New Thoughts (04/02/17-04/05/17)
The Christian Temple (04/03/17)
This question Paul poses is a truly stunning declaration: You are a temple of God, as the NASB renders it. Other translations firm this up just a bit. “You are God’s temple,” or “You are the temple of God.” It must be granted that the definite article is not to be found in the text. And yet, there is this: The collective you are a singular temple. As the JFB points out, it is not, ‘you are temples’. And English just doesn’t handle ‘you are temple’. That being the case, they are quite right to suggest that the singular nature and quantity of this temple ought to be emphasized. You and I – all of us together, and together right on down through the ages – are the temple of God.
This had been true of Israel in here day. Israel taken together as a whole was declared to be a holy habitation. Why? God dwelt among them. That, as Mr. Clarke points out, still holds for the Church writ large. But, it holds for the church writ as its people, the collective result of individual lives lived out as living stones. As regards the church as congregation or local manifestation, it is interesting to read what the JFB offers. We ought not to see the local church as temple, but rather as modeled after the synagogue. Why is this? Because the synagogue was the place where believers came together for public prayer and for the reading and exposition of Scripture. The temple was for sacrifices and for silent prayer, because the temple was God’s earthly dwelling place, and before Him all must finally fall silent.
There is much we can learn from this, not least that Sunday worship cannot be the be all and end all of our faith experience. Indeed, it must be only the beginning or, if you wish to view things from another angle, the culmination. We cannot come together to become holy or to be made holy. Holiness, after all, is not an optional component of the temple, and you are the temple. The church you attend on Sunday is not. You are. The church you attend on Sunday, one must hope and pray, is a God-centered, God-directed ministry preaching and practicing the whole counsel of Scripture, upholding the Gospel, proclaiming the Good News, and administering sacraments and discipline alike, as befits the Church Christ Jesus has established. But, the church, by the very nature of its mission, is going to be a spiritual grab bag, so far as its component attenders are concerned. There will almost assuredly be false claimants to faith amongst the True Believers. There really ought to be some portion of honest unbelievers, although it is eminently to be prayed that they not remain so.
But, it is not the building that is holy. It is the believer. Why is this? It comes back to the distinction the JFB is making between synagogue and temple. The synagogue was a place for believers to come together. They could pray together. They could study together, encourage and admonish, and generally seek to practice a life of faith together in a community of faith. Is this not the church? But, the temple! The temple was something entirely different. The temple was first and foremost perceived and intended to be the earthly abode of God. It was where the Perfectly Holy God dwelt when among His people. It must be maintained in a state suited to His Perfect Holiness; a state of perfect holiness. Repeatedly, I see these authors referring to this requirement. The temple, Calvin insists, MUST be ‘inviolably sacred’. It is assuredly true of God’s temple. As far as the pagans were concerned, it was equally true of all their myriad temples. This was the common supposition of what a temple was. It was the house of whatever god it thought to honor, and since that god lived there, it was to be maintained in perfect sanctity, however that god happened to define sanctity. It was inviolable. One doesn’t simply wander into the inner sanctum uninvited or uninitiated.
The Jewish temple was no different in this regard. The necessity of careful preparation and careful attention to every detail on the part of the priest who would enter the holy place is well documented, as is the penalty for failure. But, we’ll get to that. As to the Holy of Holies, that room was so entirely sacred as the place where God’s Shekinah glory was to be found that even the high priest, properly prepared and cleansed, was only permitted entrance but one day out of the year. Holiness is not optional. Mixture is not permissible. There’s no room in God’s presence for a second idol, nor can it stand. Now, carry that requirement of the temple into what Paul is saying here.
You are the temple – personally. The Spirit of God, which is to say God Himself, dwells in you. Don’t you get the implications of that? Take a quick and fearful glance, now, at verse 17. If you corrupt God’s house, it shall never be done with impunity! We who are holy by profession, as Matthew Henry sets it out, ought to be pure of heart and pure in our conversation. I will stress ought to be, because frankly, it’s just not reality for us. But, even with all our continued sinful propensities, the fact remains. We MUST abhor and avoid anything that would defile or prostitute that which is sacred to God. Isn’t it an amazing thing that we sense this when it comes to the building we call church, and yet we insistently miss it when looking upon what God declares to be His temple?
The temple was ‘inviolably sacred’ for one very simple reason: God inhabits His temple. Now, then: YOU are the temple. You’re it! God dwells in YOU. You have been consecrated. Barnes prefers, you are to be consecrated, but the reality, dear Christian, is that you have been. It’s not something you might consider later. It’s already been done. When the Holy Spirit made His abode in you, it was on that basis – the same basis of, “It is finished!” upon which your whole life depends. You ARE consecrated. That being the case, O temple of God, it would be utmost sacrilege in any way to violate the temple by giving it over to other uses.
How, you may ask, do I give it over to other uses? Let me count the ways! Here, we have at least two given for our consideration. The first, pointing backward, is that of promoting or following such teaching as is contrary to the doctrine set forth by that One who indwells. You have come to the God of Truth. To the degree that you accept and/or promote lies, particularly lies as regard His person and His character; to the degree that you refashion your definitions of faith and holiness to suit your preferences; you have indeed violated the temple. Looking down page, we hit the issue of sexual immorality. It is in view in its most heinous, most actively engaged forms. Porneia: A man sleeping with his father’s wife – not necessarily his biological mother, but still, adultery of the worst sort; and he finds welcome in the church. Wandering down the street to enjoy the temple prostitutes over at Aphrodite’s place, and then coming back and saying you are a godly man or woman; and being accepted as such!
That was for Corinth. What about Chelmsford? We could more readily ask in what ways we manage to keep any part of this sad temple clean at all. What are your television habits? What are you reading? When you go to work, what sort of conversations are you having? Do you give an honest day’s work for a day’s wage? Do you honor your bosses, seek to be salt and light to your coworkers? How about the commute – I know, an example almost trite in its commonplace nature – and yet, a place of constant failure to live holy lives. How about family life? Are you raising up children who live in reverent fear of the Lord? Are you building up your spouse in holy faith? Or do you pretty much leave them to their own devices and leave it to God to sort out? Look, I’m not trying to lay plans for a legalistic, works-oriented religion. For one thing, I’d never survive such an environment, nor would anybody else. But, we need to hear this warning and take it seriously. You are to be consecrated. It would be sacrilege to violate the temple that you are. It would be abominable to give this temple of you over to use by demons, which is the inevitable result of every idolatry. The temple is holy – inviolable. You are that temple. I’ll transition with this from the JFB. “Therefore, to tamper with the foundation, being a violation of the temple’s inviolability, entails ruin.” It is the ruin of any building to tamper with its foundation. And yet, we all of us seem determined to do just that. Let us be the more careful, hearing this dread warning from the pen of Paul, from the heart of the Holy Spirit: “If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him.” That includes self-immolation.
The Teacher of Abomination (04/04/17)
Self-immolation is included, but it seems to me the first thing in view is those who lead and teach the church. There is that ambiguity which Paul, I think purposefully, allows. Is it the teacher or the student he addresses? Why choose? It’s both! But, take heed, teacher: you are held to a more stringent standard because the impact of your self-immolation will spread farther than just yourself. If, by your teaching, you are destroying God’s temple rather than aiding in its construction, be very certain: God will destroy you. I would suggest that we can be certain of this, too. Pleas of good intentions will not offset the ill effect.
There can be no plea of ignorance on this one. There can be no mitigating, “Oops! I didn’t mean for that to happen.” This has now moved beyond the issue of hay and stubble, of mistaken views in regard to ambivalent matters. This is beyond the discovery that our perceptions of how exactly the end-times would unfold turned out to be wrong after all. This is denial of Christ. Clothe it how you will, phrase it as you please, the reality will not be changed. The conclusion is severe because the situation is dire. You destroy the temple? God will destroy you. Period. No hope of mercy is offered here.
This has to give us pause. After all, it applies to every aspect of Christian life. It’s not just what you teach. It’s what you live. It’s what you give ear to. It’s how you disciple or mentor. It’s how you raise your children, care for your parents, honor your spouse. There is not part of your life where this message can be thought not to apply. As a church leader called upon to impose church discipline, it’s how you do this task. Oh! That we might heed Paul’s example in the exercise of that necessary duty! The warnings, or even threatenings cannot be watered down. But, they MUST be tempered with hope. “Don’t you know that you are the temple of God?” That’s present tense stuff, not past tense and now lost beyond recovery. But, great though our confidence must be in the work of God in us, there remains this: Watch what you’re doing. You start damaging the foundation, and there can be but one conclusion. You are gone out from us because you were never of us. There is no salvation to lose for you, because there was no salvation had in the first place. You will be destroyed, not by man, not by church leadership, but by God; to whose ruling there can be no appeal.
