New Thoughts (07/22/17-07/29/17)
Union with the Church (07/23/17)
The crux of Paul’s argument in this section is that we are united with Christ. We are individually united with Christ, and because we are, we are also communally united with Christ and with each other. There is a reason we are called a congregation. There is a reason we celebrate the Lord’s Supper in communion one with another. These are not individual acts, but family gatherings. They have been made possible by His work on the cross. He is our Redeemer, Who paid our ransom.
Now, it may be that having understood this much, we have not yet understood to whom that ransom was paid. You may have it in mind that since we were slaves to sin, and therefore slaves of the devil, that it was to the devil this ransom was paid. After all, you pay the captor to release the captive, right? In this case, wrong. No, God is not about to cast shade on His own glory by paying so much as a cent to another. He is not subject to extortion. The price of Christ’s blood is to dear by far to have it involved in such an ugly transaction.
Rather, Christ’s blood, the ransom paid for your life, is, as the JFB reminds, “strictly a ransom paid to God’s justice.” That is to say, God has in effect ransomed us from Himself. He has ransomed us from the due penalty His perfect and holy Law required in order that we might be declared righteous in perfect Justice and Mercy. He has paid Himself. He has accomplished the unimaginable. He has moved us from the enemy column to the family column, in spite of our utter incompatibility, in spite of our entire lack of means to satisfy the court, and in such a way as leaves His essential character intact. That last, of course, must be the case, else He is no god. The same, it must be said, applies in regard to the earlier theory of ransom. Had He paid another, that other is thereby declared the greater, and God is shown subservient to that other. We cannot have that.
But, what have we been redeemed into? We have been redeemed, as I said, into inclusion in the very family of God, becoming His adopted children. But, it goes beyond this. We have been redeemed into the state of being indwelt by God! This is something I will explore more thoroughly later in the study, but for the moment, get this: God redeemed you because He desires to dwell in you! This was not some act that God undertook with a mindset of, “Oh well, if I must I must.” No! He chose you! He wanted you! And, what God wants, He gets. Make no mistake. What was said of Jerusalem applies to you, who have been made part of the New Jerusalem. “This is My resting place forever. Here I will dwell, for I have desired it” (Ps 132:14). This is you, dear Christian! The resting place of God Himself, which He has desired.
This must necessarily put us in mind of certain implications, not the least being a keen awareness that God cannot make His abode in that which is profane. Here is another cause to marvel. He cannot dwell amidst evil, and yet He has taken up His abode in me. How often have I had to stop in wonder, asking, “How can this be?” It is a marvel. It is the most complete proof one could ask for in regards to the work of Christ. Had His price not been accepted and set to my account, it is impossible that I should find myself thus accounted God’s home.
There is a corollary. If I am God’s home, and that by so marvelous a means, I ought not dare to allow that home to be defiled. This is very much Paul’s point here. It is a point made elsewhere as well. Consider the price paid for your inclusion in this family. “You were not redeemed with perishable silver and gold from the futile way of life you inherited from your forebears, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ” (1Pe 1:18-19). Consider, just for a moment, what that price says of God’s interest in you. Again, that’s a thought I want to explore more later, but let it sink in now. He paid that much to make you His home!
What are we to do with this? Let me suggest Paul’s words to Ephesus. “No one ever hated his own flesh. Rather, he nourishes it and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body” (Eph 5:29-30). Now, these words are written to describe how husband should cherish wife, and also to explain just how important a model marriage is when it comes to spiritual matters. There’s a reason, to keep with the topic of this passage, why sexual sins seem to top the list whenever God considers the matter. Marriage was designed and instituted to demonstrate in physical parable just how closely united God desires to be with His children. It serves as the visual model of just how intimately Jesus is involved with His bride, the Church.
Let me hammer this home, if I can, because we are in an age where the bride herself doesn’t much care for the Church. She thinks perhaps this intimacy is a more exclusive business, to be maintained in singular isolation. But, this is not so. Does each individual in his or her way represent a church? Yes, but only in a way. The Church is bigger than you or me. Christ’s love is more expansive. His purpose is more expansive. The Church, with all its current warts and wrinkles, is His. He paid for it. He loves it. He will care for it, both on the large, communal scale and on the miniscule, individual scale. The individual, though, who supposes they have heard from God that they ought to isolate themselves from His family in the Church has not found a better Church and has not heard from God. The only reason that could exist for such a call to have come from on high is that the particular congregation in which you have been sitting is not part of God’s family at all. If that’s the case, one has to ask what you were doing there in the first place, and why you remained for so long? If it is to be supposed that you heard God in this part, what was wrong with you last week or last year? Is He so poor a god that He can’t get through to you? Are you so thick?
I find it far more likely that the voice in your head telling you to leave the Church family (even if it offers a substitute of some form for that family part) is not God at all, but rather the enemy of God. If that’s too offensive, we can write it off to your own fickle imaginations. I’m not sure that’s any better. Simple test here: Is God really likely to offer you private counsel that contradicts the Word in which His revealed will has been recorded and preserved for long centuries? God can no more contradict Himself than He can abide in a profaned temple. Be very careful! These attempts to remain pure by avoiding His house are more likely to profane your temple than to preserve it.
Implications of our Union (07/24/17-07/25/17)
It may be a strange argument to make, but I suggest that without the institution of marriage we could not have a concept of harlotry. That institution, first established between Adam and Eve, has continued through the ages because it is something God has ordained. His decrees are not without reason. Marriage is set forth, as Paul says, as a great mystery. For all that the Gnostics and the mystery religions of his day liked to speak of their great mysteries, none, it could be argued came close to this one: God has set forth the marriage of a man and a woman to demonstrate the relationship that Christ has with His Church. That is stunning in itself. That is the great mystery that Paul has in view in Ephesians 5:32. But, it goes farther still. Marriage is set out as the earthly model of the very essence of the nature of the Godhead. It is the nearest we arrive to the relational bond that persists between the Persons of the Trinity.
This is why sexual sins rank so high in God’s view. You are doing harm to the institution of marriage which He ordained as a visible parable of His relationship both with Himself and with His Church. This is why marriage becomes emblematic of His relationship with His Church. He is the Bridegroom to our bride. Here is exactly the point Paul is driving home in this passage. The marriage relationship gives us an approximation of the union we have with Christ, if indeed we are His. If we are truly a part of His Church, we are truly a part of Him. God has truly taken up His abode in us – individually and perpetually. It’s not something that can only be said when two or more are gathered. There is, to be sure, something special that transpires when Christians are gathered together as one, but it’s not as though God departs the temple of your body when you depart the meeting of the gathered church. That is a truth essential to Paul’s point.
But, here, he is presenting a striking comparison to the deepest, closest union we can know – that of husband and wife. He points us back to the institution of marriage. “The two will become one flesh.” As one of the commentaries pointed out, this was particularly the case with Adam and Eve. Eve had been taken from Adam’s body in her creation. Now, through the institution of marriage, the two were restored to being one body, but with this new, most marvelous facet of relationship. Man, however introverted, cannot have relationship and fellowship with himself. To have fellowship requires a fellow to ship with. To have communion, one must necessarily have another with whom to establish union. A union of one is not a union. So, in the marriage of Adam and Eve, we see the first communion, as it were. We see what is both one and two simultaneously, as God is one and three simultaneously. The values may apply differently, but they apply at one and the same time. God is one in essence, three in person. The married couple is one in that all they are and all they have, they are and have together as one. Yet, they are two person, with unique personalities and unique responsibilities to the one.
