, but what do you add to that? You add, “But I desire to be, and I
do today renew my union with Him by another act of faith and confidence in
Him. DearLord and Savior, You are my only Hope. I at this hour embrace
Your Cross once more. I know You save sinners, I know that they who believe
in You are saved, and therefore I am saved. Now, being persuaded of this, I
love You. O that I could kiss Your feetwhere the nail prints are, and that my
whole life could be a washing of those feet with my tears!”
Since, then, you are joined to Christ, you are one spirit, and though it is not
yet fully seen, it will be before long. There are better times coming, there are
deeper degrees ofGrace for you yet, only persevere.
The lastword will help you to persevere. Don’t you see, my Brethren, the way
to get more of the spirit of Christ? It is indicated in the text, it is by thinking
more of your union with Him. To be nearer the Lord is the way to be more
like He is. Do not let doubts and fears endangeryour fellowship with Him.
You may think, “I fear I have no right to say I am one with Christ.” But that
suspicionwill not sanctify you. It will not help you to be holier to doubt your
union to your Lord.
Men never grow in Grace by departing from the Saviorby unbelief. The more
you need Christ the closercling to Him. The less you are like He is the tighter
hold Him. Your hope lies there. “If my spirit is not yet subdued to Your spirit,
my Savior, yet I cannot let You go, for that were to drive the physician away
because I am still sick. That were to renounce my friend because I have great
need of him. No, but closerto You will I cling by Your Holy Spirit from this
day forth, that being joined to You, I may be of one spirit.”
I feel I have feebly addressedyou, but at the same time I know precious Truth
has been setforth. May the Holy Spirit open it up to your hearts, and bless it
to your souls, and He shall be magnified. But if you have no part nor lot in this
matter, may that dreadful fact lead you at this hour to seek the Savior.
BOUGHT WITH A PRICE
Dr. W. A. Criswell

1 Corinthians 6:15-20
9-25-55 7:30 p.m.
In our preaching through the Word, we have come to the sixth chapter of the
first Corinthian letter. I had it in my heart to read the whole chapter, but we
shall rather tonight read the passageimmediately in context with the text. So
we will start at the fifteenth verse. The first Corinthians letter, the sixth
chapter and the fifteenth verse. This is the reading of the Word:
Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take
the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God
forbid.
What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two,
saith He, shall be one flesh.
But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that
committeth fornication sinneth againsthis own body.
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghostwhich is in
you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
Forye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body,
[1 Corinthians 6:15-20]
And then a pious manuscript scribe added, “and in your spirit, which are
God’s” [1 Corinthians 6:20], but Paul’s words quit there, “You are not your
own, you are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body” [1
Corinthians 6:19-20]. Now the messageis the lastpart of that Scripture
reading, “Know ye not that ye are not your own? Foryou are bought with a
price: therefore glorify God in your body” [1 Corinthians 6:19-20].
Now, he has an unusual thing here, “Ye are not your own.” You would think
that Paul would say, “You are not your own, you did not make yourself. By
right of creationyou belong to God.” But it does not saythat. “You are not
your own,” you would think that Paul would say, “Godsustained you,
therefore you are not your own. He keeps you, He preserves you. If the Lord

were to withdraw His breath from us for three minutes, we would be dead.
The Lord feeds us. He nourishes us. He sustains us. He upholds us.
Therefore, we belong to Him.” But he does not saythat. He says, “Know ye
not ye are not your own” [1 Corinthians 6:19]. And the reasonis redemption,
“Ye are bought with a price” [1 Corinthians 6:20].
Now there is a fine and beautiful distinction to be made betweenredemption
by power and redemption by price. When Lot was takencaptive, Abraham
overwhelmed his captors and redeemedLot and his fellow captives [Genesis
14:12-16]. Whenthe Amalekites came and took away the wives and the
children of David and his army, David and his four hundred strong men
overcame the Amalekites and took back their wives and their children [1
Samuel 30:1-19]. But this, “You are not your own, you are bought with a
price” [1 Corinthians 6:19-20], is redemption in the same waythat a man
would lay down the price of a slave and redeem the slave at a cost?
Now what is the price that the Lord paid for our redemption? We are bought
with His life. We are bought with His blood [1 Peter1:13-19]. In the
twentieth chapter of the Book ofMatthew and the twenty-eighth verse is the
most beautiful thing I think the Lord ever said, “Evenso the Son of Man came
not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for
many” [Matthew 20:28]. Sold under sin, we are in the power of Satan
[Romans 7:14]. We are slaves of iniquity [Romans 6:6]. But the Lord Jesus
hath bought us away. He hath ransomed us [Matthew 20:28].
Now, once againin the third chapter of the Book of Galatians, Paulsays:
For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is
written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are
written in the book of the law to do them—
Quoting Deuteronomy 27:26—
But Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law.”
[Galatians 3:10, 13]
Satan, the greatarch adversary of the brethren of the Lord, Satan rises up
and he says, “Look, this is the law of God, and look this is how the child has
broken it.” And the law that was meant for our salvationturns out for our
damnation. The law condemns us, and Satanuses it to ascribe in great bold
letters all manner of iniquity and villainy to us. We are cursedby the law.
We are damned by the law. We are lost by the law [Romans 7:9-10].

But Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law by His blood
[Galatians 3:13]. He hath paid the penalty of the wrath of God upon our sins
in His own life, in His own suffering, in His ownbody, in His own blood
[Colossians1:14]. All of the penalty that was to fall upon me for my sins fell
upon Him, and He paid for those sins upon the cross [Isaiah53:5, 2
Corinthians 5:21]. Christ hath redeemed us by His blood, by His suffering,
from the curse of the law [Galatians 3:13].
Once againa wonderful, beautiful passagein the first chapterof 1 Peter,
“Forasmuchas ye know that ye were not redeemedwith corruptible things, as
silver and gold . . . but you were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ,
as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who was verily foreordained
from the foundation of the world” [1 Peter1:18-20]. He did not buy us back
like a man on a slave market paying thirty pieces ofsilver or a weight of gold,
but He bought us back;He redeemedus out of the slavery and bondage by His
own precious blood.
One other beautiful passage inthe ninth [chapter] of the Book of Hebrews, the
author says:
Not by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood hath He purchased
for us an eternal redemption. If the blood of bulls and of goats, andthe ashes
of an heifer, sanctifiedto the purifying of the [flesh]: how much more shall the
blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot
to God, purge our consciencesfrom dead works to serve the living God?”
[Hebrews 9:12-14]
Almost all things are by the law purged with blood; without the shedding of
blood, there is no remissionof sins” [Hebrews 9:22]. “It is appointed unto men
once to die, and after this the judgment: so Christ was once offeredto bear the
sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second
time without sin unto salvation” [Hebrews 9:27-28].
All of those old ancientsacrifices in the old times, the offering of the lamb
[Exodus 29:39], the slaying of the goat[Leviticus 23:18-19], the ashes of the
heifer [Hebrews 9:13], the burnt sacrifice [Leviticus 1:1-17], all of those
offerings prefigured the pouring out of the life and the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ for our redemption, to washour sins away[Revelation1:5].
The same wonderful preacher, Simon Peter, in the third chapter of that first
epistle says, “He suffered, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us unto

