YOUR BODY A TEMPLE OF GOD.
Says the apostle Paul, in addressing the church: “Know ye not that ye are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man destroyeth the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” 1 Cor. 3:16, 17, R.V. The same apostle says again to the believer: “Know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have from God? and ye are not your own; for ye were bought with a price: glorify God therefore in your body.” Ch. 6:19, 20, R.V. Man is doubly the Lord’s—by creation and redemption; in the creation of the first pair from whom all sprang, and in the payment of the purchase price of the death of the Son of God. When man was created, his body, his flesh, was a fit dwelling for the Spirit, the life of God. God dwelt in him, and was thereby glorified. God was incarnate, enfleshed. Man was His son, reflecting the Father’s image. But man sinned. He yielded the sanctuary of his body to Satan, who entered and took possession of that which was not his. Sin became incarnate, enfleshed; and the mind became enchained, the carnal mind, not subject to the law of the great King, but at enmity to God. Rom. 8:7. The temple still of right belonged to God, but God had departed. He could not share its throne with the enemy. He will not, He can not, give His glory to another who counterworks His blessed plans. “Know ye not that he that is joined to a harlot is one body? for, The twain, saith He, shall become one flesh.” 1 Cor. 6:16. When the members of man are yielded to any of God’s foes, the man, tho belonging to God by right, becomes identified with the enemy in fact. The temple becomes a den of thieves, and the Lord devotes it to the destruction chosen. And yet God does not without divine effort put away the defiled temple. He pleads for admittance as long as there is hope. And if the soul choose, if the body be yielded, the gracious owner will come in again. So had He done with the Corinthians. “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with men, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you; but ye were washed, but ye were sanctified, but ye were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.” Ch. 6:9–11. God had cleansed the temple that He might dwell in it. They were by His grace to keep it pure. The cleansed one can not go back to old habits of lust and worldliness and sin. He must abide in God; “for what fellowship have righteousness and iniquity? or what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what portion hath a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement hath a temple of God with idols? for we are a temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Then the conditions are stated: “Wherefore come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; and I will receive you, and I will be to you a Father, and ye shall be to Me sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” 2 Cor. 6:14–18. God will take up His abode only in the cleansed heart. He will plead with the vile to be cleansed, but He will dwell only in the one purified by His grace. His temple is “the upright heart and pure.” How truly, then, ought every Christian to heed the inspired exhortation: “Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement [“filthiness,” A.V.] of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” 2 Cor. 7:1. This means much. Failure to do this is one of the great reasons why the church of Jesus Christ is so weak to-day. If it were done whole-heartedly, it would bring mighty power. But there is more to be said later on.