[Luke]

1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

Are these verses referring to the individual believers body as the temple of God, or the church (invisible) as the temple of God?

Whichever one it is, what do these verses mean for someone who has defiled the temple of God after salvation?

Hi Luke,

Are these verses referring to the individual believers body as the temple of God, or the church (invisible) as the temple of God?

It is my opinion it refers to the church. The verse uses ye/you (plural) instead of thee/thou (singular), while referring to the temple (singular) and not temples (plural). Ye (plural) are the temple (singular) of God.

Whichever one it is, what do these verses mean for someone who has defiled the temple of God after salvation?

Few people realize that the same Greek word is used twice in this verse. "If any man "phtheiro" the temple of God, him shall God "phtheiro"." God's temple is holy, and if someone does something bad to his temple, God in turn will do that thing to him.

God bless,
Brian

[MC1171611]

Luke, I'd have to say that God is talking here about the chastisement of the Holy Spirit upon disobedient believers or the church as a whole; "The Greek" notwithstanding, "Defile" and "Destroy" are different words with different meanings. Obviously, if God had wanted to say that He'd do the same thing to the person that they had done to His "temple," He would have said that God would "Defile" them as well. Defile != Destroy.

Keep in mind that Paul was speaking to a church full of wickedness and carnality: he might have been warning them that God would punish them as a church for their sin if they didn't straighten up. This tends to make sense to me since the church at Corinth was messed up with a lot of perversion, and God wouldn't deal kindly with His children enmeshed in that garbage.

[Kiwi Christian]

Originally Posted by Luke

1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

Are these verses referring to the individual believers body as the temple of God, or the church (invisible) as the temple of God?

Whichever one it is, what do these verses mean for someone who has defiled the temple of God after salvation?

Brother, scripture with scripture gives us the correct interpretation of what this temple is here:

1 Corinthians 6:19 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?

As a Christian, if you continue to defile your body willfully then God will bring judgment upon you, and may even have to destroy your body (the wages of sin is death!). This truth is clear from several other passages:

1 Corinthians 11:29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

1 Corinthians 5:1 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. 2 And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. 3 For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, 4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

This is a very serious business, hence why it is important for every Christian to confess and repent of sin regularly, and make their best attempt to live a holy life. We are to fear the Lord and depart form evil. Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap, and if you continue to sow to the flesh you will reap corruption, God will not be mocked.

[Luke]

But on this comparing scripture with scripture, the only references I can find to "destroy" all seem to be in relation to hell "destroy body and soul in hell", "destroy with everlasting fire" etc.

Yes, and what's the problem? Is the problem you can't reconcile that with OSAS?

God bless,
Brian

[Luke]

In a word - yes.

But it's more than that. Even if Eternal Security were not a biblical doctrine, there is only one defilement here, and God SHALL (not might) destroy them. So I guess I am asking what it means in light of all scripture, because I have defiled this temple (my body) in the past, as a Christian, and repented, but that verse leaves no room for repentance. It says God SHALL destroy. It doesn't say SHALL destroy unless he repents or something.

Then it depends on what "defile" means here, and it has largely to do (in my opinion) with the idea that we (plural) are the temple (singular). I don't see the concept of millions of temples of God in scripture, only one.

[Kiwi Christian]

Originally Posted by Luke

But on this comparing scripture with scripture, the only references I can find to "destroy" all seem to be in relation to hell "destroy body and soul in hell", "destroy with everlasting fire" etc.

I gave you the scripture, it's in 1 Cori 5:5 "the destruction of the flesh".

[Kiwi Christian]

Originally Posted by Luke

It says God SHALL destroy. It doesn't say SHALL destroy unless he repents or something.

Yes, but it doesn't have to mean sudden destruction, it could be a slow process, and often will be because of God's patience and longsuffering. Reminds me of Ecclesiastes 8:11 "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil."

God "shall destroy" the body/flesh of a self-defiling Christian, but it may not happen for 5-10 years, and it might be a slow and painful process, but God shall perform that which He has said. That's what the verse means IMO.