Can you explain I Corinthians 6:16-17?
Question:
Good day
I have a question and would like some advice.
A bit of background leading to the question: I was a fake Christian, committed fornication, and knew it displeased God, but I didn’t really know Christ at the time. But someone came and preached repentance. I decided to believe in Christ, give my life, and turn from my sins and sexual immorality. After giving my life to the Lord not long after, I confessed to my boyfriend first that I’d decided to get closer to the Lord. It was clear this relationship was not going to last. It was unequally yoked. I told my boyfriend a lot about the Lord and eventually broke up with him (a couple of times after deciding nope, the Lord has someone else in mind for me surely, someone who’ll love me, with their words toward me matching up with their actions). I’m glad the Lord put me in this place because I’m only 17, and it’s important first to cultivate my relationship with God and to surround myself with people who are also seeking and committed to the Lord. I came across the concept of marriage in Genesis and what the Lord originally intended for marriage (leaving parents and cleaving to the wife, becoming one flesh). So, fornication is definitely not marriage. It’s a sin, perverting what God intended for humans.
But now I’m confused as to what "one flesh" means, as it is used in the marriage aspect but also in the following verse:
"Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, 'The two will become one flesh.' But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit. Flee from sexual immorality" (I Corinthians 6:16-19).
Paul says that one who united himself with the Lord is one with Him in Spirit. Since I’ve given my life to the Lord and live in repentance, what exactly is the meaning of the two will become one flesh? Is it lawful for me to get married in the future?
Sex does not create marriage, but my confusion arises from the definition of two becoming one flesh. It seems that Paul is giving a solution to flee from sexual immorality and become one with the Lord and uniting yourself to Him and live in purity, rather than uniting yourself to sexual immorality with a person. Marriage is a covenantal bond to become united, but what does this consequence mean to become united and one flesh with a prostitute?
Answer:
First, let's define what "become one flesh" means. Someone asked about this earlier, so I would like you to read, "What does becoming "one flesh" mean?" Notice the use of "become." It indicates an ongoing process. Two people raised in two households don't instantly become one. It is a process that they work on for the rest of their lives together.
In I Corinthians 6:9-10, Paul gives an example list of sins Christians cannot be involved in and think they will make it to heaven. Some of the Corinthians had been involved in these types of sins before they became Christians, but they should have left them behind (I Corinthians 6:11). Returning to those sins would mean returning to the consequences of those sins.
Starting with I Corinthians 6:12, Paul addresses one of those sins, fornication, which headed his list. He then addresses all the excuses people give for committing that sin. He shows that each excuse does not have merit.
- "It is not illegal to have sex when you are not married." (I Corinthians 6:12)
- "I want to have sex!" (I Corinthians 6:12)
- "God made my body to have sex, so it can't be wrong to do it." (I Corinthians 6:13)
Expanding on the last point, Paul argues that God plans to raise Christians up to be with Christ (I Corinthians 6:14). Does it make sense to use the body that God gave you and that God will raise up and join it with someone who makes a living from sin?
Paul uses a progression to prove his point:
| Fornication | "is one body" (soma) | temporary joining |
| Marriage | "becomes one flesh" (sarx) | lifetime joining |
| Being a Christian | "is one Spirit" | eternal bond |
Why is so much emphasis being placed on a physical union that only lasts for a few minutes of intercourse when the eternal benefits of being a part of Christ exist? (Remember that a fornicator cannot enter heaven - I Corinthians 6:9-10). Even marriage, which lasts a lifetime and involves far more than sex, doesn't compare with the glories Christ offers us. However, it is a far better state than being involved in fornication (I Corinthians 7:1-9). Therefore, Paul concludes that we need to flee fornication (I Corinthians 6:18).
For more details, see Immorality.
