1 Cor. 6:2 the saints shall judge the world
Judgment has been committed to the Son (John 5:22), but he will, by the principle of delegation, appoint lower judges of various ranks and divisions to judge mankind. The Lord will instruct the saints how to judge their fellowmen. John saw that at the judgment day, prophets, apostles, and saints would sit upon thrones, 'and judgment was given unto them' (Rev. 20:4). Daniel declared, 'the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom' (Dan. 7:22).
Bruce R. McConkie
"Under Christ a great hierarchy of judges will operate, each functioning in his assigned sphere. John saw many judges sitting upon thrones. (Rev. 20:4.) Paul said the saints would judge both the world and angels. ( Cor. 6:2-3.) The elders are to sit in judgment on those who reject them. (D&C 75:21-22; Matt. 10:14-15.) Daniel saw that judgment would be given to the saints. (Dan. 7:22.) The Nephite Twelve will be judged by the Twelve from Jerusalem and then in turn will judge the Nephite nation. (1 Ne. 12:9-10; 3 Ne. 27:27; Morm. 3:19.) And the Twelve who served with our Lord in his ministry shall judge the whole house of Israel. (D&C 29:12.) No doubt there will be many others of many dispensations who will sit in judgment upon the peoples of their days and generations-all judging according to the judgment which Christ shall give them, 'which shall be just.' (3 Ne. 27:27.)" (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1965-1973], 1: 558.)
Joseph F. Smith
"Out of the things which have been written in the books, this people shall be judged, according to their works. The Lord shall make a record also, and out of that shall the whole world be judged. And you men of the holy Priesthood-you Apostles, Presidents, Bishops and High Priests in Zion-will be called upon to be the judges of the people. Therefore, it is expected that you shall set the standard for them to attain to, and see that they shall live according to the spirit of the Gospel, do their duty, and keep the commandments of the Lord. You shall make a record of their acts. You shall record when they are baptized, when they are confirmed, and when they receive the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. You shall record, when they come to Zion, their membership in the Church. You shall record whether they attend to their duties as Priests, Teachers, or Deacons, as Elders, Seventies, or High Priests. You shall write their works, as the Lord says here. You shall record their tithings, and...we shall judge the people, first requiring them to do their duty. In order to do that, those who stand at the head must set the example." (Conference Report, Apr. 1901, p. 72)
George Q. Cannon
"You know that Jesus said to His Apostles in ancient days that they should 'sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.' (Matt. 19:28.) And Paul says, 'The saints shall judge the world.' (1 Cor. 6:2.) This is true. Joseph, then, stands at the head and then every man in his place after him until you come down to the Elder, the most humble Elder of the Church who has proclaimed the Gospel of the Son of God to the inhabitants of the earth. He will sit as a judge to judge those who have received or those who have rejected his testimony. He will stand as a swift witness before the judgment seat of God against this generation.
"He will lift up his voice testifying as to that which he has done, and men will be condemned, and men will be justified and women will be justified according to the testimony of the faithful servants of God, each one in his place and station, but Joseph holding the keys and presiding over all, subordinate, however, to him from whom he received the keys, as he (Peter) will be subordinate to the Son of God who placed them upon him, each one in his dispensation, each one in his place." (Gospel Truth: Discourses and Writings of President George Q. Cannon, selected, arranged, and edited by Jerreld L. Newquist [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1987], 200.)
1 Cor. 6:3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels?
Joseph F. Smith
"The man who passes through this probation, and is faithful, being redeemed from sin by the blood of Christ, through the ordinances of the gospel, and attains to exaltation in the kingdom of God, is not less but greater than the angels, and if you doubt it, read your Bible, for there it is written that the Saints shall 'judge angels,' and also they shall 'judge the world.' And why? Because the resurrected, righteous man has progressed beyond the pre-existent or disembodied spirits, and has risen above them, having both spirit and body as Christ has, having gained the victory over death and the grave, and having power over sin and Satan; in fact, having passed from the condition of the angels to that of a God. He possesses keys of power, dominion and glory that the angel does not possess-and cannot possess without gaining them in the same way that he gained them, which will be by passing through the same ordeals and proving equally faithful." (Gospel Doctrine: Selections from the Sermons and Writings of Joseph F. Smith, compiled by John A. Widtsoe [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1939], 18.)
