Monday, September 30, 2013

The Truth comes to Corinth



Paul Affirms Marriage

1 Corinthians 7:1-9 Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that satan tempt you not for your incontinency. But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment. For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that. I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn. KJV

Paul has lovingly confronted and rebuked the Corinthian believers boasting in their spiritual gifts while turning their eyes away from one of their own living openly in a sexually immoral relationship of sleeping with his own father’s wife. Paul has declared to them the responsibility each member of Christ Mystical Body has to Him of yielding ourselves to God the Holy Spirit and allow His Love and Power to work “in us” and “through us” that we would live such a different life in this world of sin and woe that distinguishes us from the non-believer in every area of human life and especially our sexual conduct and behavior. Paul clearly defined for them and for us our responsibility by the Spirit’s Power to “flee sexual immorality” on every occasion the enemy of our souls brings us face to face with one of his human instruments of temptation. Paul now references a letter written to him by these believers in Corinth with apparent questions from them to him about these very issues of sexual relationships for believers in our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul knew from where these believers were found “in sin” by our Lord Jesus Christ and he reiterated and reaffirmed that reality earlier on in this letter with the words written in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11.

Paul understands that these people lived their entire lives prior to their encounter with our Lord Jesus Christ in the open indulgence of every sort of sexual conduct or lifestyle imaginable and he knew it would require him to be in prayer much for them (as he prayed for the believers in Ephesus, Ephesians 3:14-21). Paul also wanted to reaffirm what he surely had already taught them during the year and a half he remained in Corinth teaching them the Scripture (Acts 18:11). Paul begins his response with these words, “Now concerning the things about which you wrote, it is good for a man not to touch a woman” (1 Corinthians 7:1). Certainly Paul was aware that most of, if not all of the Corinthian believers would never be capable of meeting that standard, but he felt compelled to make it known to them for the sake of some who also may have received such a gift of grace from our Lord. However, Paul immediately affirms the covenant of marriage as the only avenue where sexual intercourse or relationship is honored and blessed by God the Father. Marriage is the “will of God” where fornication is not the “will of God” and Paul affirms this by saying, “Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband” (1 Corinthians 7:2).

Paul declares that it is each person’s responsibility to submit to one another and give away their bodies freely to one another in sexual intimacy or intercourse as often and as frequent as each one desires seeing that neither one as Paul puts it “hath not power over their own bodies” (1 Corinthians 7:4). The English phrase “hath not power” Paul uses is translated by the Greek word exousiazo which means control or to exercise authority upon or to be under the power of something or someone. This is the same word Paul used earlier in this epistle or letter in 1 Corinthians 6:12 when he said, “All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.” Paul declares that the husband has power/authority over the wife’s body and likewise the wife has power/authority over the husband’s body. This truth is not even considered to be rational, certainly not reasonable, and definitely not right in this year 2013 with the acceptance of all manner of evil sexual behavior as that which is good or morally excellent or morally virtuous and it takes me back to these words spoken by the Prophet Isaiah, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes And clever in their own sight! Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine And valiant men in mixing strong drink, Who justify the wicked for a bribe, And take away the rights of the ones who are in the right! Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes stubble And dry grass collapses into the flame, So their root will become like rot and their blossom blow away as dust; For they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 5:20-24).

Paul declares that neither the husband or the wife are to keep back from the other their bodies in pleasing one another sexually except when both mutually agree to abstain from marital sexual intimacy for the purpose of fasting and praying to God the Father, which only serves to strengthen their personal relationships with Him and the more intimate each one is with the Father the more intimate they will be with one another in every capacity, even their sexual love making. Paul being once married himself (during the years he was a Pharisee and unsaved) understands the demands of that relationship and knows how the tempter satan uses times of prolonged absence of physical intimacy between husband and wife to tempt them into adultery. Paul does not tell us what happened to his wife but he is now so thankful and grateful to our Lord Jesus Christ that he has been granted the grace gift of celibacy and again knowing the daily demands in a marriage wished that everyone was granted the gift of celibacy just as he has been by our Lord Jesus, but Paul knows that this is only his wishful thinking and not the “will of God” that all men be celibate.