There is this, as well. In the godhead, there can be no introduction of a fourth, nor a removal of any of the three. In marriage, there ought not to be the introduction of a third, nor a removal of either of the two. This is why divorce is such a serious matter as well as harlotries. Harlotries seek to add to the number, and divorce must necessarily subtract. Neither is acceptable. You are in bodily union with your spouse. You are not to be in bodily union with any other, and you cannot pursue sexual intercourse without that bodily union. Science bears this out. The acts involved develop chemical bonds between the participants. Pheromones are but the least of these. Dependencies develop, as with drugs or alcohol, except that in this case, within the bond of matrimony, it is not only acceptable, but intentional. There is a bond in marriage. There is supposed to be. That bond is stronger than just ‘for the kids’. It’s stronger than mere convenience. It’s stronger than any other relationship we shall know here. Thus, when God makes that statement regarding what has transpired with Adam and Eve, He notes that this bond supersedes even that of parent and child, which would be the nearest equivalent.
I’m watching several parents exploring this very juncture in their lives, and seeing how mothers and daughters in particular respond is rather interesting. It seems, from this sampling, that daughter may leave mother to cleave to husband, but mother intends to remain in near orbit. I can look to my brother and sister-in-law, contemplating a move halfway cross country because my niece is there, to be married next month, and clearly putting down roots. Never mind that by their own admission they live in perhaps the most beautiful corner of the country, and contemplate moving to a place that is at the very least questionable. The bond of maternity is perhaps proving impervious to the scissors.
I can look to my brother elder, whose children have all gone south. He has every expectation of joining them. To what degree is this momma’s need to be near children and grandchildren? It’s slightly harder to say in this case, as other events also drive the decision to relocate, but nearness to their children ranks pretty highly. There are other examples I could bring to bear as well, but that’s sufficient, I think. I’m not sure what it says of us parental sorts that we are so resistant to seeing God’s Word fulfilled in regard to this particular point. I’m not sure how far it ought to be pressed, either.
Let us return to the topic under discussion in this passage. You have this one-flesh relationship of marriage, familiar to most from experience. This, for one, is threatened by harlotries, even if, as in the culture of Corinth, such considerations are not commonly understood. But, now comes the kicker: Your union with Christ is closer! You are not merely entered into a one flesh relationship with Him, although even that should suffice to give you pause. Stop and think about it! You are in a one-flesh relationship with God! What was the likelihood of that? For all that Greek mythology enjoyed its tales of such unions, it was never the same, was it? It was a capricious act of a capricious pseudo-god, and for the human involved, one could expect nothing good was going to come of it. But, look: This is further. You are one spirit with Christ. The union runs deeper.
You may be familiar with the old jazz standard, “Body and Soul.” The chorus runs, “I’m all for you, body and soul.” This, with a much reduced sentimentality, is exactly what Paul is saying should be our mindset toward God in Christ. Despite the song’s sentiment, it cannot be true of the marriage bond. I’m sorry. It can’t, and it shouldn’t be. You are not called to be one spirit with your spouse, and couldn’t be if you tried. But, with Christ? Oh, yes. You not only can be. You can’t not be. Look at your situation, Christian – for that matter, look at your situation, non-Christian. God made you. He made you body and spirit. He is your Creator, whether you acknowledge Him such or not. Your acknowledgement, contrary to popular perspectives, does not determine Truth. Truth stands. He did. Already, then, He has legitimate claim upon you, just as you have legitimate claim upon the product of your effort and imagination. You made it. You own it. You may do with it and dispose of it as you please. The same holds on this higher issue. God made you. God owns you. He may do with you and dispose of you as He pleases. Deal with it.
But, for the Christian we can add another layer, as Matthew henry brings forth. God not only made you body and spirit. He bought you body and spirit. The price paid for your redemption from sin’s guilt covered both. That being the case, both by manufacture and by sale, you are His. You are not your own. You are entered into a union of souls, as Barnes describes it, a union that far outstrips that of mere bodily union. There is a corner of the church that feels the need to deliver believers from soul ties to this person or that. I don’t put a great deal of stock in that because in the first place I don’t think such ties are within the capabilities of humans to establish. Demons might perhaps be able to establish such bonds as what we used to call familiars in Dungeons and Dragons. But, I do think such bonds are beyond our scope to establish. We may have affinities. Where sexual sins are involved, we will have chemical dependencies. We may simply have habitual connections. But, soul ties? I think this falls largely under the ‘inflated without cause’ mysticism that Paul had to correct in Colossi (Col 3:18).
Here, concerning our relationship to Christ both individually and in the community of His Church, understand this: You have entered into a union of souls, a union of spirit that far outstrips any merely human relationship you can ever know. You have entered into so close and intimate a union that it would be impossible for that unity to ever be parted. As the Wycliffe commenters make note, this union of spirit is ‘one of the strongest expressions of unity and security in the Word of God’. The Holy Spirit Himself indwells you! God Himself is within your soul. This is not pantheism, mind. It’s not “God’s in everything, man.” It is God has sovereignly decided for His own reasons and His own good pleasure, to take up residence in the temple of your body because He has desired to do so!
There is another piece of this which Paul presents as his closing argument, and that is the price paid for you. At risk of cheapening the thing, consider your redemption in terms of simple commerce. When you go to the store, there is an exchange which takes place. That exchange can only take place if seller and purchaser are agreed on the value of what is to be purchased. The value of a steak is deemed to be greater than the value of ground beef, for example, but far, far less than the value of the vehicle which brought you to the store. The value of the store itself likewise exceeds that of the car, and so on. In general, barring coercive distortions in the transaction, we will pay what we think reasonable, and if the price seems unreasonable, we will seek an alternate means of satisfying our want.
This same, admittedly capitalistic, free market view applies to what has happened in justification. You have been bought with a price. You, quite frankly, had no tool at your disposal by which you might influence that price. You had no means of coercive distortion. Quite frankly, you weren’t even aware of the possibility of purchase until the deed had already been accomplished. All this to say that God, the Purchaser, had exclusive say in determining how much you were worth to Him. There was no one with which to barter except Himself. You were not consulted. And yet, see how high a price God set upon your rescue! He paid in His own blood. He paid in utter humiliation, undergoing the most demeaning, debasing torment known to man, at least at the time. Arguably, it remains so to this day. And, this He paid, as I have already noted, voluntarily, willingly. This He paid for one reason, and one reason only: He delighted to take up His abode in you; in me! Imagine that! God, Who is all-sufficient, perfect in Himself and in need of nothing, desired to see you made a temple fit for His occupation. He saw the price He Himself had set for your release from the demands of His own justice, and said, “Yes. I will gladly pay the price. This is absolutely worth it!”
Far from swelling our heads with God’s high opinion of us, this ought to go far toward humbling us to the uttermost. You looked at me, Lord, and thought me worth anything? You were willing to pay that much to obtain this mess? Wow! Here is an argument against complacency. Here is a strong encouragement to do whatever may be in our power to make that payment truly worth being made. There is, in spite of our corruption, a sense of fairness in us which will not be silenced. I think, as we consider the Great Exchange that has been made in regard to our life that sense of fairness impels us on the course of sanctification. Paul speaks to that elsewhere, entreating us ‘to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called’ (Eph 4:1). And note the manner of walk which is worthy. “With all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph 4:2).
God valued you enough to pay for your life with His own. What value, it must be asked, do you place on God? Has the Lamb of God become to you the pearl of greatest value, worth all you own to obtain (Mt 13:46)? I’m not discussing an emotional response here. The one who would sell all he owned based on no more than an emotional reaction to seeing some pretty bauble is no more than an easy mark for the nearest con artist. No, this is recognition of value. This is, at least in part, the cold calculation of the CPA. How much is your God worth to you? Is it as much as you were worth to Him? I don’t wish to push this overly far, because I would not cheapen my God to a mere financial transaction. There’s enough of that going on with those who would barter for God’s power, or put His grace to use as a tool for personal gain. No. It’s really not about what God can do for you. It’s more a matter of what He’s already done, beyond which it would be – or at least should be – hard to imagine feeling He needs to do more.
