1 Corinthians 6:20

Furthermore, God has purchased (Gr. agorazo) every Christian with a great price, the blood of Jesus Christ (Romans 3:24-25; Ephesians 1:7; et al.). So we belong to Him for a second reason. In view of this we should glorify God in our bodies rather than degrading Him through fornication (cf. Romans 12:1-2). Usually the New Testament emphasis is on redemption leading to freedom from sin (e.g., Galatians 3:13; Galatians 4:5; Revelation 5:9; Revelation 14:3), but here it is on redemption leading to faithfulness to God. Even our physical bodies are to be faithful to the Lord with whom we are joined.

"The reason to glorify God in the body and not engage in sexual immorality is rooted in a new way of understanding the self." [Note: Cousar, "The Theological . . .," p. 99.]

"What Paul seems to be doing is taking over their own theological starting point, namely, that they are ’spiritual’ because they have the Spirit, and redirecting it to include the sanctity of the body. The reality of the indwelling Spirit is now turned against them. They thought the presence of the Spirit meant a negation of the body; Paul argues the exact opposite: The presence of the Spirit in their present bodily existence is God’s affirmation of the body." [Note: Fee, The First . . ., p. 264.]

Paul’s solution to the problem of the lack of discipline (chs. 5-6) was the same as his solution to the problem of divisions in the church (1 Corinthians 1:10 to 1 Corinthians 4:21). He led his readers back to the Cross (1 Corinthians 6:20; cf. 1 Corinthians 1:23-25).

Incest was one manifestation of carnality in the church (ch. 5), suing fellow believers in the public courts was another (1 Corinthians 5:1-11), and going to prostitutes was a third (1 Corinthians 5:12). Nevertheless the underlying problem was a loose view of sin, a view the unbelievers among whom the Corinthian Christians lived took. In this attitude, as in their attitude toward wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:10 to 1 Corinthians 4:21), their viewpoint was different from that of the Apostle Paul and God. God inspired these sections of the epistle to transform their outlook and ours on these subjects.