Lessons #95 and 96
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Believers are God’s Temple (1 Cor 3:16-17)
16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.
Many Christians do not like to sit through doctrinal teaching. They want you to give them the application without developing the basis of the application. In other words, they think of Christian faith as consisting primarily of code of conduct or ethics. No! Christian faith begins with doctrine and then application. If you do not understand doctrine your application would be deficient and sometimes lacking since you would not know the reason to conduct yourself in a specific way. Despite this attitude of some believers, Apostle Paul introduced an important doctrine that the Corinthians have not recognized or have forgotten that led to their misbehavior the apostle had so far discussed in this passage and many more that he would further describe. The apostle in our passage puts forth doctrine that if understood should affect a believer’s conduct. Therefore, you should love doctrine as that is the basis of correct application of God’s word.
This passage we are about to consider may appear not to be related to the previous section that is concerned with the message of reward or loss of it thereof, with the assurance that one who receives no reward in heaven would still be eternally saved. There are two reasons that it may appear that our present passage has no connection with the preceding section. First, there is no connective between our passage and the previous section although the absence of a connective in the Greek could be interpreted to mean that the apostle’s mind was still on the subject he introduced in the preceding section, that is, 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 or that he was being forceful in what he was about to write. Second, the truth or the doctrine Apostle Paul conveyed in this section is simply that believers are God’s temple. Thus, a person may, based on this truth, think that our passage has no connection with the preceding passage but that would be wrong. Truly, if a person understands this truth that believers are God’s temple then it could be realized that this section, although it introduced an important doctrine, believers should know, but it is also concerned with assuring believers that their salvation is secured. We say this because, the apostle had taught that a person who suffers loss of reward would be saved as in the clause of 1 Corinthians 3:15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved. A person may wonder how it is possible that a person who suffers loss of reward would still be saved. Therefore, the apostle introduced the doctrine of this section as also a reason for assuring the believer’s salvation is secured. The reason he wants the reader to understand is that that a believer who suffers loss of reward is nonetheless a member of God’s temple so that God would not in eternal state destroy His temple. Hence, our passage although is intended to teach an important doctrine that believers are God’s temple, but it is also intended to provide a reason a believer can be assured his/her salvation is secured.
Our passage is concerned with the importance of knowledge in the life of a believer. The Scripture is filled with truths that if the believer has knowledge of, would certainly live a life that is honoring to the Lord. Let me give few examples to substantiate my point. Many of us become disheartened because of the suffering we face but adequate knowledge from the Scripture about suffering would result not only in correct perspective of it but also an encouragement amid suffering. The apostle informs us that suffering is beneficial in molding our spiritual character, as stated in Romans 5:3:
Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
Furthermore, the Holy Spirit through the apostle gives us encouragement to recognize that what awaits us in the future is so great that our present sufferings pales in significance, as stated in Romans 8:18:
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
Knowledge of these two passages and others like them, should enable the believer to be better equipped to deal with sufferings. Of course, the believer is also encouraged when the individual has the knowledge that God controls all things for His glory, as implied in Romans 8:28:
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
If you know that God is working with all things, including suffering, to bring about His purpose then the believer should be encouraged during suffering. Take another example. Some believers are afraid of death or are greatly disturbed because of the death of a beloved one. However, having knowledge of what the Scripture teaches about death of believers should enable a believer to think of death differently so not to be afraid of it. The Scripture is clear that although a believer dies that such a person would be eventually raised from the dead. This is the kind of knowledge the apostle implied in 2 Corinthians 4:14:
because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence.
In addition to this knowledge, the Scripture tells us that believers while on this planet are away from being in the presence of the Lord but that would change the moment death occurs as we may gather from 2 Corinthians 5:6–8:
6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 We live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
Another example would concern those who are wavering about their salvation. In other words, there are those who are wondering if they are saved. Well, knowing the Scripture would help in this matter. There is the knowledge that if one has believed in Christ that the person has eternal life, as stated in1 John 5:13:
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
This passage assures anyone that has believed in Christ of being saved but there is also another element to this assurance. This involves lifestyle. If a person has believed in Christ and the individual’s lifestyle supports it then the person would have added assurance of salvation, as indicated in 1 John 2:5:
But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him:
If you live according to truth, you will have the assurance based on this passage that you are saved since your lifestyle helps to assure you that you are in Christ. The point is that knowledge of the Scripture is essential in the spiritual life.
