WE ARE THE LORDS
by
Dr. E. Harold Henderson

Dr. E. Harold Henderson was for 25 years, from 1972 -1997, the principal English language speaker on LifeWord Broadcast, an international radio outreach of the Baptist Missionary Association of America. Dr. Henderson was the Writer of the Adult Sunday School Quarterly (Baptist Publishing House, Little Rock, AR) for 39 &1/2 years. He authored four books and numerous religious periodicals

© LifeWord Broadcast Ministries
Conway, Arkansas
Reprinted by permission

Prisoners Bible Crusade
P.O.Box 696
Picayune, MS 39466

PRESENCE: The Holy Spirit Lives Within

There is a surprising doctrine taught in Holy Scripture concerning the human body. I say it is a surprising doctrine because it is so complete, and because it is so generally overlooked in teaching. The doctrine is set in I Corinthians 6: 12-20, a passage which deals with moral purity and sexual morality. It reads in this manner:

"All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats ; but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body. And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power. Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. 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? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."

The emphasis on sexual purity and moral uprightness is so strong in that passage that there is a great tendency to discuss it. But look further and. see the doctrine of the physical body which is given there.

Here are some of the major truths about the body taught in I Corinthians 6: 12-20. ( 1) The body is temporary in its duration, "God shall destroy it," verse 13. (2) The body exists for the purpose of God, "the body is for the Lord." (3) The body will be resurrected after death, "God will also raise us up by his own power," verse 14. (4) The body is "a member of Christ" after one is saved, verse 15. (5) The body is injured, not profited, by sexual immorality, "he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body ," verse 18. (6) The body is the "temple of the Holy Spirit," verse 19. (7) The body does not belong to the person who lives in it, "ye are not your own," verse 19. (8) The body can glorify God, because it belongs to God, verse 20.

The teaching is summarized in verses 19 and 20, "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? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." Let us examine that teaching.

Consider the presence or God in your physical body. "Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have of God."

That is almost unbelievable, isn't it? Yet, it is true. Human language can be no more distinct than that portion of verse 19 which says you have received the Holy Spirit of God and He lives in your physical body. That is what we call "the indwelling of the Holy Spirit."

.'Indwelling" means "to dwell within, to live inside, to make one's permanent home or residence in" a certain place. Where is the place of the "indwelling" or the Spirit of God? It is "your body." He lives in you! As certainly as there is air in your lungs or blood in your veins, the Spirit of God lives within each person who is a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is essential to the Bible concept of salvation. We must not think of salvation as something God gives us apart from himself. True, it is "the gift of God" (Eph. 2:8), but it is not a gift given apart from God. To be saved means that God comes and lives His divine life in the spirit of the person who trusts Jesus. That is how the believer receives "the divine nature" discussed in II Peter 1 :4. To be a Christian means God's Holy Spirit moves within man's human spirit and takes up permanent residence there. It is "Christ in you" (in the person of the indwelling Spirit) which makes one a Christian.

I have found thirteen distinct references to the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in the human spirit in the Christian New Testament. Jesus' conversation with the unnamed "woman at the well" of Samaria began with a reference of water to drink, for she had come to draw water from the well. It led on to this statement by our Lord, "Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst: but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life" (John 4:13, 14). What was Jesus saying? He spoke of a drink of water which would put a fountain of water springing up within a person so he would never thirst again, and which would guarantee him everlasting life. Surely the Lord meant more than the water we drink to satisfy our thirst.

Go one step further, and Jesus explains His meaning. John 7:37, 38 reads, "In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." That "fountain" of water which Jesus said would be within believers would "spring up" so that "rivers of living water" would flow forth from them. It is all symbolic in its spiritual meaning, of course. But what is the "fountain of water" and what are the "rivers of living water"?

Jesus explains the symbolism in John 7:39, "(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive.) " The "water" of which He spoke was a symbol of the Holy Spirit. What a beautiful picture!

The Holy Spirit lives within the believer's physical body and produces eternal life (lives the life of eternity in him, if you please,) like a flowing fountain produces water hour by hour, day after day. The Spirit's ministry is not limited to the person in whom He dwells, but like rivers of water flow forth from their source and waters the plains and valleys of a great area, the Holy Spirit ministers through the believer and blesses the lives of many.

