"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."

Paul affirms in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 that Christians have a special fellowship with God, and especially with the Holy Spirit, which should inspire us to live holy lives giving glory to God. This beautiful lesson is illustrated and reinforced by introducing the role of the temple in Israel's history. The temple signified the presence and fellowship of God with His special nation, proclaiming His holiness and glory through the people who worshiped at His temple. By dwelling in the Christian, the Spirit makes the child of God a temple which proclaims His holiness and glory to an unbelieving world.

God Dwelt in the Mosaic Temple
God existed before the universe and will exist after it no longer exists. He dwells in heaven, transcending the universe, rather than dwelling on earth. "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name," said Jesus (Matt. 6:9). Yet, the Bible refers to God as dwelling from place to place, or in His people, or His people dwelling in Him. Such passages do not reflect His literal geographical location but to some point of reference regarding His relationship, manifestation, and work among men on earth.

For instance, before His death Moses pronounced a blessing on Israel. He first reminded them of how God gave them His law and promised to guide and protect them as their king: "And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them. Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words" (Deut. 33:2-3).

God did not literally live on Mount Sinai, literally extend His hand with His Law in it, literally hold His people in His hand, or literally have them seated at His feet while He taught them. The Jews saw His miraculous manifestations at Mount Sinai and received His Law there.

When the tabernacle was completed according to the pattern God gave Moses, "the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle" in the form of a cloud. "For the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys" (Ex. 40:38). God who dwells in heaven signified His power, presence, and fellowship with Israel on earth by the pillars of cloud and fire.

Later, God had King Solomon build the temple according to His pattern. When it was completed, "The cloud filled the house of the Lord," signifying, "The glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord" (1 Kgs. 8:10-11). Solomon proclaimed, "I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever" (vs. 13). After explaining how God had kept His covenant with David, Solomon clarified in verse 27 that God did not literally dwell in the temple: "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?" The temple signified God's care and special relationship with His people, who thus had every assurance that God heard their prayers: "And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive" (vs. 30).

God Dwells in His Temple in the Gospel Age
In the Gospel Age the church is called God's temple because God the Spirit dwells there: "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are" (1 Cor. 3:16-17). This figure of speech is based on the Old Testament background. The truth of the gospel must be proclaimed and protected, and false teachers must be exposed and opposed, lest God's temple be desecrated and destroyed. God still dwells in heaven, but His truth, His mercy, and His glory are manifested by the church.

In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Paul proclaimed that every individual Christian is also God's temple. The Christian is the temple of God because of our close relationship with God. Because the will and work of the Spirit are seen in our lives, God is manifested and glorified! Therefore, His saints must maintain their purity and holiness in this wicked world.

What does it mean for someone to dwell in someone else? Satan is in unbelievers and they are in him (Rev. 2:13; 1 Jn. 4:4; 5:19). Satan does not literally inhabit people but his sinful attitudes and deeds do. The Holy Spirit as a Person in the Godhead dwells in the regenerated man, an intelligent person made in God's image and cleansed of sin. This refers to a relationship in which we follow His word, will, and way.

Persons do not literally inhabit other persons in terms of geographical location, but one person may be said to dwell in another in terms of relationship, attitudes, and conduct! The Father is in the Son, the Son in the Father, and Christians are in both the Father and the Son (Jn. 17:21). The Father is in the Christian and the Christian in the Father (1 Jn. 4:12-16), the Son in the Christian and the Christian in the Son (Eph. 3:17; Jn. 6:56), the Holy Spirit in the Christian and the Christian in the Spirit (Rom. 8:9; Gal. 5:25). All these terms refer to our spiritual fellowship, not to the geographical location of the persons.

The Holy Spirit's great role in our salvation was to reveal and confirm "all truth" (Jn. 16:13; 2 Tim. 3:16-17). He convicts and converts sinners through the divine power of the truth He revealed (Jn. 16:7-13). Jesus said sinners must be "born again," "born of water and the Spirit" (Jn. 3:3, 5). Peter spoke of men who were saved by "obeying the truth through the Spirit... being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever" (1 Pet. 1:22-23). The Spirit operates on the human soul by the power of His Word.

In like manner, the Spirit dwells and works in Christians through the revealed word. Jesus said, "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you" (Jn. 15:7). Man's fellowship with Christ occurs as his words abide in us. The Spirit convinces both sinners and saints that Jesus Christ is the Son of God through his words, "because the Spirit is truth" (1 Jn. 5:6). This means the Spirit uses the agency of truth to operate on sinners and saints. Christians are to be "filled with the Spirit," which is manifested in songs of praise according to Ephesians 5:18-19. In a parallel passage, Paul said, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly," which is manifested in songs of worship (Col. 3:16). The Spirit revealed "the word of Christ," and those who are truly filled with it are truly "filled with the Spirit."

The Temple of God Is Holy
To be holy is to be separated from sin, separated unto the service of God. Urging saints to protect the truth of the gospel from false teachers, Paul said, "For the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are" (1 Cor. 3:17). When local churches become corrupted with sin and error, they are no longer temples of God imbued with the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit is driven out when the truth is driven out.

When urging Christians to not fall back into sin, and especially to avoid sexual immorality, Paul reminded us that we are temples of the Holy Spirit in which God must be glorified: "For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's" (1 Cor. 6:18-20). When saints embrace sin, we drive out the Spirit of God, we bring shame rather than glory on God's name, and we invite Satan to fill our souls.

When individual saints and local churches are faithful to God and to His truth, we have fellowship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Our holiness reflects the holiness of the Spirit of God, and thus we as temples of the Holy Spirit bring glory to our great God! "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen" (2 Cor. 13:14).

- Truth Magazine, February 2014