Meat for the belly, and the belly for the meats; but God shall destroy both it and them: but the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

“Whence also he says, that this handiwork is "the temple of God," thus declaring: "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man, therefore, will defile the temple of God, him will God destroy: for the temple of God is holy, which [temple] ye are." Here he manifestly declares the body to be the temple in which the Spirit dwells. As also the Lord speaks in reference to Himself, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. He spake this, however," it is said, "of the temple of His body." And not only does he (the apostle) acknowledge our bodies to be a temple, but even the temple of Christ, saying thus to the Corinthians, "Know ye not that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot?" He speaks these things, not in reference to some other spiritual man; for a being of such a nature could have nothing to do with an harlot: but he declares "our body," that is, the flesh which continues in sanctity and purity, to be "the members of Christ;" but that when it becomes one with an harlot, it becomes the members of an harlot. And for this reason he said, "If any man defile the temple of God, him will God destroy." How then is it not the utmost blasphemy to allege, that the temple of God, in which the Spirit of the Father dwells, and the members of Christ, do not partake of salvation, but are reduced to perdition? Also, that our bodies are raised not from their own substance, but by the power of God, he says to the Corinthians, "Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. But God hath both raised up the Lord, and shall raise us up by His own power."”

“"Desire not," says the Scripture, "rich men's dainties;" for they belong to a false and base life. They partake of luxurious dishes, which a little after go to the dunghill. But we who seek the heavenly bread must rule the belly, which is beneath heaven, and much more the things which are agreeable to it, which "God shall destroy," says the apostle, justly execrating gluttonous desires. For "meats are for the belly," for on them depends this truly carnal and destructive life...”

“But why is Christ our passover, if the passover be not a type of Christ, in the similitude of the blood which saves, and of the Lamb, which is Christ? Why does (the apostle) clothe us and Christ with symbols of the Creator's solemn rites, unless they had relation to ourselves? When, again, he warns us against fornication, he reveals the resurrection of the flesh. "The body," says he, "is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body," just as the temple is for God, and God for the temple.”

“"Meats for the belly." By "the belly" here he means not the stomach, but the stomach's voraciousness. As when he says, "Whose God is their belly:" not speaking about that part of the body, but about greediness. To prove that so it is, hear what follows: "And the belly for meats; but the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord." And yet "the belly" also is of "the body." But he puts down two pairs of things, "meats" and gluttony, (which he terms "the belly;") "Christ," and "the body." What then is the meaning of, "Meats for the belly?" "Meats," he says, are on good terms with gluttony, and it with them. It cannot therefore lead us unto Christ, but drags towards these. For it is a strong and brutal passion, and makes us slaves, and puts us upon ministering to the belly. Why then art thou excited and gaping after food, O man? For the end of that service is this, and nothing further shall be seen of it: but as one was waiting on some mistress, it abides keeping up this slavery, and advances no further, and has no other employment but this same fruitless one. And the two are connected together and destroyed together; "the belly" with "the meats," and "the meats" with "the belly;" winding out a sort of interminable course; just as from a corrupt body worms may be produced, and again by worms the body consumed; or as it were a wave swoln high and breaking, and having no further effect. But these things he says not concerning food and the body, but it is the passion of greediness and excess in eatables which he is censuring: and what follows shews it. For he proceeds: "But God shall bring to nought both it and them:" speaking not of the stomach, but of immoderate desire: not of food but of high feeding. For with the former he is not angry, but even lays down rules about them, saying, "Having food and covering we shall be therewith content." However, thus he stigmatizes the whole thing; its amendment (after advice given) being left by him to prayer. But some say that the words are a prophecy, declaring the state which shall be in the life to come, and that there is no eating or drinking there. Now if that which is moderate shall have an end, much more ought we to abstain from excess. Then lest any one should suppose that the body is the object of his censure, and suspect that from a part he is blaming the whole, and say that the nature of the body was the cause of gluttony or of fornication, hear what follows. "I blame not," he says, "the nature of the body, but the immoderate license of the mind." And therefore he subjoins, "Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord;" for it was not formed for this purpose, to live riotously and commit fornication, as neither was the belly to be greedy; but that it might follow Christ as a Head, and that the Lord might be set over the body. Let us be overcome with shame, let us be horror-struck, that after we have been counted worthy of such great honor as to become members of Him that sitteth on high, we defile ourselves with so great evils.”

