It’s not mine. This is a phrase you don’t hear often unless someone is shirking responsibility. Children are the best examples of expressing this concept of mine, and not mine. When a toddler wants something, they claim it. You will hear the words “mine” loud and clear. When they stake a claim to something, they are focused on the object. No matter what else is going on, they are determined to keep what they think is theirs. Usually, they are brought to tears when they must relinquish the object because a parent tells them it is not theirs. As they get older, they begin to understand that picking and choosing is the most comfortable way to go. If it is a toy they don’t want to put away, because they’d rather watch TV, then they proclaim, “It’s not mine.” This releases their responsibility for an unpleasant task.
In I Corinthians 6:19-20, Paul is speaking to the Corinthians about sin in their lives. In verse 18, he is preaching to them about sexual sins, but it applies to any sin. This is not the first time he has spoken to them about the sins of the body. In chapter 3, he has already addressed the truth that our bodies are the temple of God. His Spirit dwells within us, and to defile our bodies with sin is to defile God’s house.
I Corinthian 6:19-20 “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
In I Corinthians 6:20, Paul explains that we are not our own. God owns us. He made us and we were His because He is the author of who we are.
We cannot create human life, only God can do that. He created us for His glory. (Isaiah 43:7) We were created to praise Him. (Isaiah 43:21)
Isaiah 43:7 “Even everyone that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.”
Isaiah 43:21 “This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise.”
He created us in His image. We are the only thing on earth that God created that will live forever. The only creation that was made after His image. We are the only part of creation that He gave rule over the rest of creation.
Genesis 1:26 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”
God has rightful ownership of us. He gives us a choice of how we use our lives, but He still has ultimate control. If we have accepted His Son as a payment for our sins, and we have surrendered our lives to Him, we will spend eternity with Him, but if we have refused to submit to Him, we will spend eternity in Hell.
Because of His great love, He made a way for us to be redeemed, which means bought back. Our redemption was made available by God’s grace. He gave us over to the slavery of sin, but Jesus paid the ransom price for our redemption. It is made available to all who would believe, but it is not a payment for the sins of those who reject Him. In our salvation, God is both a servant and a redeemer. He serves by sending His Son to lay down His life for our sins. We are redeemed when the Father buys us back with the payment of Jesus’ blood. We then are twice owned.
II Corinthians 5:21 “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
We are not our own. We have been bought back by our maker. If we are to be used, we must submit to the ownership of our maker. God paid a great price to redeem us to and for Himself. We should be so grateful for our redemption that we would lay no claim on our lives. It should be an honor to serve and be used by the King of the universe. We each need to do an honest assessment of our lives. We are to surrender daily. If we do not, our flesh will take hold, and keep inching up until it has more of us than God does. None of us are perfect, Romans 3:23 makes that abundantly clear. None of us have arrived according to Philippians 3:12-13. All who are saved should be pressing forward for the master. As we walk this path for our Master, we often fail, but 1 John 1:9 secures the continuance of our lives in Him. He will forgive us if we confess and turn away from our sins.
Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
Philippians 3:12-13 “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after if that I may apprehend that for which also, I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,”
My relationship with my Master is like no other. His ownership grants me freedom. Freedom from sin, freedom from the penalty of sin, and freedom to grow to be like my Master. There is no other relationship on this earth that grants me all I have in Christ. I am twice owned, first as His creation, and second at my redemption. He can rightfully say “That’s mine.” I need to relinquish all rights to my life, so that I can honestly say, with my actions, attitudes, and words, “It’s not mine.”
