Glorify God with Your Bodies
One of the most awe-inspiring sites in ancient Corinth was the Temple of Aphrodite. In a display of their devotion to Aphrodite, the citizens of Corinth erected this magnificent temple. According to one legend, she is the daughter of Zeus, the king of the gods. She is renowned for her unparalleled beauty. Some paintings depict her as fair-skinned with long hair and captivating eyes, embodying the goddess of love and passion. According to Strabo, the temple of Aphrodite was so opulent that it owned more than a thousand temple slaves, courtesans, whom both men and women had dedicated to the goddess. This lavishness was a key factor in the city's prosperity and popularity, as ship captains freely spent their money, leading to the proverb, ‘Not for every man is the voyage to Corinth.’” (Strabo, Geography, retrieved 2 July 2924)
These new believers in Corinth had such a background that Paul found it necessary to remind them of their carnal ways. Therefore, Paul asked them three rhetorical questions that, even today, are still relevant.
1. Know you not that your bodies are the members of Christ?
2. Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of a harlot?
3. Do you know that he, which is joined to a harlot, is one body?
Living in a city where sexual promiscuity is part of the economy, the Apostle Paul addressed the ramifications of such engagement. So, he starts with these thought-provoking questions about the body. First, as believers living in Corinth, you have now become part of the body of Christ instead of subjects of Aphrodite. In Strabo's description of the temple slaves, he interjected the term courtesans, who were prostitutes with wealthy or upper-class clients. Today’s term is escorts for the rich and famous. Therefore, for some believers whose livelihoods were centered on this practice, Paul stated that one who becomes a member of the body of Christ cannot simultaneously continue as a courtesan. He justified this statement by the results of oneness. Sexual acts create oneness, as noted in one’s marriage as stated by the Savior in Mark 10:7-8:
For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh.
What a remarkable revelation! If we, as believers, exist as oneness in Christ, then we are not citizens of Corinth but in God’s Kingdom. As citizens of this Kingdom, our priorities align with the Kingdom. We take orders from the Kingdom. Everything that we do in Corinth should promote this Kingdom. When Paul addressed the Philippians 3:21, he stated:
When he comes back, he will take these dying bodies of ours and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same mighty power that he will use to conquer all else everywhere.
Therefore, the believers' bodies tethered in Corinth for Aphrodite’s utilization now belong to Christ. So, the power that raised Jesus from the dead now rests within the body of Christ for each believer to present a glorious body that is acceptable for God's worthiness in heaven. Today, this powerful knowledge instills believers with the confidence that their future surpasses anything from the past. Therefore, we can live this life as God intended from the beginning.
