Not Your Own:1 Corinthians 6:12-20

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own” (1 Corinthians 6:19, NASB).

The issue of abortion has been debated for many years. This debate reached a fever hotter than it had ever been before when the Supreme Court of the United States ruled to overthrow Roe vs. Wade. As we know, Roe vs. Wade gave women the legal right to abort her child in all fifty states of the United States. There were states that had laws restricting abortions in certain cases and some states had laws forbidding abortions for any reason. However, because of Roe vs. Wade these states could not enforce their laws. With the ruling against Roe vs. Wade the decisions was now left up to the states, and this resulted in women being denied the right to safe legal abortions. It is not the goal here to argue the issue from a legal and even a medical point of view. Rather, I want the reader, and especially the Christian reader, to consider the argument that a woman has a right to make her own choices about what to do with her own body. In 1 Corinthians 6 Paul argued that a woman and any other Christ follower is not the highest authority over what a person should or should not do with their body.

In his letter to the church at Corinth Paul addresses several issues that are causing disagreements and debates. These issues include but not limited to marriage relationships, dietary restrictions, gifts of the Holy Spirit, and settling differences in the court systems instead of settling their differences in the church. Paul writes saying that church members should not need to go to a pagan court system because the church ought to be able to judge the matters better than the court system. The reason is that the court system, pagan as it was, knew nothing about the issues from God’s perspective (see 1 Corinthians 6:1-11). Paul makes his case by telling the church that their decisions ought to be made based on their relationship with the Lord. So, before reaching a decision based on legal merits, church members should give priority to the teachings of Jesus and the commandments of God.

You may be wandering what this has to do with a woman’s legal right to have a medically safe abortion. Why should old men have the right to tell a woman what she can and cannot do with her own body? On the other hand, what about the body in the body? Does the fetus have a right to life? Does the legal system have the right; and even the responsibility to protect the life of the unborn? When does life began? Should the state consider religious beliefs in their decisions? If so, what religion should the Supreme Court go by when making a ruling? I do not believe that the Supreme Court can make a ruling that satisfies the beliefs of all the religions in the United States. Besides, do people that do not believe in God and remain unaffiliated with any religious belief have the right to be exempted from any ruling based on any religion? It is for this reason that this article is written mostly to people that call themselves Christian and hold the bible to be the authority by which a Christian ought to live their lives.

The main reason that this article is written is that I have observed that far too many Christians make their life decisions based on cultural norms. These people may have strong faith in God, but at the same time they may be without knowledge of what the Lord says on any given matter. This is nothing new. This is the problem that Paul is dealing with. The church at Corinth was made up of people from various backgrounds, including religious beliefs and practices. It seems that many of the members believed that the legal system should have the last word. Paul argued that the legal system should not have the last word. Rather, Paul argued that the last word for the believer was from God. The people do not belong to the legal system. Rather, they belong to God.

So, I am not arguing for or against medically safe legal abortions. Instead, like Paul, I want to challenge the readers here to consider whether or not they have the right to control what they do with their body. Paul writes, “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ” Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute, May it never be” (1 Corinth6:15, NASB)! The apostle is arguing that a Christian cannot take their body that are joined together with Christ and make decisions based on their relationship with others. The question then is whether or not one’s decision is based on their relationship with Christ.

Before I decide what to do with my body, I must decide who the owner of my body is. Those that favor abortions argue that the woman is the owner of her own body. She has the rights and responsibility to control what she does with her own body. Again, Roe vs. Wade is a legal matter. Paul says that a believer is not the owner of their own body. Their body belongs to Christ because they are joined together with Him. When they were saved their body became a temple of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not natural to a person. Rather, the Holy Spirit is given to them by God. Since the Holy Spirit has taken up resident in one’s body, the controlling thing for our decision is the leading and guiding authority of God through the Holy Spirit.

Paul’s concluding words on these matters were: “For you have been bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body” (6:20, NASB). What was the price? The price that God paid for us was the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. His death redeems the believer from their sins. Believers are no longer in bondage to sin, but they are free in Christ to live holy lives according to the will of God. When we believe in Jesus sin is no longer our master. God is now our master. We are His slave, and the Holy Spirit should control our decisions. You are not your own. Christ owns you. Think about what you must do to obey God.