I do not speak of the unique experience of a few Christians who are especially sanctified. I speak of the blessed truth that relates to every Christian. The Holy Spirit indwells every believer, not some believers. Romans 8:9 reads, "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his " If you are saved, the Holy Spirit of God lives the life of God in your physical body.

Neither is the indwelling of the Spirit occasional and spasmodic. First John 2:27 assures us, .'But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you. " The Holy Spirit comes at salvation, and He comes to stay. Praise the Lord !

Look at your physical body. Whether it is young or old, fat or lean, lovely or homely, male or female, black or white or any other color, it is the indwelling place (the "temple") of the Spirit of God, if you are saved. Thank God that it is true, and live like a person in whom God lives.

.'Father, thank you for such loving concern for us that you have condescended to come and live your life in us on a day-after-day basis. Thank you for the blessed Holy Spirit who lives within us. Help us to so live our lives in awareness of His presence and availability to His purposes that we do not grieve Him. For Jesus' sake. Amen."

The truth is so important that God placed it three times in one paragraph of Scripture. He said, "The body is for the Lord," "your bodies are the members of Christ," and "your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and ye are not your own" (1 Corinthians 6:13, 15, 19). That principle must be of great importance, for it to be repeated over and over like that. Since God said it three times, we must believe it and live according to it.

"Ye are not your own" is a grammatical form which is called "an emphatic negative" in the Greek language in which it was first written. It means to stress the negative idea very strongly. It would be the equivalent of our saying, "You absolutely are not your own," or "No, you are not your own," or "Under no circumstance are you your own." It teaches the basic truth that when one becomes a Christian, he surrenders all rights to himself , from henceforth belonging to the Lord. He is no longer his own master. He does not have right nor power to control his own life and affairs from that time forward.

Does that sound too demeaning? Does it sound like becoming a Christian takes away one's liberty, or lessens his manhood? It may sound that way to one who does not know the Lord, but the very opposite is what one experiences. It is a privilege to be His !

I have traveled a great deal in foreign countries, visiting missionaries and sharing the work on their fields. When in a foreign land and a strange culture, I trust the missionary to be my guide. I give him money to cover my travel and living expenses, and he takes care of buying tickets or paying for food or whatever other need we have. I am no less independent because I am dependent on him. It is just that I am safer when under the care of one who knows the situation than if I were insistent on taking charge of things for myself.

To be a Christian is to belong to the Lord. Jesus said to the Father, "I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word" (John 17:6). Did you hear Jesus say that the men who became Christian were "given" to Him by the Father? Was Peter, or John, or Matthew any less a man because he became a disciple of Jesus? Did he loose his independence when the Father "gave" him to the Son? Not at all. On the contrary, each man became a more complete man when he entered into a saving relationship with God in Jesus Christ.

You who are Christians, look upon yourselves as belonging to the Lord. Every decision must be made in the light of His will. Every action must be judged according to His law of conduct. If that sounds confining and restrictive, it is only because one has not experienced truly the liberty, the freedom enjoyed by the born-again sons of God.

Solemn duties rest upon the Christian by virtue of his belonging to the Lord, and being no longer his own master. One such duty is stated in I Corinthians 7:23, "Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men. " Submission to Christ means one is no longer subject to men. That does not mean the Christian is not obligated to obey the laws of the nation in which he lives. Not at all! On the contrary, the Christian is under specific command of God to obey all requirements of his country and to respect the officers of government. It does mean one is not to live his life trying to please individual persons, but rather living to please God. He who is the servant of God in Jesus Christ is delivered from being the servant of men.

Another aspect of our belonging to the Lord is expressed in I Corinthians 6: 13, "Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body." He who belongs to the Lord is responsible to control the passions of his physical body. He can no longer do what fleshly passions dictate. He must keep control over his body to make it serve the purposes of righteousness and moral uprightness. How that principle is needed today.

Have you heard the statement, ..If it feels good, do it"? That is the philosophy by which many people live today. Some people justify sexual immorality by saying, .'It is right if two people are in love," or .'It is right if it is between two consenting adults." Not so! God warns, "The body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body. ...Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. ...Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body" (1 Cor. 6:13, 15, 18). God did not put sexual passions in the human body that they might be satisfied in any kind of illicit relationship? Absolutely not! He placed them there that they might be disciplined and used for the purposes of God in the marriage context. Only properly used can they work out for the good of mankind and for the glory of God.