God” [1 Peter 3:18]. The Lord Jesus Christ suffered in Gethsemane [Luke
22:44], and He suffered at Gabbatha [John 19:13-15], andHe suffered on
Golgotha [John 19:16-17]. Everytime you see an olive tree, under those olive
trees did the Savior pray and His sweatas it were drops of blood falling on the
ground [Luke 22:44]. Whenever you see a marble pavement, on a pavement
like that was He scourgedby the Roman soldiers [Matthew 27:26]. Whenever
you see a thorn tree, out of those thorns was the crownmade and pressed
upon His brow [Matthew 27:29]. Wheneveryou see a piece of iron, out of the
iron a nail was made that pierced His hands and His feet[John 20:25].
Whenever you see an instrument of battle, a Roman spearwas thrust into His
side [John 19:34]. Whenever you see wood, on the woodwas the Lord
crucified, nailed to the cross [1 Peter 2:24]. All of these, the emblems of His
suffering are the prices by which He hath brought us unto God. He hath
redeemedus in His own blood [1 Peter1:18-19].
Lysias, Claudius Lysias said to the apostle Paul—whenhe spoke ofhis Roman
citizenship, his freedom—he said, “With a greatsum did I purchase this
freedom” [Acts 22:28]. We can saythat. With an infinite price was our
freedom bought— the blood, the suffering, the life of the Lord Jesus Christ[1
Peter1:18-19].
When we getto glory and we sing the song of the redeemed in heaven, this is
the song that you will sing:
Thou art worthy, Thou art worthy, oh, Thou art worthy because Thouwas
slain, and has redeemed us unto God by Thy blood out of every race, and
tongue, and family, and tribe under the earth: and hath made us kings and
priests unto our God: and we shall reign with Him forever and forever.
[Revelation5:9-10]
Therefore, my text says we do not belong to ourselves. We belong to God.
“You are not your own, for ye are bought with a price” [1 Corinthians 6:19-
20]. You may be a patriot. You may be a citizen of Dallas. You may be an
employer. You may be an employee. You may be a philanthropist. You may
be a businessman. You may be a housewife. But first, you are Christ’s man
and Christ’s woman. First you belong to God. “You are not your own. You
are bought with a price.” You belong to Him.
Nor is that an onerous thing. The tragedy would be if a man did not belong to
God. Thathe rule himself and belong to himself. What a tyrant. What a
factitous, capricious tyrant. What a dictatoris a man’s own spirit, his own

will, his own passion, his own choice. Whata privilege to belong to God—not
our own, we are His.
Think of a derelict out at sea, an abandoned vessel. Nobodyowns her. The
crew has forsakenher. She drifts with the tide and whateverwind blows, and
nobody knows where the derelict goes. Butthink of that beautiful ship, the
pride of Her Majesty’s navy. We were on a boat when the QueenElizabeth
pulled out from her berth in New York harbor and headed towardEngland,
and all of those people, just thousands of them it seemedto me there on the
wharf, waving goodbye to the other thousands on that tremendously
impressive majestic liner. And as she pulled out so proudly and majestically
and turned toward the shores ofher native land, to England, with what pride
could a Britisher see the flag of Her Majestyraised high and unfurled in the
breeze. Somebody owns her, and somebodyis proud of her—no bad or
onerous thing to be ownedby somebodyelse.
I see those sheepover there in the Holy Land, all of them with a paint mark
on them. They have different ways of painting the sheep. Sometimes, the
head, leg, body, neck, but all of them are branded. They are painted. And
when you look around, you will see nearby, seatedorstanding somewhere,
you will see the shepherd. Thatis the strength, and the refuge, and the
privilege, and the comfort, and the keeping of the sheep. The sheepis not a
stray, is not a maverick as we sayin Texas. The sheepbelongs to somebody.
There is the shepherd, and there is the owner.
Think of a woman. If she is ownedby her husband, that is not an onerous
thing, if her husband loves her and is goodto her. She is not happy in her soul
and in her life, not really, until she belongs to somebody else;she takes his
name, she lives for him. Her life and love are in his care and in his keeping.
She is made for that.
We are made like that for God. We don’t belong to the world; we don’t
belong to the devil. We don’t belong to hell, we don’t belong to damnation;
we belong to God! And there is nobody that has any mortgage on us, no lien
on us, no piece or parcel of us belongs to somebody else. All of us belong to
God. And the pride of ownership does the Lord take in us. And we can
rejoice that we are His. We are not our own—bought with a price [1
Corinthians 6:19-20].
Our minds belong to God. Don’t bring me some filthy, dirty, sorry, infidel
book. Why should I drag my mind through the gutter in order afterward to
washit? Don’t have time. The only time to read an infidel’s dirty book would

