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19.Know ye not that your body He makes use of two additional arguments, in order to deter us from this filthiness. First, That our bodies are temples of the Spirit; and, secondly, that the Lord has bought us to himself as his property. There is an emphasis implied in the term temple; for as the Spirit of God cannot take up his abode in a place that is profane, we do not give him a habitation otherwise than by consecrating ourselves to him as temples It is a great honor that God confers upon us when he desires to dwell in us. (Psalms 132:14.) Hence we ought so much the more to fear, lest he should depart from us, offended by our sacrilegious actings. (363)
And ye are not your own. Here we have a second argument — that we are not at our own disposal, that we should live according to our own pleasure. He proves this from the fact that the Lord has purchased us for himself, by paying the price of our redemption. There is a similar statement in Romans 14:9
To this end Christ died and rose again, that he might be Lord of the living and the dead.
Now the word rendered price may be taken in two ways; either simply, as we commonly say of anything that it has cost a price, (364) when we mean that it has not been got for nothing; or, as used instead of the adverb τιμίως at a dear rate, as we are accustomed to say of things that have cost us much. This latter view pleases me better. In the same way Peter says,
Ye are redeemed, not with gold and silver, but with the precious (365) blood of the Lamb, without spot. (1 Peter 1:18.)
The sum is this, (366) that redemption must hold us bound, and with a bridle of obedience restrain the lasciviousness of our flesh.
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