I
Corinthians 3:16-19 (NLT)
Don’t you realize
that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives
in you? God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s
temple is holy, and you are that temple. Stop deceiving yourselves. If you think you
are wise by this world’s standards, you need to become a fool to be truly
wise. For the wisdom of this world is
foolishness to God.
As a believer in
Christ you are a temple of God. All
Christians together form the temple of God.
A temple of God is a sacred and holy place. Do you see your church as sacred and
holy? Do you see yourself as sacred and
holy? While you might see your church
as sacred and holy, you probably don’t see yourself this way. You see yourself for all your flaws and
faults. Yet, God sees you through His
Holy Spirit in you that you received when you confessed Christ as your Savior
(Ephesians 1:13, 4:30). Through the Holy
Spirit in you, you indeed are sacred and holy, that’s what God sees. What a wonderful truth. Don’t ever let anyone deceive you about
this.
Who destroys the
temple of God? Anyone who corrupts or
defiles the church, either collectively or individually. False teachers were a big problem in Paul’s
day so it was this kind of person that he was referring to. Yet, even today, false teachers exist in the
church, perhaps not your local church, but throughout the universal
church. Anyone who leads another astray
from following the biblical principles of God, God is going to deal with
him. No one can destroy the church, but,
as is stated in the Message Bible, the church can be vandalized. Examples today of what corrupts or defiles or
vandalizes the church include any teaching that puts man above God, works above
grace and faith, or denying sin that the Bible clearly states is sin.
If you ever think
of yourself as wise apart from the wisdom of God given to you, while you might
be by worldly standards, such self-evaluation will not cut it with God. Strong and sobering language here when the
Bible says that the wisdom of the world is foolishness to God. You must become a fool in the eyes in the
world to be wise before God. Typically,
the wise of the world see followers of Christ as fools because of our deference
to the Lordship of Christ rather than letting our pride and ego rule what we
do.
The topic of
foolishness reminds me of one of my favorite Christian singers--Michael Card
who wrote and sang a wonderful song called “God’s Own Fool”[1]. Check it out……
When we in our foolishness thought we were wise. He played the fool and He opened our eyes.
When we in our weakness believed we were strong. He became helpless to show we were wrong.
Do you
see yourself—Christian man or woman---not only as a temple of God, but also as
a fool in the estimation of the world’s standards? You need to meditate over these questions and
these verses that you may clearly understand the intent of God through these
words and your application of them in your daily life.
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