LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 212

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THEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTS­­—COMMISSION ON THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS

Note the concerns the Apostle raises. First, the Corinthians evidently are exulting in being “justified by faith apart
from works of the law” (ROM. 3:28). However, because of that teaching some falsely assume that their bodily life is now
of little importance. Paul portrays the character of sin as an enslaving force. Set free “spiritually” they fail to see that
they have willingly embraced slavery. As Luther says, they have foolishly chosen “a free choice which is not free,
which is as sensible as calling fire cold and earth hot.”138
Paul contrasts two opposing purposes or meanings of bodily life as sexual beings: one is focused on fornication
(porneia; τῇ πορνείᾳ; sexual sin, immorality, 1 COR. 6:13). “Some of the Corinthian Christians seem to have defended
their right to continue consorting with prostitutes.”139 This is not to say that everyone in the Corinthian church was
participating in prostitution, but it recognizes that by tolerating those who did, Corinthian believers disconnected
bodily behavior from their identity in Christ. Sexual behavior was of no greater significance than eating. “When
hungry, eat what you want. When desiring sexual release, satisfy the desire as you wish.” In effect, whatever the body
wants, it should have. It is a matter of serving — serving the self as a body.140
The contrasting understanding of bodily life, including sexuality, focuses on the body as God’s creation, subject
to him. The body is intended “for the Lord” not for self-satisfaction. So the Apostle unfolds this understanding. First,
the bodies of believers — not just their “soul” or “spirit” — will be raised with Christ because embodied believers are
members of Christ, the risen Lord (1 COR. 6:15).141 Paul asserts this in contrast to an apparent Corinthian slogan that
God will destroy the body with its implication that bodily life and actions are unimportant.142 Here the resurrection
means that the body has enduring significance and to join one’s body to a prostitute is to join Christ with that
prostitute. This is the profound truth of Genesis 2:24 about sexual intercourse: “The two will become one flesh.”
The standard — fidelity in marriage or sexual abstinence outside of marriage — determines sexual morality. Thus
the command is: “Flee from sexual immorality.” It is deadly, says Paul. It is of a different character than other sins
because they are “outside the body,” but sexual sin is sin against the body (1 COR. 6:18). The full meaning of this verse is
a matter of great debate.143 One certainty must be stressed, however, and one misperception should be identified. The
misperception is the belief that sexual sin is the greatest of all sins. Paul speaks only of the character of sexual sin, not
its gravity in comparison to other sins. The certainty is the emphasis in verses 19 and 20 that sexual sin denies the
high purpose of the believer’s body: that the believer’s body is God’s temple, purchased by Christ for the purpose of
glorifying God.
Thus, Paul has argued, not only does the sexually immoral person sin against the church and her spiritual union
with the Lord (1 COR. 6:15–17), but he also defiles his own body. This body, which has been consecrated by God as a
temple of his Holy Spirit (1 COR. 3:16–17), which has been bought for a price, and which is destined for resurrection,
has now been torn from its spiritual union with Christ and joined in an unholy union. Again, that sinful
desecration takes place in all sinful liaisons—in any sexual act besides that between husband and wife.144
On the deepest level, the contrast of serving bodily desires versus chastity will always be between serving God
and serving Satan. The human quest for sexual fulfillment is indeed a form of idolatry. Luther is again on the mark.
Whom will we serve? “Thus the human will is placed between the two like a beast of burden. If God rides it, it
wills and goes where God wills, as the psalm says: ‘I am become as a beast [before thee] and I am always with thee’
[PSALM 73:22]. If Satan rides it, it wills and goes where Satan wills; nor can it choose to run to either of the two riders or

138

Bondage of the Will, LW 33:67.

139

Gregory J. Lockwood, 1 Corinthians, ConcC (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2010), 214.

to seek him out, but the riders themselves contend for the possession and control of it.”145
So it is that Lewis’ simple standard for Christian conduct remains true, despite its unpopularity: either faithful
marriage or total abstinence.146 While popular western culture has made the fulfillment of any and all sexual desires
the key to a fulfilled life, the Word of God makes the discipline of sexual desire a matter of life and death.
To say the body is “for the Lord” therefore means that sexual activity is not something in the realm of free choice
for the believer, like deciding whether to have cereal or eggs for breakfast. It is a matter of right and wrong — and sexual sin is no mere peccadillo. So any “immorality” is forbidden to the believer as contrary to a bodily life for the Lord.
Yet, the exclusive focus on the forbidden misses the constructive purpose of Paul’s instruction. He concludes,
“So glorify God in your body” (1 COR. 6:20). In love for God who bestows our bodies, the Christian is called to see that
embodied life is the realm in which God is glorified — thanked, praised, served and obeyed.147 Chastity is, therefore,
love embodied for God and the neighbor. Freed from the self-absorption of lust and its actions, the chaste and decent
life is one in which God’s love for us can be returned with a life more directly devoted to Him and our neighbor.
i. Chastity as obedient love

