Lessons #97 and 98
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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.
Recall the message of this section that we have been expounding is this: Be careful not to destroy God’s people since God will destroy anyone who does that. We indicated that we would expound this message by considering a declaration and the warning contained in our passage. So far, we have considered the declaration that is concerned with the doctrine of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the church although the apostle used the local church in Corinth to teach this doctrine. We also have indicated that the doctrine is intended to teach some other truths to believers but that we would consider three truths that are harnessed from the main doctrine of dwelling of the Holy Spirit in the church. A first truth we have already considered is that there is God’s presence in a unique way among a congregation of believers. So, as we promised in our last study, we begin with the second.
A second truth derived from the doctrine of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the church is the local church is the primary place of communication of God’s word. This does not mean that the word of God could not be communicated in another place but that the local church is the primary place for communicating God’s word. This truth is derived from the fact that in the OT the Lord through the prophets indicated that the temple would be a place of teaching God’s word, as we read, for example, in Isaiah 2:2–3:
2 In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. 3 Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
The prophet indicates that people would flock to the temple in Jerusalem to be taught the word of God in the messianic age. Since we have established that the church is the temple of God, it follows that the local church is the place for communicating God’s truth to believers. It is in part because God’s truth is to be communicated in local churches that the church is described as the pillar of truth in 1 Timothy 3:15:
if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.
This passage indicates the church has the function of dispensing God’s truth as well as guarding it from all the errors that attack the Christian faith. This being the case, it is important the local churches be the places for teaching God’s truth. It is unfortunate that this is not done earnestly in most of our local churches. This notwithstanding, the point we want to stress is that because the Holy Spirit indwells the church, our local churches should be places where people go to hear the word of God communicated without compromise.
A third truth derived from the doctrine of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the church that is related to the second is that the local church is a primary place of corporate worship of believers. The temple of God in the OT was a place of worship for Israel. Thus, it is not surprising that the temple was regarded as the house of prayer, as Prophet Isaiah stated in Isaiah 56:7:
these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
The phrase my holy mountain refers to the temple in Jerusalem although here it is a reference to a future age, that is, the messianic age. Nonetheless, the temple is conceived as house of prayer as we may gather from Solomon’s prayer during the dedication of the temple in 1 Kings 8:41–43:
41 “As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name— 42 for men will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when he comes and prays toward this temple, 43 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.
However, we have indicated that the church of Christ is the temple of God at the present time. Thus, we should deduce that the local churches should be places of worship. In effect, any local church should be a place of corporate worship of God by believers. This agrees with the declaration of the Lord Jesus that people would worship God in different places as He stated in John 4:21:
Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
The point is that although the physical building where builders assemble to worship God is not the temple, the congregation of believers, being God’s temple, should be a place where God is worshipped. Again, we are concerned with corporate worship and not individual worship of God. The point is that the third truth derived from the doctrine of the indwelling of the church by the Holy Spirit is that the local church is a primary place of corporate worship of believers.
In any case, we have indicated that the doctrine of the indwelling of the church by the Holy Spirit has also implications that should be drawn from it. Recall that in our last study we stated that doctrine is the basis for correct application of God’s word even though many Christians do not want to be taught doctrine but only the applications. Nevertheless, it is when we have the doctrine first that the application becomes meaningful. This being the case, there are certain applications that come from understanding the doctrine we have considered. The applications we will draw are mostly based on the context of the doctrine of the indwelling of the Spirit here in the apostle’s first epistle to the Corinthians.
First, we have the application that believers’ salvation is secured. As we explained in previous study, to say that the church, and so individual believer, is indwelt by the Holy Spirit implies that the one who is saved could never be lost. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit assures a believer of being with God forever. This truth is conveyed using the metaphor of seal in 2 Corinthians 1:22:
set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
The Holy Spirit referred here as his Spirit is the means of identifying and authenticating that a person belongs to God. Thus, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the individual believer guarantees that such a person would never be separated from God throughout eternity. That my friends, is an assurance of salvation, implying that a believer would never lose his/her salvation. Of course, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the church marks the church as belonging to God. Anyway, our concern is to derive the application that being indwelt by the Holy Spirit is a guarantee that while a believer may lose reward in heaven but that such a person will never lose his/her salvation. This application is necessary because the apostle had already taught that those who lose their rewards would still be saved. Thus, as we stated in previous study, the doctrine of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit supplies a reason a person who loses reward will be in heaven. It is because the person belongs to God as indicated by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Second, understanding the doctrine of indwelling of the Holy Spirit should imply unity in the body of Christ. You see, the apostle had already chastised the Corinthians for partisan spirit in his appeal for unity, as stated in 1 Corinthians 1:10–12:
10 I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11 My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
Believers who understand that the same Holy Spirit indwells each of them and the church collectively would not be involved in partisanship in the church. It does not make sense to engender division when the Holy Spirit is not divided as Christ is not divided. Thus, the apostle implies that if the Corinthians understood this doctrine, correct application will remove the partisan spirit that exists among them. Hence, if believers understand that they are individually and collectively indwelt by the Holy Spirit then they would not be involved in divisions or partisan spirit. That is what this doctrine should do if correctly applied.
