1 Corinthians 6:17 But he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit. It was the wont of the apostle to associate the commonest duties of life with the highest motives drawn from spiritual realities and relations, in dissuading from the sin of impurity, he might have adduced considerations drawn from physical laws or from social conditions; but it is more in harmony with his convictions and habits to appeal to the loftiest principles of the Christian religion. I. THE BOND WHICH UNITES CHRISTIANS TO THEIR LORD. It is a personal relation which is here asserted, and evidently not one of mere external association, but of vital and spiritual union. 1. It is a bond of faith. "Whom not having seen," etc. Christians receive with cordiality the gospel concerning Christ; they receive Christ himself to dwell in their hearts by faith. 2. It is a bond of love. They are joined to him as the bride to the bridegroom, in a spiritual affection, in love "stronger than death." 3. It is a bond of affinity. Drawn to Jesus as sinners to the Saviour, they remain with him as friends congenial in character, in disposition, and in aims. II. THE CONSEQUENT UNITY BETWEEN CHRISTIANS AND THEIR LORD. They are "one spirit." 1. They are in a spirit of subjection to the Father, whose will and law are authoritative and supreme. 2. They are one in the love of all that is holy and morally admirable. The sympathy that exists is sympathy with regard to matters of the highest moment, with regard to the principles that animate and the aims that dignify the moral life. 3. They are one in the bonds of an immortal fellowship. Christ's prayer for his people was, "That they may be with me where I am" - a prayer which the Father is graciously and constantly answering. III. THE PRACTICAL PROOFS OF THIS UNITY. 1. A repugnance on the part of Christians to all which is repugnant to their Lord; as e.g. those vices to which allusion is made in the context, practised by the heathen, but hateful to those who name the Name of Christ. 2. A cultivation of the spirit of brotherly love. The "one spirit" must needs be a spirit of true love, linking together the members of the mystical body of Christ, and disposing them to a sympathetic and harmonious action. - T. Parallel Verses KJV: But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. |
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