That principle, You are not your own master," has far-reaching application. ( 1) Since you are not your own master, you can not live your life simply to please your own self. You must take God into consideration in all matters. (2) Since you are not your own Master, you must not live your life to satisfy men by following their standards nor doing their bidding. You are accountable to God, not to men. Feel no obligation to live by the standards of the unregenerate. (3) Since you are not your own master, you cannot set your own standards of moral conduct and live as you prefer. God has set the standard and will bring every person into judgment for thoughts, words, and deeds, whether they are good or bad according to the divine law. Yes, that principle, .'You are not your own master," applies to every area of life. Be sure you live day by day in the light of its full implication. Consider Romans 6: 16, .'Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" That means every person will be the servant of one master or another. He will be the servant of sin or the servant of righteousness.

You see, God made man capable of being master of all things except himself. Man will yield to some power or influence and live under its standards. The appeal of Holy Scripture is that man yield himself to God, by a free act of his own will and not by compulsion, to live a faithful life according to the standards of righteousness.

Do you think the terms 'master" and 'servant" are too strong? The Bible uses even stronger language. It speaks of our being bondslave" to sin or to righteousness. The word is well chosen. We will be constrained by good or evil. And we have the choice which will be our Master .

"Father, teach us what humility truly means in the practical affairs of daily living. Teach us above all other things to be humble before You. Give us spiritual discernment to know your will and spiritual courage to do it. For Jesus' sake. Amen."

There are two companion truths which stand side by side in Holy Scripture. The two form the support upon which the doctrines of salvation and sanctification rest. Those twin truths are expressed in I Corinthians 6:20, 21, and are stated in these succinct words:" Ye are not your own. ...Ye are bought with a price."

Each truth is related to the other. The Christian no longer belongs to himself, but to the One who has redeemed him. The price paid for the redemption of the one who believes in Jesus Christ was so great that it has purchased him unto God totally and forever. Those two truths are as in- separable as the two sides of a coin, and as logical as the relation of cause and effect. Each is positively related to the other.

The theological term used to describe the person who has been delivered from sin into salvation by Jesus Christ is the word "redemption." It means to buyout of slavery, More than that, it means to set free by the payment of a price. Now, that is just what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. He has bought us out of a life of bondage to sin. He has set us free by the payment of the price of our redemption. We have been set free by the payment of the greatest price imaginable. We are the Lord's because we have been redeemed.

What was the purchase price paid for sinners? First Peter 1: 18-20 answers, "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers ; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you."

Negatively, the text teaches that redemption does not come through things on which we place material value. Silver and gold, as important as they are in the monetary systems of men, are not sufficient to redeem a sinner from his sins.

Neither does redemption come through the merit of rituals nor customs we can perform. All that is empty and futile folly when applied in the spiritual realm.

Nothing which is corruptible (subject to decay or change) can effect the redemption of a sinner. No! None of that is sufficient.

Positively, the only thing which can effect the redemption of sinners is something which is of infinite value according to the heavenly system of reckoning value. What could that be? It is "the precious blood of Jesus Christ" who was God's lamb "without blemish and without spot." The writer of the old Christian hymn expressed the truth very Biblically when he wrote, "What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! Oh, precious is the flow that washes white as snow. No other fount I know: nothing but the blood of Jesus!"

But how can the shedding of the blood of Jesus effect redemption for sinners? Think of these Bible truths. (1) The life of man came from and returns to God. ( 2) Sin is so serious that when one sins he forfeits his right to live; therefore, he enters into a state of separation from God called spiritual death. (3) All mankind has sinned and so entered into death. (4) Human life is in the blood which flows through the veins, Lev. 17:11. (5) Jesus shed His blood, gave His life as an innocent one suffering for the guilty ones, to die in the place of sinners. (6) Those who claim the benefits of Jesus' death in their place are delivered from spiritual death into salvation in Jesus Christ.

Why was Jesus willing to die for sinners'? It was not deeds of merit on the part of sinners which brought Jesus to die for them. On the contrary, their willful sin left them without any kind of merit whatsoever. "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich" ( II Cor. 8:9). Grace is the word. It was "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ" which moved Him to provide redemption for sinners.