To be justified by grace through faith is to be “in Christ” (ROM. 8:1). A chaste and decent life flows from unity with
Christ by faith. This faith desires to serve the God who justifies — to serve Him as redeemed, embodied people. Faith
aspires to the kind of sanctification that will “glorify God in your body” (1 COR. 6:20). In his letter to the Colossians,
the Apostle Paul exhorts believers as those who have been “reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to
present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him” (COL. 1:22). Having received Christ as Lord by grace
through faith, we “walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught,
abounding in thanksgiving” (COL. 2:6–7). Then, in the third chapter, he portrays specific facets of the new life of those
who “have been raised with Christ” and are therefore to “seek the things that are above” (COL. 3:1).
And what does it mean to “seek the things that are above”? To put to death “earthly” things (COL. 3:5). Here he first
names “sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” But included with
them are “anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk” together with lying to one another. This manner of life
is ours since we “have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed
in knowledge after the image of its creator” (COL. 3:9–10). Life in Christ is a putting off with the old self, on with the
new self. Paul then turns away from the earthly things toward the things of the new self, “the things that are above,”
namely: “compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and ...
forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you” (COL. 3:12–13). And then, “above all these put on love, which binds
everything together in perfect harmony” (COL. 3:14).
Note then how Paul portrays the life that has been “raised with Christ” and seeks “the things that are above.” It
disciplines the body by restraining the old self; a discipline that repudiates all immorality, sexual or otherwise (3:5). It
then discards the old self ’s corrupt heart and lips (COL. 3:9–10). But to take off all these soiled things leaves us in need of
new garments, which God alone can supply by his Spirit — the virtues listed in Colossians 3:12–13 bound together in
love’s perfect harmony.
Here we see that the chaste and decent life is bound inexorably with love’s “perfect harmony.” It is the “no” to crass
sins that allows love’s beautiful virtues to shine.

The echoes of incipient Gnosticism seem evident, a perspective that would coincide with the Stoic-Cynic view that the “wise” need no external curbs on their behavior. See Lockwood, 1 Corinthians, 214.
140

141

Lockwood, 1 Corinthians, 217–19; cf. Acts 9:4; Rom. 7:4; 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:27; Eph. 3:6; 4:12; 5:23; Col. 3:15.

142

Lockwood, 1 Corinthians, 215.

145

Bondage of the Will, LW 33:65–66.

143

On the possible nuances of meaning, see Lockwood, 1 Corinthians, 219–20.

146

See p. 30, above.

144

Lockwood, 1 Corinthians, 220.

147

See SC II, First Article.

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ii. Chastity as sacrificial love

3. Chastity in marriage and apart from marriage

Our Lord issues a sobering call to His disciples: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his
cross and follow me” (MATT. 16:24). Paul speaks of a bodily sacrifice in Romans 12:1: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers,
by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual
worship.” This call should not be softened or trivialized as a small thing. It impacts everything in life, including our
sexuality. The Bible’s call to a chaste and decent life demands the sacrifice of human desires, pleasures, and even a
certain level of physical relief and release. It entails a cross that will include the denial of many wants and some needs.
For all believers of every age, it means the denial of every desire for sexual fulfillment and pleasure that contravenes
the bond of husband and wife.

The NT teaches chastity and a godly life for both the unmarried and the married believer, but it has a different shape
in these two settings. More than 16 centuries ago Gregory of Nazianzus said: “How great is the difference between
pastoral counsel for the married and the unmarried.”152 That difference is acute when one considers the topic of how a
sexually pure and decent life is to be lived.

An immediate objection follows: that it is unfair to the unmarried if the only acceptable setting for sexual activity
is between husband and wife. Yes, biblical teaching exclusively allows for sexual activity in the bonds of marriage
and withholds it from all who are unmarried. The married and the unmarried are not treated equally in that respect.
“The union of husband and wife extends to the most intimate sharing in the act of sexual intercourse. The complete
physical sharing of husband and wife is characterized by relaxation, enjoyment, and freedom from guilt.”148 And this
is not just temporally, but also spiritually beneficial. “For it is better to marry than to burn with passion,” writes Paul
(1 COR. 7:9). Only the married man and woman can provide to the other the healing purpose of marriage in the restraint
of sin. “Sexual appetites need to be controlled and disciplined. Marriage functions under God’s ordinance to domesticate our passion and channel it in ways which, to some extent, bring it back into accord with the Creator’s order.”149
This sexual good is denied to the unmarried by the Christian ethic of marriage and sexuality. Although countless
unmarried men and women long to be married, for many their desire for both the temporal and spiritual blessings of
godly marriage remains unfulfilled. Many who have not received a gift like Paul’s — a chaste celibacy that he happily
commended to all who could receive it — instead “burn” without a husband or wife, with no opportunity to rejoice in
a sexual relationship that is godly, fulfilling, and life-giving.
Such a reality cannot be denied. It also may not be used to support violation of the commandments. It is not
uncommon for Christians with same-sex desires to argue that they ought to be able to marry in order to fulfill their
sexual desires and not “burn with passion.” As already noted, this cannot be conceded.150 Every commandment creates greater and lesser challenges to individuals, based on their personal setting. Those who are oppressed by unjust
authorities will face a greater temptation to dishonor authority than those who have “good and gentle” individuals in
authority over them (1 PETER 2:18). So, too, in the realm of sexuality, all people spend part of life in the unmarried state
and thus have the command of chaste celibacy to obey during their single years. Yet, Scripture does not hesitate to
require chastity of every Christian. Meilaender states:
Nevertheless, without underestimating the anarchic power of sexual appetite, we need not characterize chastity
as impossible for the unmarried, and we have every reason to encourage those who are unmarried—whether by
choice or by accident of one’s personal history—to seek to cultivate within themselves the discipline to live in
ways that honor our creation as sexual beings.151
Can celibacy be a cross and a burden? Yes. And, as such, it is an encouragement to pursue godly marriage for the
Christian who burns with desire. But it is also a specific call to take up one’s cross along the way of holy living — an
avenue of presenting one’s body as a living sacrifice.

