Lessons #189 and 190
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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)
.... 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.
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. In our last study of verses 16 and 17, we considered a very strong reason the Holy Spirit provided through Apostle Paul for believers to avoid sexual immorality. That reason is the fact there is a unique bond created in sex that should exist only between a man and his wife. Hence, for a believer to be involved in sexual immorality is to live a lie in which the individual continues to be bonded uniquely with someone that is not the wife. Furthermore, because believers are in union with Christ, they should not be involved in a bonding that is not authorized by the Lord. The bonding of a husband and the wife in sex is authorized and honoring to the Lord but not sexual immorality. This strong reason is followed with a very strong command against sexual immorality in verse 18. But before we get to the command, we should recognize that there is no connective between verse 18 and the preceding section. Although there is no connective, its absence is probably to be understood as part of the strong command given in the passage with the implication that the command given is the result of the doctrine that the apostle had presented. After all, often we find that a reason for a command may be given before it. Thus, verse 18 should be understood to mean that because of the strong reason the apostle gave in verses 16 and 17 the apostle issued the strong command that begins verse 18.
The command against sexual immorality is given in the first expression of 1 Corinthians 6:18 Flee from sexual immorality. Before we examine the command itself, let me state that a command such as this is one of the reasons that I am one that has taught strongly against dating practices of today where a male and a female interact with each other one to one in a private manner. I recognize that this is a teaching that has been rejected by many even in this congregation but that does not change the truth of God’s word. Furthermore, pastors of many local churches do not even address the subject and those who do give teachings that are intended to encourage it simply because they have believed the lie of the society in which we live. The lie is that no one can find a mate without the dating practice as it is carried out today. This lie is a challenge to faith that if a believer trusts the Lord then at the right time when the individual is ready for marriage that the Lord will lead the individual to the right mate. The thing that we find in Christianity today is that it is easy to teach those things that follow the culture instead of teaching truths that should cause believers to live different from the world of unbelievers. In effect, we Christians find it difficult to accept that we should not be governed by the practices of this world that are contrary to God’s word since we are not of this world. We often do not accept in practice that the world cannot love us because we are not of it as the Lord Jesus stated in His priestly prayer in John 17:14:
I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.
We do not in practice accept that we are aliens on this planet although the Holy Spirit through Apostle Peter conveyed this truth in 1 Peter 2:11:
Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.
In addition, we ignore the instruction of the Holy Spirit that requires us not to love the world and its practices as we are commanded in 1 John 2:15–16:
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.
Because of our rejection of the facts that we have mentioned, believers have no problem accepting the world standard of dating that most often leads to sexual immorality. We have maintained in the face of rejection by many that it is unscriptural to be involved in the modern-day dating practices because it lends itself to sexual immorality. Someone may try to convince others that their dating practice does not lead to sexual immorality. This can only be true if there is no extended one to one contact with a person of the opposite sex that a person claims to be in love with; otherwise, it is virtually impossible to escape sexual immorality. For one thing, the command we are about to consider would be unnecessary if it is possible to be in extended relationship between a man and woman in which they are alone with each other for an extended period of time without sexual relationship unless, of course, they are truly old where sexual relationship is no longer possible.
By the way, there is no way anyone who understands the command that we are about to consider would reject the position regarding dating I teach. You see, many of us Christians have a very low view of what it means to be a believer that lives in accordance with the word of God or what it means to be holy or live a holy life. We quickly say that a person loves the Lord even when there is an evidence that such a person lives in disobedience or in sexual immorality. It is inconceivable to me that a person who lives in sexual immorality or in disobedience of God’s word could be said to love the Lord. This because the Lord Jesus is clear that there is only one way to demonstrate that anyone loves Him; it is through obedience to His word, as He stated in the record of John 14:23–24:
23 Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
That aside, the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul puts a command before us that tests if we love the Lord or not. This command again is concerned with avoidance of sexual immorality given in the strong terms Flee from sexual immorality.
The word “flee” is translated from a Greek word (pheugō) that in the Septuagint is used to describe Moses’ running away from snake the Lord changed his staff as we read in Exodus 4:3:
The LORD said, “Throw it on the ground.” Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it.