All of this, as the section heading suggests, sets us under a certain obligation, doesn’t it? As I said, our innate sense of fairness, particularly as we find it fueled and informed by the Spirit now indwelling, impels us to acknowledge our obligation. He has purchased us. He has died for us. He has loved us to the uttermost (Jn 13:1). He has made you, and He has made you His own. Surely, this must lead us to considerations of, “now, what?” Francis Schaeffer chose a more urbane frame for the question. “How shall we then live?” That’s the great question of the Epistles, and praise be to God, it’s one they take pains to answer.
Let’s start here. Having been thus purchased and indwelt by God, we are indeed obligated. We are obligated, as Barnes points out, to devote ourselves entirely – body, soul, and spirit – to do as Christ directs, and to act in such a way as glorifies His name. Does this mean we go about shouting, “Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!” wherever we go? If that is what He directs, then certainly. If not, then no. Does it mean we are henceforth obliged and empowered to maintain a record of perfect holiness? By no means. We shall never, in this lifetime, excel our need for Christ. He is working in us, and this is our hope. We are, it is to be hoped, working with Him, but we remain as little children in the hands of a skilled master artisan. We are as likely – more likely, really – to get in the way of what He is doing than we are to be of any great help. But, we are permitted to help anyway. We are blessed with the opportunity to be a part of what He is doing in and through us. We get to work out our sanctification. Yes, it’s a matter for reverent fear, and trembling at the great distance we have yet to go. But, it’s a matter for confidence, knowing that He is Himself willing and working in us so that we may willingly work together with Him (Php 2:12-13). You knew that passage had to be coming, right? It’s as much as a requirement for me.
So, yes, we are obliged to devote ourselves. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength” (Mk 12:30). That covers it. Body, soul, and spirit, devoted to God, determined to do as Christ directs, knowing that we are designed for exactly this end. We find the case laid out for us here, as to what these obligations entail. The Wycliffe Commentary suggests both positive and negative obligations are to be observed. Here is the positive: You are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God Himself. Let His indwelling presence show. How shall we do this? Well, arguably by letting Him work, but we look for evidence of that work in the growth of the fruit that springs from His presence.
I want to stress, but not overly much at this juncture, that it is the fruit of the Spirit that demonstrates His indwelling presence, not the gifts. Gifts can be counterfeited, and are. Fruit cannot be faked. Oh, we can perhaps put up our mask of piety for a few hours now and again, but we’re talking fruit. We’re talking character traits. We’re talking the behaviors that transpire when we are not on guard. Do these reflect His fruit? Are things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control the sorts of things that are likely to be considered your nature (Gal 5:22-23)? Is this what you are known for at home? In the workplace? I know. I don’t particularly want to answer the question, either. The best I can manage, I think, is, “Sometimes.” But, I can say there is progress. Compared to, say, twenty years ago, the change is rather significant. At the same time, I cannot keep count of my failings even over the course of the day, let alone for lengthier periods. But, there is evidence that He is at work in that I am not as I once was, not entirely.
That turns us to the more negative obligation that has been set upon us in our purchase. The blood of Christ, paid out for our redemption, demands that every defilement should be eliminated from our lives. The fact – let me stress: FACT – that we are, by God’s determination and desire, the temple of the Holy Spirit, which is to say, the temple of God, demands that we remain holy and undefiled. God cannot abide sin. God cannot peacefully coexist with sin. This is part and parcel of Paul’s argument, as well. How could you suppose to join God with a harlot, and this you must do if you join yourself, and yet account yourself a Christian. Here’s some good news for you: You can’t do it. You cannot coerce Christ into joining you in your sin. You cannot corrupt the Holy Spirit with your corruptions. You can, it must be supposed, convince Him to vacate the premises, at least until such time as it can be fumigated and restored to order. I think the case far more likely that if this is your choice, the Holy Spirit is not now, and never has been in residence. There’s not temple cleaning necessary because there’s no temple.
But, I think I am perhaps too sharp a critic at that point. Paul does not lay the one who has done this beyond claim to redemption. He is writing to the redeemed. Your bodies are members of Christ (v15). That’s not put in doubt. It’s not, “Your actions declare you reprobate and beyond hope of redemption.” It’s, “Don’t you know who you are? Don’t you know Whose you are? Repent!” That is not a call of any use to the unredeemed sinner. He will not repent because he cannot. But, you, dear brother, dear sister, are a different story. Your sins may be grievous indeed, and yet there is hope in that call. Repent! You have been purchased at great price. Walk worthy.
It’s funny. There’s a book title that appears in my studies almost as often as those verses from Philippians. It’s a book written by a missionary who labored in China for a season, and it is titled, “You Have No Rights.” I have long said that this reflects the state of every Christian, and continue to maintain that this is so. Preparing for this study, I find Adam Clarke agreeing. “You have no right over yourselves.” Welcome to Church. Welcome to service. If you come to service, perhaps it would be well if you recognized you have not come as the one to be served, but to serve the One who is your Master. If you are the servant, then by very definition, you have no rights. No, servant is too soft a word. That suggests work for pay in our day and age, and that’s not the situation. You are a bond slave of Christ, just as His apostles gladly declared themselves to be. They had no illusions about this being a title that instilled awe in those who heard it. Rather it instilled utmost humility – do you notice how that word keeps coming back?
They spoke of themselves as bond slaves because of one thing only: They were willingly in this relationship of utter servility. They were thoroughly devoted to the work of the kingdom. We are called to that same degree of devotion. We, too, are slaves of Christ, bought at great price to be His exclusive property over which He has absolute right of command and disposition. But, we are pretty lousy as slaves go. We are willful, disrespectful, and entirely inclined to go our own way the moment we think He might not be looking. But, this is not as it should be. The call of Christ leads us to not just know His word, but to obey His word. If we do not allow His word, the revealed will of God recorded for our benefit in the Scriptures, to ‘regulate even the outward actions of our life’, as Calvin points out, then, “We do not devote ourselves wholly and entirely to His service.” As His slaves, we cannot rightly do any less.
This is not a call to go sit in a quiet corner until you hear some random whispered direction in the ears of your mind. This is a call to live according to the manner He has prescribed. This is a call to take action on the clear mandates of biblical Christianity. This is a call to not just agree that He is God, but live like it. This, dear Christian, is what you are designed for. You are designed for spiritual union with Christ. You are designed to be wholly His, and holily His. As you grow in faith and understanding of His claim upon you, you are expected to arrive where Paul arrived long before you: “It is no longer I that liveth, but Christ who liveth in me” (Gal 2:20). I don’t know about you, but I’m still a great distance from that point. I’m still a great distance, sad to say, from even properly desiring to be at that point. But, I know it’s where I’m heading, where we’re heading, who have been bought at so great a price.
The authors of the JFB commentary record this thought. “If we accept Him as our Prophet to reveal God to us, and our Priest to atone for us, we must also accept Him as our King to rule over us as wholly His.” It’s funny, if not in a humorous way, how much more difficult that last step is. Oh, we’re ready for the Prophet. We thrill at the idea of being privy to God’s thoughts. We may not be so thrilled at what we here, but the privilege! Aren’t we something? God talks to us! Yes, well, so He does, but our pride has a bad habit of making it so much vanity and wind in our ears. We’re more than ready for a Priest. My, yes! How greatly we sense our need for somebody to offer up sacrifices on our behalf, and appease God Who has every reason to be inconsolably angry with us! Please, Jesus! By all means do what You must to turn His anger aside from us! But, don’t you see? If He does what He must (and He does, and He will), then He must also be King over us. He must rule over us, and all the more given that we are so incapable of ruling ourselves. If He does not govern, we are ungoverned entirely, and unfit as temple or any other use. And yet, He has been pleased to make us His temple. This shall be our next consideration.
