Bought with a price

Makestraightpaths.com examines the teachings of the religious group variously known as “the Family,” “The Family International,” the “Children of God,” or the “Family of Love,” and evaluates these teachings from a Christian perspective. This page is one in a series on the 'Law of Love' and the Family's sexual beliefs.

Bought with a Price

1 Corinthians 6:9-20

1 Corinthians 6:20 has always been a popular memory verse in the Family:

1 Cor 6:20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. NKJV

In general, Family members understand this verse to mean that Jesus Christ 'paid' for their lives with his death on the cross, and therefore they now wholly belong to him. So, Christians are under obligation to obey him to their utmost ability. The reason why Jesus can make radical demands on believers is because he 'owns' them and so can do with them whatever he wants. Family members are taught to be submissive on the basis of this verse (and other verses that also teach on submission). Family members know that they do not have (nor want) personal independence, that is, they do not attempt to live outside of the strict boundaries laid down by Family regulations. They believe that the best way they can glorify God in their bodies and spirits is by conforming to the way God is leading the Family.

It is true that the Bible speaks repeatedly of the sovereign lordship of Jesus Christ and of the total authority given to him upon his resurrection from the dead and ascension into heaven (Eph 1:20-22). So, the general principles of submission and obedience to Christ in all aspects of life are true. Unfortunately, Family members usually do not try to understand Bible verses in the context of their original passages, because in this case the application of the general principles are not correct. In other words, while it is true that Christians should be submissive and obedient to Jesus Christ their Lord, this verse does not mean that believers are to be just as submissive and obedient to the rules and regulations of their particular church or denomination. The verse does not speak of the church as a substitute for Christ in the matter of his lordship.

In fact, when the verse is examined in the context of the passage it is located in, it will be seen that one of the applications of this verse is that true believers should not submit to and obey the Family lifestyle. Specifically, this passage shows that one of the ways that true Christians are to glorify God in their bodies is by controlling their sexual urges and so keep themselves sexually pure. The Family has long advocated a sexually promiscuous lifestyle, but this passage condemns such a lifestyle in no uncertain terms.

This web page contains a brief analysis of 1 Corinthians 6:9-20 in light of the Family's teachings on sexual matters.

Corinth

The city of Corinth was a large, bustling city in ancient times. Strategically located on the intersection of two trade routes it was filled with people from all over the world trying to make money from the traders and from each other. These people brought their various religions to the city, and so the city was one of the most religiously diverse in the region. It was also filled with all kinds of moral decadence of the kind to be found in every large busy city.

Paul's letter to the believers in Corinth shows that some of them had brought their sins with them into the church; they had not understood that Christianity brought with it a new moral standard. Paul is horrified at some of the things that had been going on (see ch.5), and takes pains to explain right and wrong in no uncertain terms.

The 'unrighteous'

In chapter six, Paul begins by rebuking the Corinthians who had been taking each other to court over various matters. In doing so, they had ignored the fact that they were now members of God's kingdom and so should not be trying to gain from each other.

In verses nine and ten, Paul abruptly states that people whose life is ruled by sin have no part in God's kingdom. In fact, he almost seems surprised that the Corinthians are unaware of this.

1 Cor 6:9-10
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.
NASU

First, he states the general principle that the unrighteous (the 'wicked' NIV) have no part in God's kingdom. That is, people who are unrighteous, people who are wicked. Then he lists several examples, not of individual sins, but of people who live according to sin. Four of the ten kinds of unrighteous people on his list relate to sexual practices: fornicators ("sexually immoral" NIV), adulterers, effeminate ("male prostitutes" NIV, "passive homosexual partners" NET), and homosexuals ("homosexual offenders" NIV, "practicing homosexuals" NET).

These people, he says again, will not inherit the kingdom of God. That is, they are showing, by their actions that they are not true believers.

Here is the first application to the Family. People who believe and practice extra-marital sex (or pre-marital sex) show that they do not truly belong to the kingdom of God. This passage does not allow for exceptions (and neither does it say that one such sin condemns a person to hell). Unrighteous people are not part of the kingdom of God. Fornicators and adulterers (people who engage in any kind of sexual activity outside of marriage) are unrighteous people. Fornicators and adulterers are not part of the kingdom of God.

This is the plain meaning of the passage. Family members who disagree need to show, from this passage why God may allow them to continue their sexual activities.

Paul then reminds the Corinthians that many of them used to be such unrighteous people until God saved them.

1 Cor 6:11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. NASU

The believer's body

In the next section, Paul corrects the Corinthians' opinions regarding the relationship between believers' bodies and their spirits. He begins by quoting what they had been saying:

1 Cor 6:12 "All things are lawful for me," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be enslaved by anything. RSV

The use of quotation marks in the RSV shows where Paul is repeating the Corinthians' words ("all things are lawful for me") and where Paul is adding his own comments (but not all things are helpful). Quotation marks are also used in the NIV and NET to bring clarity at this point:

1 Cor 6:12 "Everything is permissible for me" — but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me" — but I will not be mastered by anything. NIV

1 Cor 6:12 “All things are lawful for me” – but not everything is beneficial. “All things are lawful for me” – but I will not be controlled by anything NET

The NET Bible comments in a footnote:

"In the expressions in vv. 12-13 within quotation marks, Paul cites certain slogans the Corinthians apparently used to justify their behavior. Paul agrees with the slogans in part, but corrects them to show how the Corinthians have misused these ideas." (NET Bible, footnote to 1 Cor 6:12).

