The Believer and His Body 649
ever be experienced in their lives. But they should not be surprised at
all since they have forgotten that only the Holy Spirit can translate
the cross into experience. He alone can substantiate salvation,
nonetheless they forget Him. Unless believers abandon themselves
and trust completely in the power of the Spirit to lay to rest the deeds
of the body, the truth they profess to know will persist as mere
theory. Only a putting to death by the power of the Holy Spirit will
give life today to our mortal frame.
Glorify GodThe passage in 1 Corinthians 6.12-20 sheds additional light on this
matter of the believer’s body. Let us consider this passage verse by
verse.
“All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful. All
things are lawful for me, but I will not be enslaved by anything”
(v.12). As substantiated by the verses following, the Apostle Paul is
here writing about the body. He judges all things to be lawful
because according to nature every demand of the body—such as
eating, drinking or sex—is natural, reasonable and lawful (v.13). Yet
he further judges that not every one of them is necessarily helpful nor
should any enslave man. In other words, according to man’s natural
existence the Christian may be permitted to do many things with his
body, but as one who belongs to God he is additionally able not to do
these things for the glory of God.
“Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food—and
God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for
immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body” (v.13). The
first half of this verse corresponds to the first half of the preceding
verse. Food is lawful, but since food and stomach will eventually be
destroyed, none is eternally useful. The latter half of the verse
corresponds to that half of the preceding verse too. The Christian is