Today’s text puts forth one of the most severe warnings in all of Scripture, as God shows just how serious He is about the local church and anyone who tries to destroy it. Let’s consider it together:
“Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person; for God's temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.”
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 NIV
Question 1. What is the warning given in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17?
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Paul has described the Corinthians using the analogies of a field, a building, and now he declares, "you yourselves are God's temple." The "you" here does not refer to each individual believer being the temple of God, as it does in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, nor is he referring to the universal church; instead, Paul is talking about the local church. We know this because the universal church can never be destroyed (Matthew 16:18), but a local church can, and indeed was happening in Corinth.
So God is giving a severe warning to the Corinthian church through Paul saying, "Stop Destroying My Church! You are God's temple. God's Spirit dwells in your midst; you are sacred. So, stop doing the work of a spiritual arsonist or terrorist."
This warning begs the question: how was the temple of God (the local church) in danger of being destroyed? The book of 1 Corinthians details all the ways. Let's note six of them:
1 - Factions and divisions (e.g. 1 Corinthians 1:10-12). Divisions destroy the unity of the church.
2 - Worldly wisdom (e.g. 1 Corinthians 3:18-20). Worldly thinking, man-centered worldview destroys and diminishes the power of the church.
3 - Fleshly behavior (e.g. 1 Corinthians 5:9-12, 6:12-20). The works of the flesh, sensuality, and perversions always weaken the church and lead to its eventual implosion and destruction.
4 - Self-promotion and pride (e.g. 1 Corinthians 4:18-19). Individuals who consider their interests, their ministries, their causes, etc., of most importance, and those who demand their rights over what would bless and benefit others, disrupt and harm the local body.
5 - Breaking the Law of Love (e.g. 1 Corinthians 6:1-8). Those who bring lawsuits, abuse their Christian liberties, pervert The Lord’s Supper, etc., destroy the church.
6 - Doctrinal compromise (e.g. 1 Corinthians 15). Paul had to remind the Corinthians of the gospel and defend against those teaching there was no bodily resurrection. This lack of gospel integrity and focus destroy a church.
So why does God, through Paul, use such strong language for those destroying the church? Because the church is God's Temple in whom He lives, God's Bride with whom He is one, the apple of God's eye for whom He died. The church is worth everything to Him!
In Genesis 26:11, we read how King Abimelech issued a public proclamation to protect Isaac and Rebekah, saying, "Anyone who touches this man or his wife will be put to death" (Genesis 26:11). Similarly, God has issued His warning, "Hurt my wife, and I will destroy you!"
The price of an object determines its value and the price of the church, as stated in Acts 20:28, is God's own blood: "Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood." We should understand then that the church is of great value to God and should be to us. God paid for each local church and every person in it, with His own blood, and therefore He cherishes it and defends it to death.
If we would live and grow in the gospel, we must value the local church and each person in it, laying down our lives for each other as God did for us.
Mature Christians refuse to be divisive, learn to take a stand only on the gospel of Jesus Christ, and reject worldly wisdom. They die to their rights, put others ahead of themselves, repent of any sexual impurity or doctrinal compromise. To live in the gospel means learning to love others as we have been loved at the cross!
Question 2. Of the six things listed that destroy the church, are you challenged to turn away from any of them today? Please share:
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