Back to
Bible Study Index |
Ye Are The Temple!
"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." I Corinthians 3:16-17
Know ye not It is no new thing I tell you, in calling you "God's building"; ye know and ought to remember, ye are the noblest kind of building, "the temple of God."
ye all Christians form together one vast temple. The expression is not, "ye are temples," but "ye are the temple" collectively, and "lively stones" (1Pe_2:5) individually.
God ... Spirit God's indwelling, and that of the Holy Spirit, are one; therefore the Holy Spirit is God. No literal "temple" is recognized by the New Testament in the Christian Church. The only one is the spiritual temple, the whole body of believing worshippers in which the Holy Spirit dwells (1Co_6:19; Joh_4:23, Joh_4:24).
The synagogue, not the temple, was the model of the Christian house of worship. The temple was the house of sacrifice, rather than of prayer. Prayers in the temple were silent and individual (Luk_1:10; Luk_18:10-13), not joint and public, nor with reading of Scripture, as in the synagogue. The temple, as the name means (from a Greek root "to dwell"), was the earthly dwelling-place of God, where alone He put His name.
The synagogue (as the name means an assembly) was the place for assembling men. God now too has His earthly temple, not one of wood and stone, but the congregation of believers, the "living stones" of the "spiritual house." — Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary |
In this commentary a great spiritual truth is brought to light, namely that the synagogue was meant to be the house of worship, were as the temple was a house of sacrifice. Paul made it clear that we are the temple of God, a place of continual sacrifice unto God. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God..." (Romans 12:1)
The whole man is the temple; the soul is the inner most holy of holies; the understanding and heart, the holy place; and the body, the porch and exterior of the temple grounds. Faithfulness and purity are the jealous guardians of the temple to prevent anything unclean from entering which might provoke the indwelling holy God to abandon it as defiled.
Ignorant men have made light of holiness and perverted the church into thinking she can approach unto the holy of holies, the dwelling place of a God who is utterly pure and holy based upon a mere confession of faith which bears no evidence of that faith. "This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me." (Matthew 15:8) "They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate." (Titus 1:16)
Faith without the works as its evidence is dead (James 2:26), genuine faith always manifests itself, or as Peter said, being born again of incorruptible seed, that seed while maturing must manifest itself, kind after its kind. If the nature of the seed is holy, it can only produce holiness. Confess all you want but if your life does not produce holiness, you were never born again of the incorruptible seed of God... kind after its kind.
The church as a whole has become nothing more than a synagogue, a place of worship, of carnal worship. No sacrifice is required in this new man made synagogue. Yet our Lord was the example unto us of the true temple of God, He sacrificed all unto the Father. His body was a holy temple, a holy sacrifice where the Spirit was pleased to dwell; might we do well to imitate His example.
If any man defile the temple of God,... By the wisdom of the world, through philosophy, and vain deceit; by bringing in false doctrines, errors, and heresies, and hereby corrupt their minds from the simplicity that is in Christ; and make rents, factions, and divisions among them:
him shall God destroy; body and soul in hell; for as their wicked principles and heretical notions are pernicious to others, they are damnable to themselves, and will bring upon them that judgment which lingereth not, and that damnation which slumbereth not. The false prophet, as well as the beast, and the devil, shall be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone. God is not only an avenger of all immoralities committed against his righteous law, but of all false doctrine and false worship, and of everything that is contrary to the Gospel, and to the order and ordinances of it. — John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible |
"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." I Corinthians 6:19-20
"And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." II Corinthians 6:16-18
I Corinthians 3:16-17
Here the apostle resumes his argument and exhortation, founding it on his former allusion, You are God's building, 1Co_3:9, and here, Know you not that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile (corrupt and destroy) the temple of God, him shall God destroy (the same word is in the original in both clauses); for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. It looks from other parts of the epistle, where the apostle argues to the very same purport (see 1Co_6:13-20), as if the false teachers among the Corinthians were not only loose livers, but taught licentious doctrines, and what was particularly fitted to the taste of this lewd city, on the head of fornication.
Such doctrine was not to be reckoned among hay and stubble, which would be consumed while the person who laid them on the foundation escaped the burning; for it tended to corrupt, to pollute, and destroy the church, which was a building erected for God, and consecrated to him, and therefore should be kept pure and holy. Those who spread principles of this sort would provoke God to destroy them. Note, Those who spread loose principles, that have a direct tendency to pollute the church of God, and render it unholy and unclean, are likely to bring destruction on themselves.
It may be understood also as an argument against their discord and factious strifes, division being the way to destruction. But what I have been mentioning seems to be the proper meaning of the passage: Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? It may be understood of the church of Corinth collectively, or of every single believer among them; Christian churches are temples of God. He dwells among them by his Holy Spirit. They are built together for a habitation of God through the Spirit, Eph_2:22.
Every Christian is a living temple of the living God. God dwelt in the Jewish temple, took possession of it, and resided in it, by that glorious cloud that was the token of his presence with that people. So Christ by his Spirit dwells in all true believers. The temple was devoted and consecrated to God, and set apart from every common to a holy use, to the immediate service of God. So all Christians are separated from common uses, and set apart for God and his service. They are sacred to him - a very good argument this against all fleshly lusts, and all doctrines that give countenance to them.
If we are the temples of God, we must do nothing that shall alienate ourselves from him, or corrupt and pollute ourselves, and thereby unfit ourselves for his use; and we must hearken to no doctrine nor doctor that would seduce us to any such practices. Note, Christians are holy by profession, and should be pure and clean both in heart and conversation. We should heartily abhor, and carefully avoid, what will defile God's temple, and prostitute what ought to be sacred to him. Matthew Henry's Commentary on the whole Bible |
The True Priesthood, Temple and Sacrifice
by Charles H. Spurgeon
"To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed, indeed, of men, but chosen of God, and precious, you also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." I Peter 2:4, 5
AT the outset I call your special attention to the connection of the two verses. "To whom coming, as unto a living
stone...you also, as living stones, are built up." Or, "To whom coming...are built up...an holy priesthood."
