“But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.”

We as believers are now “one spirit” with Christ. The apostle is careful not to say “one flesh,” which would be confusing. But the spiritual crescendo is clear: self-aggrandized living is illustrated as prostitution, which is a misplaced “one-flesh” activity. Christians are called to a higher “oneness”—a one-spirit-ness with Christ. The connection with the Garden truth is clear: we are made in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:26-27) but have fallen. In Christ we are renewed in that image and likeness. Any dismissal of immoral activity as “no big deal,” because it has to do with the physical and not the spiritual life, is undermined by Paul in this passage.

These truths are profound to the max, and drive the apostle’s admonition to flee immorality. Paul’s use of the Greek word “pornea” connects us back to that reprehensible, incestuous relationship of chapter 6, which even the unsaved world looks upon with disdain. Modern-day usage transliterates this word to refer to the graphical depiction of sexual activity. It was a fairly broad word in the ancient world referring to all manner of illicit sexual activity. So Paul’s “me genoito” is followed by “Flee!” No uncertain terms. The Corinthians should run as far away from illicit sexual activity as possible. We take this to include all sexual activities outside of a committed monogamous relationship between two married people of the opposite sex.

We have no room here to expand on subtleties involved, but the baseline is this: sexual sin is a sin against one’s own body! This does not mean it is a private sin, or that it is not also a sin against God. But keep in mind the context. Our bodies are made for God, and we are called to subsume our desire for one-flesh in the one-spirit relationship with God. In marriage, sex can be fully expressed and enjoyed in the context of being one-spirit with God. But outside of marriage it cannot. To use our bodies in ways that contravene our union with God is a sin against our bodies, for we are using them in way not intended by God. In short, we do our bodies a disservice, despite sin’s momentary pleasure.

Sex is certainly intended to be enjoyed, and its pleasures don’t “seem” bad for the body. Indeed we were created for more than just spiritual life—God made us physical beings, along with its physical enjoyments. But our bodies are made as instruments for His glory. To use our bodies in any other way is to go against the reason we have bodies in the first place.

Lord, I want to glorify You in and through my physical body.