1Corinthians 6:17 – One flesh & one spirit

For he is averring, the two will be one flesh. Now he who joins the Lord is one spirit [with him].

Paul compares two things here in both their similarity and in their contrast. The married man and woman are one flesh. A physical unity that is expressed in the sexual intercourse but also in what this union potentially produces: a child. After all, a child is the fruit of a physical fusion between a man and a woman.

The unity of a man and his wife is carnal in nature. They become physically one – which is carnal. But Paul contrasts this with another unity which is physical also, but still spiritual. Every believer forms a spiritual unity with his Lord. As God sees Christ, so He reckons me. He died and I died with him. He was raised and I with him. He is seated in heaven and I am with him. And so on.

That is a spiritual unity, not carnal. But still also physical! For, as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12:13, “in one spirit we were baptized into one body.” That is the body of Christ, the ecclesia!

Delen: