1 Corinthians 6:19-20
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
His Dwelling
Who or what is the church? Is it the believers inside the church or the building housing the congregation? The primary meaning has kept changing but Jesus said he would build his church on the revelation that Peter had (Matthew 16:18). On this revelation at our conversion, we receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. How careful we should be that we do not grieve the blessed one who dwells within, that we do not bring dishonour upon the name of the saviour who sent his spirit to live in us. Our bodies are the habitation of the Holy Spirit since he that is joined to Christ is one with him and set apart for His use. This is the proper notion of a temple – a place where God dwells and is sacred to his use, by his own claim and our surrender. When God dwelt in the tabernacle of Moses and the temple of Solomon every utensil was holy, fully separated from all common and profane things.
Whose Property?
Our ownership is not our own. We do not have the right to do with our bodies however we wish. If our neighbour lends us their car, we take care not to abuse it. I mean who would take a chance with someone else’s property. Jesus was the highest bidder for the price put over us. Our body is now His, and so he says “hand it over; it now belongs to me.” If you go to a store and purchase something and wait for it to come, but unfortunately, it doesn’t arrive, we get very agitated about that. This is because we paid for it, so we deserve to get it. In this case, Jesus paid for it all, and we owe all to him.
Glorify God
Christians have been redeemed or recovered to God. For our sins, we were deserving to pay the penalty for our misgivings against the law of God. Nonetheless, our ransom has been paid: a full equivalent of the sufferings we would endure by Jesus. Nothing else but the atoning blood of Jesus would clear our debt. Therefore we must honour God and live to him. Our bodies are bound therefore soul, spirit and mind to devote ourselves as the utensils in his temple. It is scandalous and shameful that the temple of the Lord should be defiled by the sin of fornication. For we do not live for ourselves insisting on our way but we are answerable to God from life to death and everything in between and not to each other or ourselves (Romans 14:7-8).
Our belonging to God is not only based on creation but also by our choice and covenant. We are required and responsible to yield our hearts to choose only the decisions and pursuits that glorify Jesus. Some of us have never handed over our bodies to Christ even though we have been Christians for ten years. Brethren, it’s time to deliver the goods to the rightful owner.
King James Version (KJV)
“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
New International Version (NIV)
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.”
New American Bible (NASB)
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought for a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”
English Standard Version (ESV)
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
The Living Bible (TLB)
“Haven’t you yet learned that your body is the home of the Holy Spirit God gave you, and that he lives within you? Your own body does not belong to you. For God has bought you with a great price. So use every part of your body to give glory back to God because he owns it.”