Don't You Realize That All Of Us Together Are The Temple Of God And That The Spirit Of God Lives In You
It Is Not I, But Christ In Me
1 CORINTHIANS 3:16-17
“Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
”I Corinthians 3:16-17 NKJV
https://www.bible.com/114/1co.3.16-17.nkj
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Paul here, emphasis Jesus’ prayer (JOHN 17:21-23), he wanted the Corinthians to understand they were, and we God’s people together, are today, a unified assembly, the temple of the living God, and that the Spirit of God lives in each of us as individuals, and together we are the church, the body of Christ.
We Spirit filled believers are all a part of one body of which Christ is the head. “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body— whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many.”
I Corinthians 12:12-14 NKJV
We are not a collection of competing interests or independent individuals. While we all have our own individual part to play, together we are one, and are called to work together in unity, for “If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one body.”
I Corinthians 12:15-20 NKJV
Not one member is more important than another, each of us is equally necessary to make up the whole body. For “the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it (1 CORINTHIANS 12:21-26).
As an individual, your body is the Temple of the living God. The Holy Spirit is with you and will dwell in you (JOHN 14:15-18).
Your body becomes the house of the living God and He works through you and the rest of His body by His leading, “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”
Philippians 2:13 NKJV
Jesus said, ““If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”
John 14:15-18 NKJV
The emphasis here is “If you love Me and keep my commandments”. He will give you another helper, but it is conditional; we must be right with God and remain right with Him; “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.”
Hebrews 10:26-27 NKJV
Today, much of the church is divided, and God is calling His people into unity. “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Galatians 3:26-29 NKJV
Regardless of our background, place of birth, or whether male or female, we are all called to serve together by God’s leading and His power. It doesn’t matter if one male or female because service no longer relies on one’s own abilities or strength, for “I (we) have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20 NKJV
My beloved, we must bring ourselves into obedience to God’s word, and operate together within the five fold ministry of God. “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”
Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV
No longer can the church operate under the direction of one minister or Pastor, but rather, we must allow Jesus to operate through the whole congregation as an apostolic ministry.
We Spirit filled believers must humbly come together in prayer, study, and worship, that we grow together in service, truth, strength, singing His praises.
My brethren, “Oh, sing to the LORD a new song! Sing to the LORD, all the earth. Sing to the LORD, bless His name; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples. For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods.”
Psalms 96:1-4 NKJV
Today, in these last days, many street preachers and churches are being controlled or silenced; many street preachers have faced persecution from our governments and police, even thrown into jail. Therefore we need a wise voice to stand against the ridiculous limitations and rules our governments are placing on God’s people.
As we approach Jesus return, as expected, persecution is growing and our freedoms are systematically being taken away as the corrupt leaders prepare this world for the cashless society described in Revelation 13:11-18).
But we must not be deterred; we must continue to serve in unity and reach out to lost.
Jesus said, “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.”
Matthew 10:5-8 NKJV
The lost are not likely to walk into a church building and say “I’m here,” therefore we must take church into the streets and communities and seek out the lost, shining for Christ.
Therefore my brethren, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Hebrews 10:23-25 NKJV
All glory to God forever and ever! Amen
