Bible Reading:
1 Corinthians 6:12-20
12All 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.
13Meats 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.
14And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.
15Know 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.
16What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
17But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
18Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
19What? 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?
20For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
Devotional:
There was a day when sex outside marriage was considered the grossest of sins. It was in a place by itself, the only sin for which a young woman was singled out with a scarlet 'A' which she would have to wear embroidered on her clothing until the day of her death! What has happened today? Have we come to gloss over sexual sins? Or have we come to understand that these sins are not alone to be considered gross, but that hate and envy and materialism are gross, too? At any rate, we can more readily accept the person who lapses into sexual sin but who truly repents, than could our New England forebears. Jesus by His example teaches we must accept such an one.
However, let us not lose sight of the force of verse 18. Very clearly it states that sexual sins are sins against our own bodies. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. We do not own them. They were made by God and they have been bought back by God at the price of the death of His own Son. The fact that we recognize the gravity of other sins does not mean that we can minimize in our thinking the gravity of this particular kind of sin.
We sin against our bodies in ways other than by illicit sex. Neglect of health can be sin, whether by failure to get medical care, or by failure to get sufficient rest or a proper diet or sufficient exercise. The use of tobacco, alcohol, or drugs which weakens the body or our control of it, surely does not honor our Creator. In many ways we sin against our bodies.
Who is not guilty of disrespect to the temple of the Holy Spirit? What a gracious God we have who does forgive all the sins of his people, even those against our own bodies, as we come to Him, confessing our sins, in our Saviour's name.
We are happy to have obtained permission to post as our current daily devotional Heirs Together of Life: Daily Bible Reading for Husbands and Wives, published by The Banner of Truth Trust. Don't be misled by the subtitle. As the book's "Preface" indicates (see below), although Heirs Together of Life is "especially prepared for couples,"the authors declare, "Since the basis for this guide is God's Word, we believe it would have value for any reader."
Charles and Norma Ellis are husband and wife and the authors not only of Heirs Together of Life (which was first published in 1980 and continues in print today), but also of Wells of Salvation (first published in 1985, and likewise still in print today). The latter contains a series of short studies covering the entire book of Isaiah, while the former contains a series of almost 200 short studies covering the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. Both books by the Ellises can be ordered from the publisher, The Banner of Truth Trust. We trust that these daily Bible readings, posted daily on our site, will be helpful to you in your Christian walk before God. Whether married or not, all of us are members of families and members of the family of God.
Charles Ellis was educated at Wheaton College and Westminster Theological Seminary. Upon graduation from Westminster (where he earned not only a Th.B. but also a Th.M.), he was ordained to the ministry in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and pastored a number of OPC churches, including Immanuel OPC in West Collingswood, New Jersey; First OPC in Cincinnati, Ohio; Covenant OPC in East Orange, New Jersey; Knox OPC in Silver Spring, Maryland; and Lakeview OPC in Rockport, Maine. Less biographical information is available about his wife, but it is known that they served as parents of seven children. After retiring from the ministry, Charles Ellis went to be with the Lord in 2003, but he and his wife left us with a beautiful legacy in the two books they have given to the world, and we are proud to share the daily Bible readings from Heirs Together of Life here with you.
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