1 Corinthians 6
Introduction
Chapter 6 marks a transition in Paul's letter as he moves from the problem of factionalism (chapters 1-4) and the case of sexual immorality within the church (chapter 5) to two new but related issues: lawsuits between believers in pagan courts, and the misuse of Christian freedom to justify sexual sin. Both problems share a common root -- the Corinthians have failed to grasp the implications of their new identity in Christ. They are still operating by the values and practices of the surrounding Greco-Roman culture rather than by the radically different logic of the gospel. Paul's repeated refrain "Do you not know?" (appearing six times in this chapter alone) suggests that the Corinthians should already understand these truths but have failed to apply them.
The chapter divides into two major halves. In the first half (vv. 1-11), Paul addresses the scandal of Christians suing one another before pagan judges, arguing that the community destined to judge the world and angels should be competent to settle its own internal disputes. He then pivots to a vice list that functions as a sharp warning: those who persist in such behaviors will not inherit the kingdom of God -- but the Corinthians' past involvement in these very sins has been decisively broken by the washing, sanctification, and justification they received in Christ. In the second half (vv. 12-20), Paul engages a Corinthian slogan about freedom ("everything is permissible for me") and shows that Christian liberty is not license, especially when it comes to the body. The body is not disposable or morally irrelevant; it belongs to the Lord, is destined for resurrection, and is a temple of the Holy Spirit. The chapter culminates in one of Paul's most memorable declarations: "You are not your own; you were bought at a price."
Lawsuits among Believers (vv. 1-8)
BSB
If any of you has a grievance against another, how dare he go to law before the unrighteous instead of before the saints! Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!
So if you need to settle everyday matters, do you appoint as judges those of no standing in the church? I say this to your shame. Is there really no one among you wise enough to arbitrate between his brothers? Instead, one brother goes to law against another, and this in front of unbelievers!
The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means that you are thoroughly defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, even against your own brothers!
Translation
Does any one of you dare, when he has a grievance against another, to be judged before the unrighteous rather than before the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you unworthy of the most trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more, then, the matters of everyday life!
If, then, you have disputes about everyday matters, why do you appoint as judges those who have no standing in the church? I say this to your shame. Is there really not one wise person among you who is able to render a decision between one brother and another? Instead, brother goes to court against brother -- and this before unbelievers!
In fact, it is already a total defeat for you that you have lawsuits against one another. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded? But instead, you yourselves wrong and defraud others -- and these are your own brothers!
Notes
Τολμᾷ τις ὑμῶν (Tolma tis hymōn, "Does any one of you dare") -- The verb tolmaō means "to dare, to have the audacity, to be bold enough." It carries a tone of moral outrage and shock. Paul is not simply asking a question; he is expressing astonishment that any believer would consider such an action. The word implies that taking a fellow Christian to a pagan court is an act of shameless boldness, a crossing of a boundary that should be obvious. The same verb is used positively in Romans 5:7 ("someone might dare to die for a good person") and 2 Corinthians 10:12 (where Paul sarcastically says he "would not dare" to compare himself with certain self-commenders), showing that the word's moral coloring depends entirely on context.
ἐπὶ τῶν ἀδίκων ... ἐπὶ τῶν ἁγίων (epi tōn adikōn ... epi tōn hagiōn, "before the unrighteous ... before the saints") -- The contrast is sharp and deliberate. The word ἄδικος (adikos, "unrighteous, unjust") does not merely mean "non-Christian" but carries a moral charge: these are people outside God's covenant who do not know God's justice. Paul uses the same word in verse 9 (adikoi) for those who will not inherit the kingdom. Meanwhile, ἅγιοι (hagioi, "saints, holy ones") is Paul's standard term for believers -- people set apart by God. The irony is biting: the saints, who are destined to judge the cosmos, are going to the unrighteous to have their petty disputes settled. The preposition epi with the genitive here means "before" in the sense of "in the presence of, under the jurisdiction of."