Third, understanding that the Holy Spirit indwells the church of Christ should cause every believer to understand that any progress in the spiritual life of the church is by the Holy Spirit who uses human agents to advance the work of God. You see, the Corinthians have pitted Paul against Apollos when it comes to the work of the ministry in Corinth. There are those who had the idea that the teaching of Apollos was superior to that of Paul or vice-versa. However, understanding of the truth that the Holy Spirit indwells the church implies that He is responsible for any result in the ministry in Corinth, should have delivered the Corinthians from giving an undue credit to those who ministered the word of God to them. In broad application, if believers understand this application that it is the Holy Spirit that is responsible for the spiritual progress of a local church then believers would not be caught up with the concept of personalities of spiritual leaders in the church. The Holy Spirit would carry out God’s business that involves the ministry of the word of God in the local churches using those God has graciously chosen to carry out specific tasks. Understanding this application of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit should have helped the Corinthians to understand what the apostle stated in a passage we studied previously, that is, 1 Corinthians 3:5–9:
5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
The point is that application of the doctrine of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the church should lead a believer to understand that any progress in the spiritual life of the church is by the Holy Spirit who uses human agents in a local church to advance God’s word both in a local church and outside it.
Fourth, when the doctrine of indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the church is correctly applied, the implication would be that the church of Christ would strive to separate from unbelievers in the sense of not being a part of their conduct. The church of Christ has nothing in common with the world of unbelievers when it comes to that which is spiritual. It is for this reason that we have the assertion of the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul in what he wrote 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.”
If the church of Christ understands that because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, it has nothing in common with the world in spiritual matters then the church would not follow the examples of the world but would be the light that shines truth to the world of unbelievers. For example, when the world is immersed in hatred of others, the church leads by showing love to others while not compromising the truth. Anyway, we insist that correct application of the doctrine of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the church should lead the church to recognize that it has nothing in common with the world. With this application, we conclude our consideration of the declaration aspect of the passage of 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 that we are considering and so move to the warning aspect of the passage.
The warning aspect is concerned with God’s judgment on anyone that attempts to destroy the church of Christ, that is, the temple of God. The warning is that God would destroy anyone that attempts to destroy the church. This warning is derived from the first conditional clause of 1 Corinthians 3:17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him.
What does the apostle mean by destroying God’s temple? This question may sound trivial because an English person may say that the person knows what it means to destroy something. But our question is not trivial for three reasons. First, the pronoun “anyone” is translated from a Greek word (tis) that may refer to someone indefinite hence means “someone, anyone, somebody.” Thus, when the apostle used the word here, it is possible that he could mean a believer or an unbeliever. It is in the sense of either a believer or an unbeliever that the apostle used the Greek word rendered “anyone” in Romans 5:7:
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.
But it is as a reference to a believer that the apostle used the pronoun in 2 Corinthians 10:7:
You are looking only on the surface of things. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as he.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 3:17, it is not clear that the apostle meant only a believer or only an unbeliever. This indefiniteness means that we should understand how the apostle used the word “destroy” in our passage. Second, the apostle used a Greek conditional particle (ei) that may be used to express a condition thought of as real or to denote assumptions relating to what has already happened and so may translated “if” as in the case where the apostle addressed those who are known to be Jews, but he used the word “if” in his declaration in Romans 2:17:
Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God;
The Greek particle may be used as a marker in causal clauses, when an actual case is taken as a supposition, where “if” or “since” may be used. Take for example, it is a fact that Gentiles have shared in the spiritual blessings of the Jews but when the apostle referenced this fact in justifying the contributions of the Gentile churches to help believers in Jerusalem who are suffering, he used “if” in Romans 15:27:
They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings.