“And again, when the Apostle Paul is read, and he heareth from him, "Everything which was created by God is holy, and nothing is to be rejected if it be received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified through the word of God and prayer;" or another verse, "The belly for meats, and meats for the belly;" or that also which he spake, "Let not him that eateth not judge him that eateth." And in the other things like unto these which are written in the doctrine of Paul, the fool rejoiceth, and receiveth them gladly, without understanding the reason of the words. And the glutton is not pleased to hear the other things which have been written by Paul upon fortitude and asceticism, either when he recounteth his numerous fastings, or when he crieth out to his disciples, saying, "Ye are dead unto the world," or when he writeth, "It is good for a man not to eat flesh, and not to drink wine," or his exhortation, "Through many tribulations it is meet for a man to enter into the kingdom of God," or his saying, "God shall bring both the belly and the food to nought;" and the reading of these and such like passages the glutton considereth unnecessary, and he is not pleased even to hear them. Let us say unto each other that which hath been said unto us by the Apostle, "The belly for meats, and meats for the belly, but God will bring them both to nought." The body then is not for fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body, to Whom be glory from us all for ever.”

“Wherefore, lest either gluttonous appetite throw the one sort off their guard, or the afflicted flesh trip up the other by elation, let the former hear this from the mouth of the Truth, "And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged in surfeiting and drunkenness and cares of this world." And in the same place there is added a profitable fear; "And so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth." Let the latter hear, "Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man." Let the former hear, "Meat for the belly, and the belly for meats; but God shall destroy both it and them." And again, "Not in rioting and drunkenness." And again, "Meat commendeth us not to God." Let the latter hear, "To the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure." Let the former hear, "Whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their own confusion." Let the latter hear, "Some shall depart from the faith;" and a little after, "Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth." Let those hear, "It is good neither to eat flesh nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth." Let these hear, "Use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities." Thus both the former may learn not to desire inordinately the food of the flesh, and the latter not dare to condemn the creature of God, which they lust not after.”

“After the Apostle rebuked the Corinthians for going to law before unbelieving judges, he here rebukes them concerning the judgments themselves. And about this he does two things. First he sets down in what they were sinning concerning judgments; second he makes plain what he had said, at the words *or do you not know*, etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he rebukes in them, concerning judgments, that which is lawful but not expedient; second, that which is altogether unlawful, at the words *but you*, etc. Concerning the first he does two things: first he sets down the rebuke; second he removes the excuse, at the words *why do you not rather*, etc. He says therefore first: it was said, that brother goes to law with brother, that it is not only evil that you contend before unbelievers, but *now indeed*, after your conversion, it is altogether *a fault among you*, that is, it is reckoned to you as a fault, *that you have lawsuits with one another*, among whom, that is, there ought to be peace: because, as it is said in 2 Tim. 2:24, *the servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but be gentle toward all*. It appears, however, from this, as the Gloss of Augustine says here, that it is a sin to have a lawsuit against anyone; but this seems to be false: because if it is a sin to have a lawsuit, it seems to follow that it is likewise a sin to appoint judges, since this would be to give occasion to those who have lawsuits, whereas it is said in Deut. 1:16: *hear them, and judge what is just*, and afterward it is added, *because it is the judgment of God*. This is resolved in the Gloss: that it is permitted to the weak to seek back their own goods in a lawsuit, but not to the perfect: to whom it is permitted to seek their own goods, but not in a lawsuit. Now here it must be known that a certain thing is unlawful to the perfect, and a certain thing to all. The perfect indeed have no property of their own, according to Matt. 19:21: *if you wish to be perfect, go and sell all that you have, and give to the poor, and come, follow me*; and therefore it is not lawful for them to seek things back in a lawsuit as their own, since it is not lawful for them to have anything as their own, though it is lawful for them to seek back in a lawsuit those things which are common. For in doing this they do not sin, but rather merit. For it is a work of charity to defend or recover the goods of the poor, according to Ps. 81:4: *rescue the poor, and deliver the needy out of the hand of the sinner*. But a lawsuit against someone is unlawful to all as regards three things. First indeed as regards the cause from which someone has a lawsuit, namely from cupidity and avarice. Whence, in Luke 12:13, when a certain man from the crowd had said to the Lord: *tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me*, the Lord said: *who has appointed me a judge to divide between you?