κριτηρίων ἐλαχίστων (kritēriōn elachistōn, "the most trivial cases/courts") -- The word κριτήριον (kritērion) can mean either "court, tribunal" or "case, lawsuit" -- the ambiguity is present in both Greek and English ("court" can mean the institution or the proceeding). The superlative adjective ἐλάχιστος (elachistos, "smallest, least, most trivial") emphasizes how insignificant these civil disputes are in comparison to the eschatological judgment the saints will exercise. If believers are qualified to adjudicate cosmic matters, how can they be unfit for property disputes? Paul uses this same word elachistos in 4:3 ("it is the smallest of matters to me") to dismiss human evaluation, and in 15:9 to call himself "the least of the apostles."
ἀγγέλους κρινοῦμεν (angelous krinoumen, "we will judge angels") -- This is a remarkable and somewhat mysterious claim. Paul states it as established knowledge ("Do you not know?"), suggesting it was part of his original teaching to the Corinthians. The background is likely the Jewish apocalyptic tradition in which the righteous participate in God's final judgment (cf. Dan 7:22; Wisdom 3:8). The "angels" here most likely refer to fallen angels, since good angels would not need judgment. The verb krinō in the future tense (krinoumen) places this judgment eschatologically. Paul's argument is from the greater to the lesser (a fortiori): if you will judge supernatural beings, surely you can handle βιωτικά (biōtika, "matters pertaining to daily life, ordinary affairs").
πρὸς ἐντροπὴν ὑμῖν λέγω (pros entropēn hymin legō, "I say this to your shame") -- The noun ἐντροπή (entropē, "shame, turning inward") comes from entrepō ("to turn in upon oneself"), suggesting the kind of self-reflection that produces embarrassment. In 4:14, Paul explicitly said he was not writing to shame them but to admonish them. Here, however, he deliberately invokes shame. The shift is significant: the lawsuits are so egregious that shame is the appropriate response. The Corinthians who prided themselves on their wisdom (cf. 1:18-3:23) cannot produce even one sophos ("wise person") capable of arbitrating between brothers -- an ironic failure for a community obsessed with sophia.
ἥττημα (hēttēma, "defeat, loss, failure") -- This word appears only here and in Romans 11:12 in the New Testament. It means "a loss, a defeat, a diminishment." Paul's point is devastating: the Corinthians think they are winning their lawsuits, but the very act of litigating against each other means they have already lost. The real defeat is not losing a court case but losing the witness and unity of the community. The victory they pursue in the courtroom is actually a spiritual defeat. Paul then proposes the radical alternative: ἀδικεῖσθε ... ἀποστερεῖσθε (adikeisthe ... apostereisthe, "be wronged ... be defrauded") -- present passive imperatives that echo Jesus' teaching in Matthew 5:39-40 about turning the other cheek and giving up one's cloak. The willingness to absorb loss rather than damage the community is the truly Christian posture.
ἀδικεῖτε καὶ ἀποστερεῖτε, καὶ τοῦτο ἀδελφούς (adikeite kai apostereite, kai touto adelphous, "you wrong and defraud, and this against brothers") -- The verbs ἀδικέω (adikeō, "to do wrong, to harm") and ἀποστερέω (apostereō, "to defraud, to deprive, to rob") are the same roots Paul has been using throughout the passage, creating a verbal echo. In verse 1, the pagan judges are called adikoi ("unrighteous"); now the Corinthians themselves are performing adikia ("unrighteousness"). The climactic phrase καὶ τοῦτο ἀδελφούς (kai touto adelphous, "and this against brothers") is a construction expressing moral shock (cf. the same pattern in 5:1). The word ἀδελφός (adelphos, "brother") appears four times in this short passage (vv. 5, 6, 6, 8), hammering home the family betrayal inherent in their actions.
The Wicked Will Not Inherit the Kingdom (vv. 9-11)
BSB
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.