Believe me, as one in leadership I feel the weight of this. As a teacher, particularly having just completed a class on the person of Christ, how careful I want to be of my words and ideas! How careful I want to be of imparting empty platitudes, a soft, squeezable Christ. How greatly I desire to see a true, amplified reverence for our Lord and Savior instilled by greater understanding – not perfect, by an means, but greater – of Who He is, of what He has done and continues to do for us, of why this was not merely allowed to become necessary, but made necessary, ordained!
Here is the foundation. Jesus paid it all! Here is the foundation. Jesus died that you may live, fulfilled the Law that you might be delivered from its curses for your sins. Here is the foundation: He has told you, O man, what is required of you (Mic 6:8). Cursed be the man who adds his burden to that requirement. Cursed by the man who teaches a dimmed view of the perfect holiness of He who dwells in the believer. God lives in you! God! Perfect Holiness has taken up residence in your body – His temple. What are you doing with that temple? Have you rented out space to another? On whose authority? By what right? Have you decided you have a better idea how to run His kingdom? There was another before you who thought the same. He has reservations now for a lake of fire. Just as assuredly as he is destroyed, even so certainly does the word here proclaim: Destroy God’s temple and only one thing can result: God will destroy you.
How is this temple destroyed? By the acceptance and promulgation of false doctrines. How is this temple destroyed? By giving place to sin, refusing to address it in ourselves and winking at it in our fellow believer. How is this temple destroyed? By insisting on our own rule in the church of God rather than heeding God’s rule for what is His.
Matthew Henry writes, “Those who spread principles of this sort would provoke God to destroy them.” This again takes aim at the teachers of such falsehood, certainly. But, it also includes in its scope those who spread these principles by their acceptance or even appearance of acceptance. John’s words, never far from my thoughts, seem apt on this occasion. “Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ does not have God. The one who abides in the teaching has both Father and Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, DO NOT RECEIVE HIM. Don’t welcome him to your house. Don’t even greet him, lest your greeting make you participant in his evil deeds” (2Jn 9-11).
It is to be expected that a fallen and sinful people will greatly prefer a fallen and sinful church. This doesn’t make it right, obviously. It does give us cause to be that much more alert and watchful. After all, we ourselves, though set in leadership, are fallen and sinful people. We do well to remain mindful of this, to be reminded of it often, lest it becomes the case that the reminder comes too late. We are fallen and sinful. It is therefore to be expected that we, too, are prey to these preferences. An easy gospel, a social gospel, or a, “Can’t we all just get along” gospel are all going to prove tempting. After all, getting along is a lot easier than discipline. Beware!
Beware as well the propensity for legalism, because it’s hard to navigate grey areas, so we paint every situation in stark black and white terms. There’s a place for black and white. But, we have to allow for certain tolerances in our application. Look again at Paul’s example. Some build with gold, some with stubble. You’re still brothers. Some are chipping away at the foundation. They shall be destroyed. You are secure in Christ. But, what are you doing? You are a temple, are you acting like one? You are making some seriously heinous mistakes here. You are allowing some truly grotesque pollutants into this perfectly holy temple that you have become. How can you? How can God? And yet, that comforting note keeps being sounded: You are a temple of God. Don’t you get it? You can’t possibly live up to the requirements of being such a thing. Nobody could. Paul can’t. But, greater is He who is in you, that you who are in the world! “Take courage! I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:33). Rest assured, little lamb, that includes you in your clinging worldliness. Rest assured, but don’t take it as license.
The Christian Danger (04/05/17)
Assurance without licentiousness is a difficult balance, isn’t it? We are painfully familiar with our propensity to suppose our particular sins are not so bad. It is shockingly easy, and just as shockingly evil, to slide into thinking like the Jews of Jerusalem did before its fall. “The Temple! The Temple!” I am the temple, and God would never allow His temple to be destroyed, would He? I’m safe here. He is in me and has claimed me, and therefore I can do as I please.
You may tell me that you don’t actually think that way, and you may be right to some degree. But, as the saying goes, actions speak louder than words. Your words may not be insisting you can do what you like with impunity, but what of your actions? Have you become a practical atheist when it comes to the care you take for God’s temple?
I have already noted the ambiguity that Paul weaves into his message during this transition of topic. Is he addressing this warning to those factional leaders, to the factions themselves, or to those he will be addressing in later chapters for their personal misconduct? Why choose? We can address them all! Factionalism in the Church is indeed a great evil, and it is promulgated at base by servants of evil. But, the sexual sins to be addressed in Chapters 5 and 6 are as great an evil, if not greater. Every other sin is outside the body, but immorality is sin against one’s own body, and that’s where the problem becomes worse, for it’s not your own body anymore. You are not your own. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, of God (1Co 6:18-19). What have you done? Do you really think that God is pleased to have His temple defiled, joined with these servants of demonic idols?
