◄ 1 Corinthians 6:13 ►
"Food for the stomach and the stomach for food," but God will destroy them both. The body is not intended for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
Study Bible
“Food for the stomach and the stomach for food,”

The Corinthians appear to have repeated a popular slogan that treated bodily appetites as morally insignificant. Since food is naturally consumed by the stomach, they reasoned that satisfying sexual desire was equally natural and without spiritual consequence. Paul rejects the attempt to place sexual conduct in the same category as eating. Food serves a temporary bodily function, but sexual union involves the whole person and carries covenantal and spiritual significance.

Mat 15:17 Do you not yet realize that whatever enters the mouth…
Mrk 7:19 because it does not enter his heart, but it goes…

but God will destroy them both.

Food and the stomach belong to the present order and will not define life in God’s eternal kingdom. Their temporary purpose cannot justify using the body according to passing appetites. God will raise His people bodily, giving them glorified bodies fitted for everlasting fellowship with Christ. The passing nature of physical needs calls believers to live according to God’s enduring purposes rather than the impulses of the moment.

Col 2:22 These will all perish with use, because they are based on…
2Pe 3:10 But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief.…

The body is not intended for sexual immorality,

Corinth’s wealth, commerce, pagan worship, and reputation for sexual license created constant pressure to separate personal morality from religious life. Paul refuses that division. Sexual immorality violates God’s design for the body, marriage, and human dignity. What a person does physically is not detached from his relationship with God; sin against the body is sin against the One who made and redeemed it. In a city like Corinth, known for its temple to Aphrodite (“foam-born”) and associated sexual immorality, this statement is a direct challenge to the prevailing cultural norms. Paul emphasizes that the body has a higher purpose than fulfilling carnal desires. This teaching is consistent with the biblical view of the body as a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), meant to honor God. The call to purity is a recurring theme in Scripture, as seen in passages like 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5, which instructs believers to abstain from sexual immorality.

1Th 4:3-5 For it is God’s will that you should be holy:…
Heb 13:4 Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed…

but for the Lord,

The believer’s body belongs to Jesus Christ and is to be offered to Him in obedience, worship, service, and purity. Christ’s lordship reaches beyond inward belief to every use of the body. Those redeemed by His blood are called to present themselves as living sacrifices, refusing conduct that contradicts their union with Him.

Rom 12:1 Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy,…
2Co 5:15 And He died for all, that those who live…

and the Lord for the body.

The Lord does not despise or abandon the body. He created it, took on a true human body in the incarnation, gave His body on the cross, and rose bodily from the grave. Christ cares for the bodies of His people and will raise them by His power. Because the body is destined for resurrection and is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, it must not be surrendered to sexual sin.

Php 3:20-21 But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await…
Rom 8:11 And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead…

Persons / Places / Events
1. Paul the Apostle
The author of 1 Corinthians, addressing the church in Corinth with guidance and correction.

2. The Church in Corinth
A diverse and often troubled early Christian community dealing with issues of immorality and misunderstanding of Christian freedom.

3. Corinth
A major city in ancient Greece known for its wealth, commerce, and moral laxity, which influenced the behavior of the church members.

4. God
The ultimate authority and creator, who has a purpose for the human body beyond physical desires.

5. The Lord (Jesus Christ)
Central to the Christian faith, emphasizing the sanctity and purpose of the body in relation to Him.
Teaching Points
Understanding Christian Freedom
While believers have freedom in Christ, it is not a license for immorality. Our bodies are meant to honor God.

Purpose of the Body
The body is not merely for fulfilling physical desires but is intended for a higher purpose in serving the Lord.

Holiness and Honor
Christians are called to live in a way that reflects the holiness and honor of God, including in matters of sexual purity.

Eternal Perspective
Earthly desires and needs are temporary, but our relationship with God and the purpose of our bodies have eternal significance.

Integration of Faith and Life
Our faith should influence every aspect of our lives, including how we view and use our bodies.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does understanding the purpose of the body as "for the Lord" change your perspective on daily living?

2. In what ways can you honor God with your body in your current life situation?

3. How does the concept of the body being a temple of the Holy Spirit influence your decisions regarding physical desires?

4. What are some practical steps you can take to avoid sexual immorality and live a life that is holy and pleasing to God?

5. How can the teachings in 1 Corinthians 6:13 help you address cultural pressures that conflict with biblical values?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Romans 12:1
Paul urges believers to offer their bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which aligns with the idea that the body is for the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 4:3-5
Paul instructs believers to avoid sexual immorality and to control their bodies in a way that is holy and honorable.

Philippians 3:19
Paul warns against those whose god is their stomach, contrasting earthly desires with heavenly citizenship.

Genesis 2:7
The creation of man, emphasizing that the body is God-given and has a divine purpose.

