Weekly Sermon
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 exclaims, “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? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
Brethren, too many of us believers too much of the time are living our Christian lives on the ground of a spiritual lie. Too many of us too much of the time are living out our lives as if they are our lives to live as we please. Too many of us too much of the time are making the decisions of our lives as if they are our decisions to make as we choose. Too many of us too much of the time have convinced ourselves that we have the right and the freedom to do what want to do, to say what we want to say, to enjoy what we want to enjoy, to pursue what we want to pursue, to choose what we want to choose, to think what we want to think, to feel what we want to feel, and to desire what we want to desire. Yea, even when we would never make such a bold claim to such complete freedom in these areas because we recognize that there are some spiritual boundaries that we are not to cross, we still live out our lives and make our decisions most of the time on the ground of our own heart’s natural course without any consideration of any higher authority or priority. We would not stubbornly declare, “It’s my life, and I will live it the way I want to!” Rather, we simply go forward each day with whatever flows naturally. Thereby, without stubbornly declaring it, we actually live out our lives the way that we want to.
In addition, our adversary the devil has deceived us with the lie that we believers are no longer under the law, but are now under grace, and that because we are now under grace, we have the spiritual freedom to live and decide as we please. Brethren, the great deceiver, our adversary the devil, is a liar from the beginning. Certainly it is a Biblical truth that we believers are no longer under the spiritual bondage and condemnation of the law, but are now under the spiritual freedom and justification of God’s saving grace. However, God’s saving grace does not provide us with the spiritual freedom to live and decide as we please. As Jude 1:4 reveals, this is the teaching of the ungodly, who are ever “turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness [unbridled lust, doing whatever one pleases].” Rather, God’s saving grace has provided us with the spiritual freedom to overcome temptation and sin and to walk in fellowship with God and in righteousness before God. Even so, Galatians 5:13 declares, “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.” In addition, Titus 2:11-12 proclaims, “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.”
Now, the truth of our obligation and responsibility as believers to live in this manner is founded upon another truth – the truth that we are “bought with a price,” with the price of the shed blood and sacrificial death of God the Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So then, from 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 let us consider four important elements concerning this truth that we are “bought with a price.”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 exclaims, “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? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
Brethren, too many of us believers too much of the time are living our Christian lives on the ground of a spiritual lie. Too many of us too much of the time are living out our lives as if they are our lives to live as we please. Too many of us too much of the time are making the decisions of our lives as if they are our decisions to make as we choose. Too many of us too much of the time have convinced ourselves that we have the right and the freedom to do what want to do, to say what we want to say, to enjoy what we want to enjoy, to pursue what we want to pursue, to choose what we want to choose, to think what we want to think, to feel what we want to feel, and to desire what we want to desire. Yea, even when we would never make such a bold claim to such complete freedom in these areas because we recognize that there are some spiritual boundaries that we are not to cross, we still live out our lives and make our decisions most of the time on the ground of our own heart’s natural course without any consideration of any higher authority or priority. We would not stubbornly declare, “It’s my life, and I will live it the way I want to!” Rather, we simply go forward each day with whatever flows naturally. Thereby, without stubbornly declaring it, we actually live out our lives the way that we want to.
In addition, our adversary the devil has deceived us with the lie that we believers are no longer under the law, but are now under grace, and that because we are now under grace, we have the spiritual freedom to live and decide as we please. Brethren, the great deceiver, our adversary the devil, is a liar from the beginning. Certainly it is a Biblical truth that we believers are no longer under the spiritual bondage and condemnation of the law, but are now under the spiritual freedom and justification of God’s saving grace. However, God’s saving grace does not provide us with the spiritual freedom to live and decide as we please. As Jude 1:4 reveals, this is the teaching of the ungodly, who are ever “turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness [unbridled lust, doing whatever one pleases].” Rather, God’s saving grace has provided us with the spiritual freedom to overcome temptation and sin and to walk in fellowship with God and in righteousness before God. Even so, Galatians 5:13 declares, “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.” In addition, Titus 2:11-12 proclaims, “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.”
Now, the truth of our obligation and responsibility as believers to live in this manner is founded upon another truth – the truth that we are “bought with a price,” with the price of the shed blood and sacrificial death of God the Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So then, from 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 let us consider four important elements concerning this truth that we are “bought with a price.”
The Price of Our Purchase
The central and foundational truth of these two verses is given in the opening phrase of verse 20 – “For ye are bought with a price.” Yet what was that purchase price, and when was that purchase price paid? In 1 Peter 1:18-19 the answer is given, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed [purchased out of bondage] with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” The purchase price was the shed of blood of God the Son, and He paid that price on the cross of Calvary. In Matthew 20:28 our Lord Jesus Christ declared, “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.” The purchase price was the sacrificial death of God the Son, and He paid that price on the cross of Calvary.
