Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?
1 Corinthians 3:16
Note the similarity of thought found in Ephesians:
- Eph 2:20 Together, we are His house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus Himself.
- Eph 2:21 We are carefully joined together in Him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord.
- Eph 2:22 Through Him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by His Spirit.
It seems Paul has a natural thought connection between – the analogy of the building > Christ the foundation > you being a temple for the Spirit. He naturally links these thoughts together as he has done in
1 Corinthians 3 and Ephesians 2. Interesting, it bears thinking more about.
In 1 Corinthians and Ephesians Paul begins with the idea of the house / the building leading to the foundation of Christ and then moves on us, the temple. We are God’s building. You are the dwelling place of God. In the words of Paul “Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?” Note the use of “Don’t” He doesn’t say Do you realise you are the temple of God? he says: Don’t you realise you are the temple of God. Inferring they DON’T. They have lost sight of it. OF COURSE they have lost sight of it when they can descend into the kinds of things Paul is castigating them for. This is not a new thing they are being told, it is something they ought to have grasped by now.
Another noteworthy aspect of this verse is the fact that the “you” is plural and not singular. While indeed you personally are a temple, a place for the Holy Spirit to dwell, that is not what Paul is meaning here. He is referring to the body as a whole. The collective of all of us together. It is that body to which he refers when he says you (pl) are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Now that changes things – ponder that for a while.
You are the temple of God collectively, the place where His Shekinah glory dwells or rests (there is a play on words on this word). [See Bible Gem 12 and 13] But you are living stones individually. We are not referred to as the temple as individuals. Ponder that too. 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; 2Co_6:16; Eph_2:20-22. The expression must mean that the church is the seat of His operations through which He acts on earth. They are regarded as dedicated or consecrated to Him and especially dear to Him to the extent that He loves them, and thus He makes His abode with them.
That “Love Thy Neighbour” thing… I meant it.
God
I love you and you and you and you and…
God
A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.
Anon