Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– 1 Cor 6:19
The Holy Spirit
I believe that the Holy Spirit is called the “Holy Spirit” because He makes us holy by His work in us and through us. We are made holy by Jesus’ work on the cross (2nd Cor 5:21), and then the Spirit of God dwells in us so we have no more need of an earthly temple since God is present within us, therefore we ought to live lives that reflect the holiness of God. Of course, we’ll still sin, but the Spirit of God should help us sin, less!
Temple Purity
The Apostle Paul reminds us that “he (or she) who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh” (1st Cor 6:16), so if believers are into fornication, then they are becoming one with the other fornicator. That should never be so with the child of God because we are not a temple that permits sexual immorality inside to defile the temple, and sexual immorality is the only sin that is against one’s own body, which is why Paul warned us to “Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body” (1st Cor 6:18).
Cleansing the Temple
Jesus cleansed the temple twice, that we know of, during His earthly ministry, and Jesus is still cleansing temples today…but it is ours today. If we walk in darkness, then we might want to examine our own faith (1st John chapter 3), but “if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1st John 1:7), but in the structure of the Greek language, it really is saying, “the blood of Jesus his Son keeps on cleansing us from all sin.” This is the reason that Jesus “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14).
Conclusion
The Apostle Paul, by asking “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit” (1st Cor 6:19), was trying to tell the Corinthians that they should live lives free from sexual immorality because God lives in them and they are the temple of the living God, so let the Spirit have His way in your life; flee from the temptations of sexual immorality; and allow the blood of Christ to continually cleanse you by daily repentance and confession of sin. Then the Holy Spirit will abide in a temple undefiled by sin, particularly sexual immorality. Jesus cleansed the temple, and today, He is still cleansing the temple…in us!
