The Temple of the Holy Ghost

There is a scene in the film adaptation of S.W.A.T. (starring Colin Ferrell) in which a couple of cops are giving a third cop a hard time because he is eating fast food,

"Hey, I thought you were a Mormon now, and you weren't allowed to eat that stuff anymore!?"

The fast food cop replies, "Yeah, I converted when I married my wife, don't tell her.  We aren't supposed to eat this stuff, our bodies are a temple."

"Huh! I treat mine like an amusement park!"

It is a funny exchange, but it does offer an insight into the way many people think about their bodies.  Many people believe that the only purpose our bodies have is to provide us fun, excitement and pleasure, God and religion are just obstacles in the way of this goal.  There is little if anything considered sacred these days.  What was once considered holy is now profaned and what once was profane is now considered holy.  Our bodies included.

We have lost the understanding that our bodies should be considered sacred.  Contrasted with the "amusement park" mindset is the view presented in Scripture that our bodies are sacred, holy objects.

Over the last few weeks, we have been looking at a Scriptural view of sexuality and we started with discussing the idea that our bodies are created in the image of God.  Building off of this idea in the New Testament we find the idea that our bodies are destined to be the temple of the Holy Ghost.

The Apostle Paul teaches us this in 1 Corinthians 6, "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?  For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."

We have been bought with a price, not with dollars, gold or even Bitcoin, but with the precious blood of Christ.  God paid the highest price that could possibly be paid for us, He sacrificed His Son to die on the Cross.  We were in bondage to sin and captives of the enemy, but Christ sacrificed himself on the Cross, ransoming our bodies and souls.  Christ paid the cost to its full and final extent in order to set us free.  This redemption and freedom are not just for our spirits and souls, but for our bodies as well.  Because of this we can understand two things: one, that our bodies are tremendously valuable, and two, that we have no claim to absolute authority over our bodies.  Our bodies were designed to be vessels of the Divine presence.

I often use affirmations when I meditate.  One I find inspiring says, "I am of infinite worth because Christ paid an infinite price to save my soul."  (I am not sure if this is mathematically and theologically correct, technically, the only person who is of infinite worth would be God and Christ, but I like the sentiment.)  God believes that our bodies are worth saving and He sent Christ to make sure that happened.  We should always treat our bodies and the bodies of others with dignity and respect because Christ bought them at a great price.  Our bodies are precious, they are treasures to be valued and honored.

As much as our bodies are meant to be the temple of the Holy Ghost, this does not mean that every person on the planet is the temple of the Holy Ghost.  The Holy Ghost only moves into your body when you humble yourself, surrender your will to God, repent of your sins and trust in Christ as Savior.  The Holy Spirit is given to us as a seal and a security deposit of our eternal inheritance in Christ.  Only as we abide in Christ do we find the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

When we have trusted in Christ, we can know that the Holy Spirit dwells within us.

Because we are image bearers, we are vessels worthy of the Divine presence.  As temples of the Holy Ghost, our bodies are beautiful, valuable, and sacred.  They are meant to be clean, pure, and holy, set aside and dedicated to the Savior's use.

I used the analogy in an earlier post of using rare, fine china to feed a Doberman.  This is a misuse of that dish.  Even worse would be to take the dish that was just used to feed the Doberman and use it to feed a good friend who had come to visit.  The dog has made the dish unclean and unfit for human use.  To be useful again it has to be washed and made clean.

God wants to use our bodies as His holy dwelling, but if we are using our bodies in unclean ways then we will be unfit and unready, we will be unholy.  God cannot dwell in an unholy dwelling.  Fortunately for us, we can be made clean, pure, and holy by the blood of Christ.  He sanctifies and cleanses us.  His blood washes all of our sins away.  We are forgiven and made new.

God is the designer, the architect of our temple-bodies, and He gets to set the rules for how they are used.  Any time we use our bodies for sexual gratification outside of the bonds of marriage, we are defiling the temple of the Holy Ghost.  But especially egregious are those who shamelessly desecrate their temples by their participation in the moral insanity of homosexuality and transgenderism.  We are taking that precious porcelain of our bodies and giving it to the pigs.  It is almost as if these movements are intentionally doing everything they can to purposefully defile the image of God and the temple of the Holy Ghost.

At one point I had a cell mate who was a millionaire.  Let's imagine that we both get out and I ask him if I can borrow one of his million-dollar McLarens for a night on the town.  He agrees, but he has some conditions.  No food or drink in the car and have it back by midnight.  Once I have the keys in my hand and I am seated behind the wheel, I can do as I please, but if I am going to respect my friend and his property, I will respect his wishes.  If I take that McLaren and go do donuts in a gravel lot, use it take a load of garbage to the dump, and then enjoy some In-n-Out in the car along the way, I am dishonoring my friend and his property.

Our bodies are not our own.  They are sacred, dedicated, purchased by the blood of Christ to be His holy dwelling place.  We may certainly choose to use our bodies as an amusement park and enjoy all the immoral thrills of this world, but we will be dishonoring the Lord and missing the central purpose for which we were created.