March 21, 2014 (Joshua 9-11; 1 Corinthians 6)
From the Life Journal of Adam Proux:
Scripture: “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT
Observation: It was necessary for Paul to address the issue of sexual sin with the Corinthian church because of all the sexual immorality that was being accepted by the culture around them. The temple of the love goddess Aphrodite was in Corinth and employed more than a thousand prostitutes used for sex during worship. Because this type worship was accepted by the culture it was creeping into the church. Paul clearly stated that Christians are to have no part in sexual immorality, even if it is acceptable and popular in the culture. Christians are to be “set apart” and separated from such twisted ideals. The temple of the Holy Spirit is the believer’s body. This is where God dwells and lives! A true Christian understands they do not belong to themselves and knows God paid a very high price for them.
Application: The thought of prostitutes being used during a temple worship service baffles me. Even more baffling is the temple employing them! How could a culture become so corrupt that this type behavior would be tolerated, must less accepted and practiced! Yet, when we step back and take a look at our culture today we see a similarly corrupted reality. Who would have ever imagined the church employing homosexual pastors? Who would have ever thought the church would openly accept what God is disgusted by? Who would have thought that sexual sin would be tolerated by the church and even encouraged in a lot of ways? Yet here we are. And the consequences are extremely harmful and deadly. Because sexual sins have been allowed to thrive in the church many lives have been harmed and many souls dammed to an eternal hell. The Christians body was not made for sexual immorality; God bought the Christian and paid the ultimate price.
Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You for this day. Thank You for Your mercy and grace that provide and protect me every day. Thank You for Your great patience with us! Deliver us from ourselves! Teach us who we belong too. Keep us from anything not pleasing to You, in Jesus name, Amen!