Everywhere throughout Scripture the connection between the saints and their Head is perpetually mentioned. "In
Christ" is the very symbol of New Testament writers. Whatever choice and good things are mentioned concerning the
saints, their privileges and honors, we are always reminded that they are only enjoyed in connection with the Lord Jesus,
according as the Father has blessed us in Him and made us to be accepted in the Beloved.
Coming to Him as a Foundation, we become a temple! Coming to Him as the Holy One of Israel we become an holy
priesthood! And resting in His sacrifice we, also, offer spiritual sacrifices. Coming close to Him for such is the force of
the word coming closer and closer, we grow up in all things into Him and become perfect in Christ Jesus. Realizing
and consciously enjoying our vital union with Him, we obtain promises, receive blessings, possess privileges and exercise
offices which can only be ours in union with our Lord. It is only by coming to our great Covenant Foundation and, only
in proportion as we daily come to Him and rest upon Him, that God dwells in us as in a temple.
It is only as we are seen in union with the Apostle and High Priest of our profession that the Father allows us to serve
Him as priests and accepts the sacrifices which we present. Let this Truth of God be always in your view because there are
many who judge us otherwise. The true judgment of any man is how he stands towards Christ, whether he is in Him and
believes in Him or not. If he believes on the Lord Jesus, he is in Him and he is, by coming to Him, built up as a part of the
spiritual house. But if he is not in Christ, he may call himself by what name he pleases and may assume this or that lofty
pretension, but he boasts himself beyond his line and beyond the truth.
Union to Christ is the test of union with the true Church. If we are members of the most orthodox Church in
Christendom it will avail us nothing unless we are spiritually joined to Christ, Himself. Without Christ we can do
nothing and we are nothing. There are some who judge us because we don't follow them. They cry, "The temple of the
Lord, the temple of the Lord are we." They claim to be "the Church" beyond whose pale there can be no salvation.
Brothers and Sisters, regard them not, for if you are in Christ, you are built up as a spiritual house and so are a portion
of the true Church. If you have come to Jesus by a living faith and if it is your daily practice to come to your Lord and
live upon Him and unto Him, you are priests unto God and need not mind the censure of those who are ordained of men.
There are others who condemn us because we reject the pomp of their ceremonies, the prestige of their State
connection and the venerableness of their antiquity. These have weight with the unlearned and unspiritual, but those
who are taught of God discern the vanity of their boasts! Be not moved by their judgment, no, not for an hour, for if
you, indeed, come to the Lord Jesus, you are built up by Himself into a spiritual house and that which He does, does
not lack for honor or reverence. It is enough of prestige and of antiquity for us to be accepted by our Lord Jesus! "Unto
you that believe, He is honor."
Whether your critics are so or not, you are, beyond question, living stones built up a spiritual house, if, indeed, you
are evermore coming to your Lord. There are some who in the serenity of their infallibility, because we cannot endorse
their creed or pronounce their shibboleth, straightway cut us off and count us to be mere pretenders. But if we are in our
very heart coming to Christ. If He is the end of our conversation. If we make Him Alpha and Omega and if He is to us the
beginning and the end of all things, we may make small account of the condemnation or the approval of the best of our
brethren, since we are in Christ and so we are a spiritual house built up for the inhabiting of God!
I remember an anecdote of the Jesuit Fathers of the South Seas which illustrates this. When they intruded themselves
upon a native population who had been converted to Christ, they began to instruct them in their Popish idolatries by
means of pictures and, among the rest, showed them a famous tree. The natives asked, "What is this?" "It sets forth the
Church." "And what is this root?" "O that is Jesus Christ." "And this trunk, what is that?" "That is the succession of the
Popes, who are the vicars of Christ." "And these great branches, what are these?" "They are the cardinals." "And these
branches, what are they?" "They are the bishops of the Church." "And what are these small branches and little twigs?"
"They are the priests and the faithful." "And what are these poor twigs which are cut off and are falling into the fire?"
"They are the heretics such as Martin Luther, Calvin, and the like."
The natives looked at the picture for a while, rubbed their eyes, declared that they did not understand much about it,
but with great glee exclaimed "It is all right with us, for we have the root! We have the root!" So we can say if we have
come to Jesus Christ our Lord, we are growing out of the root and we need have no doubt as to our being in the right
place. The branch which grows out of Him must be a true branch of the vine! The stone which rests upon Him as a
foundation must be a true part of the spiritual temple! Our only hope lies in our being of Him and in Him we know no
other.
Whatever the dignity which men ascribe unto themselves apart from Him, verily, I say unto you, we know them not,
neither do we give place for subjection to them. They may tell us of what they are, but we only know what Jesus is! It is
written, "The sheep hear His voice and a stranger they will not follow, for they know not the voice of strangers." We
know not the many strange voices which are in the world, of those who would have us follow them and yield to their
authority. But we know the voice of the great King in Zion and we rejoice to feel that if we are found in Him we are
accepted in Him! And in Him, today, as living stones, we are built up a spiritual house.
I propose, this morning, to show that we who are in Christ have the reality of all that which Ritualism pretends to
possess. The votaries of that faith delight in the shadow, but we have the substance! For, first, we are a temple "built
up a spiritual house." Secondly, we are a priesthood "an holy priesthood." And thirdly, we have our own peculiar
sacrifices "to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ."
Continued 
|
• 
Andrew Murray