In other words, Paul is not teaching unbridled freedom, "All things are lawful!" Rather, he hears what the Corinthians had been saying, and only partially agrees with them. The principle of freedom, he says, does not take precedence over what is beneficial, for it carries with it the danger that believers will be "enslaved" by the very thing that they wish to be free to do.

Paul continues quoting the Corinthians, and replying to them in verse 13:

1 Cor 6:13 "Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food" - and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. RSV

There is some debate about exactly which words are Paul's quotation of the Corinthians, and which are Paul's reply. The NIV agrees with the RSV above, while the NET suggests that the quotation of the Corinthians is "Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both," with the remainder of the verse being Paul's response.

Everyone is agreed, however, that Paul's message here is that believers should have nothing to do with "immorality" ("sexual immorality" NIV, NET, NKJV). Believers' bodies are designed to be used for and by the Lord; they are not to be used in immoral sexual behaviour. Paul explains that God is not only concerned about our spiritual salvation, he also has a plan for our physical bodies:

1 Cor 6:14 Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power. NASU

Believers await eternal life, not in some vague disembodied state, but bodily resurrected by the power of God. God will raise up our physical bodies to be with him, and this is the reason why we are not to pollute those bodies with sin. Paul then discusses going to prostitutes, which probably indicates that some Corinthian believers had been doing just this.

1 Cor 6:15-17
15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! 16 Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, "THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH." 17 But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
NASU

Believers are part of the 'body of Christ.' Here this is no mere metaphor for unity, but rather Paul says that believers are actually connected in some way to Christ himself. Thus, when a Christian sins, he actually connects the entire church with that sin. For Paul, this is unthinkable" "Never!" (NET), he cries.

Flee immorality

Paul is very clear about what he expects the Corinthians to do:

1 Cor 6:18 Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. NASU

1 Cor 6:18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. NIV

Paul's command is, of course, not limited to avoiding prostitutes; he insists that the believers shun all kinds of sexual activity outside of marriage.

1 Cor 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? NASU

Paul again seems surprised that the Corinthians don't know that sexual activity outside of marriage is a sin against the Christian's own body, against the Lord who dwells in the church, and against the Holy Spirit who dwells in each believer.

1 Cor 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? NASU

This is the second time in this letter that Paul has used the metaphor of the 'temple.' The first time was in chapter three, in the context of disunity among the church. Importantly, in chapter three, when Paul says, "you are a temple of God," the word "you" is plural in the original Greek. In other words, in chapter three, Paul says that the entire church of believers is the temple of God. The body of believers in the church are to build each other up instead of propagating disunity and division.

1 Cor 3:16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? NASU

In chapter six, however, Paul is speaking to individual believers in the context of their indulgence in sexual sins. The Holy Spirit lives within them, which means that a sin against their own body is a sin against him. The original Greek actually says that believers' bodies are the temple of the "in you Holy Spirit," emphasising the fact that the Spirit of God actually dwells within Christians.

Paul then says, "you are not your own" but have been "bought with a price."

1 Cor 6:20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. NASU

In other words, believers' bodies are not theirs to do with as they wish; they have been bought by Christ at the cost of his blood. This relates to what Paul was saying earlier about the body being designed not for sexual immorality but "for the Lord." Believers are willingly under subjection to Christ as their Lord and Master. Paul refers to this again in the next chapter:

1 Cor 7:22-23
22 For he who was called in the Lord while a slave, is the Lord's freedman; likewise he who was called while free, is Christ's slave. 23 You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men.
NASU

Believers are motivated in their thoughts and actions by the fact that their are willing slaves of Christ. He owns their lives, their hearts, their minds and their bodies, and therefore believers should strive to please him in all they do. Paul does not say here that believers should be in submission to the church or to church rules, but rather that once a person has become a Christian, he or she is in effect 'owned' by Christ and therefore, they are to strive to please him in all they do.

Summary

The Corinthians thought that they did not need to be concerned with Jewish prohibitions on fornication and adultery, because "all things were lawful" to them. Paul carefully qualifies that thought by explaining that such freedom is not the foundational principle by which believers are to live their lives, for many things are just not good to do. Instead, the foundational principle is the fact of Christ's lordship and believers' servanthood. Believers belong to the Lord in mind, spirit and body, and therefore he has the right to instruct them how they are to think and act. In fact, Christ's plan is that he himself will use believers for his own purposes through the indwelling Holy Spirit.

This means that Christians are not to indulge in sexual immorality of any kind, whether pre-marital sex, extra-marital sex, homosexual acts or any other kind of sexual activity outside of marriage. The reasons given are:

Sexual immorality is not profitable
It tends to control people
Human bodies are not designed for it
Bodies rather are designed to be used by the Lord
Sexual immorality implicates other believers in the same sin
Sexual immorality is a sin against one's own body
It is a sin against the indwelling Holy Spirit
It does not glorify God.

Conclusion

Most Family members have memorised 1 Corinthians 6:20, but few realise its direct application to sexual activity outside of marriage. This verse actually says that God is glorified by totally and permanently forsaking all extra-marital sexual activity. While the Family continues indulging in its sinful practices it does not and cannot glorify God.

See also

Definitions

Galatians Five

1 Thessalonians 4

The Law of love in the Epistles

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