<p>6:17- see on Acts 18:18.</p><p><i>But he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit- </i>The act of intercourse makes husband and wife &quot;one flesh&quot;. In the same way as there is &quot;one <i>body</i>... one <i>flesh</i>&quot; at this point, so &quot;he that is joined unto the Lord is one <i>spirit</i>&quot; (1 Cor. 6:16,17).&nbsp; Highlight, or underline, those phrases &quot;one body&quot; and &quot;one flesh&quot; in v.16, and also &quot;one spirit&quot; in v.17. Don't miss the point. We must &quot;stand fast in <i>one spirit</i>, with one mind striving together...&quot; (Phil. 1:27). We are to be one spirit with the Lord, as a man is one body and spirit with his wife (1 Cor. 6:16,17). But that same intense union is to be seen within the ecclesia. We become one spirit with the Lord Jesus by baptism (1 Cor. 6:17; 12:13); thus what we feel deep inside us in our spirit, in the spirit-man created within us, is automatically, instantly the feeling of the Lord Jesus. And because He is one with the Father in Spirit, He can therefore relay our spirit to Him. Rom. 8 is teaching that this is really what prayer is all about, and what we request verbally, not knowing what to pray for as we ought, is not really the essence of prayer. Yet the Corinthians were denying the operation of the Spirit, and therefore they failed to feel their personal relationship and connection with the Lord Jesus; and this led to them using their bodies in sinful connections with prostitutes. They failed to realize what Paul will now make explicit in this chapter- that possession of the Lord's spirit means we, our bodies, are His and not our own to use as we please. That principle goes far beyond sexual issues.</p>