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Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional
June 10
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Today's Pathway:
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There is a question that arises from reading verse 16: is Paul saying that individual believers are the temple of God, or is he saying that the church at Corinth is the temple of God? It is my opinion that both are in view, because both are true. According to I Corinthians 6:19,
"your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you".
Ephesians 2:22 teaches concerning the church:
"In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit."
So it is correct to say that the Spirit dwells within the believer and also in the church. However, it must be understood that it is not the church building that is the habitation of the Spirit, but the Spirit resides there because He indwells the Christians who make up the church body and worship and serve there together.
Paul's question,
"Know ye not..."
is a rebuke. This is something that the believers should have understood. Brian Bell made these remarks:
"Christians themselves are the temple. We are God’s temple why? - Because the Spirit of God dwells in us! The Spirit of God dwells in you - not an influence of the Spirit; but the third person of the Trinity Himself! Christian, no matter how weak, feeble, poor, helpless, or frustrated you feel; or how inadequate, incapable, incompetent, or ineffective you feel,…The Spirit of God dwells in you."
They also should have understood that the church, as the habitation of the Spirit, should never have suffered from the behaviors that were occurring there.
In verse 17 Paul warns against defiling the temple of God. Again, this can be applied both ways. If a Christian defiles himself with the wickedness of this world God will destroy him. And, if a Christian defiles the church through his wicked behavior God will destroy him as well. It is important to note that the Greek words translated "defile" and "destroy" are actually the same word. In other words, what a man does to the temple of God will be done back to him by God. "Destroy" does not necessarily mean that God is going to kill the sinning Christian, although that can happen (I Corinthians 11:29-30). It does mean that God will judge him appropriately. God can spoil the life of the man who spoils His temple.
How can a person defile the church? He can accomplish it by doing the things for which Paul rebukes the Corinthians. It can be done by dividing it up into factions (chapter 1), or by following the wisdom of the world (chapter 2). It can be defiled by sexual immorality (chapter 5), or by taking a brother to court (chapter 6). God’s temple can be defiled by improper marital relations (chapter 7) or by causing a weaker brother to sin (chapters 8-10). One can defile the temple of God by unworthiness at the Lord’s Supper (chapter 11), or by false teaching (chapter 15). A Christian can defile it the same way that he defiles himself: by sin.
God expects holiness in His temple, be it the individual or the church. Ephesians 1:4 says that the believer
"should be holy and without blame before him in love".
I Peter 1:15 adds,
"But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation.
As far as the church is concerned, Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:21
"In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord",
and in Ephesians 5:27,
"That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."
Holiness is the standard that God expects from His children, and it must be our goal as well.
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
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