Therefore, Paul now concludes with these words of wisdom to those who “come to Christ” as a single man or woman or those who are widowed and that is to remain in that calling, if our Lord Jesus Christ grants His Grace Gift of celibacy, but if they are not so gifted and “burn” or to be inflamed with uncontrollable passion or sexual desire, then the man should seek a Christian wife and the woman should seek a Christian husband. Paul says it in this way, “But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn” (1 Corinthians 7:9). Paul uses the English phrase “they cannot contain” and it is translated by the Greek word egkrateuomai which means to exercise self-restraint or self-control or to be strong in a thing or masterful over one’s diet or chastity (abstaining from sexual relationships). Paul tells us in his letter to the Galatians that this power flows from God’s Love to us and in us through the Holy Spirit, as it is written, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23).

“The Apostle first addresses the unmarried, 1 Corinthians 7:1, etc. He speaks elsewhere reverently of marriage, Ephesians 5:23. Forbidding to marry is in his judgment a symptom of apostasy, 1 Timothy 4:1-3. His recommendations here were evidently due to the special circumstances of that difficult and perilous time. The loftiest conception of marriage is the wedding of two souls, each of which, has found its affinity; the Apostle is treating here the only conception of marriage entertained by these recent converts from paganism. He deals with them on their own level, with the determination of ultimately leading them to view marriage from Christ’s standpoint. It is often well to fast from lawful things, that we may surrender ourselves more absolutely to the Spirit of God.” F. B. Meyer

“It is a mark of true goodness to wish all men as happy as ourselves. But it did not answer the intentions of divine Providence as well for all men to have as much command of this appetite as Paul had. It was a gift vouchsafed to such persons as Infinite Wisdom thought proper: Every one hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner and another after that. Natural constitutions vary; and, where there may not be much difference in the constitution, different degrees of grace are vouchsafed, which may give some a greater victory over natural inclination than others. Note, The gifts of God, both in nature and grace, are variously distributed. Some have them after this manner and some after that. Paul could wish all men were as himself, but all men cannot receive such a saying, save those to whom it is given, Matthew 19:11.” Matthew Henry

“Marriage is the only place where God the Father actually looks on with love and joyfully blesses it because He ordained the marriage bed and even made sexual intimacy between husband and wife pleasurable.” Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…


Sunday, September 29, 2013

The Truth comes to Corinth



Paul says “Our Bodies belong to the Lord Jesus Christ” Part 3

1 Corinthians 6:18-20 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. KJV

Paul gives the Corinthian believers and us the remedy or the solution for being victorious over sexual sin and it is to “flee” from it. This English word flee is translated by the Greek word pheugo which is a primary verb that means to literally run away from the person or persons that are being used by satan to temp you to commit sexual immorality; by implication or metaphorically it means to shun or avoid by flight something abhorrent (sexual immorality). We find the clearest picture of this command of God being obeyed by Joseph as documented for us by Moses with these words detailing Joseph’s encounters with his master’s wife, “It came about after these events that his master’s wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, ‘Lie with me.’ But he refused and said to his master’s wife, ‘Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge. There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?’ As she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her. Now it happened one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the household was there inside. She caught him by his garment, saying, ‘Lie with me!’ And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside” (Genesis 39:7-12).