The Temple Analogy (07/26/17-07/27/17)
Don’t you know you are God’s temple? This, as I have said, insists they surely ought to know. It also provides a particularly strong reason to forego sin, and particularly one that pollutes the inner man which is that temple. To this, Paul immediately adds the matter we have already discussed. You were purchased, and that at great price. You are not your own. You are under obligation. The sum of this, as the Wycliffe Commentary points out, is that, “The Spirit occupies that which God has obtained by purchase.” Thus, by purchase and by occupancy God demonstrates His ownership over you.
Here, we want to focus on the temple aspect. It doesn’t take that much imagination to draw the parallels. Here is the outer court, here the Holy Place. Where, after all, does the Spirit reside in us, if not in our own spirit, that immaterial organ particularly designed as a receptor for His presence? The body, then is the court. But, what we might miss is how this matter of sexual purity applies. The JFB is helpful in this regard. “Chastity is the guardian of the temple, to prevent anything unclean entering which might provoke the indwelling God to abandon it as defiled.”
Now, let me assert that I remain entirely convinced that the saints, those called by God, shall ultimately be found to have persevered in faith, and come safely to the end of their days. That does not, however, assure a smooth course. That does not assure that we may, at some points along the way, have allowed sin to regain the upper hand in our lives and to have so polluted the temple that God, Who cannot make a truce with sin, will instead depart that temple for a season. Such a one is not beyond hope, for the Word of God remains True. But, he is a hopeless case while this situation persists. How can a child of God be happy if his actions have caused God to turn away from him in any degree? He cannot. He can, perhaps delude himself, or dope himself into such a state as will take no notice of the pain, but the pain is there. It is there for cause. It is there to bring him back to his senses, like the prodigal son in his pigsty, in order that he might repent and return to the loving arms of his Father.
Understand, then, that as serious as this warning is, and as seriously as it must be taken, this fact remains. You have been joined. “The one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.” We need to consider this carefully. From the outset, I would have to say that the English does a poor job of conveying the Greek intent. For one, ‘joins’ is passive. It is not, then, the one who joins himself, but the one who has been joined. It is a present tense verb, so that ‘has been’ is a bit misleading as well. We might come nearer with, “He who is joined”, but we again lose the passive sense with that. While we have a participle here, it does seem there must be a bit of the subjective to it. There’s an implied if, isn’t there? If you are in the state of being joined to the Lord, then you are also in the state of being one spirit with Him.
The more significant point, if I allow the subjective to be assumed as indicative, is this: You have been glued. That’s the terminology here. Others prefer cemented. Both do nicely, but I get that glued image, and I think of Gorilla Glue ™, which bonds things together so strongly that the original material is more likely to give way than is the glue. Nothing, dear believer, is ever going to separate these two pieces again! Nothing. Paul reminds us of this very point as he closes out Romans 8. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” (Ro 8:35). “I am convinced that not even death, life, angel, or principality can. I am convinced that nothing present now nor anything to come, no power, no created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ro 8:38-39). You are bonded that tightly to your Lord and Savior. The price paid for you has set you in this one-flesh, one-spirit relationship which nothing in all of God’s creation and nothing in all of God’s heaven can dissolve. Divorce may be just barely considerable in regard to mortal marriage. In this relationship, though, it is not remotely possible. You are His. He does not repent. He does not fail of His purposes. He is not to be gainsaid as to His desires, and His desire has been to make you His temple, His dwelling place, His bride.
This is your individual condition. You have become of one essence, one nature, with Christ. The particulars of ‘one’ in this case insist this is true. This is not, to be perfectly clear, a perfect ‘oneness’ as yet. You are not Christ’s equal. The fullness of the godhead does not take bodily form in you as it does in Him. But, there will come that day in glory when we see Him as He truly is, in His fullness, and we find that we have been made physically and spiritually like Him. Every last pollution of sin has been removed. Every remaining inclination toward temptation has been removed. Every weakness of mortality has been removed. Every distraction from what is good and holy and righteous and true has been removed, and our joy has, at long last, been made complete. I can only hope and pray that every last regret for our own benighted misunderstanding of His Truth during the course of life will likewise have been removed. How bittersweet this completion of joy if it must ever remind us of what idiots we used to be.
Now, if you are this closely united with Christ, if you have been dedicated as a temple to His perfect and pure glory, this is true at all times, is it not? The temple doesn’t act as sanctuary on Sunday and become a playground come Monday. Just because the lights have been shut off doesn’t alter the purpose of the edifice. As with the building, so with the person. God is necessarily with you in whatever it is you choose to do. This is the horror that Paul expresses as he considers this issue of fornication. On one level, yes, as He cannot abide sin, He must depart if you insist on this course, and no other possibility should bring us to such a state of horror as that. Except it be this: What if He didn’t? If you bear God Himself in the temple of your body, and have now joined said body to a harlot, and God has not already fled your miserable carcass with cries of “Ichabod!”, then you have managed to do what the full weight of Rome and Jerusalem combined had failed to do: You have caused your Savior to sin. You have, by this momentary indulgence of the flesh, brought sin into God. You have, then, effectively removed your last hope, haven’t you? His sacrifice, that purchase price He paid for your redemption, required His perfect purity, which you have now brought to an end. What now? Thanks be to God that it is not in your power to render Him a party to your sin! But, how awful that you could contemplate something that threatened to do just that.
Since, it is to be hoped, the majority of those who would account themselves saved would no longer consider such an action (it is to be hoped, but fallen nature insists we retain a certain realism), this particular sin may not seem much of a threat. We are wrong to think this is so, but so be it. Consider what we might construe as lesser sins. The same statements apply. You cannot sin except either a) God must temporarily vacate the premises that are His by right, which must compound your sin or, b) God is made party to your sin, which removes the last, thin thread of hope remaining to your immortal soul, and hell is made the only option.
How seriously ought we to consider our actions if this is the case? How seriously ought we to guard our tongues and our thoughts against straying from His commandments? What is to become of me, for I must face the morning traffic all too soon, which in itself is enough to bring on a crisis of character. I must enter the workplace, with all its tensions and cultural intrigues. I shall be exposed to temptations on every side, and all too inclined to entertain thoughts in keeping with the temptations. “Woe is me, for I sojourn in Meshech, for I dwell among the tents of Kedar” (Ps 120:5)! Woe is me, for I find it more enjoyable than I ought.
How much I need to keep this thought firmly in mind! You, Mr. Wilcox, are a walking, talking temple of the only, most holy God. You bear God with you wherever you go, whatever you do. You speak as His emissary whatever it is you say. All of this remains true no matter how the fact of His presence has managed to escape your mind. You are indwelt by God. That is no guarantee that you will remain mindful of His presence, but it sure ought to do so! You are His by right and by price. Act accordingly.
[07/27/17] It is a most marvelous thing to be the temple of God; indwelt by God. Yet, to be indwelt by God is not to possess Him. It is not the temple’s place to instruct God as to what He ought to do. He is not yours to command. Nor, I should add, are the angels. They serve Him, and move at His command. In truth, we ought to do likewise. Understand this, for it is so much more wonderful than any supposed power to control God or God’s armies. God possesses you. This is the much more incredible truth. He possesses you by right of creation, by right of purchase, and by right of occupation. He has the say over His temple. It is His. You are His. What is His instruction to you, O temple? He requires that you demonstrate His worth.