* Afterward he adds: *see and beware of all covetousness*. Second, as regards the manner of the lawsuit, namely because they pursue the lawsuit with contention and to the detriment of peace; for as it is said in James 3:16, *where there is envy and contention, there is instability and every evil work*. And this the Apostle appears to rebuke in them, as is clear from what he said above: *brother goes to law with brother*. Third, from the perversity of the judgment, as when someone proceeds unjustly and fraudulently in a lawsuit, according to Is. 10:2: *that they might oppress the poor, and do violence to the cause of the humble of my people*. And this too the Apostle rebukes in them, as is clear from what he adds: *but you do injury*. Fourth, on account of the scandal that follows. Whence the Lord also commands, in Matt. 5:40: *he who wishes to contend with you at law, and take away your tunic, let go to him your cloak also*. From charity, however, it is lawful to seek back one's own goods in a lawsuit. Whence Gregory says in the Morals: *when necessity imposes on us care of goods, some, while they seek them back, are only to be tolerated: some, however, while charity is preserved, are to be prevented*, namely lest, seizing what is not their own, they destroy themselves. Then when he says *why do you not rather*, etc., he removes the excuse. For they could say: necessity leads us to have lawsuits, namely so that we may resist the injuries and frauds of others; but he excludes this, adding, as regards the first, *why do you not rather accept injury*, namely manifest injury, that is, by patiently enduring it, according to what the Lord says, Matt. 5:39: *if anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer him the other also*. But as regards the second he adds *why do you not rather suffer fraud*, that is, deceitful seduction, according to Matt. 5:41: *if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two more*. But, as Augustine says in the book On the Sermon of the Lord on the Mount, these precepts of the Lord are not always to be observed in the execution of the deed, but are always to be held in the preparation of the mind, namely that we be ready rather to do or endure this, than to do anything against fraternal charity. Then when he says *but you*, etc., he rebukes in them that which is altogether unlawful. And first he charges them with manifest injustice, when he says *but you do injury*, namely by speaking manifestly against the justice of others, either in a lawsuit or outside a lawsuit. Ecclus. 9:17: *let not the injury of the unjust be pleasing to you*. Second, deceitful deception, when he adds *and you defraud*, Prov. 12:5: *the counsels of the wicked are deceitful*. Third, he aggravates both, when he adds *and this to brothers*, that is, to the faithful, to whom we ought most of all to do good, according to Gal. ult.: *while we have time, let us work good to all; but especially to those of the household of the faith*. And therefore against certain ones it is said in Jer. 9:4: *every brother will utterly supplant, and every friend will walk deceitfully*. Then, when he says *or do you not know*, etc., he makes plain what he had said. And first, as regards that which is altogether unlawful; second, as regards that which is lawful but not expedient, at the words *all things are lawful for me*. Concerning the first he does two things. First he raises the question; second he settles it, at the words *do not err*, etc. He says therefore first: I said that you do injury, and defraud, which is to commit iniquity, but *do you not know that the unjust will not possess the kingdom of God*? As if to say: you seem not to know this, since you do not depart from iniquity, whereas nevertheless it is said in Ps. 6:9 and Matt. 7:23: *depart from me, all you who work iniquity*. Then, when he says *do not err*, etc., he settles the truth. And first he shows the danger that threatens the unjust; second he shows how they themselves escaped this danger, so that they might fear to fall into it again, at the words *and this indeed you were once*, etc. He says therefore first: *do not err*, which he says pointedly, because concerning the impunity of sins some erred in many ways, according to Wis. 2:21: *and they thought, and they erred*. For some