And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Translation
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor the passive partner in homosexual acts, nor the active partner in homosexual acts, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor the verbally abusive, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Notes
ἄδικοι Θεοῦ βασιλείαν οὐ κληρονομήσουσιν (adikoi Theou basileian ou klēronomēsousin, "the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God") -- The word ἄδικοι (adikoi, "unrighteous") directly echoes verse 1, where Paul described the pagan judges as adikōn. Now the word takes on a broader meaning: not merely "non-Christian" but anyone characterized by unrighteous behavior. The verb κληρονομέω (klēronomeō, "to inherit") carries the sense of receiving an allotted portion, an inheritance promised by God. In the Old Testament, Israel "inherited" the promised land; now the inheritance is the kingdom of God itself. Paul uses this language in Galatians 5:21 with a nearly identical vice list, and in Ephesians 5:5. The warning is not about isolated acts of sin but about a settled pattern of life that defines the person.
μὴ πλανᾶσθε (mē planasthe, "do not be deceived") -- The verb πλανάω (planaō, "to lead astray, to deceive, to wander") is in the present passive/middle imperative: "stop being deceived" or "do not let yourselves be led astray." This formula appears also in 15:33 and Galatians 6:7, always introducing a solemn warning. It suggests that some in Corinth were indeed being deceived -- likely by the same distorted view of freedom that Paul will address in verses 12-20. The Corinthians may have believed that their spiritual status made them immune to moral consequences, that baptism and participation in the Lord's Supper guaranteed their inheritance regardless of behavior.
μαλακοὶ ... ἀρσενοκοῖται (malakoi ... arsenokoitai, "soft/passive partner ... active partner in homosexual acts") -- These two terms are among the most discussed in Pauline scholarship. Μαλακός (malakos) literally means "soft" and is used elsewhere for soft clothing (Matt 11:8; Luke 7:25). In moral contexts in Greek literature, it was widely used for men who were effeminate or who took the passive role in homosexual intercourse. Ἀρσενοκοίτης (arsenokoitēs) is a compound word from ἄρσην (arsēn, "male") and κοίτη (koitē, "bed," with sexual connotations -- the source of English "coitus"). The word appears to be coined from the Septuagint of Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13, where the two words appear together (arsenos koitēn, "the bed of a male"). Paul uses it again in 1 Timothy 1:10. Together the two terms likely cover both the passive and active partners in male homosexual acts, though the precise semantic range remains debated.
καὶ ταῦτά τινες ἦτε (kai tauta tines ēte, "and such were some of you") -- This is one of the most powerful short sentences in Paul's letters. The neuter plural ταῦτα (tauta, "these things") treats the entire vice list as a single category of identity. The imperfect tense ἦτε (ēte, "you were") marks a decisive break between past and present. The indefinite τινες (tines, "some") is both honest and pastoral: not all the Corinthians had been involved in every vice, but some had been involved in each. Paul does not deny their past; he affirms that it has been genuinely overcome.
ἀπελούσασθε ... ἡγιάσθητε ... ἐδικαιώθητε (apelousasthe ... hēgiasthēte ... edikaiōthēte, "you were washed ... you were sanctified ... you were justified") -- The threefold ἀλλά (alla, "but") creates a drumbeat of contrast: "but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified." The first verb, ἀπολούω (apolouō, "to wash off, to wash away"), occurs only here and in Acts 22:16 in the New Testament. The middle voice (apelousasthe) could suggest "you got yourselves washed" -- a reference to the Corinthians' own act of submitting to baptism. The ordering is surprising: sanctification comes before justification, which reverses Paul's usual theological sequence (cf. Rom 8:30). This suggests Paul is not presenting a systematic ordo salutis but rather piling up images of transformation. All three acts are accomplished ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ ἐν τῷ Πνεύματι τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν ("in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God") -- a trinitarian formula linking Christ's authority and the Spirit's power with the act of God the Father.