Consider the descriptions we have of the tabernacle Moses had made. Consider the descriptions of the temple Solomon caused to be constructed, or even the second temple. Consider the detail given of Ezekiel’s future temple. The point, in every one of these structures, was to demonstrate the worth of God. It was something much more than providing Him with housing while He was down here with us. He has no need of such, nor could He be contained by such. It was not to house God or to keep Him near. It was to demonstrate His worth. This has not changed. You, dear believer, are designed to demonstrate His worth. How do we do this? The clearest, most endearing and enduring way in which we can demonstrate His immeasurable worth is by our own willing submission to His rule. We cannot demonstrate submission to His rule if we are busy telling Him how to do His job. We cannot demonstrate submission to His rule if we are going off after every new (or at least ostensibly new) theory of Christian practice that comes along. We assuredly do not demonstrate submission to His rule by usurping His exclusive authority as to the disposition of His angelic servants.
There is one other mistake that seems to be made with increasing regularity. It seems that as we recognize ourselves as God’s temple, we conclude that we can fly solo, as it were. If I am the temple in myself, what need have I for the church? But, understand this: The body which is a member of Christ is a collective unit. It is not just you and God. He has not designed His church thus. That is so painfully clear, even from this epistle, that it stuns me to see so many supposing they can dispense with ‘organized religion’. The Internet age seems to be exacerbating this problem, which shouldn’t surprise, really. Society has concluded that community no longer requires proximity. If I can hop onto whatever form of social media and connect with folks around the world, community just went global, right? Wrong.
Social media is more properly anti-social. There is nothing familial about chatting with strangers across the globe from you. I’m not suggesting that communication is impossible, for clearly it is. I’m not even suggesting there can’t be an earnest and honest exchange of ideas, for clearly there can be. It holds in the workplace, where many of us, at least in my field, are able to work from home, and these very technologies make it more fruitful, more productive. Just because I’m here and you’re there doesn’t mean we can’t talk, can’t exchange necessary data. Of course we can. There is, however, something very different about it. It is not the same as wandering over to your coworker’s cube and discussing the matter, particularly where corporate culture has not clued into things like switching to audio instead of typing. On the other hand, in a total aside, there are times when typing is better, as it avoids some of the language difficulties.
We can look at the youth of today, and to a growing degree the older generations as well, and see what is happening. We’re all communicating all the time. The odd thing is that we are not communicating with those who are with us. We are too busy with our e-friends. We seem barely to recognize a distinction. There are points, it seems, where we become more impressed by the number of contacts we have, whether it’s Facebook friends, folks on LinkedIn, or followers on Twitter. Do we even know half these people? Not really, no. We’ve maybe met them once. Even that becomes unlikely. We’ve chatted with them on some Google app, but they’re across the ocean, somewhere. We will never actually meet them. But, it’s so intriguing, so enticing! Look how I can interact with these far-flung fellow believers! Why, it’s a marvel. God must be so pleased. Why? Because we have redefined Church to suit our golden age?
Who are we to define the church? It’s His. He says He has knit us together, set us in our particular place in His body to serve alongside our brothers and sisters. He has called upon us to care for one another. He has called us to be involved in each other’s lives, aware of not only the trials and victories, but intimately involved. We may not have permit to be busybodies, but we most assuredly ought to be close-knit enough to be aware of what’s going on with one another. We ought to be busily encouraging each other to growth in sanctification. We can’t do that if our only contact is at church. We certainly can’t do that if our only contact is across the ether. If, as James insists, Christian love requires action as well as prayer, then such nebulous connections preclude us practicing true Christian love. And, if we suppose that such activities are a fit substitute for the Church constituted as Christ designed it, we are sadly mistaken and setting ourselves in great danger.
Let me make clear that I have no particular issue with participating in such global networks of faith. But, if this is your mainstay, your church, you have no church and no stay. You are a temple in your body, but I have to say this: You are a church only collectively. The several members of the local body form one temple. That is the model Christ has established. He has not issued any statement altering the organization since. The individuals who make up the church form one temple. They do so with ‘the whole collectively being that which each is in miniature individually’, as the JFB says. But, in this individualistic nation, in an age of separation, we have to recognize the downside here. If you are not a part of ‘the whole collectively’, you remain ‘in miniature’. You are to the real church what an HO model is to a real train.
It’s funny, in a sad sort of way. It seems that those who are busily going off the rails find solace in applying Scripture’s warnings as to their situation to those who hold fast. Oh, you stiff-necked traditionalists! You hold to a form of godliness, but deny its power (2Ti 3:5). See, we have power over here. We have signs and wonders, or at least rumors of signs and wonders. We’re seeing visions and tossing off prophecies like sparks from a Tesla coil. We’re commanding angels. We don’t need your stodgy church. Well, in fact, yes you do – more than you know or imagine. You chase after the very things that the Scriptures warn you against and count yourself superior for it. But, it’s vanity and wind. You restrict yourself to the miniature. You have not lost faith, or more rightly, faith has not lost you. But, you are minimized, sidelined, distracted from God’s course, and all the while, you’re busily puffing yourself up about how much more important your efforts are.
Watch out! You are a temple of the Living God. You are His, and His exclusively. There is a reason that fornication and idolatry go hand in hand in Scripture. There is a reason these two seem to be equated in God’s sight. It is because in both cases, dear Christian, to allow yourself to slip into such practice is to attempt, intentionally or in ignorance, to join what is God’s to what can never be associated to Him. It is to tarnish His glory, and declare by your actions that He is not enough, that He is not in control, that He is not supreme. Is this really something you want to be doing? This is where spiritual pride takes us, and make no mistake! The disease that plagued Corinth was spiritual pride. It underlies their divisions. It underlies their fascination with supernatural phenomena. It underlies their tolerance of all manner of sin. That same disease plagued Colossi, though we are not looking there at the moment. (We are in the current series of sermons at church.) What a mess! Let’s practice purity laws. Let’s add some New Age Spiritism. Let’s mix in a bit of mysticism. Oh, yes! Let’s get mystical, mystical. I want to get mystical! Let’s get into mystical. [With apologies to Olivia Newton John, I suppose.] And, because that’s still not enough to keep the thrill going, we can toss in a bit of asceticism. We can’t really get out in the desert to dwell in a cave for a year or two, but we can approximate it by staying home. But, sadly, as Paul tells the believers in Colossi, all of this is absolutely useless. It was unnecessary to begin with, but it’s of no value to the believer whatsoever. It looks fine. It puts on a good show, and makes us feel all sanctified. But, it’s puffery, and it’s falsity. It demonstrates nothing but spiritual pride and spiritual ignorance. It demonstrates a temple in disrepair.
“Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,’ and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich, and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see” (Rev 3:17-18). “Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God” (Col 2:18-19). “For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1Co 3:11). “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit” (Eph 2:19-22). Together, not alone; on the foundation laid once for all, and no other: “Upon this Rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it” (Mt 16:18). Accept no substitutes.
A Sin Most Serious (07/28/17)
I have already touched on many of the points which I shall now consider, but they will hopefully bear the repeating. The matter under consideration is this most serious of sins which Paul now addresses. Is this the unpardonable sin? I don’t believe so, for he would not offer correction to those who are beyond possibility of correction. What would be the point? But, it is very clear that this sin of fornication is set forth as more serious than other sins that might beset the believer. Perhaps that is our proper distinguishing characteristic. Paul is addressing believers, and as such, is addressing such sins as a believer may fall prey to. Are there sins that no believer could possibly commit? There’s apparently at least one, right? Else, there is no sin unto death. But, here, we are considering such sins as might, without minimizing their seriousness, be construed as common afflictions. Amongst that category, then, Paul, speaking as the Holy Spirit directs, declares that fornication is in a class by itself.