1 Cor. 6:4 set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church
Paul is concerned with the worldliness and unnecessary strife among the saints. He feels that they should not be so concerned with 'things pertaining to this life' that they would take someone else to court. He sarcastically recommends that they choose the least qualified member of the church to judge such worldly matters because the issues are of no eternal import. Their consequences are not significant enough to require righteous judgment, so even the least qualified judge should be adequate.
1 Cor. 6:7 there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another
The latter-day saints should be the least litigious people on the earth. In the Sermon on the Mount, the Savior said, 'if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift' (Matt 5:23-24). The scripture indicates that one can't be right with God if he hasn't first made things right with his fellowmen. Rather, 'if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone; if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother' (Matt. 18:15). These are the Lord's instructions regarding the resolution of disputes between individuals.
Those who would kneel in the altars of the temple one day and sue his brother in civil court the next have not understood the meaning of these scriptures. They have not understood that if they are patient and humble when wronged, the Lord will more than make up for that which was lost (Romans 12:17-21). Alternatively, one who seeks compensation for wrongs in this life, cannot expect compensation from the Lord in the next, for 'they [already] have their reward.'
Dallin H. Oaks
"One of the most common manifestations of controversy in the United States is the lawsuit...This familiar feature of American life provides another illustration of the many contrasts between the Lord's way and the world's way.
"Some Latter-day Saints mirror the typical American acceptance of an increasing use of civil courts to resolve public and private disputes. Others, sensitive to scriptural and prophetic cautions on this subject, are bewildered or uneasy about whether or when the Lord would justify us in participating in litigation to resolve disputes.
"...Because of my experience as a lawyer, law professor, educator, and judge, I have received many such questions about when it is appropriate for a faithful Latter-day Saint to be involved in litigation. I have always felt inadequate in responding to such inquiries. Though sometimes able to answer a question about one specific circumstance, I have never been able to outline comprehensive principles to use as a guide in the multitude of circumstances in which such questions arise.
"The preparation of this book has given me the opportunity and the incentive for research and prayerful consideration of this question. What follows is my personal summary and interpretation of what the scriptures and the modern prophets have taught on this subject and how those teachings apply in the circumstances of our day.
"At the outset, I reject two extremes.
"1. Some have asserted that a conscientious Christian can never use the courts to resolve disputes. A few illustrations will suffice to indicate that this extreme is unrealistic and even at odds with the scriptures themselves.
"Modern revelation directs that a person who has killed, robbed, stolen, or lied 'shall be delivered up and dealt with according to the laws of the land.' (D&C 42:79, D&C 84-86.) Those laws are, of course, administered in the civil and criminal courts.
"The Church's 'declaration of belief,' published in 1835, states: 'We believe that men should appeal to the civil law for redress of all wrongs and grievances, where personal abuse is inflicted or the right of property or character infringed, where such laws exist as will protect the same.' (D&C 134:11.) This declaration obviously contemplates that there will be some circumstances in which a Latter-day Saint will appropriately use the courts, since that is the usual way of appealing to the civil law for the redress of wrongs and grievances...
"2. At the opposite extreme, some Latter-day Saints have apparently assumed that there are no religious restraints on participating in litigation, thus succumbing to the popular notion that every wrong must have a legal remedy, properly enforceable in court.
"This attitude has contributed to an expensive public problem. Any conscientious reader of the public press over the past few decades has seen many reports of lawsuits that can fairly be characterized as abusive or frivolous. A nine-year-old girl sued the makers of Crackerjack because the toy was missing from the box she purchased. A Chicago Bears fan sued his team for consumer fraud because the Bears had a losing record. A frustrated man brought suit for being stood up on a date. The list of similar examples is distressingly long...
"In summary, some scriptural and prophetic directions against any recourse to the civil courts are temporary. So it was with Paul's counsel to the Corinthians and with President Young's and President Taylor's counsel to the Latter-day Saints in the Utah Territory...Today the number of members of the Church and the extent of long-distance contacts among them means that most disputes among members will involve persons who reside in different stakes. In that circumstance, the resolution of personal disputes by a bishop's court or a high council court is impractical and inadvisable because there is no local church council that has jurisdiction over all the parties.
"Does the Church's relinquishment of any function in the adjudication of disputes among members mean that members have no moral impediments to their use of civil courts to resolve disputes with other members? Of course not. The restored church has a long history of encouraging its members to resolve their disputes without using the civil courts. The counsel of President Young and President Taylor on that subject remains in force." (The Lord's Way [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1991], 153-169.)