ἐδικαιώθητε (edikaiōthēte, "you were justified") -- The verb δικαιόω (dikaioō, "to justify, to declare righteous") is the same root as the adikoi ("unrighteous") who opened this section. The verbal echo is deliberate and dramatic: those who were adikoi have now been dikaiōthēte -- the unrighteous have been declared righteous. The aorist passive tense points to a completed, decisive act of God. This is the language of Paul's great doctrine of justification (cf. Rom 3:24, 5:1, 8:30), applied here not as abstract theology but as a reminder of concrete transformation. The Corinthians who were once characterized by the vices of vv. 9-10 have been fundamentally redefined by what God has done for them.
The Body Belongs to the Lord (vv. 12-17)
BSB
"Everything is permissible for me," but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me," but I will not be mastered by anything. "Food for the stomach and the stomach for food," but God will destroy them both. The body is not intended for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 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.
Translation
"All things are lawful for me" -- but not all things are beneficial. "All things are lawful for me" -- but I will not be brought under the power of anything. "Food is for the stomach and the stomach for food" -- but God will put an end to both the one and the other. The body, however, is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God both raised the Lord and will raise us up through his power.
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Absolutely not! Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it says, "The two will become one flesh." But the one who joins himself to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.
Notes
Πάντα μοι ἔξεστιν (Panta moi exestin, "All things are lawful/permissible for me") -- Most scholars believe this is a Corinthian slogan that Paul is quoting back to them, not his own teaching. The verb ἔξεστιν (exestin, "it is permitted, it is lawful") is impersonal and expresses what is legally or morally allowed. The Corinthians appear to have taken Paul's teaching about freedom from the Law (cf. Gal 5:1) and pushed it to an antinomian extreme: if we are free from the Law, then everything is permissible. Paul does not flatly deny the slogan but qualifies it twice: first with συμφέρει (sympherei, "it is beneficial, it is profitable") -- not everything that is technically permissible actually serves your good or the good of others; and second with ἐξουσιασθήσομαι (exousiasthēsomai, "I will be mastered, I will be brought under the authority of") -- a deliberate wordplay on exestin/exousia. The person who claims total freedom but is enslaved to an appetite has not achieved freedom at all but a new form of bondage.
Τὰ βρώματα τῇ κοιλίᾳ καὶ ἡ κοιλία τοῖς βρώμασιν (Ta brōmata tē koilia kai hē koilia tois brōmasin, "Food for the stomach and the stomach for food") -- This appears to be another Corinthian slogan, reflecting a materialist argument: the stomach and food are made for each other, and both are temporary. By analogy, the Corinthians may have argued that the body and sexual desire are similarly made for each other and equally morally neutral. Paul grants the premise about food and the stomach -- God will indeed καταργήσει (katargēsei, "abolish, put an end to, render inoperative") both -- but he emphatically rejects the conclusion about the body and sex. The word katargeō is a favorite Pauline term (appearing 25 times in his letters) meaning "to make ineffective, to nullify, to bring to nothing." Food and stomach are transient, but the σῶμα (sōma, "body") has an eternal destiny.
τὸ δὲ σῶμα οὐ τῇ πορνείᾳ ἀλλὰ τῷ Κυρίῳ, καὶ ὁ Κύριος τῷ σώματι (to de sōma ou tē porneia alla tō Kyriō, kai ho Kyrios tō sōmati, "the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body") -- The word πορνεία (porneia, "sexual immorality, fornication") is a broad term covering all sexual activity outside marriage. The construction creates a remarkable reciprocity: the body is for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. This is not merely a prohibition but a positive theological claim: the body has a Lord who cares for it, who has a purpose for it, and who will raise it from the dead. The body is not a prison to escape from (as in Greek dualism) but an instrument destined for glory. The mutual "for" (dative of advantage) echoes the marriage-like language of belonging that Paul will develop further in chapter 7.
ἐξεγερεῖ (exegerei, "he will raise up") -- The verb ἐξεγείρω (exegeirō) is a strengthened form of egeirō ("to raise"), with the prefix ex- intensifying the action: "to raise out, to raise up fully." It appears only here and in Romans 9:17 in the New Testament (where it has a different sense). The future tense is significant: Paul grounds his ethic of the body in the doctrine of bodily resurrection. What you do with your body matters eternally because God will raise it. This argument connects directly to chapter 15, where Paul will mount his great defense of the resurrection. The phrase διὰ τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ (dia tēs dynameōs autou, "through his power") recalls the letter's opening theme: God's power (dynamis) is the real force at work, not human wisdom or autonomy.
