All indifferent things are lawful,

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I. CORINTHIANS.

i

but all are not expedient.

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9 Know ye not that the unrighte- || justified in the name of the Lord Je- A. M. 4063. ous shall not inherit the kingdom of sus, and by the Spirit of our God. God? Be not deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

12 All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not 'expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

Chap. xv. 50; Gal. v. 21; Eph. v. 5; 1 Tim. i. 9; Heb. xii. 22. 14; xiii. 4; Rev. xxii. 15.- Chap. xii. 2; Eph. ii. 2; iv. 22; v. 8; Col. iii. 7; Tit. iii. 3. Chap. i. 30; Heb. x.

be defrauded-Rather than seek a remedy in such a way as this? All men cannot, or will not, receive this saying. Many aim only at this, "I will neither do wrong nor suffer it." These are honest heathen, but no Christians. Nay-A22a, but, ye are so far from bearing injuries and frauds, that ye do wrong to, or injure openly, and defraud-Privately, and || that even your Christian brethren.

m

Matt. xv. 17; Verses 15, 19, 20; 1 Thess.

Chap. x. 23. Or, profitable.-
Rom. xiv. 17; Col. ii. 22, 23.
iv. 3, 7.- m Eph. v. 23.

well as discharged, from the condemnation to which ye were justly obnoxious. See the nature of justi||fication explained in the notes on Rom. iii. 21, 22; and its fruits, on Rom. v. 1-5. In the name of the Lord Jesus-Through his merits, or his sacrifice and intercession; and by the Spirit of our GodCreating you anew, and inspiring you with all those blessed graces which are the genuine fruits of his divine influences, Gal. v. 22, 23. You ought therefore, as if he had said, to maintain the most grateful sense of these important blessings which God hath conferred upon you, to stand at the utmost distance from sin, and to be tender of the peace and honour of a society which God hath founded by his extraordinary interposition, and into which he hath been pleased in so wonderful a manner to bring even you, who were in a most infamous and deplorable

state.

Verses 9-11. Know ye not-With all your boasted | knowledge; that the unrighteous-That is, not only the unjust, but those destitute of true righteousness and holiness, comprehending the various classes of sinners afterward mentioned, the term unrighteous|| here including them all: shall not inherit the kingdom of God--Namely, the kingdom of eternal glory. And can you contentedly sacrifice this great and glorious hope which the gospel gives you, for the sake of those pleasures of sin which are but for a short season? Be not deceived--By a vain imagi- Verses 12-14. All things-That are indifferent in nation that the Christian name and privileges will their own nature, and neither commanded nor forsave you, while you continue in the practice of your bidden; are lawful unto me-Or, as some paravices. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, &c.—|| phrase the clause, All things which are lawful for Idolatry is here placed between fornication and || you are lawful for me. Since the apostle could not adultery, because these things generally accompa- say, in any sense, that absolutely all things were nied it. Indeed, among the heathen idolatry was lawful for him, the sentence must be considered as not only a great crime in itself, but was the parent || elliptical, and what is wanting to complete it must of many other crimes. For the heathen were en- be supplied, according to the apostle's manner, from couraged in the commission of fornication, adultery, the subsequent verse. But all things are not exsodomy, drunkenness, theft, &c., by the example of || pedient-Proper to be used, in regard of circumtheir gods. Nor effeminate-Who live in an easy, stances; as when they would offend our weak indolent way, taking up no cross, enduring no hard-brethren, or when they would enslave our own ship. But how is this, that these good-natured, harmless people are ranked with idolaters and sodomites, those infamous degraders of human nature? We may learn hence, that we are never secure from the greatest sins, till we guard against those which are thought to be the least; nor indeed till we think no sin is little, since every one is a step toward hell. And such were some of you-Namely, in some kind or other; but ye are washed-Delivered from the guilt and power of those gross abominations. Ye are sanctified-Renewed in the spirit of your minds, dedicated to, and employed in the service of God; conformed, at least in a measure, to his image, and possessed of his divine nature, and this not before, but in consequence of your being Justified. Or, Ye are regenerated and purified, as

souls. Although all things-Of the above description; are lawful for me, yet I will not be brought under the power of any-So enslaved to any thing, as to be uneasy when I abstain from it, for in that case I should be under the power of it. Meats for the belly, &c.-As if he had said, I speak this chiefly with regard to meats; particularly with regard to those offered to idols, and those forbidden in the Mosaic law. These, I grant, are all indifferent, and have their use, but it is only for a time, for soon, meats, and the organs which receive them, will together moulder into dust. For God will destroy both it and them-Namely, when the earth, and the things which it contains, are burned. From this it is evident, that at the resurrection, the parts of the body which minister to its nutrition are not to be

restored; or, if they are to be restored, that their use will be abolished. Now-Or rather but; the|| body is not for fornication—As if he had said, The case is quite otherwise with fornication; this is not a thing indifferent, but at all times evil; for the body is for the Lord-Designed only for his service: and the Lord-In an important sense; is for the bodyBeing the Saviour of this as well as of the soul, and consequently must rule and employ it. And as a further proof that the body was made for glorifying the Lord, God hath both raised up the body of the Lord, and will also raise up our bodies, and render them immortal like his.

avoid uncleanness.