Dallin H. Oaks
"A 1919 article by Elder James E. Talmage explains the Church's continuing counsel that disputes among members should first be settled by brotherly mediation. If that failed, members disputing one another should go to the bishop's court, then to the high council, and only then to the Council of the Twelve Apostles. The article continues with what now seems to be the Church's last statement of counsel that members should not take their disputes to the civil courts. 'The courts of the Church in no sense assume to oppose or supersede the secular law,' the article states. However, it continues, 'We hold that in matters of difference between brethren, in which no specific infraction of the secular law is involved, and in offenses called `civil` as distinguished from `criminal,` it is as truly unworthy of members of the Church today as it was in Paul's time that `brother goeth to law with brother`; and that it stands to our shame if righteous judgment cannot be rendered among ourselves. (1 Cor. 6:5-7.)'" (The Lord's Way [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1991], 167.)
LeGrand Richards
"I do not know a great deal about the law, but my experience in the execution of the law among the ordinary laymen is that it is not so much the righteousness of the law which governs the decisions of the courts as it is the ability of the attorneys who represent those who go to law. And so the decisions are not always righteous. If the brethren of the Church were making decisions, I think the decisions would be righteous. To my friends who come to me inquiring whether they should sue their brethren for this or that, I say, 'Brother, if you win, you lose,' and that is almost invariably true when you go into the courts.
"I would like to read a few words by Paul in First Corinthians... (quotes 1 Cor. 6:1-3, 1 Cor. 7-8)
"...Now, brethren, it is my feeling that when we can be...free and independent from every power beneath the celestial kingdom and become so united that we as members of the Priesthood of the living God can settle all our troubles within our own ranks, then we will literally become a light upon a hill, an ensign unto the nations." (Conference Report, April 1943, Second Day-Morning Meeting 50.)
1 Cor. 6:9 neither fornicators...nor adulterers
James E. Faust
"By the word of the Lord, all men and women are to practice chastity before marriage and fidelity after marriage. 'Thou shalt not commit adultery,' said the Lord (Ex. 20:14), 'nor do anything like unto it' (D&C 59:6). The Apostle Paul was more explicit in his epistle to the Corinthians (see 1 Cor. 6:9), as was Alma in the Book of Mormon (see Alma 39:1-13).
"Alternatives to the legal and loving marriage between a man and a woman are helping to unravel the fabric of human society. That fabric, of course, is the family. These so-called alternative lifestyles cannot be accepted as right because they frustrate God's commandment for a life-giving union of male and female within a legal marriage (see Gen. 1:28). If practiced by all adults, these lifestyles would mean the end of family." (James E. Faust and James P. Bell, In the Strength of the Lord: The Life and Teachings of James E. Faust [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1999], 264 - 265.)
1 Cor. 6:9 nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind
In today's language we would interpret those who are 'effeminate' as transsexuals and those who were 'abusers of themselves with mankind' as homosexuals.
Harold B. Lee
"Do you need anything else to prove the falsity of any such hellish doctrine as this so-called 'transsexuality' doctrine...? The Lord created male and female, and He didn't have a woman's soul trapped in a man's body, or vice versa." (The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, edited by Clyde J. Williams [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1996], 232.)
Spencer W. Kimball
"The unholy transgression of homosexuality is either rapidly growing or tolerance is giving it wider publicity. If one has such desires and tendencies, he overcomes them the same as if he had the urge toward petting or fornication or adultery. The Lord condemns and forbids this practice with a vigor equal to his condemnation of adultery and other such sex acts. And the Church will excommunicate as readily any unrepentant addict.
"Again, contrary to the belief and statement of many people, this sin, like fornication, is overcomable and forgivable, but again, only upon a deep and abiding repentance, which means total abandonment and complete transformation of thought and act. The fact that some governments and some churches and numerous corrupted individuals have tried to reduce such behavior from criminal offense to personal privilege does not change the nature nor the seriousness of the practice. Good men, wise men, God-fearing men everywhere still denounce the practice as being unworthy of sons of God; and Christ's church denounces it and condemns it so long as men have bodies which can be defiled." (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, edited by Edward L. Kimball [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1982], 274.)
