Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?

Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?

1 Corinthians 6:18-20: “Flee from sexual immorality. Every sin a man commits is outside the body, but the one who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price (times). Therefore glorify God with your body.”

The Greek word *porneian* (πορνείαν), translated as sexual immorality, signifies idolatry. This is because the sacrifices performed by Gentiles at that time included not only idolatry but also immoral acts. It is said that sins committed by humans, excluding idolatry, are matters that occur outside the body. However, Paul states that idolatry is committing a sin against the body, which is the temple.

This does not mean that saints do such things, but rather that there are those within the church who consider themselves saints and commit such acts. Therefore, Paul explains who a saint truly is. The body of a believer is a body bought with the price of the blood shed through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Therefore, it is said that this body does not belong to the believer themselves, but to God. That is why Paul tells us to glorify God with our bodies.

Regarding this, it is easy to think that we should simply perform good deeds and strive diligently. However, Romans 12:1 states, "Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and holy, which is your spiritual worship." A living sacrifice refers to one who believes that they died with Jesus Christ on the cross and resurrected with Him. A living sacrifice signifies worship.

The physical temple is a shadow, and Jesus is the true temple. If Jesus is with us, we can immediately worship God. Furthermore, because Jesus completed His work on the cross, forgave the sins of all humanity, and ascended to the heavenly throne, those who are in Christ are also able to worship God who sits on the heavenly throne.

Those who are in Christ have become able to worship on their own; how should they worship? They worship in spirit and in truth. Many people misunderstand this phrase as "offering worship solemnly with a sincere heart." John 4:23 states, "God seeks those who worship Him in spirit and truth." This means, "He accepts and seeks those who offer such worship." The object of this seeking is precisely the one who becomes a son of God.

"Spirit" refers to the Holy Spirit, and it is interpreted as the Holy Spirit granting understanding through His working. "Truth" expresses the truth; in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life," that truth is the same expression as truth. It is the Word of God. Jesus Christ is both the truth and the Word. Since God is Spirit, the Holy Spirit grants understanding, and as God's Word is clearly revealed, "if I realize that although I was a sinner, I become a son of God through the words of Jesus Christ, then I become the son whom God seeks." That is what constitutes worship.

**John 4:23** We say "offering worship," but it is not about offering something. Rather, worship is when God's Word works within me, and through that work, I confirm that the old self, which is carnal, has died, and I manifest as the new self, the Son of God. That is the sacrifice, and it becomes a living sacrifice offered to God.

Therefore, those who think of it as offering something are still engaging in idolatry and are committing spiritual sexual immorality. These are precisely those who are in legalism. Legalists were those who thought of sacrifices and believed that circumcision was necessary. This is because circumcision carries the meaning of offering oneself. Thus, those who commit sexual immorality are doing it to their own bodies.

In the Old Testament era, people went to the temple to meet God, but they could only meet Him indirectly through the priests by bringing offerings to the temple. To meet God, a temple, priests, and offerings were required. Jesus came into the world and went to the Kingdom of God on our behalf; He was not a high priest following the order of Aaron, but a high priest following the order of Melchizedek. In other words, Jesus Himself is the High Priest.

In Matthew 1:21, when Jesus was born, the angel said, "Name Him Jesus," which signifies God with us (Immanuel). Because Jesus is with God, He becomes the true temple. Jesus is the High Priest in the order of Melchizedek, and He is the temple where God is present. Furthermore, Jesus died on the cross as the Lamb. Jesus alone fulfilled the roles of temple, priest, and sacrifice. Jesus accomplished all these things, and God resurrected Him from the dead and seated Him at the right hand of the throne.

However, if those in Christ think that worship ends once they have performed it following formalities or procedures, that worship becomes meaningless. We hold the office of "royal priesthood," just like Jesus. Moreover, after Jesus ascended to the Kingdom of God, He gave the Holy Spirit to us who are in Christ. If the Holy Spirit dwells within us, we become the temple of God.

Now, the last thing remaining is the need for a sacrifice. It is offering myself. We must offer the old self, the "I," as a sacrifice. If the old self does not die, the sacrifice becomes a sacrifice without a sacrifice. When the old self dies, God enables us to be born again as a new person through the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the worship we offer in spirit and truth within Christ is precisely the act of receiving reaffirmation of the fact that, as royal high priests, we have put to death our old self and been born again as new people through the grace of God's Holy Spirit.

Regardless of when or where one goes, the time, place, and procedure of worship are not important. When we confirm that we are royal priests, the temple of God, and that the old self has died as a sacrifice, and when thanksgiving, praise, and prayer flow toward God, it becomes worship. Worship is the very moment we confirm that "I am in Christ, and Christ is in me." Without this, it is not worship, and God does not accept it.

To "believe in Jesus" means "I have been buried with Christ, resurrected with Christ, and am in new life." However, most people merely pay lip service to dying with Jesus Christ. The old self must die. The old self mentioned in Romans 6:6 is the mind originating from the flesh; it is the very evil heart that comes from the world, not from God. Ephesians 4:22 also states, "Put off the old self, which is corrupted by lustful desires and follows the decaying customs of the world." 2 John 2:15 also says, "Do not love the world," stating that "everything in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life." God does not accept the worship offered by the old self. The old self is neither in Christ nor can Christ be in the old self. Everyone who loves the world is the old self.