be if you had a purpose to refute it. Other than that, read things that put in
your soul and in your mind greatthoughts and noble deeds.
The gutter and all of that stuff and filth and trash that makes up so much of
modern printed literature; that is the devil’s. Keep our minds for God; it
belongs to Him. Our bodies belong to God: therefore glorify Godin your
body [1 Corinthians 6:20]. It is the temple, Paul says, “Know ye not that your
body is the temple of the Holy Ghost” [1 Corinthians 6:19].
You go over there and look at those temples, you will learn something about
them. They didn’t worship in the temple. They worshiped outside in the
courtyard. The sacrificialaltarwas always outside in the courtyard. When
you went to the greatholy temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, nobody walkedin
there, in the Holy of Holies, just the high priest once a year [Hebrews 9:7].
And in the beautiful Holy Place, where the altar of golden incense was and the
showbreadand the candlestick, atthe hour of prayer did the course electedgo
in there and its high priest and its priestly representative, but the people
worshiped out in the courtyard [Jeremiah26:2].
When you go to the Parthenon there on the Acropolis in Athens, a typical
temple, nobody worshiped in that temple. Why? Because the temple was the
home of the god, and Pallas Athena had her home in the Parthenon.
And the Holy Spirit of God and the shekinah glory of Jehovahhad His home
in the Holy of Holies in Solomon’s temple on Mount Moriah [Exodus 25:21-
22; Isaiah37:16]. So it is, Paul says, that our bodies are the temples of the
Holy Ghost; the Holy Spirit of God dwells in our bodies, and our bodies
belong to Him [1 Corinthians 6:19-20]. They are to be given to God. And our
talents are not to be wrapped up and hidden away to lie in waste and to
deteriorate, they belong to God, whatevera man can do.
Coming down on the elevatortonight, I met Charles Mears, and I put my arm
around the boy, and I said, “Charles, onthese Wednesdaynights, helping us
in all of this equipment here, this audio-visual educationwork, and all over
this church,” I said, “Charles, “Youjust do good, and we thank you so
much.” And he said, “Pastor, youdon’t know how happy I am to have found a
little niche in the church where I can serve.” That’s the Spirit of the Lord in
the boy. And all of us have that some something, maybe a little something,
maybe a tiny something, maybe an insignificant something, but God has given
us all a something, and we can give it to God, use it for Him.
Could I say a little last brief hurried word? What an encouragement! Oh,
what an encouragementwhen somebodycomes who has given his whole heart,
and soul, and mind, and body, and life, and blood, and love, and devotion to

the Lord Jesus! “You are not your own. You are bought with a price:
therefore, glorify Godin your body” [1 Corinthians 6:19-20]. Whatan
encouragementwhensomebody comes who has given himself to the Lord.
Here is a man who has found Christ, and he is following Christ, and he
belongs to God. What an encouragementhe is! What a help when he comes
and stands by your side.
That’s what is the matter with us: so many Christians, they count for nothing
for God. With their mouths they say, “Back yonder, I gave my life to the
Lord. And back yonder, I was baptized.” But with their lives, and their
deeds, and their words, and their testimonies, they don’t do anything for God.
They don’t help us. They don’t stand by us. Say, when a man bought with a
price has given himself to God, what an encouragementhe is when he stands
by us and helps us to work and to glorify God in this evil and wickedworld.
Back yonder in the days of this lastwar, the last effort of the Nazi army went
west, pushed west, made a greatbulge in the armies of our men, and they
surrounded a little town calledBastogne. And those American soldiers
surrounded on every side, and in such greatmortal jeopardy of life there, in
those days, in those days, when the Nazis were surrounding them and pushing
againstthem and about to destroy them, in those days, there came a cry from
those men of ours. Surrounded on every side and there came a cry, and they
said, “Look, look, the army of GeneralPatton has come to our rescue.” And
behold, GeneralPatton, the fightingest man and leader of the tank, the leader
of the armored division, the Third Army, wheeling north went out to the
rescue of our men. But what, but what if we had lookedon that battlefield
and those American soldiers, GeneralPatton and his army, they didn’t
attack? Theywere afraid; they hung back in paradise. And we look at them,
and we say, “What? Why those American boys? What? Is that General
Patton? What? Is that the Third armored Army? What? Are these the men
who representthe might and the powerof America? Why, were they
genuine? Were they real?” If they belonged to America, they would have
crushed these Nazi Germans overnight. They would have flown before them
like chaff upon the wind.
Who are these men who are afraid to speak in the name of Christ? Who are
these men who deny the Lord Jesus by word and by deed? Who are these
people who don’t stand up and stand out for the blessedSaviorwho has
bought them and paid for them? [1 Corinthians 6:19-20;1 Peter1:18-19]Ah,
to be courageous,to be God’s, to go all out for Him, to be His; “Know ye not
you are not your own? You are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in

