Your Body Is The Temple Of The Holy Spirit .. So ....

My Utmost For His Highest

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” —Matthew 5:8

“[..] Purity is the result of continued spiritual harmony with God. We have to grow in purity. Our life with God may be right and our inner purity unblemished, yet occasionally our outer life may become spotted and stained. God intentionally does not protect us from this possibility, because this is the way we recognize the necessity of maintaining our spiritual vision through personal purity. If the outer level of our spiritual life with God is impaired to the slightest degree, we must put everything else aside until we make it right. Remember that spiritual vision depends on our character— it is “the pure in heart” who “see God.” […]  Not only must our “inner sanctuary” be kept right with God, but also the “outer courts” must be brought into perfect harmony with the purity God gives us through His grace. Our spiritual vision and understanding is immediately blurred when our “outer court” is stained. If we want to maintain personal intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ, it will mean refusing to do or even think certain things. And some things that are acceptable for others will become unacceptable for us.” CHAMBERS

Two points again.  First point, our lives in Christ are like the physical temple.  1 Corinthians 6:19 says our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit.  The physical temple had four distinct areas.  The outer wall kept the temple grounds separate from the world.  The first area was the outer court where gentiles converted to the Jewish faith could come.  The second was the inner court or court of Israel where ethnic Jews could come. The third was the Holy place where the priests would make sacrifices.  The fourth place was the Holy of Holies where only the high priest could go, one day a year to make a sacrifice for Israel.  This is where the Holy Spirit resided over the Ark of the covenant.  When Jesus died, the curtain that separated the Holy of Holies was torn in two, meaning that He removed the barrier because Jesus died once for all … the final and perfect sacrifice. (Hebrews 10:11-13) 

And so, as Christians, our bodies are the temple … separated from the world … in-dwelled by the Spirit of God.  Dr. Francis Schaeffer wrote a book .. “How Should We Then Live?”  … that is the question … if we are Christians .. and God’s Spirit is in us, how should we live our lives?  The second point Chambers made is that we should live our lives in a manner that honors God and shows deference to the weaknesses of other people.  Paul said that it was OK for him to do many things, but he didn’t do them if it caused his brother to stumble.  If you have a feeling rise up in you that says, “what I do is my business”, then you have a problem … that attitude is contrary to your new life in Christ. 1 Corinthians 8:12-13 “When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.” ELGIN

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)