It is also used for a person running for his life, that is, running away from being killed due to unintentional killing of another to escape to a city of refuge as in Deuteronomy 19:4:
This is the rule concerning the man who kills another and flees there to save his life—one who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without malice aforethought.
In the NT, the word may mean “to run off” as it is used to describe the action of those who were tending the pigs that the Lord Jesus gave evil spirits permission to indwell that ran because of fear, as narrated in Matthew 8:33:
Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town and reported all this, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men.
The word may mean “to run away” as it is used in Lord Jesus’ description of the action of a hired shepherd when a wolf approaches the sheep as stated in John 10:12:
The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.
The word may mean “to flee” in the sense of to seek safety in flight as it is used of Moses’ flight from Egypt to Midian to seek safety there, according to Acts 7:29:
When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.
The word may mean “to escape,” that is, to become safe from danger by eluding or avoiding it as it is used to describe negatively the fate of the Israelites that paid no attention to God’s word through Moses, as recorded in Hebrews 12:25:
See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?
The word may mean “to flee from” or “to avoid” or “to shun” in the sense of to keep from doing something by avoiding it because of its potential damage. Hence, it is in the sense of “to shun” or “to avoid” instead of following a course of action that the word is used in 1 Timothy 6:11:
But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.
It is the same sense of avoiding sinful desires of youth that the word is used in 2 Timothy 2:22:
Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
The word may mean “to elude” as it is used to describe the fate of those who would undergo God’s future judgment on earth that would want to die but will be unable, as stated in Revelation 9:6:
During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.
The word has the meaning of “to disappear” in its usage in describing the fate of islands when God’s judgment is brought finally on the earth in Revelation 16:20:
Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found.
Although the meaning “to avoid” or “to shun” is a meaning of the Greek word used in our passage of 1 Corinthians 6:18, but that does not communicate strongly what the apostle wrote. Therefore, the sense of the word in our passage is “to flee,” that is, “to run or move away quickly, so as to escape something dangerous or harmful.
The command “flee” is one that is addressed to all believers in the local church in Corinth. The implication is that every believer is to be involved in obeying this command. It is not a command given to young people as some older persons may think. No! It is a command given to every believer including those who are older. They are not immune from sexual immorality either directly or indirectly. When parents look the other way when their children who live at home with them are involved in practices or conducts that lead to sexual immorality and they do nothing about them then they have inditectly disobeyed this command of to “flee” from sexual immorality.
The apostle conveys through the use of a present tense in the Greek of the command given here in the word flee is one that should be repeated. In effect, the Holy Spirit expects us to flee again and again from sexual immorality in such a way that it can be said that we have trained ourselves to find it repulsive to be involved in sexual immorality in any. It is not merely that you run away from sexual immorality, your whole person should abhor it. Of course, this again comes from the practice of repeated flight from sexual immorality and having the proper teaching on the subject as we have considered so far.
The command we are examining is Flee from sexual immorality. There are two questions we need to answer regarding this command. The first is: How does a person obey this command or carry it out in practice? The second is: Why should a believer obey this command? We begin with the answer of the first question. There is a very simple way that this command is to be carried out in practice. It is by avoiding as much as possible being alone with a member of opposite sex, especially if you have any interest romantically with that individual. If anyone has interest in another person that would be a potential mate, then it is important that all their interactions be in open places or places where they are never alone. Being alone with a person with whom one has romantic interest creates a situation that is similar to operating at night. Believers are not to operate as if they belong to darkness since some sinful conducts occur at night, as we read, for example, in 1 Thessalonians 5:5–7:
5 You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.
Many of the sexual immorality associated with dating practices occur at night or when those involved are alone. It is therefore prudent to follow the guideline for those who have romantic interest in each other not to be alone for an extend period of time. Even if you are not romantically involved with a person, you should still follow this because some people who get involved in sexual immorality do so after spending much time with the opposite sex although they did not intend for that to happen at the beginning. So avoid being alone with a person of opposite sex for extended period. This is a practical way to flee from sexual immorality. Although Joseph was wrongly accused and put in prison because of God’s plan, he demonstrated this approach in his dealing with Potiphar’s wife. Once he learned that the woman had a sexual interest in him, he did everything to avoid being alone with her but when he was caught by surprise he ran outside the house quickly to avoid being alone with the woman that later lied about him, as we read in Genesis 39:8–12:
8 But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. 9 No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” 10 And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her. 11 One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. 12 She caught him by his cloak and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.