But then when the apostle stated the fact that believers have died with Christ, he used our word but it is then translated “since” by the translators of the NIV of Colossians 2:20:
Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules:
Anyway, since the apostle states in the conditional clause of 1 Corinthians 3:17 something that may happen in the future or has even happened when he wrote, it is necessary to explore what it means to destroy the church or God’s temple. Third, we have indicated that the temple is the church of Christ so that the conditional clause used means that someone can destroy the church. But on a surface reading, that would contradict what the Lord Jesus asserted about His church in Matthew 16:18:
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
The UBS handbook suggest that the clause and the gates of Hades will not overcome it may be translated “not even death is powerful enough to destroy (or, defeat) it.” This clause in the context, of course, means that death is not strong enough to defeat the community of believers that Jesus is going to create. Thus, to say that someone may destroy the church of Christ or God’s temple creates a problem. It is for this reason, in particular, that we need to understand what Apostle Paul meant when he wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. To understand what the apostle meant in the clause we are considering, we need to examine a key word used in it.
The word “destroy” is translated from a Greek verb (phtheirō) that may mean to cause harm to, in a physical manner or in outward circumstances, hence “to destroy, ruin, corrupt, spoil.” It is probably in the sense of “to harm or ruin” someone financially that Apostle Paul used the word to indicate he and his team have not done anything that may have exploited the Corinthians financially although it is translated “corrupt” in 2 Corinthians 7:2:
Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one.
It is in the sense of “to corrupt” someone morally that the Greek word is used in Apostle Paul’s declaration in 1 Corinthians 15:33:
Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
It is in the same sense of “to corrupt” morally that the word is used by Apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:22:
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
It is the meaning “to destroy” that applies in 2 Peter 2:12:
But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 3:17 where it appears twice, the word means “to destroy” in both usages but with slight bent. The first usage probably means “to create disorder in” that would result in ruining or making something useless. The second usage has the sense of “inflicting punishment.”
Our understanding that the Greek word translated “destroyed” in its first usage in 1 Corinthians 3:17 to mean “to create disorder in” that would result in ruining or making something useless, enable us to answer the question: What does the apostle mean by destroying God’s temple? He means doing something that will disrupt the unity of the church so as to render the church ineffective. The church is supposed to maintain its testimony to the world through its witnessing and teaching of God’s word, in keeping with the primary responsibility of the church that the Lord delineated prior to His ascension that is often described as the great commission in Matthew 28:18–20:
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Anything that disrupts this responsibility of the church implies creation of disorder in a local church and rendering the local church impotent regarding its impact on the world. In the context of 1 Corinthians 3:17, one thing that could do this is division in the church. Thus, anyone who brings division in the church of Christ is one that is guilty of creating disorder in the church and so tries to render the church ineffective regarding its function.
Unity is that which the Holy Spirit desires for the church. The importance of the concept of unity is evident in the priestly prayer of our Lord Jesus, as stated in John 17:23:
I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
In addition, the Holy Spirit underscored its importance through the pen of Apostle Paul when he commands every believer to strive to maintain unity in the local church, according to Ephesians 4:3:
Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
Thus, it is important that every believer should endeavor to strive for the unity of the local church so that the church of Christ will function as it should.
Recall we had indicated that the message of the passage of 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 that we are considering is this: Be careful not to destroy God’s people since God will destroy anyone who does that. Therefore, it is important we elaborate on the responsibility of the believer since we have noted that destroying the church of God means creating disorder that is tantamount to causing division in the local church. This being the case, we need to warn believers of things that cause division in the local church. This warning we will put in terms of five things that you should avoid in a local church. First, you must avoid anything that will bring ethnic tension in the church of Christ. Ethnic tension was the first thing that crept into the church that threatened its unity as implied by the complaints of the Grecian Jews as reported in Acts 6:1:
In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.
The church consisted primarily of Jews at this time, but some considered themselves pure Jews in terms of not having been affected by Greek culture and so there seems to be a neglect of those who have been affected by Greek culture by those who considered themselves uncorrupted Jews. Thus, our use of the word “ethnic.” That aside, the apostles, of course, quickly dealt with this problem by the appointing of the Seven that administered the affairs of the church. Their example should be followed by all spiritual leaders. In effect, if there is any hint of ethnic tension in a local church, they must act quickly to deal with it. Second, you should avoid introducing false hood or any teaching that is contrary to the Scripture to the local church. While the idea of introducing falsehood may come from any believer but that of false teaching is particularly applicable with those with the gift of teaching that may teach in a local church. Hence, the warning of the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul in Romans 16:17:
I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.