But what is grace'? Grace is God's attitude and acts of good toward us when we deserved evil. It is His kindness when we deserved judgment. It is His forgiveness when we deserved judgment. It is his doing for us more than we deserved, in spite of our lack of deserving, and the opposite of what we deserved. Without grace there would be no salvation.

When did God plan the deed of redemption'? He planned that Jesus would die for our sins before Jesus came into the world. You see, the death of Jesus on the cross was no surprise to God. It was according to His divine plan. Jesus himself said, "The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many" (Matt. 20:28). When He knew death by crucifixion was approaching, He did not say, "Father , deliver me from this hour, " because He had come into the world for that very hour (John 12:27).

When did God plan the deed of redemption'? He planned it before the creation of the world ( I Peter 1: 18-20) .Therefore, salvation was perfected in the purpose of God before there was a need for salvation in the fall of man (Eph.1:4).

Salvation was no second-best arrangement with God. The death of Jesus was not a second-choice with God. It all lay at the heart of divine revelation. It was prepared and finished before the creation that it would be ready when the need arose.

How widespread is the effect of the redemption provided in Jesus Christ'? The believer experiences total deliverance in his personal experience. The Bible reports that Jesus "gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works" (Titus 2: 14). Redemption means all sin is forgiven.

The whole human race, even those unborn at the time of the redemptive dead, is included in the offer of salvation. Revelation, chapter 5, pictures a scene in heaven before the throne of God. An unnumerable throng of redeemed saints are there. "And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation" (Rev. 5:9). Thank God for His gracious deed of redemption!

What does that mean to you and me in terms of personal commitment'? The Apostle Paul replies, "You are not your own...You are bought with a price" ( I Cor. 6: 19, 20) .It is true, literally true. As a Christian believer, you do not belong to yourself any more. You have been bought out of the bondage of sin and set in the glorious liberty of a child of God. No less a price than the life of Jesus Christ, the only begotten and beloved Son of God, paid for your deliverance. "Therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's" (I Cor. 6:20).

"Father, help us to understand what a price was paid that we might be delivered from sin. Give us grace to see the commitment which should follow our redemption at such a great price. Let every Christian live in practical commitment the meaning of that Bible truth that we no longer belong to ourselves but have been bought to the service of God by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. For Jesus' sake. Amen."

Hear that call again: "ye are not your own. ...ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's" (1 Cor. 6: 19, 20) .1 read the verse and suddenly two words stood out in my attention: "glorify God."

I remember the answer given to the question, "What is the chief end of man?" "The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever." It is true, you know! The highest goal and greatest fulfillment possible for your life is to glorify God. Count it not as an obligation, but as a privilege. Glorify God!

I remember being called upon to speak in a Bible conference many years ago. The subject under consideration in that conference was "Salvation." Different men had been invited to speak on different aspects of the subject: "Who can be saved? When are we saved? How are we saved? Why are we saved?" etc. One brother who was on the program could not attend, so I was asked to speak without preparation on the subject, 'Why are we saved?" Well, I knew why I was saved. I was saved because God loved me, Jesus died for me, my mother prayed for me, my pastor preached to me, I repented of sin and trusted Jesus, and many other reasons I could name. But not one of them seemed to be the real reason, the ultimate foundation reason, why God saved me. Then my attention turned to Ephesians I: 12 and that became my text for the message. Ephesians 1: 12 said that we are saved that we might be to "the praise of the glory of His grace." That's it! Glorify God.

First Corinthians, chapter 6, is a section dealing with theological truths in their practical application. On the basis of the Christian's relationship to God, as "the members of Christ," an appeal is made for moral purity and holy living. The passage draws to its conclusion with a twofold emphasis and a logical appeal. The twofold emphasis is (1) you do not belong to yourself and (2) God has bought you with a great price. The logical appeal is, "therefore glorify God." The word is spoken to every Christian, all Christians, but to you in particular.

The grammatical form used by divine inspiration in that term "glorify God" is of great significance. In the Greek language, it is called an aorist imperative verb. As an aorist, it speaks of a once-for-all transaction. It refers to a manner of life which does not change. It looks to a one-time commitment which influences all of one's conduct from that time onward. As an imperative verb, it is an order and not an option. It is a command from God himself. No one can ignore that command without involving himself in most serious sin of rebellion against God.