This principle that we have suggested is one that should enable anyone to flee from sexual immorality in that an individual does not give Satan the opportunity to tempt the person to succumb to sexual immorality. This guideline we have given is one that is implied in the advice given regarding preventing sexual immorality with a loose woman in Proverbs 5:7–8:
7 Now then, my sons, listen to me; do not turn aside from what I say. 8 Keep to a path far from her,
do not go near the door of her house.
Anyway, the two passages we have cited support the guideline we have given regarding the first question of how in practice one obeys the command Flee from sexual immorality, which is to avoid being alone with member of the opposite sex for an extend period of time. This brings us to consider the answer to the second question.
To the question of why a person should obey the command to flee from sexual immorality, there are at least two answers we can supply. A first reason it is necessary to flee from sexual immorality in the sense of getting away as quickly as possible from a situation that could lead to sexual immorality is because the lure to sexual sin is great since sexual desire is a natural part of our makeup as humans. The desire for sex is given to us by God but sin has ceased on it to cause us humans to distort it. The fact that illegal sexual action is forbidden by God makes humans want to be involved in it because of the rebellion that is result of sin in us. I am saying that because of the sinful nature, we humans find illicit sex attractive. It is therefore not surprising that humans cherish being involved in illegal sexual activity, as we can gather from Proverbs 9:16–18:
16“Let all who are simple come in here!” she says to those who lack judgment. 17“Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!” 18But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of the grave.
The phrase Stolen water refers to forbidden sexual pleasures that are enjoyed in secret. Water is used as a metaphor for sex since it is used earlier in the book of Proverb to warn against adultery, as we read in Proverbs 5:15–17:
15Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. 16Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares? 17Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers.
Although water is used her metaphorically for sexual activity, the point remains that because of the sinful nature, it is easy to be drawn into sexual immorality. This being the case, an important action that a believer should take is to run as far as possible without looking back from a situation that will lead to sexual immorality as Joseph did. Failure to do this may lead to sexual immorality. Today, we read of many men hooked on pornography. This is in part because they did not flee at the very sight of any sexual images that have the tendency to draw them to sexual pleasure of watching such images. In fact, their failure to run and turn away the first time they saw such images concerned with sexual sins is reminiscent of David’s failure. He did not run or turn away as quickly as possible once he saw a naked woman taking a bath as narrated in 2 Samuel 11:2–4:
2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, 3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (She had purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she went back home.
The sentence he saw a woman bathing does not tell the full story of what happened. I mean that it is not merely that David saw at a glance a woman who was naked and taking a bath; otherwise, he probably would not have noted that she was beautiful. His failure began with watching a naked beautiful woman taking a bath that certainly included a ritual bath following the woman’s menstrual cycle as required by the law. It is because David got involved in pornography, so to say, in that he kept watching the woman that he became sexually interested in her. If he had turned away immediately at the sight of a naked woman taking bath, he would not have been involved in adultery. But because he did not flee in the sense of quickly turning away from watching a naked woman, he was trapped into the sin of adultery. The point we are making is that part of fleeing from sexual immorality is being sure that a person quickly moves away from situation or images that would arouse sexual desire in an individual. A second reason to obey the instruction to flee from sexual immorality is that such sin is quite harmful to an individual. We will say more about this later but for now we simply want to convey that it is because of the harmfulness of sexual immorality that a believer should obey the command to flee from sexual immorality.
The second reason we gave for obeying the instruction to flee from sexual immorality is implied in the rest of 1 Corinthians 6:18 beginning with the clause All other sins a man commits are outside his body. The word “other” of the NIV is an interpretative translation and there is no plural “sins” but singular “sin” since the literal Greek reads Every sin which if a man commits is outside of the body. Although there is no word in the Greek that indicates it gives a reason for avoiding sexual immorality but that is exactly what the clause does. It provides a reason to flee sexual immorality. That aside, the clause is problematic as what it is the apostle meant to convey. Thus, the clause has generated several interpretations or several approaches of how to deal with the clause.
