I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Corinthians 5-8.

    In today’s passage Paul gets into the meat of his reason for writing to the Corinthians (although that is not quite accurate since what he wrote in yesterday’s passage about division was part of the meat). Here he writes about, and condemns, a blatant sinner who the Corinthian Church not only tolerated but was bragging about. It appears that the Corinthian Church was bragging about how free they were and using this man as an example of their freedom. Paul points out that we are indeed free to do anything. However, he also tells us that just because we MAY do anything does not mean that we benefit from doing anything. In particular, Paul tells us that sexual sin is bad for us. Many people in the Church today gloss over what Paul is teaching here.
    While sexual sins often result in negative health effects, which is a reason why we should avoid them. However, the main reason we should avoid sexual sins is that they impact our mental and spiritual lives as well. I do not fully understand how it works, but sexual sins interfere with our relationship with the Holy Spirit. Sexual sins involve our bodies and since our bodies are the temple in which the Holy Spirit resides they are a form of offering sacrificing to an idol on the same altar where we offer sacrifices to God.