Th verbal phrase put obstacles in your way refers to doing things that would tempt others to do what is wrong so that they fail to live according to truth. Hence, you should not do anything to cause any believer in the local church to stumble in faith. Third, you must avoid anything that resembles partisan spirit as that causes division in a local church. This specific problem is one of the concerns of Apostle Paul in the epistle we are considering, as we have already examined in 1 Corinthians 1:11–12:
11 My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
When believers form unique groups around issues they like or around common things they cherish and exclude others, that will bring division in the local church. Fourth, you should avoid greed and insensitivity to others as that would lead to division in the local church. Apostle Paul referred to these when he treated the abuse of the Lord’s Supper taking place in Corinth in 1 Corinthians 11:18, 20-21:
18 In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it.
20 When you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, 21 for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk.
Fifth, you should avoid slandering of your fellow believers as that will lead to division in the local church. It is for this reason that the Holy Spirit through James commands us not to slander each other in James 4:11:
Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it.
Slander has the potential of poisoning one believer’s mind against another. In fact, a person who involves in it can cause trouble in the local church that will lead to the defilement of many believers in a local church, as implied in the warning of Hebrews 12:15:
See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
You see, slander creates bitterness that would defile someone so that a person may act in agreement with the person who slanders another and so defile self or mislead others. In any event, every believer should be careful to avoid anything that would bring division in the church of Christ since that is the surest way of creating disorder that would lead the church of Christ to be ineffective regarding its mission or function in the world.
The warning to be careful not to destroy the church of God in the sense of creating disorder that would cause the local church to be ineffective regarding its mission is one that should not be taken lightly. This is because God does not take such a conduct lightly. Thus, the threat of punishment by God to anyone who does such a thing as in the next statement of 1 Corinthians 3:17 God will destroy him. We indicated the Greek word translated “destroy” in the NIV has in this second usage of the word the sense of “to punish.” Hence, God will punish anyone who causes havoc to the church of Christ. Recall we indicated that the pronoun anyone in the first conditional clause of our verse could refer to a believer or an unbeliever. However, because the epistle is directed to those who are believers then our focus in its application is on the believer. It is a believer that would be punished for creating havoc in the church of God. Unbelievers would be punished not only here but eternally in the lake of fire for their antagonism towards the church of Christ. That aside, we are concerned about the punishment that would come to a believer who creates disorder in the church of Christ to cause the local congregation not to be effective in carrying out its primary mission of advancing the gospel of Jesus Christ and maturing of believers spiritually through the teaching of God’s word.
In any case, Apostle Paul did not elaborate on the threat God will destroy him regarding how it is to be implemented. But we should recognize from the Scripture that God had demonstrated that He does not tolerate any attempt to create disorder or cause havoc in His temple or in the church. There are two examples of punishment in the Scripture that enable us to recognize that God does not tolerate believers creating disorder in His temple or in His church. King Uzziah was a good king of Judah, implying that he is a believer. The testimony of the Holy Spirit regarding his being a believer in the Lord is summarized for us in 2 Chronicles 26:3–5:
3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jecoliah; she was from Jerusalem. 4 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. 5 He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success.
The Lord blessed him as he followed God’s word but, as it is often the case, his success led to arrogance so that he ventured to offer sacrifice in the temple of God in Jerusalem, thereby usurping the function of priests. His attempt to offer sacrifice in the temple is tantamount to creating disorder in the temple of God. Because of this, the Lord punished him, so we can say that the Lord destroyed him, as narrated in 2 Chronicles 26:16–20:
16 But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. 17 Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the LORD followed him in. 18 They confronted him and said, “It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the LORD God.” 19 Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the LORD’s temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead. 20 When Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests looked at him, they saw that he had leprosy on his forehead, so they hurried him out. Indeed, he himself was eager to leave, because the LORD had afflicted him.