Generally, there are two approaches that scholars have adopted in dealing with this difficult clause All other sins a man commits are outside his body. A first approach is to take the clause as a slogan from the Corinthians that the apostle quotes as in 1 Corinthians 6:12-13. This mean that the apostle says that the Corinthians would assert “The body has nothing to do with sin” as suggested by a commentator which the apostle corrected in the next clause of 1 Corinthians 6:18 but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Those with this approach have justified it using various arguments. However, as some have noted, there are draw backs to this approach as some have noted. First, it is abrupt for the apostle to follow the prohibition he gave in the first part of the verse with such a quotation. Second, there are no immediate internal indicators that suggest such an approach. Third, the phrase his own body does not seem to be an adequate response to a slogan that emphasizes that the body is not involved in all sins. A second approach is to take the clause as words of the apostle and then to try to interpret what he meant to convey. It is this second approach that I believe to be appropriate because of the drawbacks of the first approach. Therefore, our task is to understand what the apostle meant in the clause. To do this, we need to examine the Greek words used in the translation of the clause.
The first word we will consider is the word “all” that is translated from a Greek adjective (pas) often with the meaning “all” as it is used to describe the extent of the darkness that descended in Israel when Jesus Christ died on the cross, as narrated in Matthew 27:45:
From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land.
However, the word has range of meanings. The word may mean “always” as in Matthew 28:20:
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
The word “always” is literally all the days. It is in this sense of “always” that the word is used in Peter’s quotation during his sermon on the day of Pentecost stated in Acts 2:25:
David said about him: “‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
The word “always” is literally through everything. The word may mean “great” as in Acts 4:29
Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.
The phrase great boldness is literally all boldness. The word may mean “whole” as it is used to describe the groaning of creation because of man’s fall into sin as stated in Romans 8:22:
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
The word may mean “every kind of” or “all sorts of” as it is used to describe the sinfulness of those who have rejected God in Romans 1:29:
They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,
It is in this sense of “every kind of” that the word is used in 2 Corinthians 7:1:
Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.
The word everything is better understood to mean “every kind of.” The Greek adjective may mean “every,” emphasizing the individual members of the class denoted by the noun that the word qualifies as in Galatians 5:3:
Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.
The word may mean “any” as in the instruction regarding the type of communication or speech not expected of believers in Ephesians 4:29:
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
The word may mean “full” as in 1 Timothy 1:15:
Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.
The word may mean “no” as it is used by the human author of Hebrews as he described God’s discipline of His children, as we read in Hebrews 12:11:
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
The phrase No discipline is literally all discipline. So, we see that the Greek adjective we have considered has a range of meaning. It is the meaning “every kind of” that it is used in our passage of 1 Corinthians 6:18. The meaning “every kind of” as we have indicated being an adjective is associated with the next word “sin” in the clause All other sins a man commits are outside his body that we are considering. This meaning of “every kind of” is joined with the conjunction “but” that begins the last clause of 1 Corinthians 6:18 but he who sins sexually sins against his own body to lead to translating the Greek word we are considering as “every other sin” or “all the other sins” of the NIV.
The word “sins” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (hamartēma) that means “sin” as it is used in Romans 3:25:
God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—
It is related to a Greek verb (hamartanō) used in the same verse of 1 Corinthians 6:18 that may mean “to sin” as the word is used in the instruction of the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul regarding anger in Ephesians 4:26:
“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,
The word may mean “to do wrong” as it is used in 1 Peter 2:20:
But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.
The sense of the Greek word used in 1 Corinthians 6:18 is “sin” as an act or feeling that transgresses something forbidden or ignores something required by God’s law or character; whether in thought, feeling, speech, or action.