philosophers erred, believing that God has no care of human affairs, according to Zeph. 1:12: *the Lord will not do good, and he will not do evil*. Some, however, believing that faith alone is sufficient for salvation, according to John 11:26: *he who believes in me shall not die forever*. Some, however, believing that they are saved through the sacraments of Christ alone, on account of what is said in Mark ult.: *he who believes and is baptized shall be saved*, and John 6:55: *he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life*. Some, however, on account of works of mercy alone, think that they sin with impunity, on account of what is said in Luke 11:41: *give alms, and behold all things are clean for you*. Nor do they understand that all these things without charity do not profit, according to what is said below in 13:2 ff.: *if I have all faith, and distribute all my goods to feed the poor, but have not charity, it profits me nothing*. And therefore he adds that sins contrary to charity exclude from the kingdom of God, into which charity alone introduces, saying *neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers* (of whom it is said in Heb. ult.: *fornicators and adulterers God will judge*), *nor the effeminate*, that is, men suffering womanish things, *nor those who lie with males*, as regards those acting in that vice, of whom it is said in Gen. 13:13: *the men of Sodom were most wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly*, *nor the covetous, nor thieves* (of whom it is said in Zech. 5:3: *every thief, as it is written, shall be judged*), *nor the drunken, nor the reviling, nor the rapacious shall possess the kingdom of God*. For it is said in Is. 35:8: *it shall be called the holy way, the unclean shall not pass through it*. And Apoc. 21:27: *nothing defiled, or that works abomination, shall enter into it*. And it is to be noted that here he enumerates the same vices which he had set down in the preceding chapter. He adds, however, certain ones under the genus of lust, namely adultery and the vice against nature, and under the genus of injustice, theft. Then, when he says *and these indeed*, etc., he shows how they escaped the aforesaid danger. And first he recalls their past state, saying *and indeed you were once*, namely fornicators and serving idols, etc., and therefore he specially recalls these vices, because they had abounded in them, according to Eph. 5:8: *for you were once darkness, but now light in the Lord*. Second he shows how they were inwardly freed from these, saying *but you are washed*, namely by the power of the blood of Christ in Baptism, according to Apoc. 1:5: *he washed us from our sins in his own blood*. But *you are sanctified*, consecrated by grace through the power of the blood of Christ, according to Heb. ult.: *Jesus, that he might sanctify the people through his own blood, suffered outside the gate*. But *you are justified*, unto the state of justice and virtue, according to Rom. 8:30: *whom he called, these he also justified*. The cause of these benefits, however, is added. And first on the part of the humanity of Christ, when he says *in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ*, that is, in faith and invocation of the name of Christ, according to Acts 4:12: *there is no other name given under heaven to men, in which we must be saved*. Second on the part of the divinity, when he adds *and in the Spirit of our God*, according to Ezek. 37:5: *behold I will send into you the spirit, and you shall live*. Because therefore you have been freed by so powerful a power, you ought not to return to the same things. Then, when he says *all things are lawful for me*, etc., he makes plain what he had said about the prohibition of judgment, showing in what sense he rebuked it, namely that he did not rebuke it as altogether unlawful, but as inexpedient and harmful. And about this he does two things. First he proposes what he intends; second he assigns the reason, at the words *food for the belly*, etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he proposes what he had rebuked as being lawful, but not expedient, saying *all things are lawful for me*. Now those things are called lawful which a man is not prohibited from doing; but prohibition is twofold, one of coercion, the other of precept, and according to this some have understood that those things are lawful which are not forbidden by any compelling necessity; and therefore, since the free choice of man is by nature free from coercion, they understood the Apostle to say in this sense: *all things are lawful for me*, namely because they are subject to the free choice of man, whether they be good or whether they be evil, according to Ecclus. 15:18: *before man is good and evil, life and death, whatever he shall choose shall be given to him*. But this manner of speaking is foreign to sacred Scripture, in which it is said that those things are not lawful which are forbidden by divine law, according to Matt. 14:4: *it is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife*. And therefore what the Apostle here says, *all things are lawful for me*, cannot be understood absolutely, but is to be taken as a fitting distribution under this sense: all things are lawful for me, namely those which are not forbidden by divine law. And this can be referred to three things: first indeed to what he had said about lawsuits, namely that it is lawful for each one to seek back all his own goods in a lawsuit, since this is not forbidden by divine law. In another way it can be referred to what he is about to say below in 8:8 about the indifferent use of foods, so that the sense is: it is lawful for me to eat all foods, according to Titus 1:15: *all things are clean to the clean*. Third it can be referred to what he is about to say below in 9:4 ff., about receiving expenses, so that the sense is: *all things are lawful for me*, namely to receive for the necessity of life, just as to my fellow apostles. He adds, however, *but not all things are expedient*. Now that is said to be expedient which is without impediment to the attaining of the end. But it happens that something does not totally exclude the end, yet brings some impediment, just as marriage does not exclude a man from the kingdom of God, yet it brings an impediment, because, namely, as he says below in 7:34, *the woman who is under a husband thinks how she may please her husband*. Whence, in Matt. 19:10, the disciples say: *if the case of a man with his wife is so, it is not expedient to marry*. Thus therefore to fornicate is neither lawful nor expedient, because it totally excludes the end, which is eternal life; but marriage is lawful, but not expedient. According, therefore, to this manner, to seek back one's own goods in a lawsuit, to use all foods indifferently, to receive expenses from those to whom one preaches, is indeed lawful, because it is not against justice, nor is it forbidden by any law; yet it is not expedient, either because peace toward one's neighbor is impeded, or some scandal is generated for the weak, or some occasion of reviling is afforded; whence Ecclus. 37:31: *not all things are expedient for all*. In another way it can be understood not absolutely, but under a condition, so that the sense is: I said that neither fornicators, etc., will possess the kingdom of God, and therefore they are not lawful, because they exclude the end; but if all things were lawful for me, not all things are expedient, because through them an impediment is afforded to human life. Whence in the person of the wicked it is said in Wis. 5:7: *we were wearied in the way of iniquity and perdition, and we walked difficult ways*. Second he shows that what he rebuked above is harmful, saying *all things are lawful for me*, as was explained above, *but I will not be brought under the power of any*, namely of man. For he who uses that which is not expedient, whether lawful or unlawful, is in a certain way brought under the power of some thing, or of some man. Of a thing indeed, because he who loves some thing too much becomes in a certain way the slave of that thing, according to Rom. ult.: *such as these do not serve Christ the Lord, but their own belly*. But of a man, because while someone does what is not expedient, he is in a certain way subjected to the judgment of others, and especially he who seeks back his own goods in a lawsuit is subjected to the power of a judge. Below in 10:29: *for why is my liberty judged by another's conscience?* Then, when he says *food for the belly*, etc., he assigns the reason for what he had said. And first why all things are lawful, saying *food for the belly*, namely is owed, so that, namely, being digested in the belly, it may pass into nourishment for the whole body. *And the belly for foods*, namely it serves for receiving and digesting them. Since, therefore, by God's ordination the belly is intent on receiving foods, and foods are appointed for this, that they be placed in the belly, according to Gen. 1:29 f.: *behold I have given you every food, and to all living things, that they may have it to eat*, it is not unlawful that a man seek back his own goods, or that a preacher receive wages on account of the necessity of food, or even that a man use all foods. Second, at the words *but God*, etc., he assigns the reason why not all things are expedient. For it is not expedient that a man suffer any detriment in that which is never corrupted, namely in the heavenly kingdom, on account of that which is corrupted; and this happens with food and the belly. For after this life the use of foods and of the belly will cease, because the bodies of those rising again will be preserved without food, God bringing this about. And this is what he means: *but God will destroy*, that is, will cause to cease, *this*, namely the belly, not indeed as regards its essence, but as regards the effect which it now has; *and these*, namely foods, as far as they pertain to man's use, because in the resurrection men will be like the Angels in heaven, as it is said in Matt. 22:30.”

