Lessons #185 and 186
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Avoidance of Sexual immorality (1 Cor 6:12-20)
.... 15 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! 16 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit. 18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. 19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
Recall, the message of 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 that we are considering is that Avoidance of sexual immorality requires a determination not to be controlled by anything of this life and understanding the body’s function, fate, and its various relationship to sex and God. Expounding of this message, as we stated previously, involves two major propositions. The first is that avoidance of sexual immorality involves determination not to be controlled by anything in this life. A second is that avoidance of sexual immorality involves understanding facts about the body as it relates to sex and God. This proposition involves consideration of two concepts of the temporary function and fate of the body and its various relationships as given in our passage. We have considered the concept of temporary function and fate of body as part of the argument of the apostle as to the reason a believer should not be involved in sexual immorality. We also started to consider the concept of the various relationships of the body that indicates believers should not be involved in sexual immorality. Thus, we have considered the first two relationships of the body to sex, the Lord and the future act of God. These relationships led to two rejoinders by the apostle. A first rejoinder to those who have a wrong perception of the body so that they saw nothing wrong with sexual immorality is that the body is not for sexual immorality but for glorifying the Lord. A second rejoinder of the apostle to those who misunderstood the nature of the body is to remind them that for the believers there is a future act of God that involves bodily resurrection that should cause them not to have a low opinion of their bodies so to abuse them through sexual immorality. These brings us to the third relationship that involves the body.
The third relationship of the body that indicates believers should not be involved in sexual immorality is with Christ. Believers’ bodies are parts of the body of Christ. This relationship is conveyed in the form of a question that begins 1 Corinthians 6:15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? This is the fourth time in this sixth chapter of 1 Corinthians that the apostle conveys truth to the Corinthians using the formula Do you not know that introduces a rhetorical question that implies the Corinthians should have understood doctrinal truths the apostle had conveyed regarding a specific issue in the context. The first was in verse 2 where he conveyed the truth that believers will judge the world. The second was in verse 3 where he introduced the doctrine of believers judging angels. The third was in verse 9 where the apostle conveyed that unbelievers will not enjoy the rule of God and its resultant blessing of eternal life. In this fourth usage, the apostle is concerned with the relationship of the bodies of believers to Christ in the question that begins verse 15. To understand what the apostle intended to convey in the rhetorical question of verse 15, we will consider the key words the apostle used.
A first key word is the word “know” that is translated from a Greek word (oida) with a range of meanings. It may mean “to know” as the word is used in Jesus’ denunciation of the crowd that came to Him for their hypocrisy in Luke 12:56:
Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?
The word may mean “to realize” as it is used to describe the ignorance of the master of ceremony in the marriage banquet when Jesus turned water into wine, as we read in John 2:9:
and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside.
The word may mean “to tell” as in Jesus’ statement to Nicodemus regarding the character of one that is regenerated in John 3:8:
The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
The word may mean “to be aware” as it is used to describe Jesus’ perception regarding His disciples’ attitude towards His teaching in John 6:61:
Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you?
The word may mean “to recognize” something such as someone’s voice as it is used in Jesus’ description of the relationship of a shepherd and his sheep in John 10:5:
But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”
The word may mean “to understand” as it is used to describe what the disciples did not comprehend from the Scripture regarding Jesus’ resurrection, as stated in John 20:9:
(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
The word may mean “to be acquainted” with something as the word was used to describe the basic familiarity of Governor Felix with the Christian movement in Acts 24:22:
Then Felix, who was well acquainted with the Way, adjourned the proceedings. “When Lysias the commander comes,” he said, “I will decide your case.”
The Greek word may mean “to remember” or “to recollect” as Apostle Paul used it in deemphasizing his importance in water baptism in 1 Corinthians 1:16:
(Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.)
The word may mean “to regard” how to take another person as in 2 Corinthians 5:16:
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.
The Greek word may mean “to know” in the sense of having information about someone or something as Apostle Paul used the word to indicate that the Galatians, prior to their salvation, did not know the true God in Galatians 4:8:
Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.
The Greek word may mean “to learn how” to do something as Apostle Paul used the word to convey the sense of learning how to control one’s sexual desire in order to avoid sexual immorality as stated in 1 Thessalonians 4:4:
that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable,
The sentence each of you should learn to control his own body of the NIV is literally each of you know how to possess his own vessel. The Greek word may mean “to respect” or “to honor” as in the instruction of the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul regarding what is expected of believers regarding their spiritual leaders as stated in 1 Thessalonians 5:12:
Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you.