It has been observed that one can be truly the Lord's without being wholly the Lord's. What does that mean? It means one can be a believing Christian without being a committed Christian. Think in terms of marriage. A man may be married to a woman and yet not be fully committed to that marriage relationship. He may be fulfilling all the duties of a husband and father in the household, but not be doing it in loving interest in his family. The marriage relationship is intact that way, but it is not all God designed for it to be.

God made man capable of governing all things except himself. Man will be mastered by a force for good or a force for evil, but he will be mastered. The appeal of the scripture is for man to recognize the two forces contesting for government of his life. On the one hand is the "flesh" -the unregenerate and depraved part of human nature which remains in one even after salvation. It leads a person into spiritual sins, sexual sins, and social sins, if it is followed (Gal. 5: 16-21) .On the other hand is the Spirit -the Holy Spirit of God. He will lead a person to inner peace, peace with people about him, and peace with God (Gal. 5:22, 23) .Which course of life would be most likely to bring glory to God? There is no debate in answering that the Christian glorifies God when he lives under the government of the Holy Spirit of God. From birth to eternity, a person is controlled by the Holy Spirit of God or an evil spirit from Satan. Which exercises control over his life depends on the act of his own will by which he chooses which one he will serve.

Men should learn that they cannot have the grace of God without the government of God .Those who have a man-centered religion, who look upon religious faith as just a way to escape the terrors of judgment and the fires of hell, want grace without government. But it can never be. Hear Titus 2: 11-14, "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."

Think about that. (1) The grace of God has brought salvation. (2) God's salvation has appeared to all men. (3) Those who are saved should deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. (4) Those who are saved should be marked by sobriety, righteousness, and godliness. (5) Those who are saved should look with anticipation to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. (6) Those who are saved should be different so as to be an identifiable people of the Lord. (7) Those who are saved should be filled with zeal in doing good works. That is how the Christian can glorify God.

Individual believers are not alone in their commitment and efforts to glorify God. There is a spiritual body composed of all the saved which the Bible refers to as "the body of Christ." (That spiritual body is made visible and understandable best through the local church.) That body, manifest in the church, is the vehicle in which God is to be glorified.

Ephesians 3:20, 21 reads, "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen."

God is to be glorified in the life of each believer, true. But God is to be glorified in the corporate life of believers through the church. Get in the church and get to work in the service of people in the name of God. That is how you can glorify him in the church.

Remember: You are no longer your own: God has bought you with a precious price. Therefore, glorify God. "For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him who died for them and rose again" (II Cor. 5: 15) .

Dear Christian, live with such commitment of spirit and availability to God that everything within the temple of your life will be singing an anthem entitled "Glory to God."

"Father, teach us what it means that our physical bodies are temples of I the Holy Spirit, whom you have given to live in us. Teach us what it means that we no longer belong to ourselves, having been bought with the price of the precious blood of your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. And so understanding, enable us to glorify God in our body and in our spirit, since both belong to you. In Jesus' name. Amen."

Upon hearing someone read the divine requirement that we should love the Lord with all the heart, and with all the mind, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, a little lad observed, "He didn't leave any thing out, did he?"

We would all agree that God does not leave out any thing when He issues a call to Christian commitment. It is not surprising, therefore, to read in I Corinthians 6: 19, 20, .'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? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." Reference to "body" and "spirit" being used to "glorify God" indicates the whole of man's being must be devoted to that holy exercise.

We might ask the question, and issue the appeal in these words: "Have you forgotten that your physical body is a shrine, a sanctuary, a sanctified dwelling place of the Holy Spirit who lives in you as a gift from God the Father, and that you no longer belong to yourselves and are not your own masters? A great price was paid to ransom you. So use every part of your body to honor God and to give back glory to Him, and devote your spirit to do the same, for both body and spirit belong to God."

Think about what is involved in that appeal. It teaches that we can glorify God with all our being, both material and spiritual. It teaches that our great response to His grace in salvation is to live a lifestyle which will return glory to Him for all He has done. That is what being a Christian is all about in practical terms of daily living.

