What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
Parallel translations
- WEB Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
- BSB Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
- NKJV Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
- NASB Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
- NLT Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, given by God, so you are not your own. It matters because the indwelling Spirit makes the body sacred and accountable to God.
Overview
Paul gives the climactic reason for purity: the believer's body is a sanctuary where God's Spirit dwells. As a temple housing God's presence, it is holy and not ours to misuse. The truth 'you are not your own' overturns the autonomy the Corinthians claimed and roots Christian ethics in belonging wholly to God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- 1 Cor 3:16Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
- 2 Cor 6:16And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
- 1 Pet 2:5Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
- Eph 2:21–22In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
- Ps 100:3Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
- 1 Cor 6:15–16Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.
- Titus 2:14Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
- Rom 14:7–9For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.
- John 2:21But he spake of the temple of his body.
- 2 Cor 5:15And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
- 1 Kgs 20:4And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine, and all that I have.
- Ps 12:4Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?
- 1 Chr 29:14But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.
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Christ at the center
Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.
How 1 Corinthians 6:19 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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