The verbal phrase to respect those who work hard among you is literally to know those laboring among you, which does not make much sense unless it is understood either to mean to respect or to honor such individuals since believers would have known such persons. The Greek word may mean “to know” in the sense of being intimately acquainted with or stand in close relationship to someone so that it is used to know God, not merely to know theoretically of God’s existence, but to have a positive relationship with Him as in the claim in Titus 1:16:
They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 6:15, the sense of the word is that of having knowledge about something, normally acquired through reflection or thinking on some information someone already possessed. For this to be the case, the apostle must have taught or provided information that will lead to the knowledge he expected them to have in the question Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself?
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
The body may refer to a dead body or corpse as it is used to describe Jesus’ declaration recorded in Luke 17:37:
“Where, Lord?” they asked. He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”
The body may refer to a living body such as one that is involved in sexual immorality as stated in Romans 1:24:
Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.
Figuratively, the apostle uses the word “body” to refer to the Christian community. Hence, Apostle Paul tells the believers in Rome that they form one body in Christ in Romans 12:5:
so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
To the Corinthians, the apostle indicated they are the body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12:27:
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
The phrase body of Christ here in 1 Corinthians 12 refers to the church of Christ, as Apostle Paul used it in Ephesians 1:22–23:
22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
The word may mean “nature” as in Colossians 2:11:
In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ,
The word may mean “the thing itself, the reality” in imagery of a body that casts a shadow as the word is used in Colossians 2:17:
These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
The clause the reality, however, is found in Christ is literally and the body is of the Christ.
The word may mean “physical” as it is used to describe the needs of a destitute believer in James 2:16:
If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?
The phrase his physical needs is literally the things needful for the body. The word may refer to an “entire person” as it is used to describe the corrupting activity of the tongue in James 3:6:
The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
The sentence It corrupts the whole person is literally defiling the whole body. It is clear that the corrupting influence of the tongue is on the entire person that includes body and soul and not merely the physical body. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 6:15, it is used in the sense of a living physical body.
The third key word is “member” that is translated from a Greek word (melos) that literally may mean “part” of a human body or “limb,” as it is used in the instruction of the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul against using any part of the body for sin in Romans 6:13:
Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.
It is as part of the body that the word is used in the description of the tongue in James 3:5:
Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.
Figuratively, the word may mean “member,” that is, a part as member of a whole. Thus, the word is used for the individual Christians as members of Christ that together form His body as it is used, for example, in Ephesians 4:25:
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 6:15, it is used in the sense of “body part,” that is, any constituent part of an organism such as an organ or limb. Hence, the REB captured the sense of the word in that the phrase members of Christ himself of the NIV of 1 Corinthians 6:15 is translated limbs and organs of Christ.
We have considered the three key words that will enable us to interpret what the apostle meant in the question of 1 Corinthians 6:15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? But before we do, there is one more problem to deal with that concerns how to understand the phrase members of Christ. There are two possibilities that are not that different from each other. The phrase may be understood that the members belong to Christ or that the members are parts of Christ. While the first meaning makes sense in the context it is the second meaning that the apostle probably intended because of the second question of 1 Corinthians 6:15 that we will get to. Thus, the apostle in the question intended to use a metaphor to communicate to the Corinthians that believers are in union with Christ and collectively form the body of Christ, that is, the church. Of course, this interpretation implies the first interpretation of the phrase members of Christ in that those who are in union with Christ belong to Him. The apostle must have communicated to the Corinthians that believers collectively form the body of Christ and so each believer is a part of the body of Christ when he was with them to warrant the question we are considering. What he communicated to them that he reminded them in a rhetorical question is that individual believer along with other believers form the body of Christ as that is the same concept that he reminded believers in Rome in Romans 12:5:
so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
The apostle in the rhetorical question wants believers in Corinth to recognize that their bodies are important and so should not be abused through sexual immorality. The doctrine the apostle conveyed using the metaphor of the body of believer being a part of Christ is one that we cannot understand based on any human reasoning since it does not make sense to say that one body of a believer is physically a part of the body of Christ. However, this is one of the mysteries of the Christian faith in that a person who is saved is made a part of the body of Christ not in a physical sense of joining the person’s body to that of Christ but that the person is union with Christ in a spiritual sense. Christ does not have an earthly body at the present time. He has a spiritual body that is suited for heaven as we may deduce from the fact there is a body suited for heaven as the apostle asserts later in 1 Corinthians 15:40:
There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another.
The Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul described the resurrected body of Christ at the present as glorious, as stated in Philippians 3:21:
who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Certainly, Jesus’s body went through further transformation because the description of Him in the vision of John is different from what was known of Him while on this planet. Consider John’s description in Revelation 1:14–15:
14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.
We cannot truly understand the nature of Jesus’ spiritual body after His resurrection although He demonstrated that such a body is not limited by physical laws that operate on this planet. For example, the spiritual body of Jesus at resurrection was not affected by molecules or atoms that make up objects that make it impossible for our bodies to pass through another object. This we know because He was able to go through a closed door to appear to His disciples who were terrified, as narrated in John 20:19:
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”
There is no way that an earthly body could go through a closed door. Furthermore, Jesus was able to travel back to heaven as the disciples watched, as we read in Acts 1:9:
After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
Jesus did not suddenly disappear but He gradually lifted Himself up from the ground and continued to go up until He was covered by the cloud. The lifting up of Jesus or His travel upwards is contrary to the law of gravity. People travel into the space by specialized designed machineries that counter the force of gravity but that was not the case with Jesus. For Him to do so means that His body was no longer earthly to be governed by the law of gravity. Thus, even at the present time, the body that Jesus has is not material so that our material body can be said to be part of His body. The point is that it is a unique Christian doctrine that no human mind could have conceived to say that believers are parts of Christ’s body. In any event, the apostle intended to convey to the Corinthians that they are parts of the body of Christ but only in a spiritual sense although he used a metaphor of their bodies being parts of Christ’s body. Hence, the apostle wanted the Corinthians and so all believers to mindful of their bodies as that which belong to Christ and so should be treated according. They are not to be neglected or abused as some do in the name of religion. The Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul conveyed that those who torture their bodies in the name of religion are usually those who follow the teachings of false teachers or those who are unbelievers, as implied in Colossians 2:23:
Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.
The phrase harsh treatment of the body refers to extreme self-discipline of the body that may include denying oneself food and drinks that the false teachers boast that if anyone follows their instructions about denying food and drinks then that person would have a great insight to God. That aside, our bodies are dedicated to God. It is this understanding that, no doubt, led to the doctrine of the body of believers as temple of Holy Spirit that the apostle presented in verse 19 of this sixth chapter.
Be that as it may, the apostle conveyed to the Corinthians what a horrible thing it is for a believer to be involved in sexual immorality by focusing on the inappropriateness of believers being involved with prostitutes. This, he presented in form of a second rhetorical question in 1 Corinthians 6:15 Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Our English versions translated the Greek in a manner that is proper to the English reader but it seems to me that such translation hides the fact that the apostle emphasized that believers are parts of Christ’s body. This is because the literal Greek reads Having taken therefore members of Christ should I make (them) members of a prostitute? The Greek form we translated literally Having taken conveys the fact that the apostle stated what is true of believers before he then asked the question.
The word “take” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (airō) that may mean to raise to a higher place or position hence means “to lift up,” or “to take up,” or “to pick up.” This meaning can refer to literal usage as in action of those who wanted to stone Jesus, as stated in John 8:59:
At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.
The word may mean “to keep in a state of uncertainty about an outcome,” that is, “to keep someone in suspense as the word is used with the word “life” in the Greek in the question of the Jews to Jesus about His identity in John 10:24:
The Jews gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
The question How long will you keep us in suspense? is literally until when will you take away our life? that is an idiom for keeping one from reaching a conclusion about something. The word may mean “to carry away, remove” as the word is used in Mary Magdalena’s question to Jesus, she thought was the gardener, regarding the location of the body of Jesus, as narrated in John 20:15:
“Woman,” he said, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
The word may mean “to raise a ship’s anchor for departure,” hence “to weigh anchor, depart” as the word is used in Acts 27:13:
When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had obtained what they wanted; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete.
The word may mean “to take away” in the sense of “to get rid” or “to remove” as it is used in the instruction of the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:31:
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.
