"Do you not know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit
dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him;
for God's temple is holy and you are that temple."
(1 Corinthians 3:16-17)
The workman (or woman) whose aim is to please God and not man, whose one
ambition is to exalt Christ in all his (or her) service, who labors for the perfecting
of the Saints, the edifying of the body of Christ, builds that which
is durable and which can never perish.
The workman who pleases men, seeks the applause of man,
uses the means and schemes of the world to carry on what is called,
"Christian work" and in it all is not obedient to the Word of God, builds
that which is worthless and his work will perish.
A day is coming in which each man's work shall be made manifest.
The day is the day of Christ when all believers shall appear
before the judgment seat of Christ.
He is a consuming fire; and before Him whatever is of man and not of Himself will
be burned up. The fire shall try every man, who is a believer saved by grace, work
of what sort it is. Then those who toiled in an unostentatious way, who built upon
one foundation that which glorifies Him, whose work was done in faith, shall find
that their work abides and they will receive their own reward.
The others will see their work go up in smoke. They shall suffer loss.
There is no reward for them. They shall be saved, yet so as by fire.
Like Lot who escaped out of Sodom; but all that he had wrought in Sodom,
his righteous soul being vexed, was burned up. But the salvation the believer
has is independent of his service and work. Every believer will be saved and
live, though what he wrought may be found in that day only fit for the fire.
And the building of which the Apostle speaks is the church, the temple of God,
the habitation of God through the Spirit.
God's Holy Spirit is dwelling in every member of the body. The temple of God is holy
and such are ye. Then the solemn warning, "if any man destroy (not defile) the temple
of God, him shall God destroy."
God's temple in which He dwells, the church, is founded on His truth.
The destruction of that temple means therefore the denial of the truth of God
or the introduction of false doctrines; critics of the Word, who deny the
fundamentals of the faith have well been called, "destructive".
They are the enemies of the cross, whose end is perdition.
They are not saved as by fire, but God is going to deal with them in an awful judgment.
In the professing church today are uncountable numbers, who have crept in unawares:
they were never born again and therefore they work corruption and will perish.
Therefore, "let no man deceive himself."
The Corinthians were setting aside the wisdom of the Spirit and were being seduced
by the wisdom of the world, which is foolishness with God. They marred the temple
of God by their carnal spirit, trusting in men and glorifying men.
In God's gracious purpose as revealed by the Spirit of God all things were theirs.
Paul, Apollos, and Cephas were the chosen instruments of God for blessing them.
As believers they had all things and belong to none but Christ
and through Christ to God Himself.
-Gaebelein's Annotated Bible
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