The past couple of blogs, we have been talking about how we are 3-part beings: body, soul and spirit. Walking in the fullness of Christ is recognizing that we are more than just spirit and soul beings, but that God equally cares about our bodies, as well. Like Christ is a triune being – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – all 3 parts are equally needed. We often put a much bigger emphasis on our spirit and what we believe is the most important, but sometimes neglect our bodies and our soul, which is where our mind is hosted. 

Now we are talking about what the word has to say about our bodies. The Word references our bodies as a temple and that right there expresses how spiritually vital even our bodies are. 

1 Corinthians 6:19 – “Have you forgotten that your body is now the sacred temple of the Spirit of Holiness, who lives in you? You don’t belong to yourself any longer, for the gift of God, the Holy Spirit, lives inside your sanctuary. You were God’s expensive purchase, paid for with tears of blood so by all means, then, use your body to bring glory to God!” 

There is so much depth to this scripture, the revelation of what God is wanting us to grab a hold of will change the way we see and treat our bodies. 

First, the scripture describes our bodies as a sacred temple. A SACRED TEMPLE!!!! Our bodies are so vitally important to our spiritual walk. In the Old Testament, the temple was a place of worship and prayer. It also was where the presence of God dwelt, and housed the Ark of the Covenant. Not to get into much detail, but upon entering in, you must have a sacrifice for the atonement for sin and only a high priest could enter into the holy of holies. The holy of Holies is where the presence of God dwelt. It was a shadow /temporary of what was to come. The temple was temporary because once Jesus came, he became the sacrifice and died and rose again. Now sit’s on the right hand of the Father in Heavens throne room. When He ascended, He left His Holy Spirit within us. But now our bodies are the Temple and the the Holy Spirit (God’s presence) is inside of us. We are Gods earthly throne room! 

1 Corinthians 3:16-20 The Message (MSG)

“You realize, don’t you, that you are the temple of God, and God himself is present in you? No one will get by with vandalizing God’s temple, you can be sure of that. God’s temple is sacred—and you, remember, are the temple.” 

Romans 12:1-2 New Living Translation (NLT)

A Living Sacrifice to God

Paul is talking to the Roman church…

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead (beg) with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” 

Paul is pleading that we Christians allow our bodies to be a living and holy sacrifice. In the Old Testament, there were animal sacrifices, but then Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice for us. Now, we are the living sacrifice; daily sacrificing our will and desires, and being obedient to Gods will. 

1 Peter 2:5 New Living Translation (NLT)

“And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.” 

I mean how profound are all these scriptures! We want to point out that in this scripture, God calls us His holy priests. Just like we mentioned earlier that in the Old Testament-upon entering the temple, there had to be a sacrifice and the high priest was the only one who could enter the holy of holies. Now, we are to give our bodies as a living sacrifice and we are the holy priests. But unlike the old, there is no separation from God. He now inhabits us!

It goes onto say again in 1Peter 2:9 “for you are a chosen people. You are royal priest, a holy nation, God’s very own possession.

John 14:23-27 The Passion Translation (TPT)

“Jesus replied, “Loving me empowers you to obey my word, And my Father will love you so deeply that we will come to you and make you our dwelling place.” 

Acts 17:24 The Passion Translation (TPT)

“The true God is the Creator of all things. He is the owner and Lord of the heavenly realm and the earthly realm, and he doesn’t live in man-made temples.” 

May we get the revelation knowledge that we are created in the image of God, we are not our own. Our mind, spirit and bodies must be surrendered over to Jesus Christ. We cannot just submit our spirits and continue to operate with wrong thinking and treating our bodies as our own. May we as Christ followers fully dedicate ourselves to be holy unto God! 

“God created it, Jesus died for it, the Spirit lives in it, I better take care of it,”

Rick Warren