1 Corinthians 6:12-20 (NRSV)
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Verse 12"All things are lawful for me," but not all things are beneficial. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be dominated by anything. Verse 13"Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food," and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. Verse 14And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power. Verse 15Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Verse 16Do you not know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, "The two shall be one flesh." Verse 17But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Verse 18Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the body itself. Verse 19Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? Verse 20For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.
Devotion
Paul's letter to the Corinthians addresses issues of belonging in a community. He uses a common phrase for belonging—being "in Christ." The phrase "in Christ" for Paul connects the reader to the faith in which they were baptized.
As Paul addresses the implications of damaging behavior within and outside the Corinthian faith community, in this case fornication, he is always making the important connection of what it means to be "in Christ"—to know that our lives are grafted into the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. The promises held in our faith in Jesus empower and transform our lives each day so we may be united in the community of those who belong to God.
Prayer
God of Life, just as your Spirit worked among the tensions and brokenness of the early church, so, too, we ask for your promises and Spirit to keep us unified in Christ and in the promises of our baptism. Amen.