1 Corinthians 6:18

6:18 Flee sexual immorality! “Every sin a person commits is outside of the body” ¹  – but the immoral person sins against his own body.

1 Corinthians 7:16

7:16 For how do you know, wife, whether you will bring your husband to salvation? ²  Or how do you know, husband, whether you will bring your wife to salvation? ³ 

1 Corinthians 8:4

8:4 With regard then to eating food sacrificed to idols, we know that “an idol in this world is nothing,” and that “there is no God but one.” ⁴ 

1 Corinthians 10:20

10:20 No, I mean that what the pagans sacrifice ⁵  is to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons.

1 Corinthians 12:17

12:17 If the whole body were an eye, what part would do the hearing? If the whole were an ear, what part would exercise the sense of smell?

[6:18]  ¹ sn It is debated whether this is a Corinthian slogan. If it is not, then Paul is essentially arguing that there are two types of sin, nonsexual sins which take place outside the body and sexual sins which are against a person’s very own body. If it is a Corinthian slogan, then it is a slogan used by the Corinthians to justify their immoral behavior. With it they are claiming that anything done in the body or through the body had no moral relevance. A decision here is very difficult, but the latter is to be preferred for two main reasons. (1) This is the most natural understanding of the statement as it is written. To construe it as a statement by Paul requires a substantial clarification in the sense (e.g., “All other sins…” [NIV]). (2) Theologically the former is more difficult: Why would Paul single out sexual sins as more intrinsically related to the body than other sins, such as gluttony or drunkenness? For these reasons, it is more likely that the phrase in quotation marks is indeed a Corinthian slogan which Paul turns against them in the course of his argument, although the decision must be regarded as tentative.

[7:16]  ² tn Grk “will save your husband?” The meaning is obviously that the wife would be the human agent in leading her husband to salvation.

[7:16]  ³ tn Grk “will save your wife?” The meaning is obviously that the husband would be the human agent in leading his wife to salvation.

[8:4]  ³ sn “An idol in this world is nothing” and “There is no God but one.” Here and in v. 1 Paul cites certain slogans the Corinthians apparently used to justify their behavior (cf. 6:12-13; 7:1; 10:23). Paul agrees with the slogans in part, but corrects them to show how the Corinthians have misused these ideas.

[10:20]  ⁴ tn Grk “what they sacrifice”; the referent (the pagans) is clear from the context and has been specified in the translation for clarity.