The passage we are considering is intended to convey the truth that believers are God’s temple but there is a message the apostle intended to convey to the Corinthians with this doctrinal truth. It is that God will destroy anyone who destroys His temple that consists of believers. Based on this message to the Corinthians we derive the message the Lord wants me to convey to you the believer in Christ. The message is this: Be careful not to destroy God’s people since God will destroy anyone who does that. We will expound this message by considering a declaration and the warning contained in our passage.
The declaration that is contained in the passage we are considering is simply the doctrine that believers are God’s temple. This declaration is derived from the negative rhetorical question the apostle introduced in the first part of 1 Corinthians 3:16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple. This, of course, is a rhetorical question because the apostle did not expect an answer and because he did not pause before he continued with his teaching that follows the question. The negative rhetorical question, according to the UBS handbook, may be taken as a positive statement so that the question may be turned into a sentence “You certainly know that you are God’s temple.”
Negative rhetorical questions are used in the Scripture to convey important doctrines. Apostle Paul, more than any other writer of the epistles, used this approach in conveying several doctrinal truths to the recipients of his epistle. He used it ten times in this epistle to the Corinthians. He introduced the doctrine of the union of believer and Christ through a negative rhetorical question given in Romans 6:3–4:
3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
The apostle conveyed the doctrine that no one is free on this planet at any time in that either one is slave to sin or to righteousness but never free, as he stated in Romans 6:16:
Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?
Apostle Paul conveyed the doctrine of God preserving a remnant in accordance with His plan using negative rhetorical question in Romans 11:2–6:
2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”? 4 And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 6 And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.
To dissuade believers from taking each other to court of unbelievers, the apostle conveyed the doctrine of believers having the responsibility of judging angels in the future, using negative rhetorical question in 1 Corinthians 6:2–3:
2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!
The apostle used the negative rhetorical question to convey the doctrine that those who live certain lifestyle would not come under God’s rule either here and certainly not in the eternal state, as he penned down in 1 Corinthians 6:9:
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders.
To convey that those who preach the gospel are to be supported by believers, the apostle used a negative rhetorical question in 1 Corinthians 9:13–14:
13 Don’t you know that those who work in the temple get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? 14 In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.
Of course, Apostle Paul, although he is one that predominantly used it in the NT, is not alone in using the negative rhetorical question to convey doctrinal truth so did James. He conveyed the doctrine of the impossibility of being equally devoted to the God and the world by interpreting what friendship with the world means in relation to God, as recorded in James 4:4:
You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
Hence, it should be clear that a negative rhetorical question may be used to convey doctrine to believers.
Apostle Paul began his doctrine of believers being God’s temple with the rhetorical question Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple. The word “know” is translated from a Greek word (oida) that literally means “to know”; however, the Greek word has a range of meanings. The word may mean to grasp the meaning of something or to comprehend, that is, “to understand, recognize, come to know, experience.” It is in the sense of “to understand” that the word is used when Jesus asked His disciples if they did not comprehend the meaning of His parable in Mark 4:13:
Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?
The question Don’t you understand this parable? is literally Don’t you know this parable? It is in the sense of “to be aware, to recognize” that the word is used to describe of Jesus recognizing the complaint of His disciples, as stated in John 6:61:
Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you?
The word aware is more literally having known. The Greek word may mean “to remember, recollect” as in 1 Corinthians 1:16:
(Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.)
The Greek word may mean “to know” in the sense of having information about someone or something as Apostle Paul used the word to describe the pagans who do not have information of the true God of creation in 1 Thessalonians 4:5:
not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God;
The Greek word may mean “to know or understand how, to learn how” as Apostle Paul used the word to convey the sense of learning how to control one’s sexual desire to avoid sexual immorality in 1 Thessalonians 4:4:
that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable,
The sentence each of you should learn to control his own body of the NIV is literally each of you know how to possess his own vessel. The Greek word may mean “to honor, respect” as in the instruction of what is expected of believers relating to their spiritual leaders as stated in 1 Thessalonians 5:12:
Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you.
