Have you ever heard someone describe someone else, saying something like, “He’s his own
man,” or, “She’s her own woman”? This phrase is used to describe someone who has an
independent or headstrong personality, someone who knows what he or she wants and goes after
it. If I say, “I’m my own man,” I’m saying that I’m not a follower who goes along with the
crowd, but rather someone who is self-reliant, who is not afraid to make his own decisions, and
ultimately answers to himself. This character trait is generally considered to be a good thing to
have. Take it away, and the world sees a “sheep,” a weak person who lets someone else handle
the decisions and is content to just sit in the background and do as they’re told.
As Christians, however, none of us is “his own man,” or “her own woman.” Yet this is not a
weakness! In fact, the Heidelberg Catechism calls this our “only comfort in life and in death!”
Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 1, Q1:
Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death?
A. That I am not my own, but belong – body and soul, in life and in death – to my
faithful savior Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and
has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that
not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven: in fact, all
things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to Him, Christ, by his Holy
Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from
now on to live for him.
Let’s take a look at I Corinthians 6:19-20. We’ll be focusing our attention on the latter part of
verse 19, along with verse 20.
I Corinthians 6:19-20 (NKJV)
“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit Who is in you,
Whom you have in God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price;
therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
You Are Not Your Own
The first point that we will examine is that “you are not your own.” This raises the
question, “To Whom do we belong?” In Ezekiel 18:4, God says, “Behold, all souls are Mine; The
soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine.” As Creator, all things – including all
people – certainly belong to God, and He is free to do with them as He pleases (Romans
9:14-24). Yet we also see in John 8:44 that some belong to the devil. So what exactly is this
passage telling us?
In John 15:19, Christ addresses His disciples, saying “You are not of the world, but I chose you
out of the world.” God has chosen for Himself a people, made up of individuals from all nations,
classes, races, etc. While every human being belongs to God as Creator, this chosen people – the
elect – belong to Him in a special way, as Redeemer.
Romans 1:6 refers to believers as “the called of Jesus Christ.” Romans 7:4 says that we are
“married to another – to Him who was raised from the dead.” Romans 14:8 says that “if we live,
we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore whether we live or die, we are
the Lord’s.” Also, Galatians 5:24 refers to “those who are Christ’s.”
I Corinthians 3:23 plainly says that “you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.”
I Corinthians 6:19 says that “your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you
have from God.” The temple belongs to God, not man, thus we cannot think of ourselves as
independent – we, as temples of the Holy Spirit, belong to God (Morris 104).
You Were Bought With A Price
Now that we have established that we as believers, the elect of God, belong to Christ, and not to
ourselves, the next question to be answered is, “How did we come to belong to Christ?” The
present passage states that we have been “bought at a price.” Paul repeats this later in I
Corinthians 7:23. What exactly is this price?
In Acts 20:28, Paul addresses the elders of the church of Ephesus, instructing them to “take heed
to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to
shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.” In Revelation 5:9, John
records that he saw the four living creatures and twenty-four elders singing before the Lamb,
who is Christ, “You were slain, and have purchased us for God with Your blood out of every tribe
and tongue and people and nation.”
The Greek word here translated as “bought” and “purchased” (sometimes “redeemed”) is
agorazo, from agora, meaning marketplace. Paul’s language in this passage emphasizes Christ’s
ownership of believers. If I go to the bookstore and pay money buy a book (or two, or seven), I
say that the book is mine; it belongs to me. How much more, then, do we belong to Christ, our
Creator, who paid for us, not with money, but by the shedding of His own precious blood? The
answer is: utterly and completely. As the Heidelberg Catechism says, “body and soul, in life and
in death.”
Christ’s claim on believers does not end with their life, but also extends over their death, so that
whatever we do, even dying, is done to the honor and glory of Christ.
Romans 14:7-9
“For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the
Lord; and we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the
Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of
both the dead and the living.”