1 Cor. 6:11 such were some of you
Delbert L. Stapley
"We are not free of these despicable sins; and Satan, recognizing the weaknesses of the flesh, is vigorously attacking the weakened armor in our defenses and far too many are yielding to his enticements to error and sin... Our beloved President David O. McKay has always taught members of the Church to practise self-restraint and self-mastery, not permitting themselves to fall to the level of the animal kingdom.
"We cannot afford, as children of God, in whose presence we someday hope to be, to toss overboard the God-given principles of morality and make our bodies instruments of unrighteousness by yielding to the gratification of bodily desires. God will not hold guiltless those who succumb to such sins and forsake his laws and also abdicate responsibility to loved ones.
'For of him,' said the Lord to the Prophet Joseph Smith, 'unto whom much is given much is required: and he who sins against the greater light shall receive the greater condemnation.' (D&C 82:3.)" (Conference Report, April 1963, Afternoon Meeting 35-36.)
Bruce R. McConkie
"Members of the Church are sometimes guilty of the same sins that afflict fallen man generally. When they are, their condemnation is greater than it otherwise would be, because of their greater light and knowledge." (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1985], 225.)
1 Cor. 6:11 such were some of you: but ye are washed
Spencer W. Kimball
"President Joseph Fielding Smith, writing in the Improvement Era, made this comment: 'No unrepentant person who remains in his sins will ever enter into the glories of the celestial kingdom.' This statement is consistent with all we read in the scriptures on the subject, which is perhaps summed up in Alma's words: '... for there can no man be saved except his garments are washed white; yea, his garments must be purified until they are cleansed from all stain...' ("Alma 5:21.)
"...[Consider] Paul's comment to the Corinthians...
'... Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.' (1 Cor. 6:9-10.)
"Here is an extremely limiting statement...And it is true! Certainly, the kingdom cannot be populated with such men as Paul had found in the Church branches where he worked. It could hardly be glory and honor and power and joy if the eternal kingdom were made up of fornicators, adulterers, idolaters, sexual perverts, thieves, covetous persons, drunkards, liars, rebels, reprobates, extortioners and such people.
"But Paul's next thought is comforting as well as clarifying:
'And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.' (1 Cor. 6:11.)
"This is the great secret. Some of those who inherit the kingdom may have committed such grievous sins but are no longer in those categories. They are no longer unclean, having been washed, sanctified and justified. Paul's hearers had been in those despicable categories, but having now received the gospel with its purifying, transforming powers they were changed. The cleansing process had been applied and they were washed clean and had become eligible for the first resurrection and for exaltation in God's kingdom." (The Miracle of Forgiveness [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1969], 351-352.)
1 Cor. 6:13 Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats
Bruce R. McConkie
"Paul here decries the Corinthian claim that as the hunger of the belly is properly satisfied with food, so sex appetites might properly be fed with fornication. Rather, he acclaims, the bodies of the saints are eternal and will be resurrected; as part of the spiritual body of Christ, they must not be defiled by connections with harlots; they are now Christ's, for he has bought them with his blood and made them temples wherein his Spirit may dwell; since he owns them, he justly decrees they shall be used in righteousness." (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1965-1973], 2:340)
1 Cor. 6:17 he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit
LeGrand Richards
"John...referred to God as a spirit, which is confusing to some: 'God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.' (John 4:24.)
"This should not be confusing, since we are all spirits, clothed with bodies of flesh and bones. John says we are to 'worship him in spirit and in truth.' He would not, however, imply that our spirits should leave our bodies so that we can worship him 'in spirit.'
"Paul declared: 'But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.' (1 Cor. 6:17.) We are spirits in the same sense that John had in mind when he said 'God is a Spirit.'" (A Marvelous Work and a Wonder [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1950], 21-22.)
1 Cor. 6:18 he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body
Neal A. Maxwell
"...[In] the final stages of selfishness...the individual is not willing to risk a commitment of any enduring nature nor to be depended upon for anything except the assertion of his appetites. Those souls whom sensuality has shrunken into ciphers constantly seek to erase their loneliness by sensations. But in the arithmetic of appetite, anything multiplied by zero still totals zero!
"Failure to keep the seventh commandment also lowers self-esteem, because we are actually sinning against our divine nature and who we really are. (See 1 Cor. 6:18-19.) And we are breeching promises made in the premortal world before we came here, promises that are imprinted, subtly but indelibly, on our soul." (Notwithstanding My Weakness [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1981], 99.)
