The Temple of the Holy Spirit (Part 1)

Dear Bethelites,

Do you realize that what we do always has to do with our thinking? We do what we do because we think it is alright to do it. We behave the way we behave because of what we think. The same thing goes with our sins; whenever we sin, it is because we are not thinking right. Perhaps, it could be because of our rebellion against God’s Word, or our lack of understanding, or our misunderstanding of what the scripture says.

So, there are some people who have this wrong thinking that leads them to their sinful behaviours. They think that when God saved them from eternal damnation that only has to do with the soul or spirit, and it has little or nothing to do with the body. Or they may think that the soul is good, but the body is evil, so as long as they live in this body, they would sin and thus it is alright.

Therefore, the Apostle Paul had to correct that misconception and wrong theology, and he said in 1 Corinthians 6:14, And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.

Dear friend, when Christ saved us, He did not just save our souls, He saved the body as well. Jesus died to redeem the whole man, and one day, there is going to be a resurrection of the body. If the body is not important, then God would not have raised Jesus from the dead. The fact is that God had raised the Lord from the dead, and He will also raise us up as well.

Here, in this passage, the Apostle Paul was speaking about sexual immorality, and to deal with this sin; firstly, one has to understand his body. The believer has to (2) understand his union with Christ, (3) understand what a sexual union involves (what it means and what it can do to him), and (4) understand his body is a temple.

Understand our union with Christ

1 Corinthians 6:15, Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.

Some of the Corinthians in the church were visiting prostitutes (most likely the pagan temple prostitutes), and they were engaging in fornication. In a sense, Paul was saying to the Corinthians, “Do you not understand that when Jesus Christ saves you, He unites you to Himself? By virtue of the indwelling Holy Spirit who has taken residence in your heart at the point of your salvation, you are connected and united to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Head, and each individual believer is a member of His body, the church. How then can you be united with a prostitute? May it never happen!”

Every individual believer is united with Christ, but he must understand what part he has to play in the body of Christ, the church. Christ is the head of the church, whether he is the limp, hand, leg or one of the vital organs, he is a member of His body. It is vital for every believer to remember that.

The only relationship in this entire world that talks about this oneness; one flesh, one body, is the marriage between a man and a woman. It is worthy to note that in the Bible, God used marriage as an illustration of our union with Christ. When a man and a woman are married, they become one flesh, one body. In fact this union is so unique that when God made Eve, He used one of Adam’s ribs to make her, she was literally part of his body, and He said, the two shall be one flesh. That was why Ephesians 5:28-30, So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord of the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

The point Paul was making about this union with Christ is that whenever the believer is engaged in fornication, he or she is in some way involving the Lord in it. If he is a believer, then he is a member of Christ’s body (Christ is the head), so how can you ever take the members of Christ, whether it be the leg, or the hand, or the foot, and make it a member of the prostitute.

One pastor aptly asked, “Will you walk into adultery with your wife beside you? Your wife may not be with you all the time, but you know that you are one flesh and one body with her. The ring you wear on your hand is a reminder of that union. How much more the Lord Jesus Christ who is always with you? He is the Head of the body and you being a member, the Holy Spirit indwelling in you is a reminder of that union. How can you walk into adultery with no consideration for Him?”

Oftentimes, when a church member falls into adultery, people would speak as if it is only about the shame brought to the church, “Do you know so-and-so in the church has committed adultery, what a shame?” That person is not only affecting the church (which is the body), he is affecting the head that is Christ. It was such a horrific thought that Paul said, God forbid, which is emphatic, which means, never, may it never be.

However, this does not mean that Christ is made impure by the believer’s sin. Christ is perfectly holy and He remains that way for all eternity. One can never tarnish His purity, nor His testimony or reputation. Here the point is that it is most horrifying to take something that belongs to Christ, and then to abuse, misuse and defile it.

With love in Christ,

Pastor Paul Cheng

(To be continued in the next pastoral chat)