The message of Chapter 6 echoes the warning here. It is designed to do so. You are God’s temple. If any man destroys God’s temple, God will assuredly destroy him. The temple is holy. You are that temple.
It may not be sexual immorality, although in this day and age, that’s a pretty safe bet. What else have we allowed to defile the temple of God? What do we accept about ourselves in spite of it being clearly revealed as opposed to God’s Law? What teaching do we lend an ear which ought find no place with us? What Christian magic, to borrow Pastor Dana’s phrase from last Sunday, have we allowed ourselves to practice? To what degree are we shaping our beliefs after the practices of pagan witchcraft rather than Christian faith? Maybe our issue lies elsewhere. Maybe we consider the civil law to be more by way of civil suggestion. Maybe we allow ourselves to view our employer as some non-entity to be used as fits our advantage. An honest day’s work for an honest day’s wage? Perhaps for an honest employer, but for this? Yes, child, for just such as this. Do your work as unto the Lord (Col 3:23).
Understand that what Paul is saying here is not some warning to non-Christians. It is very much to the Christian. To the degree you or I permit our sins to continue to have claim on us, it must hold that we are defiling God’s temple. To defile is to destroy. The warning applies. You destroy My temple, I will destroy you. We have this going for us: He has not abandoned us, but rather made us aware of the danger. He has called us to a place of repentance – not merely mouthing words of regret at having been caught out, but real desire and intent to alter course. He has also given us what must be the most precious of promises. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1Jn 1:9).
It is only when we are in that foolish place of insisting that we have not sinned that we pursue our doom. “If we say that we have not sinned, we make God a liar and His word is not in us” (1Jn 1:10). That’s the necessary counterbalance, isn’t it? Of course we know we’re sinners still, in need of our Savior. But, again: Are those empty words with us, the right thing said because we know it’s the right thing? Or, do those words capture the reality of our self-awareness? Are we, am I, even in this very moment in the midst of study, keenly, painfully aware that I defile this temple daily, hourly even? Have I become numb to my tongue’s betrayal of my heart? Do I write it off as just weakness, something God really doesn’t care about? Watch out! The defilement is in progress.
There must be confession. Lord, I embarrass myself moment by moment, it seems. I embarrass myself in this: I represent You so poorly. And even in this, I sin, for truth be told, it is a matter more of personal pride than of seeking Your glory. And yet, I see that same perversity of pride so pleased with the result on the tongue. Oh! How witty! How provocative! What am I to do, Father? I can but confess this sin for what it is. The tongue expresses a heart still terrifyingly corrupt in me. And me, a leader in Your church! Oh, I know, Lord, that this is not something unique in me. Yes, I can commiserate in the fact that all of us who seek to be Your servants discover ourselves to be woefully inadequate and sinful in the extreme. But, this does not excuse me. This does not alter the facts. There must be repentance. John doesn’t explicitly state it there in that verse, but the song is not wrong to add the point. Father God, I want no more to do with this prideful, boastful, coarse and arrogant nature. Yes, I can hide it behind the mask of what I know to be right, but it peeks out just as soon as the coast is clear of fellow churchmen, doesn’t it? This ought not to be! My soul cries out for the strength to truly repent, and yet I know it is not in me, not in my own power, to do so truly. I need You, Lord. I beg of You to change this vile heart of mine, cleanse me of this prideful arrogance, this willfulness that threatens the very work You have done in me. No, it cannot destroy what You have established, but it so mars the beauty of Your workmanship. Render me fit to serve as You call me to serve. Help me to work together with You in this. Keep me mindful of the issue and train me up to resist the evil of my own heart until it is no longer present to be resisted. And Oh! The joy of the assurance that is ours: Praise be to You, my God and Savior, for You are faithful AND righteous to forgive and cleanse me. Holy is Your Name. Holy is Your Temple. So it must be, for You are there. Let the outside therefore become as the inside: Holy Unto the Lord!
