Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
The task of preparing God’s House is seen very clearly in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. There were believers in the Corinthian church who were conducting themselves in a manner that was inconsistent with the gospel of Christ. Therefore, Paul wrote this letter as one of the means of correcting this sin. He asks in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
Paul strongly states to the church that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in us. He is not just an influence upon the believer but our only occupier and our only resident! He further asserts that He, the Holy Spirit, is from God. The statement “from God” does not mean that He is from God as a courier on an errand but that He is “from God” as of God (God’s very essence)!
The preaching and teaching that we do and the acts of love that we continually show are for the construction and preparation of this “Holy Temple.” The Holy Spirit (God) lives in all believers bringing to us God’s own nature. We are not our own, which means that God has purchased us! It declares His ownership. In verse 20a, Paul says, “for you were bought at a price.” We are the purchased of God! Wow! In light of these truths, we are commanded to glorify God in our body and spirit which belong to Him and not us. The “house” no longer belongs to us or anyone else but God! Therefore, we are to bring praise, honor, and holy attention to God in our body and through our holy character and conduct. Because of the greatness of God through Jesus Christ for us, to us, and through us, we should live our lives in holy fear coupled with amazement at the wonder of His magnificent love that has been poured out in our hearts.
In Christ,
Pastor Don