11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

12 All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any...

PARAPHRASE.

temptuous disregard, nor extortioners, shall inherit "the kingdom of God: and in such practices some of you lived before your conversion to the Christian faith. But, consider what inducements you now have to relinquish them; you have been baptized with water, in token of being cleansed from sin, you have been separated from the rest of the world, and thereby called to lead holy lives, and you have received the means of obtaining justness of sentiment and action in the profession of faith in the Lord Jesus, and in the assistance of the spirit of our God who dwells collectively with all Christians.

12

Regulate your conduct, then, with a view to your present condition. And as a direction for this purpose, I observe, in reference to the subject of fornication which we have been considering, that all things are lawful for me to do as a Christian which are lawful for any other man; but, that, all things are not beneficial in promoting my Christian character. Having a due regard to this, I say again, that all things are lawful for me to do as a Christian which are lawful for any other man; but, that, I will not be governed by any thing I do, but will in all cases act at my discretion, so as best to promote

13 Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.

14 And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.

15 Know ye not that your

bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.

PARAPHRASE.

13 the design of my profession. Now, to do this rightly it will be necessary in every case to consider the purpose for which each thing was made. And therefore, I observe that food was intended solely for the belly, and the belly for food, and that accordingly God will destroy both the belly and food when they have answered their present temporary purpose; but that the bodily constitution was not intended solely for the gratification of the sexual appetite, but for the Lord as a medium for promoting his government, and that the Lord existing in the human nature, was intended for the bodily 1 constitution as its appropriate director: and that accordingly God has both raised him from the dead as our Lord (which is intimated by his resurrection and visible ascension into heaven in a human form), and will according to promise raise us through the influence of his power, thereby intimating that we are to continue for ever under his guidance. Do you not know that Christ being professedly the guide of your conduct, is by your own admission your head; and that your bodies therefore, are,

15

16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.

17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.

PARAPHRASE.

virtually, members of Christ to be directed by his will? Shall I then take the members of Christ from their government by his will, and make them members of a harlot to be governed by her will?. God 16 forbid. Do you deny this to be the effect of fornication, or do you not know that he who is united to a harlot is united to her only in a bodily union, but that the institution of the sexes is designed to produce an entire union of mind? as is evident from the declaration of God, for speaking of this institution in regard to our first parents, he says "the two united shall be reckoned for one human being." But on the other hand, he who is united by faith to the Lord is, professedly, one mind with him; and therefore, since the bodily constitution was intended as a medium for promoting his government, and is by the institution of the sexes capable of producing an entire union of mind, its proper use in respect of that intention, must be to produce such an entire union of mind as may exhibit a model of our appropriate spiritual union with him. 18 Avoid fornication then, for as you may perceive, any other sin which a man commits is without an

17

19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your

own?

20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

19

PARAPHRASE.

nulling the end intended by the bodily constitution, but he who commits fornication sins in respect of his own body, by annulling the end for which it was intended. Do you deny this to be peculiarly sinful in Christians, or do you not know that your present bodily constitution is, in consequence of your Christian profession, virtually, a temple consecrated to the residence of the Holy Spirit who dwells mentally among you as professing Christians, whose residence with you in your present condition you thus have as a gift from God; and that therefore, as you are Christians with this privilege, your bodies are by special engagement not your own, but Christ's, to be so used as may best promote a 20 spiritual union with him? And this very justly. For as this privilege results from our Lord's death, you may be said to have been bought by him at a stipulated price, and, therefore, to belong as entirely to him as a thing bought does to the purchaser of it. Glorify God, therefore, in the body, by regulating its use subserviently to his design, and in the mind, by the devotion to him resulting from that restraint, since both the body and mind belong to God.

CHAPTER VII.

1 Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.

2 Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.

3 Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.

4 The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.

5 Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.

1

PARAPHRASE.

Now as to those matters about which you have written to me; and first of all that you conclude from your view of the Christian religion that it is good for a man to abstain altogether from mar2 riage. But I answer, whenever it is necessary in order to avoid indiscriminate concubinage, let each man have his own wife, and each woman her own 3 husband. And in the marriage-state let the husband evince due regard for his wife's happiness; and in like manner the wife for her husband's. * For by the marriage-contract the wife has not exclusive power over her own body, but the husband has a joint power over it with her; and in like manner also the husband has not exclusive power over his own body, but the wife has a joint power over it with him. Do not therefore voluntarily deprive each other of the reasonable gratifications of that condition of life; except it be done, on any

4

5