Why? I’ve already commented on this term, joined, but I think that term gives us the reason. To be joined is to be glued together or, as the JFB advises, to be cemented together. The point is this is a permanent bond. Contrary to our casual approach to sex in this day and age, it is not a casual matter. You would think the history of STDs might have made that self-evident, but apparently not. Back in the day, we had that advertising campaign that pointed out that when you took on a sexual partner, you were also taking on every other sexual partner they’d ever had – and every sexual partner those partners had ever had, and so on. Guess what? They were right. It would be impossible for it to be otherwise, because, as we see it said here, when you join to that partner, it’s permanent. That joining can never be dissolved.
For us, this point leads into all manner of practical considerations, as well as the moral implications. This is, for example, why divorce turns out to be a pretty worthless corrective. It cannot dissolve the bond, only ignore it. There are, sad to say, occasions where this remains the best available option in pursuit of the preservation of life, but what cannot be said of it is that it actually terminates the relationship, that it restores the pre-existing, two-flesh relationship. It can’t.
Here, we are far more concerned, though, with the moral and spiritual implications of this truth. For, there is another joining that has happened. You have been just as indissolubly united with the Godhead, O temple. An aside: Friends of mine recently lost their son, who had been rather a lifelong project in his way. He had fallen prey to the scourge of opioid addiction, and though he had been making progress in battling that situation, it had resurgence and took his life. But prior to that, there had been evidence of his life being given to Jesus. Understand, gentle reader, that belonging to Jesus does in fact assure the final outcome, but it does not assure a smooth, linear course to the end. Believers may suffer pretty much anything and everything that besets the unbeliever. But, they do so with the company of God to bear them through. Now, for this young man, the parents of course had questions. Do you believe in God? Have you accepted Jesus? The response, as it was relayed to me, was, “Yeah, me and Jesus, we’re like this.” You know the gesture that accompanies. You know the point. We’re tight. To put it in more biblical terms, we’re like strands in a cord. Or, as we have it here. We’re one spirit, on flesh. We are so firmly joined together that not even death can separate us. There is Paul’s point.
You are joined to Christ in this fashion. You are so intimately intertwined with Him that you cannot be separated from Him nor He from you. At the same time, this one-flesh aspect to sexual relations remains. There is a case where this is sanctioned. God has established, from the outset, that within the marriage relationship this is not only permitted, it is to be encouraged. You cannot become one spirit with your spouse, but you can approach it. You can be open and vulnerable to one another in safety. It won’t always feel that way, because both you and your spouse are fallen people, even in the hands of a loving God. But, there’s the model. You are one and indivisible. You and God are one and indivisible. For the married, you now have your cord of three strands. Congratulations.
But, outside the marriage covenant, there’s still the potential for establishing unbreakable, one-flesh relationships that cannot but be corrupted, because the circumstances in which they are pursued are corrupt. Let us suppose this sin besets a believer. It’s not hard to do so, is it? Don’t you see what must result? Just as was the case in marriage, you have attempted to establish a new cord of three strands, except two of the three are rotten. Were the third any other than the person of God Himself, the corruption of the other two must spread. The leaven of sin must infiltrate the one remaining good strand and make it as rotten as the other two.
I will also stress the nature of the ‘oneness’ in which you are thus joined. It’s not a numerical oneness. It is an essential oneness. You have become the same thing as that to which you have been joined. It is true, to the positive, in our union with Christ, though we need to be careful of pushing that too far, lest we fall prey to spiritual pride. It is true, to the negative, of the harlot with whom we have dallied. We are become harlots ourselves. The utterly abhorrent truth of this, dear Christian, is that you have boldly attempted to make God, with whom you have become one, a harlot as well. I’ll return to that momentarily. But, let’s veer off in another direction first.
You see, not only does this act attempt to drag God into an utterly sinful activity, it also, by giving what is His to this harlot, robbed God of what is rightfully His. I thank the Wycliffe Commentary for this particular insight. If you have become one with this partner, you have given a bit of yourself. It can’t be otherwise. If you are one-flesh, then your flesh is no longer entirely your own. If you are a Christian, that was already true. In fact, if you are a Christian, your flesh was no longer yours to give. It belongs to Him Who purchased you. You are not your own (v19). If, then, you are giving away what you do not own, what are you doing? You are disposing of another’s property. That must necessarily be theft.
After its fashion, this can be said of every sin, but the nature of this sin, as we have been saying and as Paul (and thus the Holy Spirit) is saying, amplifies the issue. It takes the matter to a new level. True, we cannot sin, being indwelt by the Spirit, except we in some manner attempt to make Him a part of the action. We cannot sin without it defiling the temple. But, there is this aspect that uniquely applies to this case: You are sinning against your own body, and your body is no longer your own. You are sinning, as the JFB puts it, “against the body’s permanent essence, designed for the Lord.” Again, we cannot push this distinction too far, for every sin has its bodily impact, and thus is against the body. This one’s just more direct.
Here is something, though, that we can cling to, particularly if we have suffered ourselves to succumb to such sin: We don’t in fact have the power to force God to participate in our sins. Though we are the temple of the Living God, and carry Him in us wherever we go, He is not bound to this body. If we insist on pursuing our sinful pursuits, He is not required to accompany us in those pursuits. If we are determined to sully the temple, be assured that He can find someplace else to take up residence. It was clearly true of the temple in Jerusalem. It is just as true of the temple in your flesh. Here’s another thing that’s just as true: It’s for a season. It’s to bring you to repentance. It’s until you get your act together and purify God’s house once more. Here’s yet another: You can’t do it, but God will.
You have been ransomed. That is a past action with continuing effect. It’s been done. You are no longer under obligation to sin. You are no longer under the curse. This is, obviously, no guarantee that you will never sin again. It is, however, a guarantee that, as you have been bought at so great a price, God is not about to see you go to waste. I would not advise putting this truth to the test, but it is a great comfort. It is also a great responsibility. You are ransomed, and thus you are bound. You are no longer bound to sin. You are bound to God with indissoluble bonds. You are, then, obligated. You are not your own, you belong to Him, and you belong to Him exclusively. You are devoted. Just like the sacrifices laid on the altar under the Old Covenant, so you are laid upon the altar. “Present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship” (Ro 12:1). I should say, which is your spiritual reality. You are a sacrifice, wholly devoted unto God to be used as He sees fit. You are, until consumed, obligated to keep His commands, and foremost amongst them is to remain pure. On that basis, as Barnes advises, we must make it a point, ‘to flee from a licentious life’.
Flee immorality! Make this your habit. Run away, hero! Listen: This is again a present tense action. It is commanded as our habitual response. You are no doubt familiar with the concept of the fight or flight response. Well, there are temptations against which you can fight and expect to do so successfully. There are times when the correct response is to stand fast and hold your ground. This is not one of those times. You cannot stand against this temptation. The early church fathers were agreed on this point. As Matthew Henry writes, “Other vices may be conquered by fight, this only by flight.”
You can’t win in this battle. You can’t even win by arguing against this sin. You cannot contend with it. You must run. Flee! Escape its clutches, and think not that you can test your strength against this temptation. I can assure you there is not a man out there who does not recognize the truth of what Barnes says on this point, and I doubt there’s a woman either. “Let a man turn away from it without reflection on it and he is safe. Let him think, and reason, and he may be ruined.” How often have you found yourself, having to your mind successfully battled the lustful urge, discovered it rising unbidden to the imagination in the next idle moment? We must learn how to do as Barnes advises: Turn away without reflection. Let not so much as a thought wander in that direction, for its lure is fatal. Flee!
“Our only safety in temptations is flight.” So concludes the JFB. That is rather an amplification of Paul’s point, but I’m not at all certain it’s inapt. As I say, there may be occasions where fleeing itself is the temptation, and thus, to flee the temptation to flee we must stand. But, the general case surely holds. If you are tempted to sin, where is the wisdom in remaining in the presence of that temptation? What do you hope to prove? Are you looking to demonstrate your strength of will? But, we already know the strength of your will. It’s not much. You know that as well as we do. If you are able to stand, it is because God is at work in you to make it so. I don’t rule that out. I do advise you not to presume upon it. Stand if you must, but make flight your practice. It is a more successful approach to living in this fallen world.