The clause of verse 16 his pride led to his downfall of the NIV is literally his heart grew proud unto destruction. Uzziah was rebuked for usurping a priestly function and ordered by the courageous priest Azariah to leave the temple but before he could respond, the Lord punished him with a skin disease that is described with the word “leprosy” that is not the same as the modern understanding of leprosy. If the Lord did not punish Uzziah, it would have created confusion in Judah regarding the distinction between a king and a priest. So, the Lord had to punish the king for his attempt to create disorder in the worship that occurs in the temple that functioned under the Levitical priesthood. The point is that Uzziah was punished for attempting to destroy God’s temple in the OT times.
The other example of the Lord punishing a believer because of attempting to create disorder in the church of God is that of Ananias and Sapphira. It may not appear that Ananias’ and Sapphira’s death is a punishment for creating disorder in the church of Christ, but it is. The pattern the Holy Spirit had indicated through Luke in the narrative of believers selling their properties and giving the money to the church is that those who sold, turned the entire proceeds to the apostles for the use of the church. Take for example, Barnabas’ example implied he gave the whole proceeds from his sale of his property, as recorded in Acts 4:36–37:
36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), 37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.
However, when Ananias sold his own property, he gave the impression that he turned the entire proceeds to the church, but he was lying. Consequently, Apostle Peter rebuked him of lying to the Holy Spirit, as we read in Acts 5:3–4:
3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4 Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.”
Remember that we indicated that falsehood or false teaching creates disorder in the church of God. This being the case, Ananias’ lie is one that affected the church in the sense that his lie if not punished would create the impression that it is permissible to act falsely in the church of Christ. Therefore, his punishment by death enables us to recognize that falsehood is that which affects the church of Christ or that defiles a local congregation. The point is that God made an example of him and the wife to warn all of us to be careful not to operate in falsehood in dealing with the local church. Some believers are under God’s punishment for such conduct but probably do not know. That aside, it is important we recognize that God had in the past shown that He would not tolerate anyone that would create disorder in His temple or in the church. Thus, you should be warned not to do anything that would create disorder in the church of God because God will punish anyone who does.
God is gracious in His dealing with us and so in His goodness He provides us the reason for His threatened punishment on any believer that creates disorder in His church. He does not need to provide any justification for His warning, but it is an act of His goodness that He does such thing throughout the Scripture. That there is a reason for God’s threatened punishment is introduce with the word for that begins the last clause of 1 Corinthians 3:17. The word “for” is translated from a Greek conjunction (gar) used to express cause, clarification, or inference. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 3:17, it is used to provide the reason for the threatened punishment of God.
The primary reason God would punish anyone that attempts to create disorder in the church of Christ is because the church belongs to Him and is dedicated to Him for His purpose and by implication is pure. This reason is given in the next clause of 1 Corinthians 3:17 for God’s temple is sacred. The word “sacred” is translated from a Greek adjective (hagios) that pertains to being dedicated or consecrated to the service of God. So, the Greek adjective is used to describe, for example, prophets as those dedicated to God’s service in Acts 3:21:
He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.
The phrase holy prophets is concerned not with the quality of the prophets but with their relationship with God so that the phrase should be understood as those dedicated to God or those who serve Him. The word is used to describe the place Moses stood when the Lord appeared to him, as narrated in Stephen’s sermon in Acts 7:33:
“Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals; the place where you are standing is holy ground.
The phrase holy ground means a ground that is dedicated to God. Another meaning of the Greek adjective translated “holy” pertains to superior moral qualities and so means “pure, worthy of God.” It is in this moral sense that the word is used in 2 Peter 3:11:
Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives
Those who are believers are expected to live superior moral life as those dedicated to God. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 3:17, the sense is that of being dedicated to God with the implication of being pure. God established the church through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is imperative that no one should attempt to cause havoc among those Christ paid such a heavy price to redeem.
Following the primary reason God would punish anyone that creates disorder or havoc in the church of God, the Holy Spirit through the apostle emphasized the truth that believers are the temple of God as in the last clause of 1 Corinthians 3:17 and you are that temple. The Greek neither contains the conjunction “and” nor “temple” of the NIV since literally the Greek translates which you are. We indicate that this last clause is intended to emphasize that the church, consisting of believers, is the God’s temple. We say this because the clause you are that temple is essentially the same declaration, we have in verse 16 you yourselves are God’s temple. Anyway, believers are reminded the church that consists of believers is the temple of God. With this, let us end by again reminding you of the message of this passage we have considered that is: Be careful not to destroy God’s people since God will destroy anyone who does that. Therefore, be careful not to do anything that will create disorder or division in the church of Christ unless you want to experience God’s punishment.
11/30/18