μέλη Χριστοῦ (melē Christou, "members of Christ") -- The word μέλος (melos, "limb, member, body part") refers to an actual part of a body. Paul is not speaking metaphorically in a loose sense; he means that believers' physical bodies are organically connected to Christ, forming parts of his body. This body theology will be developed extensively in chapter 12. The horrifying implication Paul draws out is that taking the members of Christ and joining them to a prostitute is a kind of bodily sacrilege -- it is tearing a limb from Christ's body and fusing it to another body entirely. The emphatic μὴ γένοιτο (mē genoito, "may it never be! absolutely not!") is Paul's strongest formula of rejection, appearing fifteen times in his letters (ten times in Romans alone). It expresses not just disagreement but visceral horror at the very thought.
κολλώμενος (kollōmenos, "the one who joins himself to, the one who clings to") -- The verb κολλάω (kollaō) means "to glue, to cement, to join firmly." In the passive/middle, it means "to cling to, to be joined to." It appears in the Septuagint of Genesis 2:24, where the man "clings to" (proskollēthēsetai) his wife. Paul uses the same verb for both unions -- joining to a prostitute (v. 16) and joining to the Lord (v. 17) -- creating a stark parallel. Sexual union with a prostitute creates "one body" (hen sōma), recalling Genesis 2:24 ("the two will become one flesh"), while union with the Lord creates "one spirit" (hen pneuma). The contrast is not between body and spirit as inferior and superior, but between two incompatible unions: one that degrades the body's purpose and one that fulfills it.
Ἔσονται γάρ, φησίν, οἱ δύο εἰς σάρκα μίαν (Esontai gar, phēsin, hoi duo eis sarka mian, "For 'the two will become one flesh,' it says") -- Paul quotes Genesis 2:24, introduced with the formula φησίν (phēsin, "it/he says"), a present tense verb used for authoritative citation of Scripture. The quotation follows the Septuagint exactly. In its original context, Genesis 2:24 describes the marriage union. Paul's application of it to sexual intercourse with a prostitute is theologically significant: he is arguing that sexual union always creates a real ontological bond, not merely a physical act. Sex is never "just physical" in Paul's theology. The word σάρξ (sarx, "flesh") here refers to the physical, embodied person -- the whole human being in bodily existence -- rather than "flesh" in Paul's theological sense of the sinful nature (as in Rom 8:5-8).
The Temple of the Holy Spirit (vv. 18-20)
BSB
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.
Translation
Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a person commits is outside the body, but the one who sins sexually sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.
Notes
Φεύγετε τὴν πορνείαν (Pheugete tēn porneian, "Flee sexual immorality") -- The verb φεύγω (pheugō, "to flee, to run away from") is a present imperative, commanding an ongoing posture of flight. Paul does not say "resist" or "stand firm against" sexual immorality, as he does with other temptations (cf. Eph 6:13, "stand firm"; Jas 4:7, "resist the devil"). The command to flee implies that sexual temptation is uniquely dangerous -- the proper response is not to test one's strength against it but to remove oneself from the situation entirely. The Old Testament background is likely the story of Joseph, who literally fled from Potiphar's wife (Gen 39:12), leaving his garment behind. Paul uses the same verb in 10:14 ("flee from idolatry"), treating sexual sin and idolatry as parallel dangers requiring the same response: immediate withdrawal.
