“Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.”
The apostle Paul calls our bodies a "temple" of the Holy Spirit. We can learn two very profound and important truths about this statement—both of which apply to our daily Christian lives. But this idea might be a little confusing, so let's first get a little context to really understand what he's talking about.
Literal Temples of the Lord
“When the priests came out of the Holy Place, a thick cloud filled the Temple of the Lord. The priests could not continue their service because of the cloud, for the glorious presence of the Lord filled the Temple of the Lord.”
In the Old Testament, we'll find lots of references to actual temple structures being built to house God's actual presence. During Moses' time, he would meet with God in a temporary place sometimes referred to as the tabernacle or "tent of meeting" (Exodus 25:8, 33:7, 9).
In the history of King Solomon, we find that, during the construction of his palace, he commissioned a temple to be built for God's presence to reside in (1 Kings 7). During the old covenant God had with His people, before Jesus' death and resurrection, God's presence resided in this temple. Throughout history, these structures would be physically destroyed and later rebuilt, foreshadowing what was to come (John 2:18-22).
So did Paul mean a literal temple when he used the word "temple" in this 1 Corinthians passage? Yep, he sure did.
Truth #1: God is Literally Within Us
“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.”
If you've ever heard the phrase "God is inside us," it's likely referring to this concept. Jesus' sacrifice established a new covenant to replace the old one (Hebrews 9:15). No longer was God only accessible in one place. Under the new covenant, God dwells inside His people on a more personal level (2 Corinthians 3:6).
This is the new covenant between God and humanity: when we accept the gospel of Jesus by repenting of our sins, God restores our relationship with Him and promises that each person will receive His presence through the Holy Spirit. Jesus talks about this specifically when He promises that the Spirit of truth will live within us (John 14:15-18).
What It Means to Be a Temple of God
Being a temple of God means so much for us in a practical sense:
God is Always Present
We can confidently know that God is truly with us every moment. We don't have to travel to a specific location in order to find Him, because God is with us the very moment we become saved (Ephesians 1:13-14).
God is All Around Us
All of our fellow Christian brothers and sisters have the Spirit too, which is one of the additional ways we get to meet God in the wild (Matthew 18:20). He often works in our lives through the work of other faithful believers around us (Ephesians 2:10; Hebrews 13:16).
God Transforms Us from the Inside Out
Since God is constantly dwelling inside of us, our hearts will continually be transformed by Him. The Bible teaches us that when we're saved, God makes us into new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17).
As His new creations, we're in the process of transforming more and more into the character of Jesus. One of the ways we can tell that transformation is happening is by seeing "good fruit" or the fruit of the Spirit in our lives (Galatians 5:22-23). The Holy Spirit also gives us special gifts to help us glorify and serve the Lord (1 Corinthians 12:4-7).
While non-Christians, who don't have the Holy Spirit, can do some good (Romans 2:14-15), Christians, indwelled by God's Spirit, are supernaturally equipped to reject sin and choose the things that please God (John 16:8.
Truth #2: Our Lives are Worship
“Dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice— he kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.”
Being a temple of the Holy Spirit means that our very bodies and lives should serve as an act of worship and sacrifice for our Creator (Romans 12:1-8). Paul even teaches that we no longer belong to ourselves (1 Corinthians 6:19). When we make Jesus our Lord, we surrender our lives to Him (Matthew 16:25).
In view of these truths, we should use our bodies to serve God—rather than strictly for our own desires. Of course, that doesn't mean that we need to be miserable or never enjoy life! There's much value in rest (Exodus 23:12) and good mental health. Not to mention that giving us a fulfilling life is one of the reasons why Jesus died for us in the first place (John 10:10).
We're to give glory to God in all that we do (1 Corinthians 10:31). That means that we prioritize obeying and serving God over giving in to sinful, selfish desires, and we choose to honor Him with our time by deepen our relationship with Him (Romans 8).