"Glorify God in your body." Note the preposition .'in." The admonition is not to glorify God "with" your body, but to glorify God "in" your body. There is a distinction to be drawn between the two. To glorify God "with" your body could be interpreted to mean that you use your body in some way to serve God so that He would receive glory apart from you. But to glorify God "in" your body means that, He is sanctified as Lord within you before the body is used to glorify Him outside of you.

But is that valid? Is God '.in" the Christian, in very truth? Yes, indeed! The passage just stated that the physical body of the Christian is the .'temple" of the Holy Spirit. That means the body of the Christian is the dwelling place, the sanctified shrine in which the Spirit dwells.

Remember what it means to become a Christian. It is more than accepting the doctrines of the Christian faith. It is more than living by the ethic of the Christian code of conduct. It is more than joining a Christian organization. To become a Christian means to enter into personal and saving relationship with God in Jesus Christ. At the moment one becomes a Christian, the Holy Spirit of God moves within his human spirit and dwells there forever. That is receiving the divine nature (II Peter 1:4). That is receiving eternal life (John 5:24). That is becoming a child of God (John 1:11-13). That is being born again (John 3:3-5). That is becoming a new creation in Christ Jesus (II Cor. 5: 17) .That is being resurrected to new life in Christ (Eph. 2:1). That is being saved (Rom. 10:13). It is "Christ in you ( by His indwelling Holy Spirit) which is the hope of glory" (Col. I :27). To be a Christian means God lives in you by His Holy Spirit.

When the Christian yields to the government of God, who lives within by the indwelling Spirit, then God is being glorified "in" the Christian and can be glorified through the Christian. Be careful, therefore, what you do with your body. You have no right to debauch it with drunkenness, immorality, uncleanness of any sort. You have no right to indulge its passions nor encourage its laziness. You have no right to yield to its desire for self-government.

Every thing in your body must be crying out "glory to God," if you please Him fully. Let chastity, temperance, and industry mark your use of your body. Do not play "fast and loose" according to the spirit of this age.

Remember that God has placed many wonderful talents in your physical body. It has a tremendous capacity to serve men and to glorify Him. Remember, too, that God "will render to every man according to his deeds" (Rom. 2:6). Therefore, "whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him" (Col. 2:17). "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad" ( II Cor. 5: 10) .

"Glorify God in your spirit." The reference there is to the human spirit. It, too, is capable of glorifying God. The appeal is that the qualities of holiness, faith, zeal, love, humility, and all those blessed graces which are called "the fruit of the Holy Spirit" in Galatians 5:22, 23, should mark the life of each child of God. A person is what he is in his spirit, not what he appears to be by his actions. Therefore, to glorify God in very truth, it is essential for the Christian to be as honest in his spirit as in his deeds.

Read the Bible carefully and notice that no distinction is made between sins of the flesh and of the spirit. Both are sins. It is a sin for the spirit to crave that which the body is forbidden to do. It is a sin for the spirit to despise that which God says is proper for the body to do. In such a person, there is a constant warfare between duty and desire.

But let God work the blessed Christian grace of self-control in you. He will create the desire in your spirit and execute the performance in your body, and you will know the delight which comes from full availability to God. That is God's design and desire for every Christian. The apostle Paul wrote, "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Phil. 2:12, 13).

Now, let us look back over the way we have traveled. Based upon I Cor . 6: 12-20, we have seen (1) the physical body of the Christian is the temple (the sacred shrine) in which the Holy Spirit of God dwells ; (2) that the Christian no longer belongs to himself because (3) God has purchased him with a redemptive price which was the life-blood of His only begotten Son. Therefore, (4) the Christian's greatest goal in life is to glorify God, that glory being given (5) in the physical body and the immortal spirit of the believer. It has been a blessed journey, for those five spiritual truths can revolutionize your life and make it declare the praise of God day after day. Then, your life will have its fulfillment and fullness of joy which you have always desired to know.

Dear Christian, rejoice. You belong to the Lord! .'Father, grant that what we have studied will be more than theory, more than mere principle. Make it living truth in our hearts. We are awed with the thought that our lives can be used to reflect glory to you. But we thank you it is true. Let it be realized in each and all of your believing children. For Jesus' sake. Amen."

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