Dave's Diary

Daily Readings: 1 Corinthians 3 and Psalm 115

¹⁶ Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives among you? ¹⁷ If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.

As we saw in chapter 1, the Corinthian Church was being shaken by divisions. In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul addressed the issue of their divisions by using a beautiful image of the people of the local church being a Temple for God’s glory. In this metaphor, those who led and taught the people of God were the Temple’s construction workers. In Corinth, Paul had laid the foundation by first bringing them the Gospel, leading them to faith in Jesus, and instructing them in the basics of the Christian life. Apollos had taken the work further, building them up in their faith and instructing them further in the Way of Jesus. And even Cephas (Peter) seems to have played a role in some way (v.22).

The foundation of the local church’s common life was their faith in Jesus Christ. Through their common faith, the Holy Spirit dwelt not only in each individual, but also in their relationships with one another, in such a way that Paul could say, “You yourselves are God’s temple … God’s Spirit lives among you … you together are that temple.”

Their most important calling was therefore to live together in such a way as to glorify God and please His Holy Spirit who lived in them and in their communal life. If their behaviour caused brokenness and division in their relationships, they were essentially damaging the walls of the Temple of God, and God would be the one to deal with them severely for their actions. If their behaviour led to beautiful, healthy relationships between them they were strengthening the walls of God’s Temple, and God was more glorified through them.

Living in such a way as to sustain and further the unity of the local church is not a small matter. It is a matter of glorifying the Living God who dwells in us.

Life application: Is there anyone in your local church fellowship with whom you have a strained relationship? Ask the Holy Spirit to show you how you can contribute to healing that relationship so that the Lord may be glorified through it. Then do as He leads you to do. Make this a priority, knowing how important it is to the Lord!