Letters to the Churches

By His power God raised the Lord from the dead, and He will raise us also.

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!

Or don’t you know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”

But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with Him in spirit.

Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.

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;

you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.

Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good to abstain from sexual relations.

But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.

The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband.

The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife.

Do not deprive each other, except by mutual consent and for a time, so you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again, so that Satan will not tempt you through your lack of self-control.

I say this as a concession, not as a command.

I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.

Now to the unmarried and widows I say this: It is good for them to remain unmarried, as I am.

But if they cannot control themselves, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband.

But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.

To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If a brother has an unbelieving wife and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her.

And if a woman has an unbelieving husband and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him.

For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his believing wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.

But if the unbeliever leaves, let him go. The believing brother or sister is not bound in such cases. God has called you to live in peace.

How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

Regardless, each one should lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is what I prescribe in all the churches.

Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man still uncircumcised when called? He should not be circumcised.