Glorify God
Verse 20 contains a “therefore,” an important indicator word that means the writer is drawing a
conclusion. In this case, Paul is instructing his readers that since they have been bought at a
price, and thus belong to God, they are to “glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are
God’s.” What does it mean to “glorify God”? This is a phrase that we as Christians often hear,
and most have a pretty good idea of what it means, but some may never have taken the time to
really consider what it means to “glorify” our Lord.
The Greek word for “glorify” is doxazo. It can be defined as follows:
1. to think, suppose, be of opinion
2. to praise, extol, magnify, celebrate
3. to honor, do honor to, hold in honor
4. to make glorious, adorn with luster, clothe with splendor
a. to impart glory to something, render it excellent
b. to cause the dignity and worth of some person or thing to become manifest and
acknowledged.
Now, it is plain that we as creatures cannot impart glory to God our Creator, in the sense of
actually causing Him to be glorious. He is inherently, naturally the epitome of Glory; He does
not need us to make Him so. Therefore, in this context, we can reject this one meaning for
doxazo. The rest, however, apply perfectly to Paul’s context. We can certainly glorify God in the
first sense (think, suppose, opine), recognizing and believing that God is glorious. We can glorify
God in the second sense, praising and celebrating His holy magnificence in our daily worship of
Him. We can glorify God in the third sense, honoring Him with our words and deeds, and
respecting Him and His Word above all others. We can also glorify God in the last sense listed,
by spreading the word to others about His dignity and worthiness of all honor, glory, and praise.
Scripture provides us with many examples of how to glorify God. The best way is to obey God’s
commands:
-John 15:8 “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My
disciples.”
-John 17:4 “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have
given Me to do.”
We can also glorify God with our words:
-Mark 2:12 “All were amazed and glorified God, saying, ‘We never saw anything like
this!’”
-Luke 2:20 “The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that
they had heard and seen.”
-Luke 5:25-26 “Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on,
and departed to his own house, glorifying God. And they were all amazed,
and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, ‘We have seen
strange things today!’”
-Luke 7:16 “Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, ‘A great prophet
has risen up among us’; and, ‘God has visited His people.’”
-Acts 11:18 “When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God,
saying, ‘Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.’”
-Romans 15:5-6 “Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded
toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you may with
one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ.”
Glorify God in Your Body
Now that we have a general sense of what it means to glorify God, how do we put it into practice
as Paul says, “glorify God in your body”? The immediate context of I Corinthians 6:13-7:40
refers to sexual purity. We are to respect and obey God’s commands regarding marriage and
fidelity, even before we are actually married.
God has given us our bodies, to also be the temple of the Holy Spirit. Thus we ought to be good
stewards, or caretakers, of our bodies, maintaining good health practices.
The great Baptist theologian, John Gill, explained what it means to “glorify God in your body”
this way:
“Outward attendance on His worship… confessing and speaking well of Him; by acting
for Him, laying out and using time, strength, and substance, for His honor and interest;
and by patient suffering for His name’s sake.”
Glorify God… in Your Spirit
While the command to “glorify God in your body” emphasizes the need for outward purity,
“glorify God… in your spirit” emphasizes the need for inward purity. This is the part of ourselves
that nobody sees but us, and of course God.
We ought to use our mind to think Godly thoughts.
-II Corinthians 10:5 “bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ”
-Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble,
whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever
things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy –
meditate on these things.”
Gill wrote that glorifying God in your spirit was “done when the heart or spirit is given up to
Him, and is engaged in His service, and when His glory lies near unto it.”
Conclusion
In conclusion, God’s Word is urging us to glorify Him with our entire self, because He has
purchased us, and we fully belong to Him. Brothers and sisters, listen to the words of the
Heidelberg Catechism, and recognize that our only comfort is that we are not our own, but
belong, body and soul, to our Lord Jesus Christ. But don’t stop there; use each day to glorify
God in your body and spirit: praise Him, magnify Him, celebrate Him, honor Him, and tell
others about Him! We have been bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ, and we are not
our own.
Resources
Gill, John. Exposition of the Old and New Testaments.
Morris, Leon. The First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians. “Tyndale New Testament
Commentaries.”
The Sovereign Logos 