If we are to have God's wisdom to guide us, we must break free of our focus on ours individual selves. Only then can we begin to understand and find God's way of dealing with our problems.
Since the sin of Adam, man has been born with an exaggerated focus toward himself which tends to obscure his focus toward God and spiritual things. That self-centered focus causes us to have difficulty thinking outside the box of our self to find the wisdom of God. For example, when we read texts like 1 Corinthians 6:19, due to our self-focused fallen nature most of us tend to think of this as speaking of our individual body. But, while what is said does affect how we should use our individual bodies, is that verse really referring to our personal individual body as a temple of God and if not, then, when and how are we made holy? Is our personal body presently able to be a temple to God as was and is the holy body of Jesus Christ. To answer that question we must look at what it was about Christ's life which enabled him to be holy and have God to dwell in his body by spirit to compare how we measure up with him. Can we really say as Paul, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20) About his way, Jesus said:
(1) John 5:19b "... what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise."
(2) John 5:30b "... I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me."
(3) John 8:28b "... I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things."
(Added Note: Do not dismiss those above verses by false rationalizations. Take notice that Jesus is there speaking as the Son of God and sharing valuable information with you concerning what it means to be a son of God. If you would also be a son of God, listen to Jesus.)
How do we as an individual personally score as to our imitating Jesus' way in the above texts? What were the effects of Jesus' doing things that way in Jesus' life? Was not how Jesus lived what made and kept him holy? Hebrews 4:15 "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." The effects were that Jesus remained without sin and that is why God could dwell with Jesus, by spirit, in Jesus' body. Jesus was holy, having committed no sin: 1 Peter 2:22a “Who did no sin ...”
Some people clamor that a man or woman is forgiven his or her sins and attributed righteousness by professing to have faith in Jesus Christ. They then also clamor that this is why God is able to dwell with us in our individual bodies even as God dwells with Jesus in Jesus' body. They believe that Christ's death offsets any unholiness on our part past, present, and future.
The Scriptures do tell us that God will not dwell “with” unholiness, and certainly not “in” anything rendered unholy by sin:
Psalms 5:4 “For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee.”
Psalms 101:6 “Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me.”
Indeed, it is true that God will not dwell with anything unholy. But is it the mere professing with our lips of faith in Jesus that saves us? Or, is it the emulation of Jesus's ways in our life which saves us? After all, Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6) (Compare: Psalms 15)
Romans 5:16 “And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification.” Many a mistaken preacher cites Ephesians 2:8-9 but misapply it. Ephesians 2:8-9 must be taken in the same thought as Romans 5:6 above. The point pure and simple is that we were dead by one man's (Adam's) sin and having no righteousness of God passed to us of Adam it was impossible that we could earn salvation ourselves. Therefore God provided us the free gift of his Son as our ransom to buy us back from that death which was fallen on us of Adam. To make matters worse, these carnal minded preachers have absolutely no real wisdom nor understanding of what Jesus Christ did and is doing and what our part in cooperation with him is if we would be saved. They are leading the many blindly to hell. You are saved in Christ by allowing your old man of flesh to die with Christ and then by the power of God's spirit (not your own power for you to brag about) rising to live only the life that is Christ. And that does not happen by merely saying, “I believe.” If it does not happen it is because you have not really given yourself fully to die with Christ. Thus you have really given God nothing to raise from death as your old man keeps trying to hold claim to the corrupt flesh as though it is life.
You either want truth or you want your way. If you want truth, ponder the things I have pointed out to you in this post against the Scriptures and if you have questions or objections, assert them. Put me to the test to see if God has or has not given me the wisdom to answer you and be willing to consider what is replied to you. And remember, if I did not consider what you say I would not be able to answer you.
Your personal body cannot be God's temple. If you think that it can you have the cart positioned ahead of the horse. It is not until the following is fulfilled that God can dwell with any of us as individuals: Revelation 21:3 "And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God." But you claim to have God with you now? It is the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who is with you now if it be that you are dead and your life hidden with Christ while you rise by holy spirit to walk his life rather than your own. Until you reach perfection your only sharing with God is in Christ, for his body is God's temple. The life given your flesh now is a mere token of what will be so that you can be like a cell in Christ's body.
Notice how "you" and your "mortal bodies" are spoken of as two separate things in the following verse: Romans 8:11 "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." Notice that first is God's spirit dwelling in “you” and then God, “shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit ...” God is already dwelling in the one called, “you”, but our individual bodies are yet dead because God has not yet but “shall” as in future tense, “also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit ...” Also, how is it possible that the "you" and the "yours" have "mortal bodies", plural?
It is because the "you" and the "yours" refers to the "one new man" of Ephesians 2:15 which we together by one spirit in Christ, are. If we truly be together in Christ letting his one life be ours (paralleling Adam's one life having been ours), by having lain our individual bodies of flesh born of Adam down in death with Christ, along with the old passions and desires which formerly acted upon us to impair the wisdom of our minds, then God gives a token of life to our mortal bodies which he is able to do because now living the life of Christ our bodies are no longer our own and are no longer being presented by us as unholy slaves to sin, thus enabling God to have a sharing with us in Christ.
And so at present it is only Christ's body of which we are mere members which is able to be that holy temple of God. It cannot be our mortal bodies lest you claim that God's temple is imperfect. God's temple must be perfect as God is perfect for he cannot dwell in anything imperfect. That which is imperfect is also unholy. We must reach full perfection before our individual bodies can be a temples of God. At that point in time we will have put on the full stature of Christ, being completely transformed to his image. 2 Corinthians 3:18 “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”; 1 Corinthians 15:49 “And as we have borne the [corrupted] image of the earthy, we shall also bear the [perfect] image of the heavenly.”; 1 Corinthians 15:22 “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”
Take another bit of time and think about what John told us, as follows:
1 John 3:6-10
6 "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother."
Sin is clear evidence that we are not in Jesus Christ because sin proves we have not lain our old man down in death as we were admonished to do in order that we be able to rise to the life of Christ with him. We cannot have true godly wisdom, even if we think we have, if we have been mistaken that we are in Christ for failing to understand what is required to be in him. And that means that our old wisdom is yet misleading us. It would be better to humbly choose to make no decision concerning certain critically important things than to be misled by our carnal wisdom so that we add sin to sin.
An additional note on Romans 8:11, which verse was mentioned earlier, is speaking about giving our mortal bodies a measure of life now as members of Christ's body that we be able to function like organs in his body, and life to the full in the future. (Compare: 1 Timothy 4:8) The future resurrection to life is only possible because having lain our bodies down in death with Christ we have satisfied the appointed once to die which Paul mentions at Hebrews 9:27. To not lay our bodies down in death with Christ is to keep living for our flesh and the results will be death with no hope of redemption. This is because our literal death will then have to be the payment for our sins and that payment cannot be received back. However, if our sins are payed for now by our submitting to a voluntary death with Christ, his death is then the payment for our sins, leaving us free of God's wrath and our bodies able to be resurrected of God at the future time for it.
If we would receive salvation the wisdom for understanding anything has to begin by learning correctly what it means to have faith and actually be in Christ.