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A Temple for God, July 3
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of
God dwelleth in you?
1 Corinthians 3:16
.
From eternal ages it was God’s purpose that every created being, from
the bright and holy seraph to man, should be a temple for the indwelling
of the Creator. Because of sin, humanity ceased to be a temple for God....
God designed that the temple at Jerusalem should be a continual
witness to the high destiny open to every soul. But the Jews had not
understood the significance of the building they regarded with so much
pride.... The courts of the temple at Jerusalem, filled with the tumult of
unholy traffic, represented all too truly the temple of the heart, defiled
by the presence of sensual passion and unholy thoughts. In cleansing the
Temple from the world’s buyers and sellers, Jesus announced His mission
to cleanse the heart from the defilement of sin—from the earthly desires,
the selfish lusts, the evil habits that corrupt the soul.... Only Christ can
cleanse the soul temple.... His presence will cleanse and sanctify the soul,
so that it may be a holy temple unto the Lord, and “an habitation of God
through the Spirit” (
Ephesians 2:22
).
By this beautiful and impressive figure God’s Word shows the regard
He places on our physical organism and the responsibility resting upon
us to preserve it in the best condition. Our bodies are Christ’s purchased
possession, and we are not at liberty to do with them as we please. Man
has done this. He has treated his body as if its laws had no penalty.
Through perverted appetite its organs and powers have become enfeebled,
diseased, crippled....
When men and women are truly converted they will conscientiously
regard the laws of life that God has established in their being, thus seeking
to avoid physical, mental, and moral feebleness. Obedience to these laws
must be made a matter of personal duty. We ourselves must suffer the
ills of violated law. We must answer to God for our habits and practices.
Therefore the question for us is not, “What will the world say?” but, “How
shall I, claiming to be a Christian, treat the habitation God has given me?”
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