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Outline 068 of 100 · 1 Corinthians

The Temple of the Holy Spirit

1 Corinthians 6:15-20 — The believer's body as sacred because it was bought with a price

Hands-free narration of this study — good for the car.

Synopsis

Paul confronts the Corinthians' casual attitude toward sexual sin with a striking theological argument: 'Know ye not that your bodies are members of Christ? 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?' The logic runs from union with Christ to the indwelling Spirit to the price already paid: 'ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.' This is not legalistic prudishness but gospel-rooted holiness — the body matters because Christ redeemed it and the Spirit inhabits it. Sin against the body is treated with peculiar seriousness because it defiles what belongs to another. The call to 'flee fornication' rather than merely resist it acknowledges the power of this particular temptation, while the theology of belonging transforms motivation from fear of rules to reverence for the indwelling God.

  1. I. The union described

    • Bodies are members of Christ
    • Joined to the Lord, one spirit with Him
    • Sexual sin as sin against one's own body uniquely

  2. II. The indwelling affirmed

    • The body as the temple of the Holy Ghost
    • The Spirit given by God, not earned
    • "Ye are not your own" — ownership transferred

  3. III. The price remembered

    • "Bought with a price" — Calvary's cost
    • Redemption, not merely rescue from consequence
    • Glorifying God as the fitting response

  4. IV. The call to flee

    • "Flee fornication" rather than merely resist
    • Recognizing the unique danger of this sin
    • Holiness as reverence, not mere rule-keeping
The appeal

Your body was bought at infinite cost and is now the dwelling place of God's Spirit. Will you honor that price today by fleeing what defiles and glorifying God in body and spirit, which are His?

Key points

  • The believer's body is united to Christ and indwelt by the Holy Spirit.
  • Redemption means believers no longer belong to themselves.
  • Holiness flows from gratitude for the price paid, not mere rule-keeping.

Key passages

  • 1 Corinthians 6:15
  • 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
  • 1 Corinthians 3:16-17
  • Romans 12:1