We learned from the last study that our bodies are “joined” to our Lord Jesus Christ through God the Holy Spirit dwelling or living “in us” and He will never lead us into temptation or give the OK for any of us “sealed by Him” to indulge our bodies in the fleshly sins of sexual immorality of any sort. Paul declares this sin of sexual immorality as sinning (not against just God and other people, for all sin is against God) recklessly against our own persons or inflicting wounds upon our own souls and bodies, as it is written so plainly, forcefully, and convincingly by this Proverb, But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away” (Proverbs 6:32-33). Paul now once again asks the question to the Corinthian believers and to us that we should know the answer to, but again Paul asks it in such a tone that appears to rebuke their ignorance of the reality. Paul going all the way back beginning in chapter 3 of this epistle or letter asks his first question to these Corinthian believers and to us challenging the sincerity, surety, or seriousness of theirs and our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and it is a series of eight (8) “Do you not know” questions between chapter 3 and ending in this chapter 6 with this final question, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:19).

The place where He who said, “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3) dwells now is not in temples made of brick and mortar or wood or steel or any other building material, but the God of the Universe, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of All Power and Might now resides or lives in vessels of clay formed by Him from the dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7) and surely that should distinguish the Corinthian believers and us (in our sexual conduct and behavior) from those in the world still void of Him because they cannot receive Him (John 14:17). God the Father through God the Son and by the Power of God the Holy Spirit bought or purchased or redeemed us from the bondage and enslavement to all sin and that includes sexual sin that we may now walk and live in newness of life free from sexual immorality and the spiritual, emotional, and physical harm it wreaks, brings about, or works out in the lives of everyone who steps into the indulgence of sexual immorality.

Paul in speaking to the brethren in Ephesus when he departed from them knowing it would be the last time he would see them on the earth sensing his eminent death approaching said, “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28) and the Apostle John wrote these words speaking of our Lord Jesus Christ, “John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood--and He has made us to be a kings and priests to His God and Father--to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen” (Revelation 1:4-6). Because we have been bought or purchased with such a “high price” to God but received by us as a free gift, we must be eager and zealous for good works (Titus 2:14) to be daily manifested in our lives and to present our bodies to our Heavenly Father as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to Him which is our reasonable service (Romans 12:1), for what other way does sincere and genuine love and gratitude show itself other than in this manner.

“This sin is in a peculiar manner styled uncleanness, pollution, because no sin has so much external turpitude in it, especially in a Christian. He sins against his own body; he defiles it, he degrades it, making it one with the body of that vile creature with whom he sins. He casts vile reproach on what the Redeemer has dignifies to the last degree by taking it into union with himself. Note, We should not make our present vile bodies more vile by sinning against them.” Matthew Henry

“I belong to my Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ not merely by the fruit of my lips but more importantly by the fruit of my life daily being worked in by Him to will and to do according to His good pleasure and He has commanded me and all of His true children this, ‘For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality’ (1 Thessalonians 4:3), what dare say I with any other words that can add anything of eternal value to those words from my Lord Jesus Christ.” Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…

Saturday, September 28, 2013

The Truth comes to Corinth



Paul says “Our Bodies belong to the Lord Jesus Christ” Part 2

1 Corinthians 6:15-17 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. KJV

Paul summarizes all he has said to these Corinthian believers and to us by asking a question in the tone or manner that the reader should know the answer to the question but likewise it is worded by the Apostle Paul as if the reader is ignorant even of the question and its answer. Paul asks, “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?” (1 Corinthians 6:15). The English word member Paul uses is translated by the Greek word melos which means a limb or part of the body, i.e. an arm or leg or finger or hand etc. of the human body. Paul uses this comparison of our very own human bodies knowing that each one of us can easily understand this because we operate our physical body parts multiple times every single day while we are alive. Paul knows that no one (not even the unregenerate sinner) whose operating from a functional, rational, and stable mind willfully takes one of their body parts and puts them over an open flame or fire to burn it because that would be harmful not only to that one “limb” but to the person’s entire physical body. Therefore, Paul in asking this question wants to arouse these Corinthian believers and us into a heighten state of conscience awareness of the injury or damage each of them and us would do to our Lord Jesus’ Own Body. It would be as if the Apostle Peter (who walked with and lived with our Lord Jesus in the flesh for 3 ½ years) would have deliberately taken a club and broken one of our Lord’s Physical Arms. That sounds like a ridiculous analogy and in many ways it is, but it is exactly what the Corinthian believers did when they were practicing sexual immorality and so do we do the same when we commit such sin with our physical bodies.

