1Cor 3:16, 6:19, 2Cor 6:16 | Barnes | STEP | Verse 16. Know ye not , etc. The apostle here carries forward and completes the figure which he had commenced in regard to Christians. His illustrations had been drawn from architecture; and he here proceeds to say that Christians are that building, ; that they were the sacred temple which God had reared; and that, therefore, they should be pure and holy. This is a practical application of what he had been before saying. Ye are the temple of God . This is to be understood of the community of Christians, or of the church, as being the place where God dwells on the earth. The idea is derived from the mode of speaking among the Jews, where they are said often in the Old Testament to be the temple and the habitation of God. And the allusion is probably to the fact that God dwelt by a visible symbol-- the Shechinah ---in the temple, and that his abode was there. As he dwelt there among the Jews---as he had there a temple, a dwelling place--so he dwells among Christians. They are his temple, the place of his abode. His residence is with them; and he is in their midst. This figure the apostle Paul several times uses, . A great many passages have been quoted by Elsner and Wetstein, in which a virtuous mind is represented as the temple of God, and in which the obligation to preserve that inviolate and unpolluted is enforced. The figure is a beautiful one, and very impressive. A temple was an edifice erected to the service of God. The temple at Jerusalem was not only most magnificent, but was regarded as most sacred, (1.) from the fact that it was devoted to his service; and, (2.) from the fact that it was the peculiar residence of JEHOVAH. Among the heathen, also, temples were regarded as sacred. They were supposed to be inhabited by the divinity to whom they were dedicated. They were regarded as inviolable. Those who took refuge there were safe. It was a crime of the highest degree to violate a temple, or to tear a fugitive who had sought protection there from the altar. So the apostle says of the Christian community. They were regarded as his temple --God dwelt among them--and they should regard themselves as holy, and as consecrated to his service. And so it is regarded as a species of sacrilege to violate the temple, and to devote it to other uses, . . And that the Spirit of God . The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. This is conclusively proved by , where he is called "the Holy Ghost." Dwelleth in you . As God dwelt formerly in the tabernacle, and afterwards in the temple, so his Spirit now dwells among Christians. This cannot mean (1.) that the Holy Spirit is personally united to Christians, so as to form a personal union; or (2.) that there is to Christians any communication of his nature or personal qualities; or (3.) that there is any union of essence or nature with them, for God is present in all places, and can, as God, be no more present at one place than at another. The only sense in which he can be peculiarly present in any place is by his influence , or agency . And the idea is one which denotes agency, influence, favour, peculiar regard; and in that sense only can he be present with his church, The expression must mean, (1.) that the church is the seat of his operations, the field or abode on which he acts on earth; (2.) that his influences are there, producing the appropriate effects of his agency, "love, joy, peace, longsuffering," etc., ; (3.) that he produces there consolations, that he sustains and guides his people; (4.) that they are regarded as dedicated or consecrated to him; (5.) that they are especially dear to him--that he loves them, and thus makes his abode with them. . (a) "ye are" (*) "in" "among"

1 Corinthians 3:16

Verse 16. Know ye not, etc. The apostle here carries forward and completes the figure which he had commenced in regard to Christians. His illustrations had been drawn from architecture; and he here proceeds to say that Christians are that building, 1Cor 3:9; that they were the sacred temple which God had reared; and that, therefore, they should be pure and holy. This is a practical application of what he had been before saying.

Ye are the temple of God. This is to be understood of the community of Christians, or of the church, as being the place where God dwells on the earth. The idea is derived from the mode of speaking among the Jews, where they are said often in the Old Testament to be the temple and the habitation of God. And the allusion is probably to the fact that God dwelt by a visible symbol--the Shechinah---in the temple, and that his abode was there. As he dwelt there among the Jews---as he had there a temple, a dwelling place--so he dwells among Christians. They are his temple, the place of his abode. His residence is with them; and he is in their midst. This figure the apostle Paul several times uses, 1Cor 6:19, 2Cor 6:16, Eph 2:20-22. A great many passages have been quoted by Elsner and Wetstein, in which a virtuous mind is represented as the temple of God, and in which the obligation to preserve that inviolate and unpolluted is enforced. The figure is a beautiful one, and very impressive. A temple was an edifice erected to the service of God. The temple at Jerusalem was not only most magnificent, but was regarded as most sacred,

(1.) from the fact that it was devoted to his service; and,

(2.) from the fact that it was the peculiar residence of JEHOVAH. Among the heathen, also, temples were regarded as sacred. They were supposed to be inhabited by the divinity to whom they were dedicated. They were regarded as inviolable. Those who took refuge there were safe. It was a crime of the highest degree to violate a temple, or to tear a fugitive who had sought protection there from the altar. So the apostle says of the Christian community. They were regarded as his temple --God dwelt among them--and they should regard themselves as holy, and as consecrated to his service. And so it is regarded as a species of sacrilege to violate the temple, and to devote it to other uses, 1Cor 6:19. 1Cor 3:17.

