1 Co. 3:16-17 - “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”
I believe this to be the most abused verse in the bible. For decades and possibly centuries preachers have been using this verse to put a spirit of bondage on the parishioners that God never intended. Using this verse they have created whole categories of “sins”, that really are not sins. With this verse they have condemned all tobacco users, dancing,
Rock ‘n’ roll music among others, occasional drinkers, even lottery players. Some have even taken it to the extreme to demand some change their diets. They have demonized some with emotional disorders like self-cutting when they should have offered them love instead.
The problem is within the context it isn’t even speaking of our physical bodies, it’s speaking of the small corporate body of believers we call the local church, in this instance the Corinthian church. Let me show you how some other versions put it.
1 Co. 3:16-17 (AMP) “Do you not discern and understand that you [the whole church at Corinth] are God's temple (His sanctuary), and that God's Spirit has His permanent dwelling in you [to be at home in you, collectively as a church and also individually]? (words in parenthesis original to text)
17If anyone does hurt to God's temple or corrupts it with false doctrines] or destroys it, God will do hurt to him and bring him to the corruption of death and destroy him. For the temple of God is holy (sacred to Him) and that [temple] you the believing church and its individual believers] are“.
1 Co. 3:16-17 (CEV) “All of you surely know that you are God's temple and that his Spirit lives in you. 17Together you are God's holy temple, and God will destroy anyone who destroys his temple.”
As you can these verses are talking about the whole church. Yes, we individually, are the temple as well, but Paul tells us a little later exactly what constitutes a sin against the temple of our bodies.
1 Co. 6:18 - (NIV) “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.”
There are enough sins listed in the bible without man adding a bunch of other “perceived” sins, that are not sins at all. Here’s a verse that adds to this line of thought and shows our freedom from the law as well.
Col. 2:20-23 (NIV) “Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: 21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22 These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.”
There is also 1 Co. 10:23 (NIV) “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive.”
Some people teach that all bad habits are sin and that is just not true. Others go and teach that if one commits any of these “sinful” behaviors, they are not being holy. Rubbish! Being holy is not a list of do’s and don’ts. Holiness is measured by how much of Christ’s spirit/character we reflect to those around us. To those that believe our holiness is based on our behavior, I ask this question: Is an atheist who doesn’t smoke, drink or play the lottery more holy for his lack of doing so? Of course not!
The same can be said for all those that teach we are surrounding ourselves with idols. From the pulpit, I’ve heard that all these can be idols: golf, watching television, listening to music, playing sports, bad habits, etc. Anything one wishes to do outside of the respected norm can be considered an idol. Baloney! An idol is something you worship instead of God, not an enjoyable pastime. God doesn’t call any of these things sin, only incompetent leaders do!
A preacher once asked us, how would we gauge our level of holiness? That was a good question and I went home and pondered on it a bit. At the time I was building some sheds and chicken coops. So I came up with this measure. When I can hit my thumb with a hammer, the third time and break out and sing the Doxology and really, really mean it, then I’m there….I’m not there, yet.
I believe this to be the most abused verse in the bible. For decades and possibly centuries preachers have been using this verse to put a spirit of bondage on the parishioners that God never intended. Using this verse they have created whole categories of “sins”, that really are not sins. With this verse they have condemned all tobacco users, dancing,
Rock ‘n’ roll music among others, occasional drinkers, even lottery players. Some have even taken it to the extreme to demand some change their diets. They have demonized some with emotional disorders like self-cutting when they should have offered them love instead.
The problem is within the context it isn’t even speaking of our physical bodies, it’s speaking of the small corporate body of believers we call the local church, in this instance the Corinthian church. Let me show you how some other versions put it.
1 Co. 3:16-17 (AMP) “Do you not discern and understand that you [the whole church at Corinth] are God's temple (His sanctuary), and that God's Spirit has His permanent dwelling in you [to be at home in you, collectively as a church and also individually]? (words in parenthesis original to text)
17If anyone does hurt to God's temple or corrupts it with false doctrines] or destroys it, God will do hurt to him and bring him to the corruption of death and destroy him. For the temple of God is holy (sacred to Him) and that [temple] you the believing church and its individual believers] are“.
1 Co. 3:16-17 (CEV) “All of you surely know that you are God's temple and that his Spirit lives in you. 17Together you are God's holy temple, and God will destroy anyone who destroys his temple.”
As you can these verses are talking about the whole church. Yes, we individually, are the temple as well, but Paul tells us a little later exactly what constitutes a sin against the temple of our bodies.
1 Co. 6:18 - (NIV) “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.”
There are enough sins listed in the bible without man adding a bunch of other “perceived” sins, that are not sins at all. Here’s a verse that adds to this line of thought and shows our freedom from the law as well.
Col. 2:20-23 (NIV) “Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: 21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22 These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.”
There is also 1 Co. 10:23 (NIV) “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive.”
Some people teach that all bad habits are sin and that is just not true. Others go and teach that if one commits any of these “sinful” behaviors, they are not being holy. Rubbish! Being holy is not a list of do’s and don’ts. Holiness is measured by how much of Christ’s spirit/character we reflect to those around us. To those that believe our holiness is based on our behavior, I ask this question: Is an atheist who doesn’t smoke, drink or play the lottery more holy for his lack of doing so? Of course not!
The same can be said for all those that teach we are surrounding ourselves with idols. From the pulpit, I’ve heard that all these can be idols: golf, watching television, listening to music, playing sports, bad habits, etc. Anything one wishes to do outside of the respected norm can be considered an idol. Baloney! An idol is something you worship instead of God, not an enjoyable pastime. God doesn’t call any of these things sin, only incompetent leaders do!
A preacher once asked us, how would we gauge our level of holiness? That was a good question and I went home and pondered on it a bit. At the time I was building some sheds and chicken coops. So I came up with this measure. When I can hit my thumb with a hammer, the third time and break out and sing the Doxology and really, really mean it, then I’m there….I’m not there, yet.
