Paul now refers to one particular form of sexual immorality, one of the widespread sexual vices of Corinth, which was apparently still attractive to some of the church members, that of having dealings with prostitutes, and about which the church seemed to be lax. 6: 12 implies that there was misunderstanding in Corinth about Paul's teaching that we are saved from sin by the loving and freely given grace of God, not by any effort of ours. This teaching could be distorted to mean that it did not matter what a Christian did because God would go on loving him or her, regardless. There are modern forms of this misunderstanding. Some of the Corinthians had applied this false reasoning to their desire to continue to go with prostitutes. Their false reasoning may have reflected the Greek idea referred to earlier, that the spirit of a person was not affected by the actions of the body. These Corinthians apparently thought that they could continue to take part in Christian worship and fellowship and continue going with prostitutes, as the two were unconnected in their thinking. Paul returns to the great metaphor of the body being the temple of the Holy Spirit (6: 19). The interaction between body and spirit is such that he who joins his body with that of a prostitute becomes one with her (6: 16), and so becomes incapable of spiritual union with the Lord (6:17).

Paul also introduces a great metaphor for the Church, to which he will return later in the letter. The Church is the Body of Christ. The individual Christian is part of the Body of Christ, being in spiritual union with Christ. A Christian who joins himself to a prostitute is joining the Body of Christ to a prostitute, a most horrible idea. Paul speaks very strongly in this passage because he feels so upset about the immorality which the church has done nothing to curb amongst its members.

Paul refers to the resurrection of the body (6:14) about which he will say much later in the letter. In 6:20, he reminds the Corinthians that their salvation cost God a great price.

As we reach the end of chapter 6, we see from what has been said in chapter 5 and 6 that the church in Corinth had a great deal more to learn both about what constitutes Christian behaviour and what is required in matters of Christian discipline. It was not until P tried to open the eyes of the Corinthians to the moral chaos in their about which they had said nothing in their letter to him, that he begin to answer the questions which they had raised.