The Christian Stand (04/05/17)
The Aaronic priest who violated the temple was doomed, as the JFB reminds us, and in the same manner, so is the Christian who violates this spiritual temple. We are not granted immunity. We are not granted immunity for our fallen nature. We are not granted immunity for having fallen in with a poor choice of shepherd. Just following orders is a useless defense. It doesn’t work for war criminals in earthly life. And war criminals are exactly what we make ourselves in violating the temple of God. We have joined battle, and given our services over to the enemy. It’s truly perverse, isn’t it? Here we are, the temple of the Living God, and what do we do? We assault ourselves with every sort of sinful practice, seeking to weaken the very thing that preserves our life.
How are we even able to stand? We cannot give ourselves assurance by supposing we’ll just tell God that we were only doing what our leaders taught us. If there is error, it must be on their part. No, those who played their factional games in Corinth could not hope for leniency on that basis. They led, but you chose to follow. You were willing participants in their evil. You have the Apostolic witness. You have the record of the Prophets. You have the Word of God with the Holy Spirit Himself as expositor. You are most assuredly without excuse. But, you are, dear Christian, not without hope.
Hear Paul’s words. Hear then in the clear, unshakable understanding that they are not Paul’s alone, but are the words the Holy Spirit saw fit to express His own position. You ARE a part of the holy temple of God. You ARE a true church, O Corinth, O Chelmsford, in spite of it all. Do I look around the congregation and suppose myself the only true Christian? Do I wonder if even I can be accounted thus? Do I go to the other extreme and suppose every last occupier of a pew is of necessity a true believer? I cannot. The Word will not permit it. I can be certain there are tares amidst the wheat. I cannot be certain as to which is which, at least not until the fruits of their lives render judgment upon them. I can, however, be assured that there is a remnant in God’s house. He has not left it abandoned, assuredly. I can be hopeful that the remnant is, in our case, the greater share. I cannot, however, be confident of that, only hopeful.
There will be some portion of every church for which the words of Paul’s assurance are no assurance at all. There will be some portion of every church for which it cannot be said, “You are the temple of God.” But, for those of whom it can be said? The need for correction does not alter the fact. It merely points out the need for correction, and in doing so, likely reminds us of the impossibility of somehow imposing that correction by our own power. We depend – depend UTTERLY – upon our Lord. And, mystery of mysteries, our perfectly holy Lord – He who is the purest essence of holiness – resides in us. How can this be, Lord? How can I withstand Your presence, sinful man that I am? It is only by the righteousness of Christ. I know this, and yet I cannot say I understand this. But, I understand the awesome wonder. God is in me. God! This does not make me God, a little god, or even a little bit god. I am not somehow rendered ‘more than human’ as the latest spiritist fad seems to have it. No, I am painfully aware of my humanity. I am brought to my knees, if only in a figurative sense, by the wonder of knowing this holy fire that burns somewhere within and yet does not consume my sinful flesh. God abides in the likes of us, in me, hopefully in you who read this. But, this is no call for pride. If anything, it should be cause for fear and trembling. Perfect Holiness has taken up His throne in me, and here I am rebelling daily. What must become of me? Who can stand when He is come?
The Christian Assurance (04/05/17)
I find my answer right where Paul left it. “Thanks be to God: In Jesus Christ” (Ro 7:25). There is hope in none other. In Him, there is not such fleeting hope as the world knows. No, there is assurance: Assurance as perfect as His own Holiness. God knows the end from the beginning. God knew me from the foundations. He knows perfectly how to preserve His perfect Truth. He knows perfectly how to preserve His temple. He knows perfectly how to preserve me. No, I am not granted a life free of struggle with sin and with evil. Far from it! In very point of fact, I am assured that I shall know all manner of trial and tribulation as I seek with faltering steps to walk the Narrow Way. But, I have this: The not so secret weapon of the Christian: “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage: I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:33). I have the powerful assurance of, “It is finished” (Jn 19:30). I have the joy of serving the One – the only One – who says, “Of those whom Thou hast given Me I lost not a one” (Jn 18:9). That perfect record stands unbroken from eternity past to eternity future. Never a one. “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand” (Jn 10:29). That’s our story, Christian! That’s our God!
Oh, Blessed Assurance! How can I cease from singing Your praise? You sought me and You bought me by Your redeeming blood. And now I am Yours, perfectly, securely, eternally Yours. Jesus, I may never in this life understand how this can be, and yet I will always in this life, by the Spirit’s testimony in me, know that it is. And what joy awaits when You bring me home once for all. May it be, my King, that I see my loved ones there with me. May it be that they, too, however much hay and straw has been piled on the foundation by their hands, have come through safe and sound, as secure in Your mighty hands as me. O! Glorious Day! Even so, come quickly, my King! Even so, come soon.