your body, and in your spirit, which are His, which are God’s” [1 Corinthians
6:19-20].
That’s our appeal to your heart tonight. While we sing this song, somebody
you, somebody you give your heart to the Lord, come and stand by me.
Somebody you put your life in the fellowship of the church, while we make
this appeal, come and stand by me. Some young fellow here, some girl,
somebody you, rededicate and regive his life to the Lord, you come and stand
by me. HoweverGod shall say the word, shall open the door, shall lead the
way, as the Spirit shall make the appeal, into the aisle and down here to the
front, come and stand by me.
You don’t belong to yourself. You belong to God. He made you, that’s right.
He sustained you, that’s right. But most of all and above all, He bought you [1
Corinthians 6:20]. He redeemed you [1 Peter 1:18-19];sin no longer, iniquity,
the world, villainy, wickednessno longer to be paramount and ruler, reign
king in your life, no longer. You belong to Christ [Ephesians 5:27]. He is
yours, and you’re His. Would you make it now, this night, this moment?
“Here I am, pastor, and here I come, giving God my mind, and my heart, and
my soul, and my life, and all that a man is and all that a man could be, and all
that I have, everything; it’s for Him.” While we stand and sing the song,
make it now, make it now.
STEVEN COLE
The Relationship BetweenSpirituality and SexualMorality (1 Cor. 6:12-20)
Introduction
The previous owners of our church building did not believe in orthodox
Christianity. As I heard the story, interest and attendance were lagging, so
they decided to ask various members of their congregationto share about
their occupations. One Sunday, an exotic dancer was scheduledto share about
her work. Since we live nearby, I happened to drive by the church building as
that meeting took place. The place was very crowded, though I didn’t know
why at the time. Now, I call it their versionof a “body life” meeting. The
dancer’s body brought the place to life, or so it seems.

It never ceasesto amaze me how some who profess to know and serve God can
be so lax (or even worse)whenit comes to sexual morality. One of the
common characteristicsofa cult is a distortion (in one way or another) of
sexualmorality. For some, it is the denial of any sexualpleasure, while for
others it is the indulgence in all sorts of sexualencounters. David Koresh and
his following of Branch Davidians, for example, were known to have a very
bizarre systemof sexualbehavior.
Mr. Koresh and his followers might have felt very comfortable in the
Corinthian church. You will recallthat in 1 Corinthians 5, Paul rebuked the
church for failing to discipline a man who was living with his father’s wife.
The Corinthian pagans were shockedby such conduct, and yet many in the
church became proud over their handling of this matter. Paul instructed the
church to put this man out of their assembly, thus placing him within Satan’s
extended reach (to destroy his physical body), and also disassociating the
church from this wayward saint and his willful sin.
It is not strange that Paul deals with immorality in 1 Corinthians 6, since he
introduced the subject in chapter 5. The question is, “Why did Paul interject
the matter of Christians taking fellow-believers to court in 6:1-11?” It almost
appears as though the first 11 verses ofchapter 6 are out of place. I don’t
think so. Some time ago a friend of mine spoke to a group of socialites inNew
York, engaging in conversationwith a particular young intellectual. My
friend said to him, “Your problem is that you don’t know the difference
betweenlegality and morality. Some sins are not crimes. And some crimes are
not sins.”
The Corinthians appear to have the same problem. They appear to equate
morality with legality. Formany of them, whateveris legalis moral. This
appears to be the reasonPaul returns to the subject of immorality after
introducing the Corinthian lawsuits. The Corinthians are becoming too wise
for Paul and for the apostolic preaching of the cross ofChrist. They are
submitting themselves to other teachers, whosemessageand methods are far
more prestigious and popular in their secularculture. If the Corinthian
Christians are living according to human judgment, then why not take their
disputes before unsaved judges, who judge only according to human wisdom?
If they are to acceptthe legalopinions of Corinthian judges regarding
disputes among believers, why not also acceptthe legaldefinition of morality?
Why not let legality determine morality? If one canaccomplishsuch a
gigantic logicalleap, then a Christian can do virtually anything any pagan
Corinthian can do. Among the things they can do is visit a cult prostitute.

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