The expression Get rid of, of the NIV is literally must be removed. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 6:15, the word means “to take into one’s possession” in order to make something out of what is taken. In effect, there is the sense that one is taking forcefully part of what is the body of Christ to do something not in keeping with the body of Christ.
Anyway, we indicated that the apostle used a Greek form that indicates he stated a fact to the Corinthians before the rhetorical question. It is a fact that believers’ bodies are part of Christ’s body. This should never be forgotten. The Corinthians and so all believers should burn that truth in their soul to help understand who they are in order not to be involved in sexual immorality. I am saying that the manner in which the apostle presented the rhetorical question we have in our passage begins with a strong acknowledgement of what is factual about believers being part of Christ’s body. It is after the apostle emphasized the fact that believers’ bodies are already part of Christ’s body that he continued with the rest of the question. The interpretation we have given is supported by the word then in the NIV.
The word “then” of the NIV is translated from a Greek particle (oun) that has several usages. It may be used as a marker of inference, denoting that what it introduces is the result of or an inference from what precedes, hence means “so, therefore, consequently, accordingly, then.” It is in this sense that Apostle Paul used it to state what should result in the believer from the fact that the Holy Spirit lives in such person, using the meaning “therefore” in Romans 8:12:
Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it.
The Greek particle may be used as a marker of continuation of a narrative in which case it may be used to indicate a transition to something new with the meaning “now, then, well.” It is in the with the meaning “now” to indicate not only continuation of a thought but transitioning to something new that the word is used by Apostle Paul to describe the qualifications of an overseer or a pastor after he had indicated that it is a good thing for a person to desire to be such but to guard against emotional response to such desire, he gave the qualifications that should guide in appointing a man to the position of an overseer beginning in 1 Timothy 3:2:
Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
The Greek particle may be used as a marker of emphasis with the meaning “indeed, certainly, really” as the word is used by Luke to record Apostle Paul’s narrative of his activities as the persecutor of the church prior to his conversion, according to Acts 26:9:
“I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
The translators of the NIV used the word “too” for emphasis since the phrase I too may be literally translated Indeed, I myself. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 6:15, the Greek particle is used as marker of inference with the meaning “then” or “therefore” to indicate that what the apostle put in a form of a rhetorical question is that which results from the fact that believers’ bodies are part of Christ’s body. It is not proper, therefore, to take part of Christ’s body to do something that is not glorifying to Him.
The thing that is unbecoming of a believer to do with the body that is part of the body of Christ is to be involved in sexual immorality described in the expression of 1 Corinthians 6:15 and unite them with a prostitute. Literally, the Greek reads make members of a prostitute. This is because of the Greek words used.
The word “unite” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (poieō) that may mean “to treat” as it is used to describe those God would not forgive their sins in Matthew 18:35:
“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”
The word may mean “to work” as in the parable of workers that complained because they were paid what they did not expect in Matthew 20:12:
‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’
The word may mean “to produce” as in Luke 3:9:
The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
The word may mean “to perform” as it is used to report what Nicodemus said to Christ regarding the miracles, He was doing in John 3:2:
He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
It may mean “to gain” as it is used to describe that many people were responding to Jesus than John the Baptist in John 4:1:
The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John,
The word may mean “to keep, carry out” in the sense of carrying out an obligation of a moral or social nature as the word is used in Jesus’ rebuke of the Jews for failure to do what the law requires, as stated in John 7:19:
Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”
The word may mean “to commit, be guilty” in relation to sin as the word is used in Jesus’ assertion recorded in John 8:34:
Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
The clause everyone who sins is a slave to sin may alternatively be translated as everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. The word may mean “to do, make,” as in describing the Sovereign Lord as the creator in the prayer of the early church, as stated in Acts 4:24:
When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.
The word may mean “to cause,” as in the instruction of how believers should handle those who are disruptive in the community of believers in Romans 16:17:
I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 6:15, the word is used in the sense of “to make.” The translators of the NIV used the meaning “unite” probably because of the Greek word translated “unite” used in verse 16 that we will consider later.
The word “prostitute” is translated from a Greek word (pornē) that literally refers to one who is engaged in sexual relations for hire hence “a prostitute.” It is in this sense that the word is used in the Septuagint to describe Tamar, Judah’s daughter-in-law in Genesis 38:15:
When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face.