1 Corinthians 3:16-17
Paul reminds the Corinthians that their bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, reinforcing the sacredness of the body.
Sermons
The Sanctity of the BodyJ.R. Thomson 1 Corinthians 6:12-16
Abuse of Christian LibertyH. Bremner 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
Liberty in the Use of the LawfulR. S. McAll, LL. D.1 Corinthians 6:12-20
The Christian Rule in Things IndifferentJ. Lyth, D. D.1 Corinthians 6:12-20
The Human Body and its Relation to ChristC. Lipscomb 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
The Lawful and the ExpedientW. E. Hurndall, M. A.1 Corinthians 6:12-20
The Limits of Christian RightsF. W. Robertson, M. A.1 Corinthians 6:12-20
The Practical Distinction Between Things Lawful and ExpedientR. S. McAll, LL. D.1 Corinthians 6:12-20
Christ and the BodyJ. Lyth, D. D.1 Corinthians 6:13-16
Christianity in Relation to the BodyD. Thomas, D. D.1 Corinthians 6:13-16
FornicationM. Dods, D. D.1 Corinthians 6:13-16
FornicationJ. Lyth, D. D.1 Corinthians 6:13-16
Fornication IsJ. Lyth, D. D.1 Corinthians 6:13-16
Fornication is an Awful CrimeJ. Lyth, D. D.1 Corinthians 6:13-16
The Permanent Element in Our Bodily OrganismProf. Godet.1 Corinthians 6:13-16
The Resurrection of the BodyJ. Lyth, D. D.1 Corinthians 6:13-16
The Thought of the Love of Jesus for Us the Remedy for Sins of the BodyE. B. Pusey, D. D.1 Corinthians 6:13-16
Duties to the BodyE. Hurndall 1 Corinthians 6:13-19
People
Corinthians, Paul, Sodomites
Places
Corinth
Topics
Belly, Body, Bring, Cause, Desires, Destroy, Exist, Exists, Flesh, Foods, Fornication, Immorality, Kinds, Lewdness, Master, Master's, Meant, Meats, Nothing, Nought, Perish, Purpose, Service, Sexual, Stomach, Useless, Whoredom, Yet
Dictionary of Bible Themes
1 Corinthians 6:13

     5185   stomach
     6156   fall, of humanity

1 Corinthians 6:10-13

     5850   excess

1 Corinthians 6:12-13

     8703   antinomianism

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

     5441   philosophy
     8340   self-respect

1 Corinthians 6:13-15

     8273   holiness, ethical aspects

1 Corinthians 6:13-16

     5136   body

1 Corinthians 6:13-20

     6188   immorality, sexual

Library
First Sunday in Lent
Text: Second Corinthians 6, 1-10. 1 And working together with him we entreat also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain 2 (for he saith, At an acceptable time I hearkened unto thee, and in a day of salvation did I succor thee: behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation): 3 giving no occasion of stumbling in anything, that our ministration be not blamed; 4 but in everything commending ourselves, as ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

March the Tenth Exaltation by Separation
2 CORINTHIANS vi. 11-18. When we turn away from the world, and leave it, we ourselves are not left to desolation and orphanhood. When we "come out from among them" the Lord receives us! He is waiting for us. The new companionship is ours the moment the old companionship is ended. "I will not leave you comfortless." What we have lost is compensated by infinite and eternal gain. We have lost "the whole world" and gained "the unsearchable riches of Christ." And therefore separation is exaltation. We …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

"Bought with a Price"
You will notice that in this chapter the apostle Paul has been dealing with sins of the flesh, with fornication and adultery. Now, it is at all times exceedingly difficult for the preacher either to speak or to write upon this subject; it demands the strictest care to keep the language guarded, so that while we are denouncing a detestable evil we do not ourselves promote it by a single expression that should be otherwise than chaste and pure. Observe how well the apostle Paul succeeds, for though …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

"Therefore, Brethren, we are Debtors, not to the Flesh, to Live after the Flesh; for if Ye Live after the Flesh, Ye Shall Die,"
Rom. viii. s 12, 13.--"Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh; for if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die," &c. Was that not enough to contain men in obedience to God--the very essential bond of dependence upon God as the original and fountain of his being! And yet man hath cast away this cord from him, and withdrew from that allegiance he did owe to his Maker, by transgressing his holy commandments. But God, not willing that all should perish, hath confirmed …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

First Epistle of St John, Ch. Ii. Part of the 1St and 2D Verses.
If any Man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the Propitiation for our Sins. IN this Passage; the Apostle declares that it is for the sake of Jesus Christ, and on account of his sufferings, that the Sins committed by his Disciples will be forgiven by Almighty God. Now from this, and the like Declarations in the New Testament, many professed Christians have taken occasion to frame to themselves such Notions concerning the Merits of Christ, and the Sacrifice …
Benjamin Hoadly—Several Discourses Concerning the Terms of Acceptance with God