And that the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. This is conclusively proved by 1Cor 6:19, where he is called "the Holy Ghost."

Dwelleth in you. As God dwelt formerly in the tabernacle, and afterwards in the temple, so his Spirit now dwells among Christians. This cannot mean

(1.) that the Holy Spirit is personally united to Christians, so as to form a personal union; or

(2.) that there is to Christians any communication of his nature or personal qualities; or

(3.) that there is any union of essence or nature with them, for God is present in all places, and can, as God, be no more present at one place than at another. The only sense in which he can be peculiarly present in any place is by his influence, or agency. And the idea is one which denotes agency, influence, favour, peculiar regard; and in that sense only can he be present with his church, The expression must mean,

(1.) that the church is the seat of his operations, the field or abode on which he acts on earth;

(2.) that his influences are there, producing the appropriate effects of his agency, "love, joy, peace, longsuffering," etc., Gal 5:22,23;

(3.) that he produces there consolations, that he sustains and guides his people;

(4.) that they are regarded as dedicated or consecrated to him;

(5.) that they are especially dear to him--that he loves them, and thus makes his abode with them. Jn 14:23.

(a) "ye are" 2Cor 6:16 (*) "in" "among"

1 Corinthians 6:19

Verse 19. What? know ye not, etc. This is the fifth argument against this sin. The Holy Ghost dwells in us; our bodies are his temples, and they should not be defiled and polluted by sin. 1Cor 3:16,17. As this Spirit is in us, and as it is given us by God, we ought not to dishonour the gift and the Giver by pollution and vice.

And ye are not your own. This is the sixth argument which Paul uses. We are purchased; we belong to God; we are his by redemption; by a precious price paid; and we are bound, therefore, to devote ourselves, body, soul, and spirit, as he directs, to the glory of his name, not to the gratification of the flesh. Rom 14:7,8.

(e) "your body" 2Cor 6:16 (f) "not your own" Rom 14:7,8 (*) "Holy Ghost" "Spirit"

2 Corinthians 6:16

Verse 16. And what agreement. συγκαταθεσις. Assent, accord, agreement;

what putting or laying down together is there? What is there in one that resembles the other?

The temple of God. What has a temple of God to do with idol worship? It is erected for a different purpose, and the worship of idols in it would not be tolerated. It is implied here that Christians are themselves the temple of God--a fact which Paul proceeds immediately to illustrate; and that it is as absurd for them to mingle with the infidel world, as it would be to erect the image of a heathen god in the temple of JEHOVAH. This is strong language; and we cannot but admire the energy and copiousness of the expressions used by Paul, "which cannot," says Bloomfield, "be easily paralleled in the best classical writers."

With idols. Those objects which God hates, and on which he cannot look but with abhorrence. The sense is, that for Christians to mingle with the sinful world--to partake of their pleasures, pursuits, and follies--is as detestable and hateful in the sight of God, as if his temple were profaned by erecting a deformed, and shapeless, and senseless block in it as an object of worship. And assuredly, if Christians had such a sense of the abomination of mingling with the world, they would feel the obligation to be separate and pure.

For ye are the temple of the living God. See this explained 1Cor 3:16, 1Cor 3:17 The idea is, that as God dwells with his people, they ought to be separated from a sinful and polluted world.

As God hath said. The words here quoted are taken substantially from Ex 29:45, Lev 26:12, Eze 37:27. They are not literally quoted, but Paul has thrown together the substance of what occurs in several places. The sense, however, is the same as occurs in the places referred to.

I will dwell in them. ενοικησω. I will take up my indwelling in them. There is an allusion, doubtless, to the fact that he would be present among his people by the Shechinah, or the visible symbol of his presence. 1Cor 3:16, 1Cor 3:17. It implies, when used with reference to Christians, that the Holy Spirit would abide with them, and that the blessing of God would attend them. See Rom 8, Col 3:16, 2Ti 1:14.

And walk in them. That is, I will walk among them. I will be one of their number. He was present among the Jews by the public manifestation of his presence by a symbol; he is present with Christians by the presence and guidance of his Holy Spirit.

And I will be their God. Not only the God whom they worship, but the God who will protect and bless them. I will take them under my peculiar protection, and they shall enjoy my favour. This is certainly as true of Christians as it was of the Jews, and Paul has not departed from the spirit of the promise in applying it to the Christian character. His object in quoting these passages is to impress on Christians the solemnity and importance of the truth that God dwelt among them and with them; that they were under his care and protection; that they belonged to him, and that they therefore should be separate from the world.

(a) "ye are the temple" 1Cor 3:16,17, 6:19, Eph 2:21,22 (b) "I will dwell " Ex 29:45, Lev 26:12, Jer 31:1,33, 32:38, Eze 11:20 Eze 36:28, 27:26,27, Zech 8:8 (**) "in" "among"