1 Corinthians 3:16, what is Paul saying to us here?

A most serious chapter....glad you asked ((Tom))

As we see here especially how each one of Us is growing we can't help but want to Praise God for His Redemptive work. We are indeed being raised because the indwelling is within our midst. I love how Seth has expressed, the Perfect Day,in your other question, the dawning in us Knowing God is within our midst. Hallelujah, and accepting this Sovereign Presence is working in our lives, individually and as a whole... for His love is endless. God always working in us, sharing and reasoning in us so we adopt His perspectives, and love principles... and it is so good to see us sweetly surrendering the parts of us, that need sweetening. ( Principals... Prince I Pals... scheesch... look at that, we are supposed to be ACTING LIKE PRINCES AND PALS... GO FIGURE .. GOD DOES KNOW ... WHAT WE DO AND DON'T DO.) IMAGINE THAT!

The indwelling Holy Spirit is the source of power for Us who Believe, and so we be leaf, then come into fruition. For God is in our midsts, tending us, patiently, powerfully, conforming us in the Spirit of His Truth and Love. Tom, only through His enablement can we serve God acceptably! Without his empowerment we can do no thing! Nor can we live the good lives God calls all His people to. Because the Holy Spirit does live in us, we are God's holy temple and we can be holy.

Paul's warning is directed for believers here, if anyone "brings ruin on" ( phtheiro) God's temple, God will bring ruin on him.

In addition, The Corinthians, in becoming distracted ( as we can be too) from Christ in their arguments over the merits of mere human leaders, act like the unsaved. Their jealously and bickering prove they are "Worldly" ( psychikos, "soulish") using mere human capacities and not the spiritual insight provided to believers in the Spirit. Paul goes on to explain that Human leaders are servants of God, it is God who is the Source of all growth ( verse 5) God's priority is the congregation, not the leaders.. (God in our midst) So often Tom we don't understand what it means to be a leader, so i thought to mention these parts of I Cor 3.

Leaders are workers in God's field, the church is the field, Leaders are meant to be builders. Christ is the foundation. The church is God's temple. The work of leaders like that of all believers will be evaluated by God in time.

this precious chapter is really looking at how to see ourselves as the servant, as Brothers... and reminds us to stop the jealousy and quarreling, we are the church of God, his people ( his church, universally of all times, past, present and future) so we need to really see in deepness what God is building here, becoming the servant, and learning to serve with a serious intent... to better understand that we are not islands of self... but part of God's glorious temple, with Christ as our cornerstone, we are being fitted and placed as living stones. As we begin to understand our nature, as the people of God, then use the Spiritual gifts given to us, we will serve one another better, as interdependent people whose growth depends on God. The symbol of a living body stresses we are all parts of this, the image of family, emphasizes the importance of being loving, close, having personal relationships. The image of the field, emphasizes the growth towards Spiritual maturity.... God seeks to stimulate us... and how foolish we can be to ignore the Master in our Midsts... and argue amongst ourselves. Also, this chapter discusses, to let our faith rest in Jesus, to count on HIM for your growth.

This is a heavier chapter than most of us understand... God is teaching us his ways, and God's spirit knows the unknowable in us. So we need to heed the deeper messages coming from He who is in our midst.

So many times we fall short of this, but as we commit ourselves we see we have no basis for pride.

Love

Tomb raiser... i love when the God in my midst rolls away the stone of my heart and raises me..

You can gather a little more spiritual knowledge on the matter of spirits within our terrestrial bodies(flesh)1Cor 15 v 40 44. The temple is our Celestial Spirit of the 2 bodies of created existence.

But these things are SPIRITUALLY Discern,1Cor 2 v 14

I like your philosophy and commend you for your attempt, IMHO it is not the TD's that are troublesome but the vicious verbal attacks, reporting needlessly and creating of wicked clones against many here on R&S. those are vile and attrocious behaviours unbecoming of any Christian.

In 1 Corinthians 3:16, 17 we are told that those who destroy or defile their bodies will also be destroyed by God in turn. Therefore, we must preserve, as far as possible, the best of health and strength as we take care of these marvelous body machines.

Corinthians 15:57, "But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes ... for our good always, that he might preserve us alive." Deuteronomy 6:24. "And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee." Exodus 23:25.

God gave health rules because He knows what is best for the human body. Automobile manufacturers place an "operations manual" in the glove compartment of each new car because they know what is best for their product. God, who made our bodies, also has an "operations manual." It is called the Holy Bible. Ignoring God's "operations manual" results in disease, twisted thinking, and burned-out lives, just as abusing a car (against the manufacturer's counsel) results in serious car trouble. Following God's rules results in "saving health" (Psalms 67:2) and more abundant life (John 10:10). These great health laws are like a wall or fence to keep out the diseases of Satan. God tells us what these rules are so we can avoid the devil's traps.

Reminding them so they would act that way like the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Read verse 17. It explains what he is talking about.

1 Corinthians 3:16,17= Do YOU not know that YOU people are God’s temple, and that the spirit of God dwells in YOU? 17 If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him; for the temple of God is holy, which [temple] YOU people are.

If anyone misuses what is holy to Jehovah, whether his own body or any other dedicated thing, or if he harms or commits offenses against another person who is holy to God, he will suffer punishment from God.

When someone accepts Jesus Christ, God gives His spirit to live within your body. Your body therefore becomes a so called temple that houses the holy spirit of God.

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This is what "inferior" translations of the Bible do - give the wrong meaning to God's "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? "

Ye are the temple of God - The apostle resumes here what he had asserted in 1 Co_3:9 : Ye are God’s building. As the whole congregation of Israel were formerly considered as the temple and habitation of God, because God dwelt among them, so here the whole Church of Corinth is called the temple of God, because all genuine believers have the Spirit of God to dwell in them; and Christ has promised to be always in the midst even of two or three who are gathered together in his name. Therefore where God is, there is his temple.

Taken in the context of the entire chapter or "book" it seems that our bodies are so important to God that He lives within us. This means that we can never be lost from Him (if He lives within us there is no where He cannot be) and also that we have His real presence always with us. This is very powerful in having a relationship with Him and in understanding the depths of His love and closeness to His people (like a Shepherd with his sheep).

Paul was telling his business partners to teach Judaism, but to continue to call it Christianity.

God said that He would dwell inside of us by His Spirit.

it says that we human beings are created in God's image and our temple is our body... God always is with us and around us whether we choose to follow His teachings or not... many christians believe that our body is the temple he is referring to which makes us cautious to using any type of drugs or alcohol... and that health is important