Sin as an act or feeling that transgresses something forbidden or ignores something required by God’s law or character; whether in thought, feeling, speech, or action is used in connection with a human being as in the clause All other sins a man commits are outside his body we are considering. The word “man” is translated from a Greek word (anthrōpos) that may mean “a human being” without regard to gender, as Apostle Paul used it to indicate that he and his apostolic team did their best to commend themselves to the conscience of every human being or person specifically in Corinth, as recorded in 2 Corinthians 4:2:
Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
The word may mean a male person, that is, “a man” as Apostle Paul used it in his recommendation regarding marriage or sex in 1 Corinthians 7:1:
Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry.
The word may mean “a person, someone” although some English versions used the word “man” in their translation as Apostle Paul used it in referencing justification by faith in Galatians 2:16:
know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.
Justification is for both men and women so that the phrase a man is to be understood as “a person,” hence the NRSV simply used the phrase a person. The word in some contexts is used in idioms with several meanings. For example, it may mean “self” when it is used with a Greek adjective (palaios) that means “old” in describing a pattern of behavior as Apostle Paul used it to instruct believers to behave differently than they did as unbelievers in Ephesians 4:24:
and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
The phrase your new self is literally the new man. Likewise, it may be used to describe the inner being of a person so may mean “being” as the apostle used it in Ephesians 3:16:
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
The phrase inner being is literally inner man. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 6:18, the Greek word is used in the sense of a human being, that is, a person.
The person or human being the apostle had in mind is involved in an activity as in the clause All other sins a man commits are outside his body we are considering. The person’s activity regarding sin is described with the word “commits” that is translated from a Greek word (poieō) that may mean “to bear” of fruit of a tree as in Jesus’ declaration in His Sermon on the Mount as recorded in Matthew 7:17:
Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
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 treat” as it is used to describe the complaint of Jesus’ parents when He went to the temple without their knowledge of His whereabouts, assuming He was on the way to their home town only to find out that was not the case, as narrated in Luke 2:48:
When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”
The word may mean “to produce” as in the instruction of John the Baptist to those who received his baptism of repentance to reflect their repentance in their lifestyle in Luke 3:8:
Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
It may mean “to gain” as it is used in Jesus’ instruction regarding the use of material wealth in Luke 16:9:
I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
The word may mean “to make” as in it is used to provide a reason the Jews wanted to kill Jesus for stating His true relationship with God the Father as we read in John 5:18:
For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
The word may mean “to perform” miracle as it is used in narrating the response of the Jewish religious authorities regarding the fact that many people believed in Christ after He raised Lazarus from the dead, according to John 11:47:
Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. “What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many miraculous signs.
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 make,” as in describing divine activity of creation in Acts 17:24:
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.
The word may mean “to do” as it is used in the instruction of how a believer should avoid the punishment of those in authority in Romans 13:3:
For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you.
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.
The word may mean “to commit, be guilty” in relation to sin as the word is used in Peter’s description of Jesus as He suffered death for our sins in 1 Peter 2:22:
“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.”
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 6:18, the word is used in the sense of “to commit.”
The sin that a person may commit is described further in the verbal phrase in the NIV are outside his body. There are two words we should consider in the verbal phrase. The word “outside” is translated from a Greek word (ektos) may mean “outside” in the sense of the outside surface of something as in the case of dish that Jesus referenced in denouncing the Pharisees for hypocrisy in Matthew 23:26:
Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
The word may mean “outside” in the sense of a position not contained within a specific area as it is used of Apostle’s Paul out of body experience, he described in third person in 2 Corinthians 12:2:
I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows.
The word may mean “except” or “unless” as it is used to provide guidance to Timothy and so all pastors regarding proper response to accusation against an elder in 1 Timothy 5:19:
Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 6:18, the word means “outside” in the sense of a position not contained within a specific area. There is one more word “are” in the clause that we need to consider before we interpret what the apostle meant in the clause All other sins a man commits are outside his body but we are out of time so we will consider the interpretation in our next study. However, let me end by reminding you that we are given a very strong command to avoid sexual immorality. In expounding the command of 1 Corinthians 6:18 Flee from sexual immorality, we stated a guideline that should be of practical value in obeying this command. The guideline we stated is that it is wise to avoid being alone with a member of the opposite sex for an extended period of time, especially if there is a romantic feeling for such an individual. This guideline if followed will help in obeying the command Flee from sexual immorality.
12/13/19