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My Body: The Temple of God

Posted on 18 Aug 2020, Pastor: Tolu Makinde

Title: My Body: The Temple of God

Text: 1 Cor. 3:16-17, 1 Cor. 6:12-20

[1Co 3:16] Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

[1Co 3:17] If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

[1Co 6:12] All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

[1Co 6:13] Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.

[1Co 6:14] And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.

[1Co 6:15] Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.

[1Co 6:16] What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.

[1Co 6:17] But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

[1Co 6:18] Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.

[1Co 6:19] 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?

[1Co 6:20] For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Introduction

Apostle Paul is teaching the Corinthians that they do not own their own bodies.
The Corinthians were Christians. Why would Apostle Paul be writing them about fornication?
It is because fornication was found in the church, and it ought not to be so.
If a married person sleeps with an unmarried person, the married person committed adultery, while the unmarried person committed fornication.
Fornication was not the only issue.
There are other atrocities being committed in the body, under the guise that we only the spirit to be born again to make it to heaven.
- [1Co 3:16] Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
- [1Co 3:17] If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

Main Topic

The Tripartite Man and New Birth

[1Th 5:23] And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- You are a spirit, you have a soul, and you live in a body.
- All 3 parts of a man must be born again.
When you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, your spirit is reborn.
- [Joh 3:5] Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
- [2Co 5:17] Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
- All things are become new (spirit, soul, and body)
Your soul must be renewed.
Your body must be a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God
- [Rom 12:1] I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
- [Rom 12:2] And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
- Unfortunately, we are presenting our bodies unholy and acceptable to the world
- The Bible says present your bodies holy and acceptable to God because God owns your body.
- The Bible says be not conformed to this world. In other words, it is not by the standard of the world, but by the standard of God.
All 3 parts of man must go through a transformation.
- When the spirit is reborn, it crosses over from darkness into light. From the devil unto God. From hell fire bound to Heaven bound.
- When the soul is renewed, it stops feeding on those things that lead to sin, and starts feeding on those things that lead to holiness.

What about the body?
- If the spirit and soul must go through a transformation, the body must equally go through a transformation. All things become new.
- The body is baptized by immersion in water.
- The baptism is symbolic of being dead to sin, and being raised in Christ.
- If the body is dead to sin, then a born again child of God must say bye bye to sin
- We also learn from Apostle Paul, that body is no longer yours.
- It used to be yours, but you gave it to Jesus when you became born again.
  - As Jesus is now Lord of all (body, soul, and spirit)
  - The word lord means owner.
- Whatever you may have done prior to coming to Jesus has been forgiven.
- Remember the woman caught in the act of adultery:
  - [Joh 8:10] When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
  - [Joh 8:11] She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
  - [Isa 1:18] Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
  - [1Jn 1:9] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
- Whatever you may have done in the past, has been forgiven.
- However, from now on, you can no longer do those things again with your body.
- Your body has become the temple of the Holy Ghost –
  - [1Co 6:19] 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?
  - [Joh 2:19] Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
    - Jesus was talking about His body.
- If the body you are in is not yours, you are not free to do whatever you please with it.
- If you live in a rented house or apartment, there are limitations to what you can or cannot do:
  - You can decorate it to an extent, put furnitures there, hang pictures, etc. to make it your home.
  - If anything breaks, you call the landlord to come and fix it.
  - You can’t add a room, remove a room, change the windows, change the doors, etc.
  - When your lease is up, you must leave the house the way you found it. Otherwise, you pay for damages.
- You live in a rented body, there is a limit to what you can or cannot do with that body.

The Temple of God

What happens in a temple?
- Praise and Worship, Cleanliness, Holiness, Offering, Prayer,
What should happen in the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is your body?
There are certain things we would not do in the church because we consider it the house of God
- Can we write anything on the walls of the church all in the name of beautifying the church? Even Scriptures.
- Can we speak anyhow?
- Can we dress anyhow?
There are things you should not do with your body because it is the temple of the Holy Ghost
- You can no longer talk anyhow. If you used to curse, you can no longer curse. If you used to gossip, you can no longer gossip.
- You can no longer dress anyhow. If you used to dress in revealing clothes to attract opposite sex, you can no longer do that.
- You can no longer eat anyhow
- You can no longer write anything on that body because it is on lease. No permanent markers on the wall of the temple of God.
- You can no longer sleep around
- You can no longer please yourself sexually
- There are restrictions now, because your body is on a lease.
Remember Joseph, he refused to defile his body, even when defilement was presented on a platter of Gold.
- How did Joseph finish his race?
Remember Samson and Solomon, they both had no boundaries for what they did with their bodies.
- How did they finish their race?
A chain is only as strong as the weakest link.
Think of man as a three ring chain: spirit, soul, and body
A man is only as strong as the weakest of the three
All three must be strengthened to make it to the end.

Conclusion

It is not enough for your spirit to be born again and your soul to be renewed, your body must be presented as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.
If the spirit is not born again, hell fire is the destination.
If the soul is not renewed, it will eventually cause the spirit to backslide, then hell fire is the destination.
If the body is not presented as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, it will cause the soul to not be renewed, then the spirit will backslide, then hell fire will be the destination.
Your spirit must be born again by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Your soul must be renewed by meditating on the Word of God on a daily basis
Your body must be presented as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God by obeying what your soul ingested during meditation of the Word of God.
That body is not yours, it belongs to God. It is the temple of the Holy Ghost, you are only leasing it for some time.

Sermon

My Body: The Temple of God