From the beginning God has wanted to dwell with man. Before the fall of man God was having a very good fellowship with Adam and Eve. After man’s fall God choose Israel as His people through Abraham and instructed Moses to make the tabernacle as a place to dwell among them.
David, a man after God’s own heart, became the king of Israel. God instructed him to prepare a temple in Jerusalem for God to dwell which was then completed by King Solomon. We read in 2 Chron 07:02 that after Solomon’s prayer of dedication “the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house.” . Jerusalem temple was the only place that had God’s presence during the Old Testament time. We read in Mathew 01:23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which translated means, ‘God with us’.” When Jesus was on the earth, God was dwelling with man. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit- Spirit of Jesus Christ i.e. the third member of the Trinity – the power of God came to 120 disciples as tongues of fire and rested on them. Each disciple became a dwelling place for God.Jesus promised his disciples in John 14:16 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever”. So from the day of Pentecost to the second coming of Jesus Christ, God is dwelling inside each believer as the Holy Spirit. In all these examples we can see that God wants to keep His dwelling place holy. God will absolutely make no compromise about that.
When Apostle Paul saw the believers in Corinth living in sin he reminded them about the wrong spirituality that they were following. It is true that they received the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit were operating through them. But the sad thing is that they failed terribly and took sin very lightly. Today many of the Christians are in the same condition. They are so attracted and controlled by the gifts of Holy Spirit and totally ignore the fruits of the Spirit. Satan is making full advantage of this foolishness.
1 Cor 06:19,20 “19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” The Holy Spirit is reminding each believer that he is purchased by God. Each believer’s body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. So he must keep it holy so that Holy Spirit can dwell there continually. Every believer has to take this very seriously. 1 Cor 03:16,17 “16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?17 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”. The Holy Spirit is giving a strong warning about sin through our body. When we are committing a sin we are destroying the temple of God and God will not accept that at all. So any time when we continue in sin without any real repentance we will have to face God’s judgment.
The Holy Spirit is the power of the Almighty God. Our human minds cannot comprehend the magnitude of this power. But when Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to His disciples, he said in John 14:16 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever”. This shows us very clearly that the power of the Holy Spirit will be available only to the helpless needy one, who comes to God with faith. Even though the Holy Spirit is very powerful, he will not possess or control any one without their willingness. Many believers are deceived in this area. Self-control is one of the fruits of the spirit.
God wants to keep His dwelling place holy and he will absolutely make no compromise about that.
Eph 04:25-30 “25 Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.26 Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,27 and do not give the devil an opportunity.28 He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.29 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. 30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
So a believer is grieving the Holy Spirit when he is sinning. No one should continue in sin at all but repent about it immediately when the Holy Spirit convicts them about it. Since God out of His grace chose our body as the temple of His Holy Spirit, we should keep our bodies holy by utilizing the help of the Holy Spirit.
May God help all of us keep our body holy as a temple of His Spirit.
