Strife and Divisions Defile The Temple

[Mr. M]

Mark 7:15. There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man.
16 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!”

With this in mind, to what is Paul referring when he warns us not to defile the
Temple of the Lord in 1 Corinthians 3?
1 Corinthians 3:3. for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you,
are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?

Paul is addressing a church here, not an individual, and his concern is divisions within,
that destroy the fellowship in the Holy Spirit. He then speaks of our works being tried:

14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.
15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
To be clear, the work is the building (edifying) of the body of Christ unto a mature group, where the Holy Spirit can properly manifest, as discussed later in chapters 12 and 14.
So now consider the famous "defiling the temple" verses.
16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy,
which temple you are.
Once again, Paul is not addressing an individual, but a group. You are the temple.
[G2075]-este=you plural
No man is an island is good literature.
No man is a temple is Truth.
We are the temple, and all of our divisions are what defiles that temple.
When someone asks "are you pre trib?, amil? do you drink alcohol?
What they are asking is: how do you defile the temple? Not that you cannot have your own opinions
about such matters, but many are extreme in defending their views that results in strife and divisions.
Paul advises:
Romans 14:22. Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who
does not condemn himself in what he approves.(or disapproves!)

Now we come to the verses in 1 Corinthians 3 that works against both sides of
any carnal disagreement.
18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become
a fool that he may become wise.
19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches
the wise in their own craftiness”;
20 and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”
21 Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours...

What is spiritual is found in chapter 13.

 

[Amittai]

Ways of defiling the temple include, religious authorities betraying their inferiors, also rolling out the mindset that suppresses the gifts of the ordinary church members.

I want to see fundamentalists' faces when atheists and "street epistemologists" ask them: "Why are you blaspheming Scripture / Holy Spirit / your little brothers" and "What are you doing for the growth of your brother?"

It's the work of our brother that survives testing, that will show what genuine work we in turn did for our brother. Paul wants the Hebrews to gain more ample salvation than him because he knows Jesus won't award him any crown in isolation.

 

[Mr. M]

When you do something for the love of Christ, your motive will always be pure.
When you sanctify yourself to ministering in the Word
and prayers in faith toward The Son of God, worldly distractions fade.
Love for others may impel you towards abstaining from something, but it may require
you to do something in moderation.
1 Corinthians 10:
29 “Conscience,” I say, not your own, but that of the other. For why is my liberty
judged by another man’s conscience?
30 But if I partake with thanks, why am I evil spoken of for the food over
which I give thanks?
31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the
glory of God.
32 Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God,
33 just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many,
that they may be saved.

Conscience doesn't just condemn, it also approves. Perfect love casts out fear.
1 John 4:
17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment.
But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
19 We love Him because He first loved us.

 

[Scott Husted]

Paul is addressing a church here, not an individual, and his concern is divisions within,
that destroy the fellowship in the Holy Spirit. He then speaks of our works being tried:

Yet addressing those who he said could not bare the meat of the word ...

 

[Mr. M]

James 3:
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom.
14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.
15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.
16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.
17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield,
full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.

 

[Scott Husted]

One of Paul's messages to those at Corinth was ... "until we all come." The name in the stone is an only the one who receives it knows it ... things cannot be collective unless it is first individual.

 

[Mr. M]

One of Paul's messages to those at Corinth was ... "until we all come." The name in the stone is an only the one who receives it knows it ... things cannot be collective unless it is first individual.

That is not what Paul taught. Yeshua promised a personal name in a stone in Revelation
as a reward for personal accomplishment.
Paul teaches growing together in unity.
Ephesians 2:
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ
(by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

Ephesians 4:
21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,
22 in whom you(pl) also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

By the way, this is not a scripture reference Scott.

One of Paul's messages to those at Corinth was ... "until we all come."

If you can find it, we will look at it together.

 

[Mr. M]

If you can find it, we will look at it together.

Here it is, Scott. It was right under my bifocals the whole time!
Ephesians 4:
11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some,
pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the
body of Christ:
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every
wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

 

[Scott Husted]

That is not what Paul taught. Yeshua promised a personal name in a stone in Revelation
as a reward for personal accomplishment.
Paul teaches growing together in unity.
Ephesians 2:
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ
(by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,
22 in whom you(pl) also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Ephesians 4:
1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which
you were called,
2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,
3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all,
and in you all.
15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—
16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies,
according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body
for the edifying of itself in love.
By the way, this is not a scripture reference Scott.

If you can find it, we will look at it together.

I was thinking about this verse ...

Eph 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

In relationship to the end of this verse ...

1 cor 15: 28 ... that God may be all in all (which encapsulate the purpose of God).

After dividing the word for many years I found it in nature to be indivisible ...

The concept of a name as a reward leads you directly to Jesus who also no man knew except the Father, like what God told Abram (not Abraham, a truth that builds upon itself) he was to him, which led him to look for a city and a son, not making at first the connection to the son he was, and though having entered into the land he remained a stranger in it.

It is our soul we over come which is tantamount to losing it to find it (which was the message via a commandment in the first garden), but this does not happen outside of the process of time to which even Paul found himself subject to, though he spoke as an authority to those who could not at the moment begin to understand what they were like him called from the womb to, which he understood as a mystery, whose foundation lie in a glory that was before the world was.

The Bible is far more cohesive than we tend to give God credit for ... a soul somewhat lost is somewhat kept and is divisive not only in relationship to who we are but who we are to others which includes our Father.

As for our soul, He has overcome which is our rest, as it is the forsaking of our soul, or Abram who came out of one land to enter into another. Paul told those who could not bare the meat that they had the mind of christ, that everything was theirs though they had no understanding of the extent of this yet, which is a truth that keeps growing until all our thoughts rest in it/Him, a stone that becomes a great mountain, an all in all.

 

[Mr. M]

Ephesians 4:
1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which
you were called,
2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,
3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.