Monday, November 26, 2012

Sexual morality and marriage (1 Cor. 6:12-7:40)


Here are some of the parts that everyone remembers about 1st Corinthians.  Chapter 13 is probably the most famous.

It seems that members within the church were frequenters of prostitutes.  I heard explained that these were likely temple prostitutes.  So, it was a quasi-idolatrous practice as well.

Here, Paul says to avoid it.  His rationale is that the body is the temple of God and that sexual sins are sins against the body.  He also analogizes the principle from Genesis that people in marriage are one flesh, so by having sex with a prostitute, one becomes one flesh with her.  

All this taken together, it might seem to suggest that by having sex with someone, their sins become yours, or at least part of them becomes intertwined.

Paul then explains the application of marriage.

In short, Paul advises against getting married.  But he knows that some people cannot control their sexual urges, so they should get married.

He also states that the body for married people belongs to each other.  This is interesting coming soon after the discussion that the body is the temple of God, but yet here they belong to each other.

This might explain another thing that Paul states - that the unbeliever is sanctified through marriage with a believer.  So, it seems that sex with a prostitute defiles someone and is a sin against the body, the holiness of a believer married to an unbeliever has a sanctifying effect.  

Beginning in 7:25, Paul has a specific advice for the "present crisis".  Here, he strongly advises people against marrying.  The context of the statements suggest there was an external persecution against the church which made the conditions for married life difficult.

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