Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?
1 Corinthians 6:19
There still exists in our culture the remnants of a more biblically literate past through common phrases that we use, whether we are aware of their origins or not. Phrases like, “it’s a real David and Goliath story,” (1 Samuel 17) or, “being used as a scapegoat,” (Leviticus 16:20-22) or, “the writing is on the wall” (Daniel 5:5-28). There’s also one based on this verse from 1 Corinthians 6:19: “my body is a temple”.
Perhaps you’ve heard these words in a situation where a person is describing their commitment to their physical health and the importance of proper diet and exercise. Diet and exercise are no doubt important, but when we go to Paul’s letter we get some much needed context:
Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
What we find here is that treating our bodies as temples has nothing to do with the food we eat or exercise, but fleeing from sexual immorality. My desire in writing to you, beloved church, is that we would see that Paul, carried by the Holy Spirit, is grounding this exhortation in the presence of God that dwells inside of you. Take a moment to give that some honest reflection. That the Holy Spirit who is himself (not itself) God is living inside of you through faith in Christ who bought us by the price of his blood.
When we are alone, in a small group, gathered together as the church, or out in the community, the presence of God goes with us in the Holy Spirit. We often speak of coming into His presence, or inviting Him into our services, or asking Him to be with us. Brothers and sisters, this should not be so! Why are we calling on our gracious and merciful God to do what has already been accomplished through Christ? Rather, my prayer for all of us is that we be aware of His presence that dwells in us through faith in the beloved Son, Jesus Christ.
It is in our ability to remember, in our awareness and recollection of the truth that the Holy Spirit is within us, and in obedience to Him, this is where the weakness lies that we do well to devote to prayer rather than asking God to do what He has already done if we have given our lives to the Lordship of Christ. And He has promised that He will do this very thing:
…according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood
(1 Peter 1:2)
God thank you for all that you have accomplished in Christ. Because of the weakness of our flesh, we pray that you would give us awareness of the Holy Spirit that dwells in us through faith in the saving life of Christ, our living hope, and not only to be aware but to walk in step with Him. In His name, Amen.
Pastor Scott