I'll Will Not Let Anything Dominate Me

STUDY: #868-CHURCH IN THE HOUSES FROM: AUGUST 25 – 31, 2015

TOPIC: "I'll Will Not Let Anything Dominate Me" I Corinthians 6: 12-20

To be able to glorify God you cannot let your body do what it wants. This was Paul’s cry for war in that moment. Paul preached the doctrine of Christian liberty, but with the Corinthians things became complicated and that is why he exhorted them. Yes, it is true that we believers in Christ are free, but NOT FREE TO DO WHAT WE WANT! The Corinthians were people who advocated letting the body get away with its desires, they considered this very highly. But, the apostle corrected and instructed them in the clear truth of God so that their thoughts were correct and therefore also glorify God in their bodies. God is the same, He does not change; the teaching is for us today. The stomach is made for the food and the food for the stomach; they are made for one another (I Corinthians 6:13 "Food for the stomach and the stomach for food: but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body"). The body is made to respond to its pleasures. For such reason, the carnal man is willing to satisfy all that its crazy body cries out for. But, Paul's teaching is clear. The stomach and food are temporal things and the day will come in which they will no longer exist. But the body, that represents the personality of the human being as a whole (it is that dynamic alignment of psychophysical systems that allow to establish a specific way of acting and thinking), is not made to sin but rather to be united with Christ in this world and even more intimately in the future. I Corinthians 6: 14-15 "By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!” When the act of fornication is committed it is as if the body is given a prostitute to come together, because the Scriptures reveals that in a sexual act two people become one flesh. (Genesis 2:24 "For this reason a man will leave his father and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.") That is to say; that we who have been bought with the blood of Christ, if someone commits fornication with his body, A BODY THAT BELONGS TO CHRIST IN HIS OWN RIGHT, is like the person who prostitutes himself with another person. The world uses sex to control and seduce. We must know that Paul is not writing a systematic treatise (that follows or adjusts to an orderly system) but rather is preaching, he is speaking with an inflamed heart and the tongue ready to use any reasoning that comes to hand to alert and deliver the brothers. He says that of all sins it is fornication which affects the body and prostitutes it. (I Corinthians 6: 14-15 "By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!” Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but the immoral, against your own body sins. "). There are other things that harm the body like alcohol, drugs, etc. But Paul is not writing for approval by logic but TO SAVE THE CORINTHIANS IN BODY AND SOUL. That is why

he insists that other sins are external to the person, while in improper sex the sins are against the body itself, because the body is designed and intended for communion with Christ. Then, the apostle makes them a "last call" to not ignore that the Spirit of God dwells in us, that we are the temple of God and our bodies are sacred (I Corinthians 6:19 "Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from? You are not your own."). Do you know the value of your body? Christ died to save not only your soul and your spirit but your whole human person. YOUR FLESH, YOUR BODY has to resurrect! Hence, a Christian does not have a body to do with it what they want but rather that body belongs to Christ; so, each one should use it not to satisfy their lust but for the glory of Christ. While we are free to act independently we should not let ourselves be dominated by anything. Habits enslave us, but the Christian strength, the strength of the Holy Spirit in us, allows us to dominate them. (I Corinthians 6:12 "Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me, but I will not be mastered by anything.” When planning the human body God never arranged it for nefarious or impure purposes. The Lord is for the body; He is interested in our bodies, in its welfare and its appropriate uses. Without the Lord, the body may never reach its true dignity and immortal destiny. The Lord will raise us thru His power. We will not be spirits without a body in the eternity, but rather our spirit and our soul will be reunited with our glorified bodies to then enjoy the glories of heaven forever! Each one of us is a member of Christ. Every believer is a member of the body of Christ. Would it be appropriate then to take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Fornication is seen by God like joining a whore. IN NO WAY SHOULD WE SIN! We must flee fornication! Where there is safety is in the escape, otherwise there will be devastation for the guilty. The bodies of the Corinthian brothers were sanctuary of the Holy Spirit. So are ours! How could we ever think of taking a body where the Holy Spirit dwells and use it for nefarious purposes? On the cross we see the tag with the price that Jesus put on us. He considered us so valuable that He was willing to pay for us the price of His own precious blood! As my body has already been purchased I cannot consider it as my own. I would be a thief if I did with my body as I pleased, it would be to take what does not belong to me. My head, think of the One whose head was encircled with thorns! My hands, work for the One whose hands were nailed to the cross! My feet, embark to do the will of God for the One whose feet were pierced! My BODY, be the temple for the One whose body was afflicted because of our sins! MY BODY, be the worthy temple for the One who endured for me such anguish and great intense and indescribable pains! Vs. 20 "... therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." Amen.