Temple Destroyers
“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy: for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” 1 Corinthians 3:16-17
I have heard this passage quoted on probably dozens of occasions to shoo any number of spiritually felonious bug-bears out of the life of believers. It has covered everything from tattoos to smoking, to coffee drinking, caffeine abuse, gluttony, and even alcohol consumption. For some reason, this verse seems to pop up as a catch all for any sort of illicit body treatment amongst believers. Unfortunately, 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with our human bodies, nor what we do to them. O, there is reason for that consideration I suppose, but that is not what this scripture is talking about.
In the context, Paul is addressing three modes of interaction that can occur upon the foundation of Christ. There are the first two modes that most people seem to get pretty intuitively. If you build upon the foundation of Christ, as you assist in erecting the “temple” so to speak, or if you build the body of Christ with his approved materials, there will be great reward for that person. This lines up with Jesus parable of the talents. The second mode of consideration is dealing with people who are “saved” who do not use God’s prescribed methods or tools in order to build upon Christ’s foundation. They will still be saved, but they will have nothing to show for their lives. The third consideration is the passage quoted. What it means is that there is a third type of person, and that is the type of person who actually strives to destroy God’s work in the church. They are the type who will be eternally destroyed because they defile God’s people with their damnable heresies. This also lines up with the teaching of our Messiah when he said, “It would be better if a millstone was tied around their neck and they were cast to the bottom of the sea, than they should cause one of these little ones to stumble.”
This passage of scripture is supposed to be a comfort to true believers everywhere, and a severe warning to heretics, God is going to justly deal with the wolves in time. Ultimately we don’t need to get so hung up about them that we forget God is going to bring about justice. “How long O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” Revelation 6:10. This is the cry of every martyr. Is it not a comfort that one day their destroyers will be destroyed? The temple destructors will be punished. Belshazzar was weighed, measured, and found wanting for fondling the temple goods in a prideful display of his pomp. So also will those who seek to destroy anything that is built upon the true foundation of Christ, be destroyed of God.