a. Chastity in marriage

Jesus, in forbidding divorce for His followers, seeks to preserve not only marriage, but also sexual fidelity within
it. He shows that infidelity destroys a marriage, having divided what God has joined together (MATT. 19:1–9). What is
true from the beginning (MATT. 19:8) continues in marriages today. Husbands and wives are called by God to a full and
faithful love that takes to heart that God has joined them together. His creation of marriage is the establishment of
a man-woman relationship in which the two are one flesh. As the woman is created from the man, so also in every
marriage are the man and woman one flesh.
God’s Word exalts marriage: “House and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the Lord”
(PROV. 19:14). The gift of marriage and children is known to be a great blessing from God Himself (PSALM 128:3–4). In light
of this precious gift, it is no wonder that God harshly condemns all that destroys marriage in Malachi 2:14–16:
[T]he Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she
is your companion and your wife by covenant. Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their
union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none
of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. “For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her,” says the
Lord, the God of Israel, “covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your
spirit, and do not be faithless.”
These verses from Malachi remind us that in making a man and woman one in marriage, God establishes a lifelong covenant between them — one of fruitful love that, where God provides, results in godly offspring. To love is in
stark contrast with divorce, which is here labeled a form of violence. There can be no mistake that marital chastity is
grounded in a loving, faithful, procreative, and therefore sexual bond.
Chastity within marriage, then, is a matter of sexual purity within a relationship that is inherently active sexually.
This is at the heart of biblical teaching on chastity. In Paul’s first epistle to the troubled Corinthian church, he devotes
a lengthy chapter to practical matters of human sexuality both in and outside the context of marriage. His directions
may be startling to the sensibilities of people today. He refers, for example, to what may have been a common saying
among some Corinthian Christians: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman” (1 COR. 7:1).153
Paul, however, does not condemn sexual relations or urge everyone to be celibate. Although he says that “it is good to
remain single, like I am” (1 COR. 7:8) he affirms that the majority of people are called to the vocation of marriage. This is
the case, says Paul, “because of the temptation to sexual immorality.”154 In the flight from sexual immorality (1 COR. 6:18)
it is evident then, that for the married couple, their sexual relationship is to be marked first and foremost by fidelity
in every way. God intends for marriage to be the calling wherein husband and wife serve one another. This includes
them not withholding themselves sexually from their spouses (1 COR. 7:5). The development of a healthy, joyful sexual
life is a significant aspect of chastity in marriage.
Marriage also, however, involves times of continence, or abstinence from sexual activity. Paul refers only to the
idea of spouses refraining from sexual activity in order to devote themselves to prayer (1 COR. 7:5). But other times
when sexual activity is not possible or practical are also part of the pattern of married life — during an illness, during

148

HS 1981, 14.

149

HS 1981, 21.

152

A more personal approach that encourages a biblically faithful response to homosexual desire is evident in Rosaria Champagne Butterfield, whose conversion led her
to repudiate her former lesbianism as “a case of mistaken identity.” See Openness Unhindered: Further Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert on Sexual Identity and Union with
Christ (Pittsburg: Crown & Covenant Publications. 2021), 156, Kindle Edition. See also Mark A. Yarhouse and Olga Zaporozhets, Costly Obedience (Grand Rapids, MI:
Zondervan, 2019).
150

151

Meilaender, “Sixth Commandment,” 238.

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Oration II, 28.

153
See Lockwood, 1 Corinthians, 224–25, on the matter of whether the quotation in 7:1 is Paul’s own assertion or a saying by the Corinthians. Lockwood, with many
modern commentators, believes the statement was a Corinthian saying rather than Paul’s expression.
154
The Greek is dia de tas porneias, which literally is “because of the immoralities,” using a plural in place of a singular “immorality.” The plural may look back to some
of the kinds of sexual immorality Paul has already addressed in the epistle including incest, adultery, homosexuality, and prostitution. Lockwood suggests that visiting
prostitutes was the most prevalent immorality. See Lockwood, 1 Corinthians, 229, 231.

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