Christ Jesus our Lord in the Person of the Holy Spirit has come to live in the body of every true regenerated born again believer, as He said it in this manner to the early disciples, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:16-18). Let us not just quickly read over or gloss over the vital, critical, and phenomenal things our Lord Jesus said in these three verses of Scripture, our Lord Jesus said of He and the Holy Spirit, “He may be with you forever”, “He will be in you” and “I will come to you” and forever means exactly what we think it means always, constantly, perpetually, and everlastingly. These words from the lips of our Lord Jesus Christ testify to us that there is no way possible for someone to “come to Him” and continue in their lifestyle of willful, willing, and wanton sin because the Spirit of God dwells in the true believer and He is Holy and hates sin, as the Prophet Habakkuk said in this manner, Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, And You cannot look on wickedness with favor (Habakkuk 1:13).

Paul again uses one of his favorite quotes to answer his own question to the Corinthian believers and to us of whether they or we should unite ourselves in sexual intercourse with a prostitute and his answer is “God Forbid” or “May it never be” or “Certainly Not” or in today’s way of saying it “Not a chance.” Paul declares that we are not to be joined to a harlot or prostitute but instead always be joined to the Lord Jesus Christ. The English phrase Paul used in referring to being joined to a prostitute or to our Lord Jesus is “he which is joined” or “he that is joined” and it is translated by the Greek word kollao which means to glue, to glue together, cement, fasten together, to join or fasten firmly together, cleave to or keep company with. Paul declares that we can cleave to or we can keep company with prostitutes or with our Lord Jesus Christ and the one brings forth death as so stated by the Apostle James with these words, “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death” (James 1:14-15).

However, the company of our Lord Jesus Christ brings only that which is good, righteous, and holy as proclaimed by the Apostle Paul with these words, “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma” (Ephesians 5:1-2) and as Paul also declared in this manner to brother Titus, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds” (Titus 2:11-14) and lastly as our own Lord Jesus said it in this manner, “For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me” (John 17:19-23).

“It is not enough to watch against temptation; we should be so filled with the Spirit of the risen Savior that the desires of the flesh shall have no fascination. The power that raised the body of Jesus from the grave is surely strong enough to raise our bodies from the bondage of corruption and to translate them to the resurrection plane. Let us keep joined to the Lord by one Spirit, that He may pour His own living energy into our nature. When He redeemed us, He undertook to save us wholly and entirely-spirit, soul, and body, 1 Thessalonians 5:23. Hand the keeping of your body over to Him. Consider that it is the forecourt of a temple, in the inner shrine of which the Holy Spirit lives; and as of old the glory of the Lord filled the whole structure, so trust the Spirit of Holiness to make and keep you whole.” F. B. Meyer

“Every time any born again believer engages in any sexual act outside of the marriage bed which is undefiled (Hebrews 13:4), it is the same as our Lord Jesus Christ being engaged in that very same sexual act, for as He said, ‘He will not only be with us but in us’ Selah or think about that.” Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…




Friday, September 27, 2013

The Truth comes to Corinth



Paul says “Our Bodies belong to the Lord Jesus Christ” Part 1

1 Corinthians 6:12-14 All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body. And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power. KJV

Paul has reminded them from where they were found in the depths of sin and depravity by the grace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ and in the Power of the Holy Spirit how they were then delivered and rescued from sin, darkness, and the devil and then conveyed and transferred into the beloved Kingdom of God (Colossians 1:13-14). Paul now declares that by virtue of what has been done for them and to them that they are now no longer “under law” but now they are “under grace” and Paul said it this way to the believers in Rome, “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace” (Romans 6:14). Paul wants these Corinthian believers to understand their “freedom in Christ” as he put it in this manner when writing to the Galatian believers, “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1). The Corinthian believers had allowed themselves to be once again “entangled in a yoke of bondage” either through ignorance or just blatant rebellion, therefore, Paul now writes these words to them, “All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any” (1 Corinthians 6:12).