“Meats for the belly and the belly for meats 1. Although it is lawful for me to eat of every kind of food, yet I will not allow desire for any food to get the mastery over me, and make me a slave to my belly. a. Ambrose and S. Thomas understand these words to refer to his personal expenses, and to mean — Though it is lawful for me as a preacher of the Gospel to receive from you means of support, yet I will not receive it, lest I become chargeable to any one and lose my liberty. The Apostle after his manner joins together various disconnected matters, which he knew would be intelligible in other ways to t{iose to whom he was writing. 3. The best rendering is to refer these words, with Anseltn and S. Thomas, to what had been said above about judgments : I have said these things against going to law, not because it is unlawful in itself for a man to seek to regain his own at law, but because I am unwilling for you to be brought under the power of any one, whether he be judge, advocate, or procurator, especially when they are of the unbelievers. S. Bernard (de Constd, lib. iii.) says, moralising: “ The spiritual man will, before undertaking any work, ask himself three questions, Is it lawful ? Is it becoming l Is it expedient l For although, as is well known in the Christian philosophy, nothing is becoming save what is lawful, and nothing is expedient save what is both lawful and becoming, nevertheless it does not follow that all that is lawful is necessarily also becoming or expedient .” Why, says S. Paul, do you enter on lawsuits for the sake of worldly good, which for the most part serves only for the belly and its meats ? For food is but a perishing and mean thing, made but to be cast into the belly. The belly too is the lowest part of man, made only to cook, digest, cast forth, and corrupt the food, and is a vessel containing all that is disgusting. Both food and belly shall be destroyed, for both shall be food for worms; and though the belly shall rise again, yet it will no longer take in food. Secondly, it should be observed that the Apostle here purposely introduces gluttony, because it is the mother of lust, which he then proceeds Digitized by v^,ooQle THE LAW OF PURITY 113 to condemn. So Theophylact Hence in the passage bearing the name of S. Athanasius (qu. 133 ad Antioch .), the belly here is understood to mean gluttony and drunkenness. The belly has its desire to drunkenness, and drunkenness to it ; but he who is thus given up to serve his belly cannot serve God, but is the slave of his belly, and therefore shall be destroyed of God. This passage is plainly not the writing of S. Athanasius, for earlier (qu. 23) Athanasius himself is quoted, and differed from ; moreover, Epiphanius and Gregory of Nyssa are quoted, who lived after Athanasius. But God shall destroy both it and them. In death and the resurrection, in such a way that the belly will no longer be for meats, nor will there be meats to fill the belly. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body . It was not meant, or given us, for such an end, but that with chaste body we should serve the Lord, and follow Him, our Head, with pure and holy lives. So Anselm. So also is Christ given to our body to be its head and crown. Or the Lord is for the body in another sense, according to Ambrose and Anselm, viz., that He is the reward for the body that is chaste and pure, and He will give it incorruption and immortality. The first meaning is the simpler, for S. Paul proceeds to speak of the resurrection”

“Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats,.... All sort of food is appointed and provided to satisfy the appetite and stomach, to fill the belly, and nourish the body; and the belly, and all the parts through which the food passes, are purposely formed by God for the reception and digestion of the food, for its secretion, chylification, and nutrition by it, and the ejection of the excermentitious parts. But God shall destroy both it and them: at death, and in the grave, when the one shall be consumed, and the other be needless and useless; and though that part of the body, with the rest, will be raised at the last day, since the body will be raised perfect, consisting of all its parts; yet there will be no appetite, no desire in the stomach after meats, no need of them to fill the belly, and so no use of these parts for such purposes as they now are; for the children of the resurrection will be like the angels, and stand in no need of eating and drinking. Now the body is not for fornication. Though meats are appointed for the belly, and the belly for them, and this and the other sort of meats are of an indifferent kind, which may or may not be used; yet this cannot be said of fornication, which the Corinthians, and other Gentiles, took to be equally indifferent as meats; but the apostle shows there is not the same reason for the one as the other. The body was not originally made and appointed for fornication; this is quite besides the will of God, who has provided marriage as a remedy against it: but for the Lord; for Jesus Christ, for whom a body was prepared in God's council and covenant; and for the sake of which, and after the exemplar of it in God's eternal mind, the body of man was first formed; and which was also made, as after the image, so for the glory of Christ, to be a member of his, to be redeemed by him, and to serve him in, in righteousness and holiness, and at last to be raised by him, and made like to his glorious body at the great day. And the Lord for the body; he was preordained in the council of God, and provided in the covenant of grace, and sent in the fulness of time to be a Redeemer and Saviour of the body, as well as the soul; to be a sanctifier of it, and the raiser of it up from the dead in the resurrection; all which are so many arguments to dissuade from the sin of fornication.”

