Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Together as the Temple

I Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.
18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” 20 and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” 21 So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.
Division in the Body of Christ. Paul hated it with a passion. He especially disliked people using him to create disunity. It is like tearing a temple down bit by bit. The opening verses above are often used as a call for personal purity, but that does not come till chapter 6.  The call here is for having a solid building, a unified body.  The NIV captures the gist well when it translates verse 17: "for God's temple is sacred, and you together are that temple." Don;t tear that temple down. Do all in your power today to "preserve the unity of the bond of peace." It begins in our thoughts and attitudes: staying humble, seeking wisdom, thinking "us", not "me".  Be a building block, not a stone thrown at the building.

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