Now, as I begin to segue into the next section, let me just consider one or two more points on this issue of sexual sins. First, we can consider a pretty obvious and well-known fact of life. Sex sells. We tend to think that this is an issue that has been worse in recent decades. Sex didn’t sell so much in the fifties, right? Wrong. It may have been packaged differently, but the fact that sex sells is about as old as mankind. It was fully understood in Corinth. It was fully understood in Canaan. Why do you suppose so many of these pagan religions had their temple prostitutes? It attracts customers, and customers bring cash. Sex sells.
Thus far, we consider the fleshly, pragmatic side of the matter. What of the spiritual? Why is this sin so prevalent? What’s going on here? It’s an assault. It’s an assault on God’s temple. That is the purpose now. That was the purpose then. Whatever else is going on, here is the devil’s most effective tool against God’s children. If he can profane the temple, he can, as it were, stick it to God. This is Your temple? Look how little that means to me. Look what I can do to You. And you, dear Christian, should you succumb to the urge, have made yourself accessory to his crime. You are aiding and abetting the enemy in time of battle. You are a traitor against heaven. Of course, you were already before ever God saved you, but how seriously we ought to take this issue, now that we are His.
I want also to touch on one last aspect of this. It is a tad speculative, but I am still inclined to think that verse 18 addresses another false truism of Corinthian thought. It’s redolent of the dualism inherent in a Manichean view of life. That particular heresy is still a few centuries down the road from this letter, but in effect, all the heresies are cut from the same cloth. Here’s the thinking: Flesh is bad, spirit is good. Flesh is temporal, spirit is eternal. Even amongst modern day Christians you get some of this thinking going on. The body goes to the grave and that’s that. It’s only the soul that’s immortal. This is not the message of the Scriptures, or even of this Epistle, but it’s something that seems to catch hold of us. It gives us an out of sorts.
It’s an out that I am thinking the Corinthians recognized and jumped on. The idea is simple: Sin is an outward, fleshly act. Ergo, its only impact is on the body. The body is going to the grave anyway, so where’s the harm? The spirit and soul remained untouched. They are still on the road of sanctification, it’s just this body that’s sinning. Can’t be helped, really. But, where’s the harm?
Paul’s response to this line of thinking is visceral. Even if one could reasonably conclude this about other sins (and a bit of thought makes it pretty clear that it doesn’t hold for them, either), this particular sin is a direct assault on the body, and the body, dear Corinthian, is God’s temple! It’s a direct assault on God’s temple! These other sins are still an assault on God’s temple, but less direct. The result is the same. You are thinking that the effects of sin are merely outward and therefore discountable. I am telling you that you are entirely mistaken. The effects are inward, corrupting not just the bodily temple, which was already a great evil, but also poisoning spirit and soul. This concept that the flesh doesn’t matter is but one more lie told in support of the seduction of sin.
The Seduction of Sin (07/29/17)
It is in the nature of sin to lie. Sin is the master of false advertising. It must convince you that what it has on offer will be enjoyable to you, will somehow enhance your standing amongst your peers. For the believer, it must further convince you that in spite of the alarm bells going off in your head, it’s not really all that ungodly, either. Sin comes with that question we heard asked of Eve, “Did God really say that?” Does God really mind all that much? I mean, after all, He made you this way. How can He complain if you act this way? If He made it, shouldn’t you enjoy it? There are variations on the theme, but the theme is unchanged: God doesn’t matter all that much. Go for it.
And we do, don’t we? We sense the enticement, and perhaps we resist for a season, but resistance wears one down. Eventually, the energy required to maintain our stance flags, we lose focus, we decide maybe just this once it will be okay. God will understand. God will forgive us. The problem is that sin, and I don’t particularly care what specific sin you consider, is habit forming. Sin is addictive. This is the case in every case. Sexual sins such as lust are certainly in this category. Those chemical bonds that attach us to our spouse are just as present in the corrupted practices of pornography. A little might be enough at the outset, but it takes more and more to keep the thrill going. Anger is not all that different. It, too, is habit-forming. There gets to be something in us that wants the anger, wants to feel it. And if this is allowed to continue, a little snit isn’t going to cover the need. It’s going to take a blowout. It’s going to take throwing things, breaking things. It’s going to take something we will regret.
But, again, you can choose whatever sin you like, and the point applies. Sin swiftly becomes habit, and habit is hard to break away from. Sin is, whichever you choose, is deceptive. It must be in order to slip in undetected. It’s true of those sins that have their physical aspect. It’s true, as well, of those sins that are primarily cerebral. Consider Peter’s warning to the church. “But false prophets arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them. They bring swift destruction upon themselves” (2Pe 2:1).
Make no mistake: False teachings are sinful in the extreme. They are also the hardest sins to detect. They have to be. If the false teacher came spouting something so outrageously opposed to Scripture as to be laughable, he would find no takers. He would be tossed out on his ear. Look at what he is saying. They come and secretly introduce their heresies. They can’t start at the endpoint. They have to diverge just a little at the beginning. But, where do they wind up? They present a denial of the very Master who bought them. You think this can’t happen to you? Look around! Look at the state of the UCC, or any number of other denominations that have decided that Jesus is just one of many ways. I recall with utmost aversion the funeral service I attended some years back which presented prayers to mother earth alongside prayers to Jesus. What is that all about? What it isn’t all about is biblical Christianity. But, this is the lie more fully metastasized. The starting point seemed more benign.
Today, I can say with absolute assurance that every heretical teaching that has ever assaulted the work of Christ is alive and well and finding a welcome amongst believers. This last part should be shouted out from every pulpit by every sound preacher: AMONGST BELIEVERS! True children of God are falling for it. True children of God are hearing the whispered suggestion that maybe Paul wasn’t so sharp on his theology after all, or maybe, since God doesn’t change, if He spoke to Paul through these visits to heaven, this guy on YouTube is just as authoritative. I mean, he claims to be an apostle. He claims to have been taken up into the heavenlies. God’s no respecter of persons, is He? Surely, if he claims it, and his words sound right (or at least exciting), he must be a true apostle, right? But, how can he be? On what basis shall we declare any man living today a fit candidate for the apostolate? Paul had enough trouble establishing credentials in that regard, and he, at least, lived in the period when Jesus was ministering. He was at least there in the right time and place, even if he was a bit late to the game.
But, when you have teachers coming and insisting on dreams and visions as superseding the authority of Scripture, when the message stands in direct contradiction to Scripture, or insists that it replaces the old order because, “God is doing something new”, what is happening? I’ll tell you what isn’t happening. What isn’t happening is anything new. It’s the same old liar telling the same old lies. I remember back in the earliest days of my walk with Christ hearing the warning. Back then it was only TV and radio that were available to the heretics. But even then, you had the ‘Christian’ networks and stations, and what was the situation? You could not go even an hour listening to most of these networks without hearing at least one ancient heresy revived and promoted. Come forward to today, when every self-important, unemployable spiritist with a hundred bucks can establish a global presence on the web. I tell you this: Every bit of nonsense that Corinth was dealing with is an active and malignant presence in the midst of the Church today. Every bit of foolishness that the Colossians were falling prey to is happily lapped up by idle, misguided Christians who hunger for something more.
