1 Corinthians 6:20
“For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Context
Concluding his argument against sexual immorality, Paul grounds the call to bodily holiness in the costly redemption that made believers God's possession.
What Does 1 Corinthians 6:20 Mean?
Paul gives the reason behind his command to honor the body: "ye are bought with a price." The believer has been purchased, redeemed at great cost, and therefore now belongs to God. The image is that of a transaction that transfers ownership -- but here the price was the redemption accomplished through Christ. Because of this purchase, the conclusion follows naturally: glorify God in both body and spirit.
Paul refuses to split the person into a sacred soul and an indifferent body. Both belong to God, and both are arenas for glorifying Him. This was countercultural in Corinth, where many considered the body irrelevant to spirituality. Paul insists the opposite: God is honored or dishonored in physical actions as truly as in inward devotion. To "glorify God" means to live in a way that displays His worth and reflects His goodness. The verse turns redemption into responsibility -- not a burden of repayment, but the glad recognition that one's whole self now exists for God's honor. The cost of redemption is the motive; a life that magnifies God in flesh and spirit is the response. Those who grasp how dearly they were bought live differently in body and soul alike.
In the Original Language
The Greek "ēgorasthēte" (ye are bought) comes from the marketplace, the language of purchasing. "Doxazō" (glorify) means to honor, to display the worth of.
Cross References
“Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold ... But with the precious blood of Christ.”
- 1 Peter 1:18-19
“Whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.”
- Romans 14:8
“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”
- 1 Corinthians 10:31
Application
Because you were purchased at great cost and belong to God, let both your body and your inner life display His worth in everything you do.