1 Cor. 6:19 ye are not your own
Joseph Fielding Smith
"That statement of Paul's is just as true and applies with equal force in the cases of Latter-day Saints today...the fact remains that every soul upon the face of the earth was bought with a price-Jew and Gentile, the heathen, the atheist. No matter where a man lives or what he believes or the circumstances under which he lives, he was bought and paid for with a price, a price that was paid by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and he was the only one who could pay it. No one else was ever born into this world who could pay this price.
"...I have heard people say, and members of the Church too, 'I have a right to do as I please.' My answer is: No, you do not. You haven't any right at all to do just as you please. There is only one right that you have, and that is to do just what I read to you: keep the commandments of Jesus Christ. He has a perfect right to tell us so. We have no right to refuse. I do not care who the man is; I do not care where he lives...That free agency gives us the privilege to accept and be loyal to our Lord's commandments, but it has never given us the right to reject them." (Conference Report, April 1967, Afternoon Meeting 120 - 121)
Joseph Fielding Smith
"Paul says we were bought with a price, and we are not our own. Our Redeemer has a perfect right to command us, and all that we do is for our own sakes. He can do without us, but we cannot do without him. We are told that we are unprofitable servants, and so we are, if we think of trying to pay our Savior back for what he has done for us, for that we never can do; and we cannot by any number of acts, or a full life of faithful service, place our Savior in our debt." (Doctrines of Salvation, 3 vols., edited by Bruce R. McConkie [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954-1956], 1: 15.)
Stephen L. Richards
"I know that some young folks think that they have freedom to do what they will. They seem to think that they have freedom to do with their lives as they desire. They ought to be taught the Lord's words regarding life. Life is precious, 'For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.' (1 Cor. 6:20)
"No man has the freedom and the liberty to dispose of even his own life and to be so careless as to endanger the lives of others." (Conference Report, April 1956, General Priesthood Meeting 85.)
1 Cor. 6:20 ye are bought with a price
"This purchase by Jesus was spoken of by Paul in 1 Cor. 6:19-20: 'Ye are not your own.' 'For ye are bought with a price'; and also by Peter, who when speaking of false teachers said, they even deny 'the Lord that bought them' (2 Pe. 2:1). Inasmuch as 'redeemed' means to 'be recovered for a price,' Peter was teaching the same doctrine when he said, 'Ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold . . . but with the precious blood of Christ' (1 Pe. 1:18-19).
"The ransom, or redemption, has to do with the just payment of a debt incurred by the transgression against divine law. The debt was incurred [and]...the atonement, the payment of the blood, was made... Anything less than this would rob the gospel of its power and legitimacy. To deny that Jesus made the payment is to deny the legal basis for salvation, and chaos would reign in the universe!" (Robert J. Matthews, Studies in Scripture, Vol. 2: The Pearl of Great Price, ed. by Robert L. Millet and Kent P. Jackson, [Salt Lake City: Randall Book, 1985], 127.)
"A peculiar people is a purchased people. That is, we are not our own; we have been bought with a price (see 1 Corinthians 6:19-20), even 'the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot' (1 Peter 1:19). We believe that we are saved by the merits and mercy and grace of the Holy Messiah (see 2 Nephi 2:8), but we do not believe in 'cheap grace.' What cost God the Father everything, even the life blood of his Only Begotten Son, cannot be treated as 'a thing of naught' (1 Nephi 19:9)." (Robert L. Millet, Selected Writings of Robert L. Millet: Gospel Scholars Series [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 2000], 353.)
John A. Widstoe
"We must pay the price for whatever we obtain. If we do something, we receive something; if we do nothing, we receive nothing. That is a universal principle, valid from economics to religion, on earth or in heaven. The price may not always be great, but it must be paid. Only as the price has been paid can we claim to own our possessions. Only as the price is paid, and to that degree, can we expect the joy which is the objective of existence. Paul says that Jesus bought us 'with a price.'" (An Understandable Religion [Independence, Mo.: Zion's Printing and Publishing Co., 1944], 89.)
Spencer J. Condie
"...this great and wonderful plan of happiness is not free. 'What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price.' (1 Cor. 6:19-20.)
"That price, of course, was the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ...Every drop of that divine blood was shed in payment for an expensive plan that provided moral agency and the ability to sin, and, through the miracle of forgiveness, the opportunity to be cleansed from our sins through repentance, priesthood ordinances, and endurance to the end.