17 But he that is joined unto the A. M. 4063. Lord is one spirit.

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18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth, is without the body; but he that committeth fornication, sinneth against his own body.

19 What! "know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

23; Eph. iv. 4; v. 30. Rom. vi. 12, 13; Hebrews xiii. 4. Rom. i. 24; 1 Thess. iv. 4.-" Chap. iii. 16; 2 Cor. vi. 16. Rom. xiv. 7, 8.

to maintain habitual temperance in the use of meat and drink.

Verses 19, 20. Know ye not, &c.-As if he had said, There is another view in which the baseness of this crime must appear to you, Christians, in consequence of your relation to that blessed agent, the Spirit of God. For your body is the temple of God -Dedicated to him, and inhabited by him; even by that Spirit which is in you-As true believers in Jesus, John vii. 37, 38; Eph. i. 13. Which ye haveWhich you receive; of God-As a most important, most necessary gift, without which you could not be Christ's, Rom. viii. 9. What the apostle calls elseVerses 15-18. Know ye not that your bodies are where, the temple of God, (chap. iii. 16, 17,) and the the members of Christ-Mystically united to him, temple of the living God, (2 Cor. vi. 16,) he here. as well as your souls, if you are his true disciples, || styles the temple of the Holy Ghost; plainly showas you profess to be. Shall I then take the members of || ing that the Holy Ghost is the living God. The two Christ-My body, which is united to him, with its things, as Whitby observes, necessary to constitute members; and make them the members of a harlot a temple of God, belong to the bodies of believers: United to her, and used to gratify her sinful inclina- they are consecrated to God, and he resides in them. tions? Know ye not-Need I inform you; that he who "Excellent, therefore," says he, "is the inference of is joined to a harlot is one body with her? But he that Tertullian; that since all Christians are become the is joined unto the Lord-By faith and love; is one temple of God, by virtue of his Holy Spirit sent into spirit with him. And shall he make himself one their hearts, and consecrating their bodies to his serflesh with a harlot? Flee fornication-All unlawful vice, we should make chastity the keeper of this sa commerce with women, with speed, with abhor- cred house, and suffer nothing unclean or profane to rence, with all your might. Every sin that a man enter into it, lest the God who dwells in it, being disdoeth-Every other sin, except gluttony and drunk-pleased, should desert his habitation thus defiled." enness, or every other sin that a man commits | And ye are not your own-Even as to your bodies, against his neighbour; is without the body-Terminates in an object out of himself, and does not so immediately pollute his body, though it does his soul. But he that committeth fornication—Or any kind of lewdness; sinneth against his own body-precious blood of Christ, by which you have been Pollutes, dishonours, and degrades it to a level with brute beasts; and perhaps infects and enfeebles, wastes and consumes it, which these vices have a manifest tendency to do. Inasmuch as the person who is addicted to gluttony and drunkenness sins against his own body, as well as a fornicator, and debilitates it by introducing into it many painful and deadly diseases: in this prohibition of fornication, those vices likewise are comprehended, being indeed the ordinary concomitants of it. And the way to flee whoredom, is to banish out of the mind all lascivious imaginations, and to avoid carefully the objects and occasions of committing that vice, and

any more than your souls. Both are God's, not only by creation and preservation, but by redemption, being bought with a price; and that infinitely beyond what you can pretend to be worth, even the

redeemed out of the hands of divine justice, and through which, being put in possession of the Holy Spirit, you are rescued from the bondage of sin and Satan, and have become subjects and servants of Christ, who has thus obtained an eternal dominion over you: whose you are too by a voluntary donation of yourselves to him, and a mystical union with him as his temples. Therefore glorify God in your body-By temperance, chastity, purity; and in your spirit-By faith, hope, and love; humility, resignation, patience; by meekness, gentleness, long-suffering, and universal benevolence. Or, as the words may with equal propriety be rendered, Glorify him

The apostle now proceeds to answer certain questions which the Corinthians had put to him: and first those which related to the marriage state; with respect to which he determines, (1,) That, in some circumstances, it should be entered into and continued in, but in others forborne, 1-9. (2,) That for the honour of Christ, and for preserving the federal holiness of their children, married Christians should not separate from their heathen consorts, 10–16. (3,) That ordinarily, persons should be content to abide in that civil station in which they were first called to the faith of Christ, 17-24. (4) That marriage was not generally expedient in the distressed circumstances of the church at that time; and the rather, as all such things were very transitory, and marriage cares often hindered the service of God, 25-35. (5.) That great prudence, as well as piety, ought to be exercised in the marriage both of virgins and widows, 36–40.

4 The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.

b Let the husband render unto the wife due 5 Defraud ye not one the other, except it

A. M. 4063. be with consent for a time, that ye || I myself.

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But

of the married and single state.

