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? (1Corinthians 6:19, KJV)
What a mystery and privilege that body of a believer in Jesus Christ, the born-again person, is the temple of the Holy Spirit. What is the Holy Spirit? He is Spirit, the Holy Spirit. He is Holy. He is the Spirit of God which comes from above.
The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, was with God the Father and God the Son at the time of creation. The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light(Genesis 1:1-3).
God the Holy Spirit was behind the conception of Mary, the mother of Jesus.
And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35).
At the baptism of Jesus, the Holy Spirit was seen as a dove.
And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Matthew 3:17).
Through the eternal Spirit, the Holy Spirit, Jesus offered Himself before the Father to be crucified.
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:14).
The Holy Spirit and the Bride (the Church) say come, Oh Lord Jesus Christ.
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely (Revelation 22:17).
When a sinner receives Christ, accepts, confesses, and repents of his sins, by faith through grace, he becomes child of God and God becomes his Father.
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: (John 1:12).
That repentant sinner is born-again and the same Spirit abides with his spirit. God’s Spirit starts living in the believer. This is a great mystery. Sometimes we underestimate it and sometimes we use Him in vain, or uselessly. We must lead a balanced spiritual life.
Sometimes we lie to the Holy Spirit.
But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? (Acts 5:3).
Sometimes we quench the Holy Spirit.
Quench not the Spirit(1Thessalonians 5:19).
Sometimes we grieve the Holy Spirit.
And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30).
Our life is like a house, which has many rooms. The Holy Spirit must be the owner, master, and Lord of the whole building and all the rooms. When we don’t obey Him, don’t listen to His voice through the word of God, through our conscience, we grieve Him. We quench Him. He may be allowed to live in only one room and our carnal man rules over the rest of the rooms.
When a believer is under the total control of the Holy Spirit then love, joy, mercy, long-suffering, and perseverance is evidently visible. When a believer goes astray or listens to the voice of the world, self, or Satan, then he acts and behaves in a different fashion.
I have observed and experienced as a believer that spiritual sailing is not smooth. Sometimes it is rough and tough; there are many dangerous turns, spiritual-life threatening accidents. It is only by the help and grace of God that we survive these.
When we fall, we need to come back to our Father to ask forgiveness, confess our infirmities. He faithfully forgives. How many times will God forgive us? Does God not get angry or annoyed when we repeatedly need to ask for forgiveness? How many times can God forgive us?
Peter asked Jesus, “How many times, should I forgive my brother, if he goes against my will? Jesus responded, “Seventy times seven.” This was a command for Peter, a human being like us.
Now think it over; how far does Jesus go? Maybe seven times seven hundred! Jesus forgives us all the time, as long as we are alive. But our asking of forgiveness must be genuine. We should not make a joke of it. God knows the secrets within our heart. If we are genuine in our conversion and in our walk with Jesus, then we will not look for opportunities to commit sin. But if we aren’t genuinely saved then our spiritual life will always be shaky.
We as believers are the temple of God the Holy Spirit. We are living in this world along with our infirmities. Even when we fall, we must come back to the Lord with contrition and confession. Then He restores us and we can enjoy His intimacy. This is a great reality that the Spirit of God lives in you. You are the temple of Holy Spirit and He resides in you. This reality is beyond the comprehension of a normal human being.
May the Lord help us to fathom it and may we walk in His light.
Amen.
