SUNDAY August 29, 2021

The Dwelling Place of God

...having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Ephesians 2:20-22

The word Church is the Greek word ekklesia which means “called out ones.” Christians are a people called out from the world to God. People think of the Church as a building with a cross on top, but Paul spoke of the Church as being the body of believers. They can be a Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian or Calvary Chapel. They make up a universal or complete body of believers called out from all over the world into His eternal Kingdom. They are individuals who have repented of their sins and have become born again of the Holy Spirit.

We often think of a temple as a building, like an elaborate Buddhist temple or an old steeple Church in England, but God lives within us. His Holy Spirit indwells in us as stated in 1 Corinthians 3:16: Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? Our bodies have become the temple where God lives.

As Christians, we are to be in submission to God as instruments of righteousness––not unrighteousness. We used to be in bondage to sin and Satan. We allowed our bodies to be used for sexual encounters, to take drugs and indulge in drinking. Even though Christ has taken possession of our bodies, Christians can choose to obey or disobey Him. We are free moral agents––not puppets. Yet there are consequences to any willful disobedience: Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap (Galatians 6:7).

The Holy Spirit is a person. He lives within us, and when we sinfully misuse and abuse our bodies, He becomes grieved––hurt. Again, our bodies are the temple of the living God. The Holy Spirit never condemns us, but convicts us of our sin. He brings us to a place of repentance.

The Spirit has wrought in you your faith and love and hope, and every grace. There is not a jewel upon the neck of your soul which he did not place there.
~C.H. Spurgeon~

For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!