The verbal phrase to respect those who work hard among you is literally to know those laboring among you, which does not make much sense unless it is understood either to mean to respect or to honor such individuals since believers would have known such persons. The Greek word may mean “to know” in the sense of being intimately acquainted with or standing in close relationship to someone so that it is used to know God, not merely to know theoretically of God’s existence, but to have a positive relationship with Him as in the claim in Titus 1:16:
They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 3:16, the sense of the word is that of having knowledge about something, normally acquired through reflection or thinking.
The knowledge the apostle wanted the Corinthians to have is that they are God’s temple as in the declaration of 1 Corinthians 3:16 you yourselves are God’s temple. This translation of the NIV is a good one in trying to capture the fact that the Greek used the plural since the literal Greek reads you are a temple of God. In the English, it is often difficult to understand if the pronoun “you” is in the singular or plural without the context. Thus, in the literal sentence you are a temple of God it is difficult to determine if “you” is singular or plural, especially as the word “temple” is in the singular. However, the Greek indicates that “you” is in the plural hence refers collectively to the Corinthians and so the translators of the NIV conveyed this by introducing the reflexive pronoun “yourselves.” Hence, the apostle stated that the Corinthians collectively are God’s temple.
We have indicated that the translation of the NIV helps to indicate that the Corinthians collectively are described as God’s temple. So, what did the apostle mean by writing literally you are a temple of God. To understand what he meant we need to consider the word “temple.”
The word “temple” is translated from a Greek word (naos) that refers to a place or structure, specifically associated with or set apart for a deity, who is frequently perceived to be using it as a dwelling. It is used for the temple of true God in Jerusalem in Matthew 27:5:
So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.
The word is used for temples in general sense in Acts 17:24:
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.
It is used for a heavenly sanctuary in Revelation 11:19:
Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm.
The word is used in imagery for a Christian congregation in Ephesians 2:21:
In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.
The word is used to describe the body of Jesus. Jesus, using the imagery of the temple, implied that if the Jews killed Him that He would rise from the dead in three days but those who heard Him thought He meant the temple in Jerusalem, according to John 2:19–21:
19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” 20 The Jews replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body.
By the way, there is another Greek word (hieron) that translates “temple” in the English, but the word refers to the whole temple area that consists of the courts and the main temple in contrast to the Greek word used in our passage that refers to the main temple. That aside, it is in the sense of “Christian congregation” that the Greek word in our passage of 1 Corinthians 3:16 is used.
Our understanding of the Greek word used in our passage as a reference to “Christian congregation” means that when the apostle stated that the Corinthians are God’s temple, he meant that God dwells in them collectively and certainly individually. This interpretation is supported first by the fact that in the OT, the temple was used symbolically for the place of God’s dwelling. Of course, in the OT, temple is sometimes described using the word “Zion” as in Psalm 132:13:
For the LORD has chosen Zion, he has desired it for his dwelling:
It is because God is portrayed as dwelling in the temple in Jerusalem that His glory was seen to depart from the temple in Jerusalem in Ezekiel’s vision in Ezekiel 10:18–19:
18 Then the glory of the LORD departed from over the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. 19 While I watched, the cherubim spread their wings and rose from the ground, and as they went, the wheels went with them. They stopped at the entrance to the east gate of the LORD’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.
Anyway, when the apostle described the Corinthians as the temple of God, he meant to convey to them that God dwells in them as His church or His people.
Another support for the interpretation that when the apostle declared the Corinthians are God’s temple that he meant God dwells the church in Corinth is what the apostle wrote next. The last clause of 1 Corinthians 3:16 reads and that God’s Spirit lives in you. The question, of course, is to determine how this clause relates to the preceding. This is because the conjunction “and” is translated from a Greek conjunction (kai) that is used in several ways in the Greek. The word may be used as a marker of connections of words or clauses with the meaning “and” although in some contexts, this usage may indicate a hendiadys (the expression of a single idea by two words connected with ‘and’), as the word is used in the promise of the Lord to aid believers when facing hostile authorities, as we read in Luke 21:15:
For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.