That hunger sounds holy enough, but it is a gateway drug for the devil to use with malevolent glee. After all, what could bring him more entertainment than to defile this temple of ours? Here we are, created in the image of God, declared to be the exclusive property of God; His very home. And in waltzes the devil, and sprays his graffiti on the walls. He convinces us to start chasing false pieties and false teachings. He convinces us to sin with abandon, since God’s bound to forgive anyway. He convinces perhaps not us, but others, to mangle their bodies, whether with relatively benign tattoos and piercings or with more extreme bumps and disfiguring surgeries. Let’s lop off a few parts here, because the way God made us just isn’t right. I always wanted to be something else, and now I can be. Why shouldn’t I? And the devil laughs.
But, bring it back home. What sin besets you? What whisperings have your ears found more interesting than the boring truth of Scripture? What is the current attack on the sanctity of your temple, for I assure you there is an attack. We are, and always will be, in the midst of a war. We are in a war for possession of the body. You have been redeemed, believer, from sin’s bonds, but the master of sin doesn’t let go willingly. He wants you back. God wants you for Himself. There is a tug-of-war for your soul. If, in fact, you are a Christian, I can tell you who wins. But, in the meantime, every moment of every day, we need to ask ourselves: What are we practicing, sin or sanctity? Who are we aiding and abetting? To put it plainly, which side are we on?
If we have fallen into habitual sins, it’s time to set them aside. If we have developed a taste for novelty in the messages we hear, become too mystical for our own good, we need to turn ourselves back to the basics. If we have a taste for the philosophical, and have forgotten that the purpose of the gospel is not just mental engagement, but life-transforming practice, we need to start disciplining ourselves to work out our sanctification together with the God Who bought us. We each of us have our challenge before us. We each of us have our God behind us. We each of us hold fast to the one promise, of the one Spirit indwelling the one Church purchased by the blood of the one Christ. We each of us have to answer the call of God upon us to walk worthy, to stand fast upon His Word, and be steadfast in His Truth.
Other Thoughts (07/29/17)
Stand fast, but don’t fall for yet another lie: That you can somehow stand perfectly fast. You cannot. It is beyond your fallen condition to be perfect. God is perfect. I will go so far as to say that in this fallen world, God alone is perfect. You cannot be. You may manage to perform some simple action perfectly. You may even be so honored as to produce a perfect work of art, if there can be such a thing. You are still not perfect. You will still find yourself in need of the ministrations of your Savior. But, there’s something you can do: You can learn to stumble gracefully.
What do I mean by that? How does one stumble gracefully? It’s in the recovery. If you fall into sin, fall back out of it swiftly and come before your Lord with true repentance. It is very likely that you are correctly convinced that you shall just wind up doing it again eventually, but don’t grant that thought space. To grant it space is to make it an excuse, and if you’re making excuses even as you repent, then you are not repenting. Repent with earnestness, and accept Christ’s forgiveness as real.
Here’s another example of the graceful stumble. While every sin is a sin against God, the majority of them tend to involve somebody else. I may have offended a brother or sister in the Lord. I may have caused another to stumble in their own walk because of my actions and behavior. Yes, I need to repent before the Lord. I also need to make things right with these others that I have involved in my failure. If I have hurt, I need to mend. If I have offended, I need to apologize at bare minimum. If I have cost my brother, I need to repay. I don’t need to do these as legalistic exercises, as items to tick off my list so that God can love me again. That’s not the point. No, I need to do it because it’s what I do. I need to do it because it’s what God desires, and therefore what I desire. It needs to be done for no further reason than that it is the right thing to do, and I desire to do what is right.
Compare and contrast. Here, in the Corinthian example, though we are dealing most immediately with this business of sexual sin, we are still dealing with issues of divisiveness and a highly litigious nature. Clarke describes the litigious Christian as one ‘who will have recourse to law for every little difference’. I am actually put more in mind of what novels of the old British Navy refer to as ship’s lawyers. They are looking for loopholes, promoting legal theories that will permit them to continue in their inappropriate behaviors with impunity. They are looking to stir up trouble as cover for their own activities. It’s still a recourse to law, and it’s still ‘for every little difference’. The only real distinction is whether it’s in the form of a suit for reparations, or merely for a permit to sin.
I bring this up because of the point Clarke makes about this chapter. Such a Christian, he says, ‘may read this chapter either to their conviction or confusion’. I have to admit that at first read, I don’t look at this chapter as addressing matters of litigiousness, but as I have said, the application is there. I also find that his point is far more widely applicable. God speaks through His Word, and He addresses us through the preaching of His Church. That message, particularly when it strikes near to the heart of our own particular sins, must likewise result either in conviction or confusion. I watch it happen with myself, to some degree. There are those weeks when, if I am not careful, my thoughts are far from the sermon. These are probably the weeks when I ought to fight hardest to remain involved, because something is being said that I need to hear, and need to hear with my active filters disabled. This needs to get through.
I have heard the complaint recently that somebody walks out of the service confused. Their immediate diagnosis is that this must be because something’s terribly, terribly wrong with the church. They should probably avoid it. But, the reality – painfully, distressingly clear to me in this case – is that the problem lies not with the church but with the congregant. Here is a message that ought to be bringing to conviction, so that things which need to be repented of can be repented of. But, instead, it’s hitting a wall of stiff-necked pride which will, as a first defense, insist that any attempt at correction is the product of proud Pharisees. Oh, it’s convenient, isn’t it? But, it’s the very same head game going on all throughout our culture. Don’t confront. Don’t consider. Whatever you do, don’t accept the possibility of being wrong. Just shout it down, discount it, discredit it, and denounce anybody who says otherwise. Project, baby, project! Whatever it is that prevents you accepting the corrective advice, insist that this is what motivates your corrector. After all, if he’s the one in error, I need give him no further attention. I can get back to what I was doing, and God’s agents be damned. No, I don’t suppose that’s a thought that rises to the level of consciousness in the believer, but it’s the effective result. To hell with the Church, and to hell with the Bible. We’ll do it my way, or I’ll hit the highway. And if you try to stop me, it’s only because you’re so durned proud and insisting things be done your way. It can’t possibly be because I’m wrong. It can’t possibly be that you’re right. After all, I’ve been on this course for years, decades even! How could it be wrong?
Here is the hardest thing. Here is the word of God to His church, and particularly to those he has set as leaders of that church. “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood” (Ac 20:28). This is what the Apostles were doing in every one of these Epistles. Look at this! It’s what, five years since the establishment of the Church, and this is the mess that exists already? What can we expect in our own day? What can we expect when every crackpot theory of religion is given voice and a following? What can we expect when all day, every day, believers are under assault by these varied messages? What can we expect in an age when every ticklish ear can get whatever message it desires? How are we to guard the flock? We cannot be with them every moment, and if the sheep refuse to lend us an ear because they prefer what’s on their favorite podcast, how are we to get through?
Lord, God, help me with this. You, needless to say, know the seriousness of the situation. You know how far things have gone astray. You also must know what a worthless guard I am on my own. I need You. Were it mine to decide, I would tell You to step in and fix this mess, but You are hardly mine to command. I will ask, nonetheless. Lord, the mess needs fixing. That much is certain. If it is mine to fix, then I shall need You more than ever to take hold of my every thought and word. For my part, I feel rather a kinship for Moses just at the moment. Surely, there’s somebody else You should be giving this task. But, if it is mine, so be it. Just walk with me, Holy Spirit, inhabit me as never before, that I may speak only as You direct, that I may remain loving and at peace even with all the turmoil within. You know, after all, how much I abhor confrontation, and I really see no other recourse. Would You, then, be pleased to so minister to us in the midst of this that we can, for once, speak calmly, hear one another, and more importantly, hear You through our own noise? I honestly don’t know how this can work out, but I know this: Nothing is impossible for You. Come, then, and do as You will, by the means and the words of Your choosing, for Your Word will not return to You without accomplishing all its purpose. If I must stumble through this, help me to stumble gracefully, and let Your glory be upheld. Amen.
