You are not your own
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NIV)
19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples 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 bodies.

1. Why are we not our own?    
    Corinth at the time of Paul was a famous port city that prospered in commerce. Ethically and morally, there was much to be desired and thus there were many who had drifted far away in their faith. To these people, Paul was pointing out that we are not our own and thus was exhorting to these people to not partake in uncleanliness. Today, the United States is in a similar state. Spiritually, many of us have drifted far away from God like Sodom and Gomorrah. In the same spirit of the message Paul delivered to the people in Corinth, let us now seek to find the reason why we are not our own and why we must seek to glorify God.

1)         We have received our bodies from God.
The scriptures from today tell us that we are not our own. God created man and thus we belong to the creator. God created man in His image. With the soil from the ground, God made man and breathed life into his nostrils.
Therefore, all mankind has a spiritual value and meaning to them. All mankind has been created in this way by God and thus are elegant, precious creations of God.
The reason why we must stop our impure habits and pursue a life of serving God is because of the fact that God created us for this very reason.
2)         Jesus paid for us with his blood.
We devalued our lives with the sinful life we have been leading and yet value was restored to our lives by the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ who spilled his blood upon the cross to cleanse us and free us from the judgment and condemnation of the law. Thus we must know how precious we now are through the blood of Jesus Christ. With these new bodies, we must not treat ourselves haphazardly. We must now acknowledge that our bodies belong to Christ and as such precious bodies, are representations of God’s righteousness.
3)Our bodies are holy temples for the Holy Spirit.
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3:16 (NIV),
16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?
Also, in Acts 2:37, it said that for those who repented their sins and received baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, they received remission of their sins and received the Holy Spirit as a gift.
Our bodies are a holy temple for the Holy Spirit through the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross. Before this time, the spirit only came to those that God used for this will. However, we too often catch ourselves using the excuse that our bodies are frail and so we fall to temptation.  Let’s make a commitment once and for all to lay down our worldly desires and excuses and submit ourselves to the will of God.

2.        We are told to live in accordance with God’s will but why?
There is nothing in this world that is beyond the domain of God. (Psalm 103:19)
God has dominion and power over all things. Even the events that seem so unexplainable and tragic are for the pure and good will of God (Job 42:2-10) There is nothing and no one that can deny this. It is because he is almighty and righteous and has complete authority and providence.
Paul emphasizes this truth in his proclamation that he is but a citizen and servant of His kingdom and all that he does is to fulfill the will of the one that commands him. The fact that we have become Christians is in accordance with God’s will. If this is the case, for what reason were we made Saints?

1) According to God’s will, we have been made.
2) According to God’s will, we have been called.
3) According to God’s will, we have been commissioned (given a mission).

Application

1. Our bodies have been given to us from God, bought by the blood of Jesus Christ, and is the residing temple of the Holy Spirit. And yet, do you think that your body is your own? Our bodies belong to God. Thus, we can’t do things just the way we want. We must live according to God’s will.

2. Saints have been made, called and commissioned in accordance with God’s will. Stand up and shine forth your light of the Gospel!