Here the Lord’s promise is concerned with the kind of response He will give to His disciples so that the phrase words and wisdom may be simply translated wise utterance. In this usage as a marker of connection, the Greek conjunctioin may be used with the meaning “and” to indicate two clauses are of equal significance or rank in a sentence, that is, coordinate, as in the declaration of Jesus to the Jews in John 7:33:
Jesus said, “I am with you for only a short time, and then I go to the one who sent me.
The Greek conjunction may be used to introduce a result that comes from what precedes with the meaning “and then, and so.” This usage is often associated with commands. For example, the Holy Spirit through James instructs believers to resist the devil so that the result will be he will leave them alone, as recorded in James 4:7:
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
The Greek conjunction may be used as a marker of explanation of what precedes its usage in a sentence with the meaning “that is, namely” as Apostle Paul used it to explain what he meant by grace he received in Romans 1:5:
Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.
The phrase grace and apostleship may be translated grace, that is, the office of an apostle as suggested in the standard Greek English lexicon (BDAG). The Greek conjunction may mean “even” as the apostle used it in describing the nature of the activities of unbelievers in Ephesians 5:12:
For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 3:16, there are two possible interpretations of the conjunction. It could be taken as providing an explanation of the preceding clause so that it may be translated “that is.” This would mean that the clause that God’s Spirit lives in you explains what it means that the Corinthians are God’s temple. Another interpretation is to take the Greek conjunction as introducing a result that comes from what precedes with the meaning “and then, and so.” The implication would be that because the Corinthians are God’s temple, His Spirit lives in them. Both interpretations make sense, so this may be a case where both senses are implied. This means that the clause that God’s Spirit lives in you explains what it means that the Corinthians are God’s temple with the result that God’s Spirit lives in them.
The phrase God’s Spirit refers to the Holy Spirit. This we can establish from the fact that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost is interpreted by Peter as the outpouring of the Spirit of God. Luke reports that the disciples received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:2–4:
2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
But Apostle Peter referred to this outpouring of the Holy Spirit as the outpouring of the Spirit of God that was promised through Prophet Joel, as we read in Acts 2:17:
“‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.
The Holy Spirit is not only described as the Spirit of God but also as the Spirit of Christ in 1 Peter 1:11:
trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.
Someone may ask; how can we be sure that the phrase the Spirit of Christ refers to the Holy Spirit? Well, the Spirit of Christ here is responsible for the prophecy regarding the sufferings of Christ. But Peter indicated that prophets prophesy as they are carried along by the Holy Spirit, as stated in 2 Peter 1:21:
For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Thus, there can be no doubt the phrase God’s Spirit refers to the Holy Spirit.
In any event, it is the assertion of Apostle Paul that the Holy Spirit lives in the Corinthians as in the clause of 1 Corinthians 3:16 and that God’s Spirit lives in you. The word “lives” is translated from a Greek word (oikeō) that is used only by Apostle Paul in the Greek NT; it means to reside in a place, that is, “to live, dwell.” Thus, he used the word to describe sin residing in him in Romans 7:20:
Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
The apostle used the Greek word to convey that the Spirt of God or the Holy Spirit indwells believers in Romans 8:9:
You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
Apostle Paul used it for being in marriage relationship in 1 Corinthians 7:12:
To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her.
The word may mean to inhabit a place hence “to inhabit, dwell” as it is used in describing God in 1 Timothy 6:16:
who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.
It is in the sense of “dwelling” that the word is used in our passage of 1 Corinthians 3:16. Hence, the apostle meant that the Holy Spirit indwells the church in a special way as illustrated with the local church in Corinth. This dwelling of the Holy Spirit in the church is in keeping with the Lord’s promise stated in John 14:17:
the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
The clause for he lives with you and will be in you indicates that the Holy Spirit’s presence was already with the disciples but would be with them in a special way when He indwells the church, implying that He would indwell each believer.