“Meats for the belly - I suppose that κοιλια means the animal appetite, or propensity to food, etc., and we may conceive the apostle to reason thus: I acknowledge that God has provided different kinds of aliments for the appetite of man, and among others those which are generally offered to idols; and he has adapted the appetite to these aliments, and the aliments to the appetite: but God shall destroy both it and them; none of these is eternal; all these lower appetites and sensations will be destroyed by death, and have no existence in the resurrection body; and the earth and its productions shall be burnt up. Now the body is not for fornication - Though God made an appetite for food, and provided food for that appetite, yet he has not made the body for any uncleanness, nor indulgence in sensuality; but he has made it for Christ; and Christ was provided to be a sacrifice for this body as well as for the soul, by taking our nature upon him; so that now, as human beings, we have an intimate relationship to the Lord; and our bodies are made not only for his service, but to be his temples.”

“&c. Meat for the belly. That is, meat is necessary for the support of nature, though this or that kind of meat be indifferent: and we ought to reflect, that God in a short time will destroy both the meats, and the appetite of eating, and the body shall shortly die, but it shall rise again. — Know you not that your bodies are the members of Christ…. and the temple of the Holy Ghost. Man consists of soul and body; by baptism he is made a member of that same mystical body, the Church, of which Christ is the head: In baptism both the soul and body are consecrated to God: they are made the temple of the Holy Ghost, inasmuch as the spirit and grace of God inhabits in men, who are sanctified. Christ redeemed both our souls and bodies, both which he designs to sanctify, and to glorify hereafter in heaven; so that we must look upon both body and soul as belonging to Christ, and not as our own. — Shall I, then, taking the members of Christ, make them the members of an harlot, by a shameful and unlawful commerce? — Fly fornication. Such sins are chiefly to be avoided by flight, and by avoiding the occasions and temptations. Other sins are not committed by such an injury done to the body, but by an abuse of something else, that is different from the body, but by fornication and sins of uncleanness, the body itself is defiled and dishonoured, whereas the body ought to be considered as if it were not our own, being redeemed by our Saviour Christ, consecrated to him, with an expectation of a happy resurrection, and of being glorified in heaven. Endeavour, therefore, to glorify God in your body, by employing it in his service, and bear him in your body by being obedient to his will. (Witham) — We know and we believe that we carry about Jesus Christ in our bodies, but it is the shame and condemnation of a Christian to live as if he neither knew or believed it. If fornication is a great crime in a pagan, in a Christian it is a species of sacrilege, accompanied with injustice and ingratitude. Whoever yields to impurity, converts his body into the temple of Satan, glorifies and carries him about, tearing away the members of Jesus Christ, to make them the members of a harlot.”

“The argument drawn from the indifference of meats (Co1 8:8; Rom 14:14, Rom 14:17; compare Mar 7:18; Col 2:20-22) to that of fornication does not hold good. Meats doubtless are indifferent, since both they and the "belly" for which they are created are to be "destroyed" in the future state. But "the body is not (created) for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body" (as its Redeemer, who hath Himself assumed the body): "And God hath raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us" (that is our bodies): therefore the "body" is not, like the "belly," after having served a temporary use, to be destroyed: Now "he that committeth fornication, sinneth against his own body" (Co1 6:18). Therefore fornication is not indifferent, since it is a sin against one's own body, which, like the Lord for whom it is created, is not to be destroyed, but to be raised to eternal existence. Thus Paul gives here the germ of the three subjects handled in subsequent sections: (1) The relation between the sexes. (2) The question of meats offered to idols. (3) The resurrection of the body. shall destroy--at the Lord's coming to change the natural bodies of believers into spiritual bodies (Co1 15:44, Co1 15:52). There is a real essence underlying the superficial phenomena of the present temporary organization of the body, and this essential germ, when all the particles are scattered, involves the future resurrection of the body incorruptible.”