Temple of the Holy Spirit

I think those passages are not talking about individual believers, but the body of believers as a whole.

Eating healthy, etc, are not necessary, but beneficial.

 

Brian, is that saying the Holy Spirit dwells in the body of believers and not the indivual believer?

 

BrianT:

1CO 6:19-20 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

EPH 1:13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,

EPH 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

These are but a FEW of many verses that show that it is an individual that houses the Holy Spirit.

Keep in mind that "bodies" ie: churches, nations, denominations etc are not the ones Christ died for--It was individuals.
You CANNOT be saved as part of any group/body; only as an individual can you accept or reject Christ and the offer of eternal life through His blood!!

Your quote gives me added insight into the reasoning behind many of your posts

 

No, I believe the Holy Spirit dwells in both. But I think "the temple" is referring to the body of believers.

All the passages that discuss this, even the ones posted by just-want-peace, support this. This is easy to verify by looking in a Bible that makes a distinction between singular and plural "you", like the KJV. In the KJV, singular is "thee/thou", while plural is "ye/you".

For example: 1 Cor 6:19 (KJV) says "What? know ye not that your (plural) body (singular) is the temple (singular) of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?"

If this verse was teaching that we are all temples, it would have had "your (plural) bodies (plural) are the temples (plural)". However, the words "body" and "temple" are singular, even though Paul is addressing the group. All the other "temple" verses do the same thing.

 

I think if I look at the context, I must conclude this passage is talking about the individual not the church.

13 Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body. 14 And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power. 15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. 16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. 17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. 18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. 19 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? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

 

Yes, verse 18 is talking about the individual, because it is using a singular pronoun (he). But the next verse is using a plural pronoun (you).

 

Then if the Holy Spirit dwells in the christian, then that christian becoems the house of God in which He dwells,His temple.

Since I've been working on a study of 1Cor. I believe you are right, taken in context you see what these verses mean, nothing in scripture can be taken out of context.

 

Consider the subtle difference in meaning between these two sentences:

"Your [plural] body [singular] is the temple [singular] of the Holy Spirit."

"Your [plural] bodies [plural] are the temples [plural] of the Holy Spirit."

 

YOUR is not always plural. Like I could say is that YOUR real opinion on this topic, and I wouldn't mean plural, but singular.

 

As I noted above, "your" IS always plural in versions like the KJV that distinguish between singular and plural. In the KJV, "your" is plural, "thy" (or "thine") is singular. In the Greek, the distinction between singular and plural exists for the second-person pronouns, and older Bibles use older English singular/plural pronouns to match. Modern English has dropped this distinction.

 

Biblestudent, I just noticed something about the passage from 1 Cor 6 you posted above, which might help illustrate my point better. Notice the differences in the two bolded sections:

"15 Know ye not that your (plural) bodies (plural) are the members (plural) of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. 16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. 17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. 18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. 19 What? know ye not that your (plural) body (singular) is the temple (singular) of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?"