“Do you not know
that you [the recipients of his letter or collective group of believers] are a
temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the
temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is
what you are.” (1 Corinthians 3:16–17, NASB95)
“Or do you not know
that your body [individual of all believers] is a temple of the Holy Spirit who
is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have
been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” (1
Corinthians 6:19–20, NASB95)
This does not have to be an issue of either/or, but is one
of both. Remember that our God is an everywhere-all-the-time present God. He
can and does abide fully everywhere, in every believer, in every group of
believers, and in all believers. The temple historically has been a place of
worship, a place of gathering, and a place where at its holiest core God
could be approached. As Christians we have been declared holy by God. In many
translations we see believers referred to as saints. The actual Greek word used
in the New Testament is ‘hagios,’ literally meaning ‘sacred’ or ‘holy’ and is
used to describe us as His holy ones. This holiness is nothing of our own
doing, but rather is something imputed (put on or credited) to us by Jesus
Christ.
Yesterday I left off with Abraham having righteousness credited
to him because of faith. Paul continues later in chapter 4 with, “Now not for his [Abraham’s] sake only was it
written that it was credited to him, but for our sake also, to whom it will be
credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,
He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because
of our justification.” (Romans 4:23–25, NASB95) The same righteousness
imputed to Abraham is credited to all who believe in Him [God]. A little
further on Paul adds, “So then as
through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so
through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all
men. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even
so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.”
(Romans 5:18–19, NASB95)
Our response to live differently, reading in Romans 6:13-14,
“and do not go on presenting the
members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present
yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments
of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not
under law but under grace.” (Romans 6:13–14, NASB95) And our reason for
living differently is simply because we are now different, now serving a new
master and having now the enablement to live changed by the Spirit of God in
us.
“However, you are
not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.
But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If
Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is
alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from
the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give
life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”
(Romans 8:9–11, NASB95)
Romans chapter 8 is an incredible chapter declaring our
position in Christ and the victory which He gives us in life through the indwelling
enablement of His Spirit. Where people may have thought they had to go to a
certain location to seek God and His favor and to request someone of a certain
position to intercede or even pray, we have been given, as a gracious and
loving gift from our God, the very presence of God dwelling in us as
individuals and as corporate believers where we build into and encourage one
another, serving Him side-by-side with others in His church which is even
called the body of Christ and His bride.
“I do not ask on
behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word;
that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that
they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. The
glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just
as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so
that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have
loved Me.” (John 17:20–23, NASB95)
Today in “Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young (8/25)
I am the eternal I AM; I always have been, and I always will
be. In My Presence you experience Love and Light, Peace and Joy. I am
intimately involved in all your moments, and I am training you to be aware of
Me at all times. Your assignment is to collaborate with Me in this training
process.
I have taken up residence within you; I am central in your
innermost being. Your mind goes off in tangents from its holy Center, time
after time. Do not be alarmed by your inability to remain focused on Me. Simply
bring your thoughts gently back to Me each time they wander. The quickest way
to redirect your mind to me is to whisper My Name.
God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to
say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” Exodus 3:14
Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that
God’s Spirit lives in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16
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