It is important we understand that when it is stated that the Holy Spirit indwells the church that what is meant is that the Godhead indwells the church. The unity in the Godhead precludes the idea of the Holy Spirit indwelling a believer but not the other members of the Godhead. In other words, it would be false to think that only the Holy Spirit indwells the church or the believer. No! The Godhead indwells the believer and so the church. This is borne out by the fact that the first clause of 1 Corinthians 3:16 declared that believers are the temple of God in that it reads Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple? The same truth is conveyed in the declaration of the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul, as recorded in 2 Corinthians 6:16:
What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
This truth of God dwelling the individual believer and by implication the church is not only taught by Apostle Paul. The Holy Spirit through Apostle John states the same truth in 1 John 4:15:
If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.
Of course, one may then ask; why the apostle singles out the Holy Spirit as the One that lives in the church and in individual believer? There are probably two reasons. First, it is to indicate that the promise of the Lord Jesus Christ to His disciples before His death on the cross and His resurrection was fulfilled. He promised them that He would send to them the Holy Spirit to be with them in John 14:16:
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—
The Counsellor promised is the Holy Spirit as indicated in John 14:26:
But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
Thus, it is important to convey that the promise of the Lord Jesus was fulfilled although that should be clear from the special outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the day of Pentecost, but the Corinthians were not there on that day. Second, it is probably to indicate that the third member of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, is not excluded from indwelling the individual believer. You see, the Lord Jesus had indicated that the Father and He will indwell the believer, as stated in John 14:23:
Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
The verbal phrase make our home with him is literally will make abode with him. The promise of this verse concerns individual indwelling of the believer by the Father and the Son and so may give the impression that the Holy Spirit is excluded from indwelling believers. Furthermore, Apostle Paul indicates that the Lord Jesus indwells believers as in the declaration of Colossians 1:27:
To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Therefore, a believer may think that the Holy Spirit is excluded from indwelling him/her. So, the declaration of Apostle Paul that the Holy Spirit indwells the church should settle any doubt as to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in a believer.
Be that as it may, the teaching of the apostle to the Corinthians and so to the church of Christ that they are God’s temple, meaning that God indwells in them is certainly intended to teach some truths to believers and to lead to drawing some implications. We begin by considering three truths that the Holy Spirit wants us to harness from the declaration of believers being God’s temple. A first truth that we have already mentioned is God’s presence in a unique manner among believers. You see, the OT temple symbolized God’s presence as evident in the day of the dedication of Solomon’s temple. On that day, the presence of God was such that the priests could not stay in it or perform their services for a period of time because of the special presence of God, as stated in 1 Kings 8:10–11:
10 When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD. 11 And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled his temple.
It is the special presence of God that was conveyed in the temple since Solomon recognized in his prayer that the temple he built could not contain God, as he stated in 1 Kings 8:27:
“But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!
Because Solomon recognized that the temple he built could not contain God as His dwelling place, so the presence of God in the temple he built was in a special way. This truth applies to the church in the sense of having special presence of God. For, we know that God is omnipresent and so it may sound unusual to think that He lives in the church unless we understand that the indwelling is in a unique way. He indwells the church in the sense that only believers would recognize this truth as the world that does not know God would not recognize it. Some religious people may believe that God is everywhere, but they could not understand or accept that God who is in heaven and everywhere resides in the church in a unique way. It is a truth known only by believers in Christ who have been taught this truth.
We should be careful to understand that when we say that the church is the temple of God that we mean the congregation of believers and not the building in which they assemble. It is true that because of His presence among believers that He would certainly be present in a special way in whatever place they meet but that does not mean that the building in and of itself is God’s temple or sanctuary as some use the term to describe their place of worship. The concept of God’s presence in the congregation of believers may be deduced from the promise of the Lord Jesus in Matthew 18:20:
For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”
Anyway, the fact is that we should be careful not to consider the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the church as meaning that He indwells the building in which believers assemble but His presence is there in a special way when believers meet. In any event, the first truth we derive from the declaration that the church is God’s temple, that is, the church is indwelt by the Holy Spirit is God’s presence in a unique manner among believers when they are gathered for worship. This brings us to the second truth which we will consider in our next study.
11/23/18