Paul declares to them that he is free in Christ to enjoy the entire earth and the fullness thereof, but all things in the earth that he could consume or indulge himself in are not beneficial to his spirit, soul, or his body or his spiritual growth and maturity into Christlikeness. Paul wanting to hammer home this point to these Corinthian believers says, “I will not be brought under the power of any” and the English phrase “be brought under the power” is translated by one Greek word exousiazo which means control or to exercise authority upon or to be under the power of something or someone. Paul declares himself “free in Christ” to enjoy “all things” and this little English phrase Paul uses here in 1 Corinthians 6:12 he also uses it when writing to brother Timothy with these words, “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17). Paul wants them to know and understand that by virtue of them being children of God then they and we are likewise heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:16-17) and assured, able, and allowed to enjoy the whole world because it and everything in it belongs to our Heavenly Father.

Paul was not only referring to the physical and tangible things in the earth, but also “in Christ” he and they and us have all things (our actions, behavior, rest, vacation, entertainment, recreation, occupation, hobbies, etc.) that are not offensive and sinful before God the Father or injurious to any others in the Mystical Body of Christ or even to unbelievers freely permitted and at our discretion to indulge. Paul now after acknowledging and explaining our “freedom in Christ” and theirs and our responsibility to be good “stewards” of that freedom, Paul makes the comparison of “food and the stomach” to the believers “body and fornication.” Paul is saying to these Corinthian believers and to us that although it might appear that the two are related as “natural” functions of a person’s body they are not. God ordered or ordained food on His earth to be united with the stomach for the physical body to survive and we see this “law of adaptation” worked out in all physical life on His earth, even in the animal kingdom.

However, God did not order or ordain the human body for the indulgence in fornication because it unlike food is not necessary for the bodies survival and if He did join the two together like food and stomach, He would not have made “from the beginning” just one man and one woman and joined them together in a binding covenant union called marriage. Unlike the animals on God’s earth, human beings and specifically and only those of us who have been redeemed and regenerated by God were made for Him to dwell or live “in us” (just as He did in Adam before he sinned) and Paul wants these Corinthian believers and us to know that and to order our daily lives in such a manner sexually that it brings glory to our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ. Paul declares to these Corinthian believers and to us that God is going to destroy all foods as we currently know them (Revelation 22:2) and likewise all human stomachs as well because when our bodies are resurrected they will be new glorified bodies or spiritual bodies as Paul wrote of it in this manner here later in this very same epistle or letter, “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body” (1 Corinthians 15:42-44).

“It is interesting to compare 1 Corinthians 6:12 with 1 Corinthians 10:23. There are four clauses in each verse, three of which are similar, but the last ones differ. The two laws that should govern our life in doubtful things, are first, the arresting of oneself in the doing of anything which threatens to become our master; and second, the abstaining from anything which threatens to be a stumbling-block in another’s Christian life.” F. B. Meyer

“The body being destined to share with the body of Christ in resurrection, and to be raised up incorruptible, is the subject of a higher adaptation, with which fornication is incompatible.” Marvin R. Vincent (1834-1922)

“There is a liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, in which we must stand fast. But surely he would never carry this liberty so far as to put himself into the power of any bodily appetite. Though all meats were supposed lawful, he would not become a glutton nor a drunkard. And much less would he abuse the maxim of lawful liberty to countenance the sin of fornication, which, though it might be allowed by the Corinthian laws, was a trespass upon the law of nature, and utterly unbecoming a Christian.” Matthew Henry

“Our liberty in Christ is just that liberty and not license and we are to recognize moment by moment of every day the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ living ‘in us’ through the Holy Spirit causing us to yield our will to His that He may work ‘in us’ to will and to do according to His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13) and His ‘good pleasure’ never includes fornication.” Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…