πᾶν ἁμάρτημα ὃ ἐὰν ποιήσῃ ἄνθρωπος ἐκτὸς τοῦ σώματός ἐστιν (pan hamartēma ho ean poiēsē anthrōpos ektos tou sōmatos estin, "every sin that a person commits is outside the body") -- This statement has generated significant debate. Some scholars believe Paul is quoting yet another Corinthian slogan ("every sin is outside the body," i.e., what you do with the body doesn't matter spiritually) and then correcting it with "but the one who sins sexually sins against his own body." Others take it as Paul's own assertion that sexual sin is unique in how it affects the body. The word ἁμάρτημα (hamartēma, "sin, sinful act") is the concrete noun form (a specific act of sin) rather than the abstract hamartia ("sin" as a principle or power). The preposition ἐκτός (ektos, "outside, apart from") underscores the spatial metaphor: other sins may use the body as an instrument, but sexual sin uniquely implicates the body itself, making it part of a union that contradicts its belonging to Christ.
ναὸς τοῦ ... Ἁγίου Πνεύματος (naos tou ... Hagiou Pneumatos, "sanctuary/temple of the Holy Spirit") -- The word ναός (naos) is crucial. Greek has two words for temple: hieron (the entire temple complex, including courts and outbuildings) and naos (the inner sanctuary, the dwelling place of the deity). Paul uses naos -- the holy of holies, the place where God's presence dwells. In 3:16, Paul used the same word for the church corporately as God's temple; here, strikingly, he applies it to the individual believer's body. Each Christian's physical body is the sacred inner chamber where the Holy Spirit resides. This is an extraordinary claim in the context of Greco-Roman religion, where naoi were physical buildings housing cult statues. Paul is saying that the living God has relocated his dwelling from a building to a body -- and therefore that body must be treated with the reverence due to sacred space.
οὐκ ἐστὲ ἑαυτῶν (ouk este heautōn, "you are not your own") -- This is a genitive of possession: "you do not belong to yourselves." The statement directly counters the Corinthian slogan of radical autonomy (panta moi exestin, "all things are permissible for me"). The Corinthians claimed the right to do whatever they wanted with their own bodies; Paul denies the foundational premise. You do not own yourself. The language of self-ownership was significant in the ancient world, where the line between slave and free was a fundamental social category. A free person "belonged to himself" (heautou ēn); a slave belonged to his master. Paul is saying that Christians are, in the most positive sense, not their own masters -- they have a Lord.
ἠγοράσθητε γὰρ τιμῆς (ēgorasthēte gar timēs, "for you were bought at a price") -- The verb ἀγοράζω (agorazō, "to buy, to purchase, to acquire in the marketplace") is drawn from the language of commercial transaction, and in the ancient world, particularly from the slave market. The aorist passive ("you were bought") points to a completed act -- the death of Christ. The genitive τιμῆς (timēs, "of/at a price") is a genitive of price or value. The word timē itself means both "price" and "honor/value," creating a rich double meaning: you were purchased at a cost, and that cost reflects your immense value to God. Paul repeats this phrase in 7:23 ("you were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men"). The imagery does not specify the price, but the broader New Testament context makes clear it is Christ's blood (cf. 1 Pet 1:18-19, "not with perishable things like silver or gold ... but with the precious blood of Christ").
δοξάσατε δὴ τὸν Θεὸν ἐν τῷ σώματι ὑμῶν (doxasate dē ton Theon en tō sōmati hymōn, "therefore glorify God in your body") -- The verb δοξάζω (doxazō, "to glorify, to honor, to magnify") is an aorist imperative, giving the command urgency and decisiveness: do it now, do it fully. The particle δή (dē, "indeed, therefore, so then") adds emphasis and urgency -- it is an inferential particle that draws the conclusion from everything Paul has argued. The body is for the Lord (v. 13), God will raise the body (v. 14), the body is a member of Christ (v. 15), the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit (v. 19), and you were bought at a price (v. 20) -- therefore glorify God in your body. The preposition ἐν (en, "in") indicates the body is the sphere or instrument of glorification. A textual variant in the Byzantine tradition adds "and in your spirit, which belong to God," but this is not found in the earliest manuscripts (P46, Sinaiticus, Vaticanus, Alexandrinus) and is almost certainly a later expansion intended to balance "body" with "spirit."