In Acts 20:28 the apostle Paul gave instruction to the leaders of the church at Ephesus, saying, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.” Again in Galatians 3:13 the truth is given, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” Yet again in Ephesians 1:7 the truth is given, “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.” And yet again in Hebrews 9:12 the truth is given, “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” Finally, in Titus 2:14 the truth is given, “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” Thus in Revelation 5:9 we overhear the song of heaven – “And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.”
Brethren, we are “bought with a price.” Yea, we are purchased out of spiritual bondage, eternally redeemed from all iniquity and from the curse of the law, eternally redeemed unto God, “with the precious blood of Christ,” which He shed for our sins as He sacrificed His life on the cross.
The Reality of Our Ownership
The closing line of 1 Corinthians 6:19 declares, “And ye are not your own.” Our ownership is not our own. We do not hold the title deed to our selves and our lives. Why not? The opening portion of verse 20 gives answer, “For ye are bought with a price.” Because we have been purchased with the shed blood and sacrificial death of God the Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, our selves and our lives are not our own to do with as we please. So then, whose ownership are we? The closing portion of verse 20 gives answer, saying, “Therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” As Revelation 5:9 reveals, we are redeemed unto God. Even so, Romans 14:7-9 declares, “For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.” We, our selves and our lives, are God’s and are the Lord’s. We are God’s people, His chosen generation, called by Him through the redemption of Christ’s shed blood and sacrificial death out of spiritual darkness into His marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9-10) We are the sheep of our Lord’s pasture, who purchased us with His own blood, and who is the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls. (Psalm 100:3; Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 2:25) We are God’s workmanship, “created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10) This is the reality of our ownership – We are not our own; we are God’s.
The Truth of Our Existence
In the opening portion of 1 Corinthians 6:19 this truth is revealed with the question, “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you?” Brethren, as believers we are not only owned by God; we are indwelt by living God. God the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the eternal Godhead Himself, dwells within us. Even so, Galatians 4:4-6 declares, “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law [through His shed blood and sacrificial death], that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” In like manner, 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 declares, “Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.” Our whole person is the temple of God the Holy Spirit, in which He dwells at all times. He ever dwells within our hearts, working to guide is in the truth of God’s Word, working to renew us in the spirit of our mind, working to transform us into the righteous image of Christ, working to turn us aside from the lusts of our sinful flesh, working to direct us in the way of righteousness, working to produce in and through us the fruits of righteousness, working to enable us for godly living, edifying ministry, and faithful witness. We are His temple, and He is ever at work within us.
So then, brethren, we need to understand that we are not our own; for we are bought with the price of Christ’s shed blood and sacrificial death. We need to understand that we are not our own; we are God’s ownership. We need to understand that we are not our own; we are the temple of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
The Obligation of Our Walk
On the ground of these truths, the closing portion of 1 Corinthians 6:20 gives the instruction, “Therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” Brethren, our external body is God’s; therefore, we are required and responsible to yield the members of our body unto Him to be used for His glory. We are required and responsible to yield our eyes to look only upon those things that would glorify the Lord our God. We are required and responsible to yield our ears to listen only unto those things that would glorify the Lord our God. We are required and responsible to yield our mouth to say only those things that would glorify the Lord our God. We are required and responsible to yield our hands to do only those things that would glorify the Lord our God. We are required and responsible to yield our feet to go only unto those places that would glorify the Lord our God.
In addition, our spirit, our inner man, is God’s; therefore, we are required and responsible to yield the parts of our inner man unto Him to be used for His glory. We are required and responsible to yield our mind to think only those thoughts and meditations that would glorify the Lord our God. We are required and responsible to yield our emotions to feel only those feelings and attitudes that would glorify the Lord our God. We are required and responsible to yield our heart to desire only those priorities and motivations that would glorify the Lord our God. We are required and responsible to yield our will to choose only those decisions and pursuits that would glorify the Lord our God. If it will not glorify Him, then we are required and responsible to avoid it. If it will glorify Him, then we are required and responsible to involve ourselves in it. We must not live and decide as we please. We must present our selves and our bodies as a living sacrifice unto the Lord our God to live as He pleases, to live holy and acceptable unto Him. (Romans 12:1) This is our reasonable service, for we are “bought with a price.” In our daily walk we are now obligated, required and responsible, to live, no longer unto ourselves, but unto Him who died for us. (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)
Posted in Weekly Sermon, 1 Corinthians, Sacrificial Death of Christ, Children of God, The Holy Spirit, Serving the Lord, Walk in Rightouesness
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