YouTube: https://youtu.be/qiwZ1MZss3A

Download Audio: https://od.lk/f/MV8yOTYwMzU3NzRf
Download Video: https://od.lk/f/MV8yOTYwMzU4OTNf
Download PDF: https://od.lk/f/MV8yOTYwMzU4Nzlf

Priscilla: I Corinthians 3:16-23; 6:19-20
The Temple of God

I Corinthians 3:16-23

16 Do you not know that you are a sanctuary of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you?

17 If anyone corrupts the sanctuary of God, God will bring that one to corruption; for the sanctuary of God is holy, which you are.

18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone thinks to be wise among you in this age, let him become foolish, that he may become wise.

19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God; for it has been written, “He takes the wise in their own craftiness.” Job 5:13

20 And again, “The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are worthless.” LXX-Psa. 93:11; MT-Psa. 94:11

21 So let no one glory in men; for all things are yours,

22 whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours,

23 and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.

I Corinthians 6:19-20

19 Or do you not know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit in you, which you have from God, and you are not of yourselves?

20 You were bought with a price; then glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are of God.

[Literal Translation of the Holy Bible]

Dear God, my Beloved Father, today I offer You my reflection on the Word of God in I Corinthians 3:16-23 and 6:19-20 about the Temple of God.

I understand verses 16 and 17 to mean that every true child of God has the Holy Spirit dwelling in their body, and that the body of a child of God is the Temple of God. We belong to Christ, offering our bodies daily to You as living and holy sacrifices, producing actions of love, righteousness, and holiness. Our lives are meant to glorify You. Therefore, we have the responsibility to keep the Holy Temple of God, living a holy life without sin.

If we sin and destroy the Temple of God by eating food sacrificed to idols, we defile the Temple of God and open the way for evil spirits to enter our bodies, making our bodies the instruments of demons and producing evil deeds. Destroying the Temple of God also includes eating without self-control, causing damage to our health. We should avoid contact with dead bodies and coming to any place of idol worship, as these places defile our bodies.

I understand verses 18 and 19 to mean that we have learned about Your Ten Commandments. If anyone deliberately sins, they deceive themselves, making up excuses for their sins. Nowadays, many of Your children break the command to keep the Sabbath and use excuses not found in the Bible to justify their sins. They follow the wisdom of this world, breaking the holy commandments of God.

I understand verses 20 and 21 to mean that Your true children abandon the wisdom of this world and live without breaking the commandments of God, even if they are ridiculed and mocked by people for being foolish. However, to God, they are wise in Christ. They take care to keep their souls from being lost. Wisdom based on worldly knowledge is worthless in the eyes of God and does not bring salvation or help for the spiritual life of humanity. Your children do not need to boast about themselves in front of others.

I understand verses 22 and 23 to mean that no matter how much the Apostle Paul and other apostles preach to the Church, they are all merely servants of God and His people. They belong to the Church because they serve it, but the Church belongs to God and not to them. Everything in the world and everything that happens in life belong to God’s people because they are used by God for their benefit. God’s people belong to Christ, who died to redeem them, and they are united with Him.

I understand verses 19 and 20 of chapter 6 as follows: The Apostle Paul reminds God’s people that the Lord Jesus Christ died to redeem humanity and save them from the punishment of sin. God’s people have received salvation from God, have been born again, have become children of God, and have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. Therefore, they no longer belong to themselves but to God, and they live for Him. The life of God’s people is a blessed life of honoring and worshiping God, serving Him, and building the Church.

The Holy Spirit has taught God’s people through the Apostle Peter as follows: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, He according to His great mercy having regenerated us to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and unfading, having been kept in Heaven for you the ones in the power of God being guarded through faith to a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time;” (I Peter 1:3-5).

May the love and grace of the Triune God cover me, helping me to always keep my body as pure as the Temple of God. Amen!

In the grace of Jesus Christ, my Lord.

Priscilla Christian Huynh
04/26/2023