Verse 16
The main reason for Paul’s prohibition is that Christians belong to Christ. We already have a binding relationship with Him, and we must not be unfaithful to Him by going after another.
Paul quoted several Old Testament passages to support his contention. The first is a gracious promise that God gave the Israelites in the wilderness with the consequence that they were to be holy (Leviticus 26:11-12; cf. Exodus 25:8; Exodus 29:45). Paul had taught the Corinthians that they were the temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 1 Corinthians 6:19). Therefore it was only appropriate that they be set apart to God too since He inhabited them.
The second quotation is from Exodus 6:7 and Leviticus 26:12 (cf. Jeremiah 32:38; Ezekiel 37:27). The essential relationship between God and the people that He has chosen for special blessing requires that those so blessed remain faithful to Him.
"In our present passage Paul’s language indicates the corporate figure, but the responsibility of the individual to keep himself pure is both implicit and later emphasized (2 Corinthians 7:1)." [Note: Hughes, p. 252.]
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