In a recent post on Reason.com, John Stossel makes “the case for legalizing drugs, prostitution, organ sales, and other consensual acts.” He titles his piece, “Keep Your Laws Off My Body.” He concedes that these behaviors may be immoral, but even so, he denies that legal prohibition of them is the right response. Instead, he argues that shaming drug users, prostitutes, and organ sellers is a more appropriate response than prohibition.

Stossel’s argument is libertarian. There is some truth to this position. Not every sin requires the government to pass a law in response. On the other hand, from a libertarian point of view, why stop with laws? If two people consent to a given act, who is anyone to judge their choice? Maybe you wouldn’t do it, but they’re not you. So mind your own business! A more consistent libertarianism would argue, “Keep your laws off my body and your shame to yourself!” This seems to have been John Stuart Mill’s position in his influential libertarian essay, On Liberty.

From a biblical point of view, what’s wrong with this type of argument is two things: It fails to take into account sins against self, and it mistakenly believes that you own your own body. The biblical point of view finds expression in Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 6:18-20:

Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

First, Paul reminds us that it’s possible to sin against one’s self. “He who sins sexually sins against his own body.” A man who consorts with prostitutes not only sins against God and his spouse, he also harms himself. How so? He may contract a sexually transmitted disease. He may feel disgusted by his own behavior. He may become addicted to increasingly perverse forms of sex and pornography. Ironically, in the exercise of a false freedom, a person may actually enslave himself to behaviors and desires that harm himself.

Second, your body is not your body. It belongs to your Creator and Redeemer, and you are beholden to him for how you use it. Your body is (or can be) “a temple of the Holy Spirit,” Paul writes. “You were bought at a price,” he continues—or can be through faith in Jesus Christ. “Therefore,” he concludes,” honor God with your body.” How you answer the question, “Who owns my body?” makes a huge difference in how you behave.

Libertarians view themselves as the owners of their bodies. Christians view themselves as the stewards of God’s body. Libertarians want the state to keep its laws off their bodies and society to keep its opinions to itself, sometimes rightly. But a Christian welcomes God’s law and guidance.