1 Corinthians 6:19-20

The Temple of the Holy Spirit

Paul said every Christian's body is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). These verses point to an indwelling. On page 366 of The Timeless Trinity for the Ceaseless Centuries, Roy H. Lanier, Sr. says,

The Greeks have two words for temple. One is 'hieron' which included the place where the moneychangers had their tables, where the priests had their apartments, even where doves and cattle were kept for offerings. Then they had the word 'naos' which included the holy place and most holy place, the dwelling place of God...This distinction in meaning of these words is observed scrupulously by New Testament writers....How can the human body be the temple of the Spirit unless the Spirit dwells in the body? Then Paul says which is 'in you'. Here we have that Greek preposition 'en' with the dative of a person again, which means 'in the person'. So in this verse we have two proofs of the actual indwelling of the Holy Spirit: 1). The human body is the temple (naos) of the Spirit; 2). The Spirit is 'in you'.

As sinful men (Romans 3:23), the Corinthian brethren were in bondage to sin. (Romans 7:14). As Christians, they had been bought, out of that bondage, by the Lord (Acts 20:28; Romans 6:16-23; Hebrews 9:12; 1 Peter 1:18-19; Revelation 5:9). Because God bought us, we should glorify and serve him to the best of our ability.