From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

Part four (final) of a series. Read part three.

Today the Holy Spirit is doing the same cleansing and teaching work in His temples that Jesus did in the temple at Jerusalem two thousand years ago.

In our last article we saw that Jesus cleansed the temple so that it would be both a fit place for prayer and worship, and a fit place for Him to teach sound doctrine and preach the Gospel. We also began to consider the fact that this same cleansing and teaching ministry continues today, even though God no longer dwells in temples made with hands.

This temple, this physical edifice at Jerusalem, will soon be destroyed, Jesus said. Instead, each individual believer will be My temple. You will be the temple of the Holy Spirit. He will cleanse you, and He will teach you all truth. And so today, God the Holy Spirit performs that same dual work of cleansing and teaching in us, His temples.

The Apostle Paul frequently reminds believers that we are the temples of the Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 3:16 we read, "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" And in Romans 8:9-11 we read this:

But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

The Holy Spirit Cleanses His Temple

Just as God the Son cleansed the temple edifice, God the Holy Spirit cleanses the temples in which He dwells today. He cleanses us.

The Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, "Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." And as we noted in an earlier article, in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 we read this:

Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: 'I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.' Therefore 'Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.' 'I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.'

We are to seek God's cleansing continually. We are not to deny that we need it. In 1 John 1:8-9 we read this: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." But, John continues, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." And the Apostle Paul writes to the Galatians, in chapter 5, beginning at verse 16,

Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Just as Jesus drove out the merchants and the moneychangers, God the Holy Spirit works to drive sin and spiritual distraction out of our hearts. God wants the temple of your heart to be a quiet place for prayer and worship, not a place of chaos. He comes to give us peace. He wants us to walk in the Spirit. And how do we learn to walk in the Spirit? We learn to walk in the Spirit as God the Holy Spirit teaches us. God the Holy Spirit cleanses His temple, and God the Holy Spirit teaches in His temple. He teaches us.

The Holy Spirit Teaches in His Temple

And He teaches us from one place - His Word. We have no other authority. The Bible is revelation given by inspiration. It is the only supernatural Book. And we have the divine Author, God the Holy Spirit, living within us. He inspired all Scripture. He illuminates Scripture. He instructs us from Scripture.

And just as Jesus preached the Gospel in the temple, the Holy Spirit preaches the Gospel to us. We never stop needing to hear it. We never stop needing to be reminded of the wonder of it, the grace of it, the mercy of it. We never stop needing to be reminded of what God has done for us, wretched sinners, by grace through faith in His Son.

And just as Jesus taught sound doctrine to the people in the temple, the indwelling Holy Spirit teaches right doctrine to us through the reading of His Word, and the preaching of His Word. And it is right doctrine that produces right living.

And just as Jesus dealt with the enemy in the temple courts, the Holy Spirit deals with the enemy of our souls in the court of these temples of flesh. The enemy of our souls constantly comes to us and says, "By what authority do you believe these things? What right do you have to think that you are saved? Has God really said this?" And in response, the Spirit of God witnesses with our spirits that we are, indeed, the sons of God (Romans 8:16). We are "heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ" (8:17) and nothing can ever separate us from His love (8:38-39). The Spirit speaks to us through the pages of Scripture and says - "By this authority, and by this authority alone! You can believe. It is all true. You need not fear. You need not doubt. Do not listen to the voice of the enemy when He barges in while I am teaching you. Always rely on the authority of My Word."

Our Proper Response

What is our proper response to these things? The Apostle Paul says, "Let a man examine himself" (1 Corinthians 11:28). He says this in relation to the Lord's Supper. We must not eat of the bread or drink of the cup in an unworthy manner. Paul by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit also says this: "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you - unless indeed you are disqualified [in the original, more literally, you are counterfeits]. But I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified" (2 Corinthians 13:5-6).

What is the goal of this examining of ourselves? It is to make sure that we are in the faith, first of all. And secondly it is to make sure that we are living in a way that is pleasing to God, and that there is no unrepented sin taking place in the temple courts of our hearts.

How do we examine ourselves? First of all, we need to understand that the kind of examination that God prescribes for us is not subjective, but objective.

We can examine ourselves in the wrong way. We can examine ourselves based on mere feelings. We can simply compare ourselves with ourselves, or compare ourselves with someone else. The Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 10 verse 12 that this kind of comparison is unwise. It reflects a wrong understanding of what we are supposed to be doing.

The right kind of self-examination is not subjective but objective. It is the measurement of our lives against an objective standard - the Word of God. Objective measurement of our lives against Scripture. Right doctrine produces right living. Right doctrine demands right living. Right living is not based on mere feelings. It is not subjective. Right living is objective - there is a standard of measurement. But it is not comparing yourself with yourself, or comparing yourself with someone else. It is comparing yourself with the Word of God - objectively. Am I living up to the Word of God?

These things also apply to the church as a body. We are not to become subjective and introspective. We are not to compare ourselves with ourselves, and we are not to compare our church with other churches - what they do, how they do it, the results they get or do not get, how big they are, or how small they are. No, instead we are to be objective. We are to evaluate the life and ministry of the church based on the standard of the Word. Others may commit the sin of not holding their churches to that standard. But dear reader, you must.

The indwelling Spirit illuminates Scripture for us so we can understand how we are to live. The indwelling Spirit gives us the power to live in obedience to the Word. And it is an ongoing work. God's temple becomes polluted. The world crowds in on our minds and hearts. The world crowds out the things of God. We need to be continually cleansed, and we need to be continually taught. The two are inseparable.

Jesus prayed for us in John 17, "Father, sanctify them by Your truth. Your Word is truth." Ephesians chapter 5 tells us that "Christ...loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the Word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish."

God calls on you, dear Christian, to seek the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. Ask God to cleanse His temple. Ask Him to remove the things that distract your mind and heart from focusing on Him. And ask God to teach in His temple, the temple of your heart. Ask Him, as the Psalmist of old asked the Lord, "Open my eyes, that I might see wondrous things out of Your law" (Psalm 119:18). And those wondrous things will continually change your life.

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