Author: David Hull-Frye

1 Corinthians 6:7-20
7 The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? 8 Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters. 9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
12 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. 13 You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! 16 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.” 17 But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.
18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

The Corinthian Church was a church crisis.  A reading of First Corinthians details the many issues this young church faced and the crisis that threatened their congregation.

For the Corinthians their sexuality was an important aspect of their lives. Their motto: “I am free to do anything” applied also to their understanding of sexuality.

In chapters 5 and 6, Paul says, “hold on, our bodies are temples of God and should be treated

as such.”

In the modern church, , we also have a sexuality crisis. Namely, is homo

sexuality a sin. So Christians say yes while others say no. We need to understand however that sexuality is not as simple as yes or no. Our sexuality is a gift from God, which makes it a matter of faith. Simplifying it into a right or wrong or conservative or liberal issue diminishes the gift of sexuality.

How do you understand human sexuality? Is it a gift from God?

Read: 1 Corinthians 1 – 6; 2 Corinthians 1 – 6, Genesis 1 and 2.

Resources:
United Methodist Stance on Sexuality: http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/human-sexuality-backgrounder and http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/human-sexuality-homosexuality