"The Apostle Paul clearly forewarned us of the price of unwisely using our agency: 'The wages of sin is death' (Rom. 6:23)" (Your Agency, Handle with Care [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1996], 7 - 8.)
Jeffrey R. Holland
"As the Apostle Paul wrote, we were 'bought with a price' (1 Cor. 6:20). What an expensive price and what a merciful purchase!" ("This Do in Remembrance of Me," Ensign, Nov. 1995, 67)
Joseph Fielding Smith
"That price was the blood of Jesus Christ, and we are not our own. Oh, if we could only understand that by the shedding of his blood, he bought us. We belong to him. He has a right to tell us what to do and what not to do, and to command us to keep his commandments." (Conference Report, October 1947, Afternoon Meeting 147.)
1 Cor. 6:20 therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit
Jeffrey R. Holland
"May I quote a 1913 sermon by Elder James E. Talmage on this doctrinal point:
"'We have been taught . . . to look upon these bodies of ours as gifts from God. We Latter-day Saints do not regard the body as something to be condemned, something to be abhorred. . . . We regard [the body] as a sign of our royal birthright. . . . We recognize the fact that those who kept not their first estate . . . were denied that inestimable blessing.. . . We believe that these bodies . . . may be made, in very truth, the temple of the Holy Ghost. . . .
"'It is peculiar to the theology of the Latter-day Saints that we regard the body as an essential part of the soul. Read your dictionaries, the lexicons, and encyclopedias, and you will find that nowhere, outside of the Church of Jesus Christ, is the solemn and eternal truth taught that the soul of man is the body and the spirit combined.' (Conference Report, October 1913, p. 117.)
"So...one who toys with the God-given-and satanically coveted-body of another toys with the very soul of that individual, toys with the central purpose and product of life, 'the very key' to life, as Elder Boyd K. Packer once called it. In trivializing the soul of another (please include the word body there) we trivialize the atonement which saved that soul and guaranteed its continued existence. And when one toys with the Son of Righteousness, the Day Star himself, one toys with white heat and a flame hotter and holier than the noonday sun. You cannot do so and not be burned. You cannot with impunity 'crucify . . . the Son of God afresh.' (Hebrews 6:6) Exploitation of the body (please include the word soul there) is, in the last analysis, an exploitation of him who is the Light and the Life of the world. Perhaps here, Paul's warning to the Corinthians takes on newer, higher meaning:
"'Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body. . . . Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. . . . Flee fornication. . . . He that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? . . . For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.' (1 Cor. 6:13-20. Italics added.)
"Our soul is what is at stake here-our spirit and our body. Paul understood that doctrine of the soul every bit as well as James E. Talmage did, because it is gospel truth. The purchase price for our fullness of joy-body and spirit eternally united-is the pure and innocent blood of the Savior of the world. We cannot then say in ignorance or defiance, 'Well, it's my life' or worse yet, 'It's my body.' It is not. 'Ye are not your own,' Paul said. 'Ye are bought with a price.' So in answer to the question, 'Why does God care so much about sexual transgression?' it is partly because of the precious gift offered by and through his Only Begotten Son to redeem the souls-bodies and spirits-we too often share and abuse in such cheap and tawdry ways. Christ restored the very seeds of eternal lives (see D&C 132:19, D&C 132:24), and we desecrate them at our peril. The first key reason for personal purity? Our very souls are involved and at stake." (Jeffrey R. Holland and Patricia T. Holland, On Earth As It Is in Heaven [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1989], 187-188.)
Spencer J. Condie
"When we use our eyes to improve our minds and to edify our spirits, we do, indeed glorify God with our body. And when we listen to sublime music and to the spoken word of the Lord's servants, we pay Him honor. When we use our voices to share the gospel, to proclaim the truth, and to comfort and cheer others, we show our gratitude for the price by which our sins were bought. When we adorn our bodies with modest clothing, and when our behavior is also modest, we demonstrate that we are the Lord's children.
"Whenever we eat a well-balanced diet (including brussels sprouts and broccoli because we know they'll be good for us) and when we follow a program of physical exercise we are, in essence, paying tribute to our Father who created us all. When we take care of our eyes and ears and skin and cardiovascular and muscular-skeletal systems, we not only enjoy better health and vigor of mind and body now, but we are also better prepared to 'waste and wear out our lives' in building the Kingdom of God. May each of us take good care of the Lord's property-our bodies-the temples of our spirits." (In Perfect Balance [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1993], 240.)