That the woman described here as a prostitute is one who engages in sex for hire, is conveyed in the bargaining of Tamar with Judah in Genesis 38:16:
Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her by the roadside and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you.” “And what will you give me to sleep with you?” she asked.
That a prostitute is one that engages in sex for hire is evident in the use our Greek word in the Septuagint for the instruction given to Israel against earning from such practice in Deuteronomy 23:18:
You must not bring the earnings of a female prostitute or of a male prostitute into the house of the LORD your God to pay any vow, because the LORD your God detests them both.
In the Septuagint, the Greek word is used for being involved in idolatry or spiritual unfaithfulness to God as in Isaiah 1:21:
See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness used to dwell in her— but now murderers!
The Greek word is used to describe an adulteress or a loose woman who leaves the husband for sexual relationship with another in the Septuagint in Proverbs 5:3:
For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil;
The usage of the Greek word in the Septuagint is carried into the NT. For example, Rahab who was involved in sex for hire that sheltered Israelites spies sent to Jericho is described using our Greek word in Hebrews 11:31:
By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.
It is used figuratively of a political entity that is hostile to God with the same meaning “prostitute” in Revelation 19:2:
for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”
By the way in time of Jesus’ earthly ministry, prostitutes were grouped together with tax-collectors by the Jews as the lowest class of people morally speaking, as implied in Jesus’ statement recorded in Matthew 21:31:
“Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.
It is in the sense of a female who engages in sexual intercourse for payment, that is, a prostitute that the word is used in our passage of 1 Corinthians 6:15 being its prominent meaning but the sense of the word “whore” that describes a promiscuous woman that gets involved in sexual intercourse with men may also be implied in the usage of the Greek the word since that sense is also conveyed in the Septuagint. We will say more about this later.
The intent of the apostle in the rhetorical question Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? of 1 Corinthians 6:15 in the NIV is to convey what a horrible thing it is to be involved in sexual immorality so the apostle answered the question in the strongest possible way with the word Never! Literally, the Greek reads May it not be! This is because we have a Greek verb (ginomai) that may mean “to be” with several other usages. For example, the word may mean “to happen, turn out, take place” which is the sense in which our word is used to describe the benefit of honoring parents in Ephesians 6:3:
“that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”
The verbal phrase may go well may be understood as may turn out well although literally the Greek reads may be well. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 6:15, our word is used with a negative so that it conveys the sense of a strong negation so that it may be translated using several phrases such as “by no means,” “far from it,” or “God forbid” so that one gets the impression that the apostle wanted to convey how horrible it is for the believer to be involved in sexual immorality using the body that is part of body of Christ. In effect, the apostle conveys that it is unthinkable that a believer would take a part of body of Christ and make it a part of a prostitute.
In any case, we stated that the Greek word translated “prostitute” in the NIV of 1 Corinthians 6;15 and in most of our English versions, do, indeed has the implication of the meaning “whore” that refers to a woman who sleeps around with men. There are two reasons for this interpretation. First, the Greek word as used in the Septuagint has a meaning of a loose woman as we noted previously. Thus, it is possible that while the apostle had primarily in his mind the concept of prostitute, he would have thought also of this other meaning of the Greek word used. A second reason is that there is the possibility for the distortion of the apostle’s rhetorical question if the sense of sex outside the marriage bond is not included. The apostle had indicated sexual immorality is unbecoming of believers so if he only meant a prostitute in the sense of sex for hire then what he said may be misunderstood. People would say that the apostle was concerned with sex with prostitutes and not sex outside marriage bond. In effect, if the apostle’s point is limited to prostitutes then it may imply that it is permissible for two believers who are part of the body of Christ to be involved in sex outside marriage. This would be farther from the truth since the Holy Spirit through the apostle had revealed that sexual immorality should not even be hinted among believers, as stated in Ephesians 5:3:
But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.
Thus, the apostle would not have used the Greek word translated “prostitute” in our passage of 1 Corinthians 6:15 in a limiting fashion that involves only sex for hire. His rhetorical question is intended to shock us to recognize that sex outside marriage is appalling to God. Hence, that we should not use our body that is part of Christ’s to become involved in any sexual relationship outside marriage bound between a man and a woman. The point is that the apostle wants believers to recognize how awful it is for believers to use their bodies in sexual immorality as that would be dishonoring to the Lord Jesus Christ.
11/29/19