“Do You Not Know That You Are The Temple of God, And That The Spirit of God Dwells In You?” ~ 1 Corinthians 3:16

How many of us really understand what Paul is writing here in his first letter to the Corinthians? Paul begins the third chapter by talking to his fledgling Christian followers as if they were babies in the Christian life, because that is where they spiritually were, controlled by their own desires, not God’s. They were unaware that the Spirit of God dwelt inside of them, that is, once they accepted all of the teachings of Jesus Christ, not their own.

Paul is speaking to all of us, adding, “You are God’s garden … you are God’s building.” He further explains that he has laid a firm foundation of faith.

Let’s dig deeper.

Within the faithful followers, they were getting confused whether or not to follow the teachings of Apollos, or Paul, complete with envy, jealousy and rivalry among the believers. They wanted to get it right. In the process, they got it wrong. This is not a team sport. Paul was showing them that the firm foundation is based on Jesus Christ, not any other human leader, nor any other belief system other that what Jesus taught while he walked among us.

1 Corinthians 3:10-11, “God, in his kindness, has taught me how to be an expert builder. I have laid the foundation and Apollos has built upon it. But he who builds upon the foundation must be very careful. And no one can ever lay any other real foundation than that one we already have – Jesus Christ.”

This is a life-saving caution that we build our garden, our building of faith on solid ground, not substituting belief in God the Father of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, complete with the Holy Spirit, for belief in erroneous and crumbling popular opinions and passing fads that catch our whimsical fancy.

This is important. You are important in the eyes of God, who loves you more than words can say.

Jesus came to enlighten our minds, hearts and souls of many of us who had lost their way in pagan and side-tracked religions. We can get so lost when we go our own way, only following our own emotions. That is not the standard by which to go by. “The teaching of Jesus our King, have to be the standard. Any deviation from that standard is sin. When Jesus is not our King, we do what is right in our own eyes.” Taken from The 7 Steps to The Cure of Souls

Jesus did not come to earth and be put to death so people could remain in false and/or unholy religions.

In our trying to get it right, we build our faith based on our life experiences, life lessons we have learned, and beliefs we have reasoned out in our minds. The problem arises when we rely on our own understanding at the exclusion of the teachings of Jesus Christ. He did give us a clear example to follow.

Still, we need to make sure we are on the right track, not just focusing on the result of our lived experiences, which may or may not have built up our faith on a firm foundation of Jesus Christ, who is the cornerstone of faith in God. Building on any other foundation other than that of Jesus Christ will not stand the test of time at the end of our lives, when it will then be too late to do anything about it. Building on any other foundation other than that of Jesus Christ is sin. This is what sin is, choosing our way over God’s way.

Now is the time to prepare, to begin again, to continue on fortifying our strong faith, because within you and me, we can be that worthy house, that beautiful garden, strong and blooming, so that we welcome the Spirit of God who lives among and in us.

Paul continues to speak to the Corinthians, understood to mean all humankind. “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? And whoever defiles the temple of God, God will destroy; for the temple of God is holy, and that temple is you.” ~ 1 Corinthians 3:16,17

It was popular in the 1960s-70s to think of ourselves as temples of God, and today with the resurgence of good eating habits to think of our bodies as temples of God. But this thinking usually has more to do with us than it does about God.

Notice in 1 Corinthians 3:22, 23 where it says, “Whether Paul or Apollo or Kepa or the world or life or death or all things present or things to come; all things are yours; and you are Christ’s and Christ is God’s.”

God Bless