“And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (II Cor. 6:16)
Directly above this verse Paul is speaking of marriage and, as he always does, he links the marriage of a man and woman with the life of a true believer. In one place he declared, “this is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” (Eph. 5:32) The union between a man and a woman is the earthly shadow of the marriage of the church and Christ. Just as a man and women become one flesh, so too, does Christ and the church. It is here in this new walk that we begin to fulfill the scripture that saith “we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.” (Eph. 5:30-31) Therefore, if we are his image to this world, his emblem of salvation, we must present ourselves as such a place that God inhabits. For as the prophet said of old, “holiness becometh thine house, O LORD, for ever.” (Ps. 93:5)
It is our duty, nay rather our privilege, to act, dress, and speak as becometh holiness. Yet for modern spoon-fed Christians, we do not understand the first elements of a holy life. We look to the fact that we try to pray often (mostly for personal gain) and talk about Jesus to our friends (when it’s not too embarrassing). This isn’t holiness. Holiness, as set forth in the word of God, is the denying of those things which the flesh desires. To cleanse the camp of God “from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit” (II Cor. 7:1c). It is by this that we are said to be “perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (vs. 1d); by laying “aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us” (Heb. 12:1). “For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness” (I Thes. 4:7), that we might “put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Eph. 4:24). So then we find that the works of the flesh are contrary to the ways of holiness, and that without holiness no one shall see the Lord (see Heb. 12:14). Let us therefore, “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.” (Luke 13:24). |