On Communion in the Lord's Supper.
1. If the reader has received the Ordinance of Baptism, and; as above recommended, dedicated himself to God.--2. He is urged to ratify that engagement at the Table of the Lord.-- 3. From a view of the ends for which that Ordinance was instituted.--4. Whence its usefulness is strongly inferred.--5. And from the Authority of Christ's Appointment; which is solemnly pressed on the conscience.--6. Objections from apprehensions of Unfitness.--7. Weakness of grace, &c. briefly answered.--8. At least, serious …
Philip Doddridge—The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul

Made One
"He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit."--1 Cor. vi. 17. Mechthild of Hellfde, 1277. tr., Emma Frances Bevan, 1899 The mouth of the Lord hath spoken, Hath spoken a mighty word; My sinful heart it hath broken, Yet sweeter I never heard; "Thou, thou art, O soul, My deep desire And My love's eternal bliss: Thou art the rest where leaneth My breast, And My mouth's most holy kiss. Thou art the treasure I sought and found, Rejoicing over thee; I dwell in thee, and with thee am I crowned, And thou …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen and Others (Second Series)

It is Finished
V. M. C. I Cor. vi. 11 He found me the lost and the wandering, The sinful, the sad, and the lone; He said, "I have bought thee, beloved, For ever thou art Mine own. "O soul, I will show thee the wonder, The worth of My priceless Blood; Thou art whiter than snow on the mountains, Thou art fair in the eyes of God. "O vessel of living water, From the depths of the love divine, The glorious life within thee Flows from My heart to thine. "O soul altogether lovely, O pearl for which Christ was given, …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others

The End of the Journey
C. P. C. I Cor. vi. 17 One with Christ--within the golden City Welcomed long ago, When for me He passed within the glory From the depths below. Still the gladness of that blessed welcome, Mystery of that kiss, Meeting of the Son and of the Father, Floods my soul with bliss. That sweet welcome mine--and mine for ever That eternal Home, Whereunto when all these wanderings over, I shall surely come-- There my heart is resting, and is joyful, With a joy untold-- Earth's dark ways lit up with that …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others

It Follows in the Creed, "And in the Holy Ghost. ...
13. It follows in the Creed, "And in the Holy Ghost." This Trinity, one God, one nature, one substance, one power; highest equality, no division, no diversity, perpetual dearness of love. [1795] Would ye know the Holy Ghost, that He is God? Be baptized, and ye will be His temple. The Apostle says, "Know ye not that your bodies are the temple within you of the Holy Ghost, Whom ye have of God?" [1796] A temple is for God: thus also Solomon, king and prophet, was bidden to build a temple for God. If …
St. Augustine—On the Creeds

Lo, There is Your Good Compared to that Good...
4. Lo, there is your good compared to that good, which the Apostle calls his own, if faith be present: yea, rather, because faith is present. Short is this teaching, yet not on this account to be despised, because it is short; but on this account to be retained the more easily and the more dearly, in that in shortness it is not cheap. For it is not every kind of good soever, which the Apostle would here set forth, which he hath unambiguously placed above the faith of married women. But how great …
St. Augustine—On the Good of Widowhood.

Thou Art Beautiful, O My Love, Sweet and Comely as Jerusalem, Terrible as an Army Set in Array.
The Bridegroom finding His bride entirely free from self, dissolved and prepared for the consummation of the marriage, and to be received into a state of permanent and lasting union with Himself, admires her beauty; He tells her that she is beautiful because He finds in her a certain charm and sweetness which approaches the divine. Thou art comely, He continues, as Jerusalem; for since thou hast lost everything of thine own to devote it wholly to Me, thou art adorned and embellished with all that …
Madame Guyon—Song of Songs of Solomon

That Clerics be not Compelled to Give Testimony in Public Concerning the Cognizance of their Own Judgment.
That clerics be not compelled to give testimony in public concerning the cognizance of their own judgment. It should be petitioned also that they deign to decree, that if perchance any shall have been willing to plead their cause in any church according to the Apostolic law imposed upon the Churches, and it happens that the decision of the clergy does not satisfy one of the parties, it be not lawful to summon that clergyman who had been cognitor or present, [459] into judgment as a witness, and that …
Philip Schaff—The Seven Ecumenical Councils

Concerning Justification.
Concerning Justification. As many as resist not this light, but receive the same, it becomes in them an holy, pure, and spiritual birth, bringing forth holiness, righteousness, purity, and all those other blessed fruits which are acceptable to God: by which holy birth, to wit, Jesus Christ formed within us, and working his works in us, as we are sanctified, so are we justified in the sight of God, according to the apostle's words; But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in …
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity

Concerning Worship.
Concerning Worship. [780] All true and acceptable worship to God is offered in the inward and immediate moving and drawing of his own Spirit which is neither limited to places times, nor persons. For though we are to worship him always, and continually to fear before him; [781] yet as to the outward signification thereof, in prayers, praises, or preachings, we ought not to do it in our own will, where and when we will; but where and when we are moved thereunto by the stirring and secret inspiration …
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity

Tempest and Trust
And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, loosing thence, they sailed close by Crete. 14. But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon. 15. And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive. 16. And running under a certain island which is called Clauda, we had much work to come by the boat: 17. Which when they had taken up, they used helps, undergirding the ship; and, fearing lest they …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

Death to Sin through Christ
"Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord."-Romans 6:11. THE connection of this passage will help us to understand its meaning. Near the close of the previous chapter Paul had said, "The law entered that the offence might abound; but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound, that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness, unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord." He speaks here of …
Charles G. Finney—Sermons on Gospel Themes

Twenty-Eighth Day that all God's People May Know the Holy Spirit
WHAT TO PRAY.--That all God's People may know the Holy Spirit "The Spirit of truth, whom the world knoweth not; but ye know Him; for He abideth with you, and shall be in you."--JOHN xiv. 17. "Know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost?"--1 COR. vi. 19. The Holy Spirit is the power of God for the salvation of men. He only works as He dwells in the Church. He is given to enable believers to live wholly as God would have them live, in the full experience and witness of Him who saves …
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession

"But Ye are not in the Flesh, but in the Spirit, if So be that the Spirit of God Dwell in You. Now, if any Man
Rom. viii. 9.--"But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." Application is the very life of the word, at least it is a necessary condition for the living operation of it. The application of the word to the hearts of hearers by preaching, and the application of your hearts again to the word by meditation, these two meeting together, and striking one upon another, will yield fire. …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Indwelling Spirit Fully and Forever Satisfying.
The Holy Spirit takes up His abode in the one who is born of the Spirit. The Apostle Paul says to the believers in Corinth in 1 Cor. iii. 16, R. V., "Know ye not that ye are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" This passage refers, not so much to the individual believer, as to the whole body of believers, the Church. The Church as a body is indwelt by the Spirit of God. But in 1 Cor. vi. 19, R. V., we read, "Know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost which is …
R. A. Torrey—The Person and Work of The Holy Spirit

We are not Binding Heavy Burdens and Laying them Upon Your Shoulders...
37. We are not binding heavy burdens and laying them upon your shoulders, while we with a finger will not touch them. Seek out, and acknowledge the labor of our occupations, and in some of us the infirmities of our bodies also, and in the Churches which we serve, that custom now grown up, that they do not suffer us to have time ourselves for those works to which we exhort you. For though we might say, "Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? Who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the …
St. Augustine—Of the Work of Monks.

For, Whereas that Natural Use, when it Pass Beyond the Compact of Marriage...
12. For, whereas that natural use, when it pass beyond the compact of marriage, that is, beyond the necessity of begetting, is pardonable in the case of a wife, damnable in the case of an harlot; that which is against nature is execrable when done in the case of an harlot, but more execrable in the case of a wife. Of so great power is the ordinance of the Creator, and the order of Creation, that, in matters allowed us to use, even when the due measure is exceeded, it is far more tolerable, than, …
St. Augustine—On the Good of Marriage

Whence, Also, what the Apostle Paul Said of the Unmarried Woman...
8. Whence, also, what the Apostle Paul said of the unmarried woman, "that she may be holy both in body and spirit;" [2237] we are not so to understand, as though a faithful woman being married and chaste, and according to the Scriptures subject unto her husband, be not holy in body, but only in spirit. For it cannot come to pass, that when the spirit is sanctified, the body also be not holy, of which the sanctified spirit maketh use: but, that we seem not to any to argue rather than to prove this …
St. Augustine—On the Good of Widowhood.

The Blessed Hope and Its Power
PHILIPPIANS iii. 17-21 The problem of the body--Cautions and tears--"That blessed hope"--The duty of warning--The moral power of the hope--The hope full of immortality--My mother's life--"He is able"--The promise of his coming The Apostle draws to the close of his appeal for a true and watchful fidelity to the Gospel. He has done with his warning against Judaistic legalism. He has expounded, in the form of a personal confession and testimony, the true Christian position, the acceptance of the …
Handley C. G. Moule—Philippian Studies

Links
1 Corinthians 6:13 NIV
1 Corinthians 6:13 NLT
1 Corinthians 6:13 ESV
1 Corinthians 6:13 NASB
1 Corinthians 6:13 KJV

1 Corinthians 6:13 Commentaries

Bible Hub
1 Corinthians 6:12
Top of Page
Top of Page