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every man hath A. M. 4063. may give yourselves to fasting and his proper gift of God, one after this prayer; and come together again, that Satan || manner, and another after that. tempt you not for your incontinency.

d

8 I say therefore to the unmarried and 6 But I speak this by permission, and not widows, It is good for them if they abide of commandment.

7 For f I would that all men were g even as

even as I.

right of the wife to her husband's body, being here or disposition of another. And not of commandment represented as precisely the same with the husband's-Not as an injunction. Or, as some commentators right to her body, it excludes the husband from si- suppose, he may refer to what follows. For I would multaneous polygamy; otherwise the right of the that all men-All the disciples of Christ who are unhusband to his wife's body would not exclude her married, and can live chastely, were even as I myfrom being married to another, during her husband's self-That is, would remain eunuchs for the kingdom lifetime. Besides, the direction, (verse 2,) let every of heaven's sake; or, that they could as easily bear woman have her own husband, plainly leads to the the restraints of a single life in present circumstansame conclusion. The right of the wife to her hus- ces, and exercise as resolute a command over their band's body is a perfect right, being founded on the natural desires. Paul, having tasted the sweetness ends of marriage, namely, the procreation of chil- of this liberty, wished others to enjoy it as well as dren, their proper education, and the prevention of himself. But every man hath his proper gift of fornication. But these ends would, in a great mea- God-According to our Lord's declaration, All men sure, be frustrated, if the wife had not an exclusive cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is right to her husband's person.”—Macknight, given, Matt. xix. 11.

Verses 5-7. Defraud not-Or deprive not; one the other-Of this benevolence; or withdraw not from the company of each other; except it be with || consent for a time, that—On those special and solemn occasions, you may entirely give yourselves || up to the exercises of devotion. From this passage it appears, that, in the first age, when married persons parted for a time to employ themselves in the duties of devotion, they lived in separate habitations, or rather in different parts of their own house. For in the eastern countries the houses were so built, that the women had apartments allotted to themselves. And come together again-As usual, and do not continue the separation too long; that Satan tempt you not-To unclean thoughts, if not actions too, which he probably might do, if you should long remain separate from each other; for your incontinency-The word akpasia, thus translated, properly signifies, the want of the government of one's passions and appetites. It is properly observed here by Dr. Macknight, "that marriage being an affair of the greatest importance to society, it was absolutely necessary that its obligation and duties, as well as the obligation and duties of the other relations of life, should be declared by inspiration in the Scriptures. || This passage, therefore, of the word of God ought to be read with due reverence, both because it was dictated by the Holy Spirit, and because throughout the whole of his discourse the apostle has used the greatest chastity and delicacy of expression." But I speak this-That which I have said, for the preventing of incontinency, both in the unmarried, (verse 2,) and married, (verse 5,) by permissionFrom Christ, to leave you to your liberty therein, if you have the gift of continency. Or, as an advice, as some render kara ovyуvwunv. Bengelius says the word denotes an opinion, rightly suited to the state

Verses 8, 9. I say, therefore-I give this advice; to the unmarried and widows, It is good for themIt is a condition of life which will tend to promote their eternal welfare, that, if they conveniently can, they abide even as I—Namely, unmarried; for that Paul was then single is certain: and from Acts vii. 58, compared with the following parts of the history, it seems probable that he always was so. It may not be improper to observe, that many of the things which the apostle delivers here, as also chap. xiv., and in some other parts of this epistle, are rather to be considered as advices about what was best to be done in many particular cases, to which the general precepts, or doctrine of the gospel revealed to this apostle, did not descend, than as commands, enjoining these things to the believers, under the penalty of their contracting guilt, and exposing themselves to the divine displeasure, if they did not comply with them. Yet these also were directions, or counsels of the Lord, concerning what was expeIdient to be done, and were delivered to the apostle by the infallible inspiration of the Holy Spirit, (as appears by comparing 1 Cor. xiv. 37; 2 Cor. i. 17; 1 Thess. iv. 1, 2, 8; with 1 Cor. xiv. 40,) and were faithfully delivered by him; and therefore the assent of the Corinthians is required to them as such. See the like advice concerning some particular charities of the Corinthians, 2 Cor. viii. 8, 10; the apostle distinguishing between the commands of God, which none might disobey without sin, and these advices, concerning what was fitting and proper, though not absolutely necessary. And therefore, as he directs, that it was better to observe them, so he acknowledges that there was no command that made it unlawful to omit them. But if they cannot-Live continently, or preserve themselves in purity of body and spirit in a single state; let them marry—Espe

I. CORINTHIANS.

A. M. 4063. ry: for it is better to marry than to || let not the husband put away his A. M. 4063.

12 But to the rest speak I," not the Lord; If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not un-put her away.

I Verses 12, 25, 40.- -m Mal. ii. 14, 16; Matt. v. 32; xix. 6, 9; Mark x. 11, 12; Luke xvi. 19.- n Verse 6.