Eternal value of earthly works.

Paul cannot call the Corinthian Christians ''spiritual'' people. Though they are in Christ, they continue to live to the flesh. They are spiritual infants, not ready for solid food. Divisions among them prove they are still serving themselves, picking sides in a senseless debate between Christian teachers.

Paul insists that both he and Apollos are mere servants of the Lord and co-workers. They are not in competition. Those who lead the Corinthians must build carefully because their work will be tested on the day of the Lord. Christian leaders who build the church will have their work judged by Christ to see if they have built on the foundation of Christ.

All human wisdom will be shown to be futile and worthless.

1 Corinthians 3:17 - "If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are."

1 Corinthians 3:17 is a verse in the Bible that speaks about the eternal value of earthly work. The work we do on earth, if done according to the ways of Christ, survives into eternity.

Paul is speaking specifically of the work done by the community of the church, which he likens to a temple. The verse also warns against defiling the temple of God, which can be done by bringing in false doctrines, errors, and heresies, and hereby corrupting the minds of the people.

In 1 Corinthians 3:16–17, the apostle Paul hit on the true nature of the church as the body of Christ when he asked, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are” (NKJV).

We are the temple of God means that we—Christians, believers in Jesus Christ—who are joined together in one family as “the church” are a holy dwelling place for God’s presence.

The Greek word translated as “you” in verses 16 and 17 is plural. So when Paul said, “You are the temple of God,” he was referring to the believers as a group—the local church. The temple in Jerusalem was a sacred building dedicated to the worship of God.

According to Paul, the church was the equivalent of the temple. God’s presence resided in the church, and the church was to maintain holiness.

This passage is part of a more extensive teaching on maintaining unity and not letting the church become divided over loyalties to human leadership (1 Corinthians 3:1–23). The sacredness of God’s house requires extreme care from church leaders.

The Corinthian leaders needed to safeguard the unity of God’s temple, and the believers needed to avoid any moral corruption that would “defile” the sacredness of “the temple of God.”

From humanity’s beginning, God has desired to live among and commune with His people. In the Garden of Eden, God walked and talked with Adam in Eve in the cool of the day (Genesis 3:8).

When He made His covenant with Israel, the Lord promised, “I will put my dwelling place among you. . . . I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people” (Leviticus 26:11–12).

As the Israelites wandered in the desert, God wanted to inhabit a place with His people (Exodus 25:8). At that time, the people lived in portable tents, so the presence of God dwelled in the tent of the wilderness tabernacle (Exodus 27:21; 40:34–38). His presence was the guiding force that told the people when to stay put and when to pull up stakes and continue on their journey (Exodus 40:34–38).

Later, after the Hebrew people entered the Promised Land and lived in fixed dwellings, God affixed His name to a place, sanctifying Solomon’s temple as the Lord’s holy dwelling place (1 Kings 8:10–11).

In the New Testament, God’s presence was manifested in a new way: in the person of Jesus Christ—the Logos, who is the living, incarnate, eternal Word of God (John 1:1–4, 14–18). The Logos took on human flesh and made His home among us.

Through the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, God lived among His people. His name is Immanuel, meaning “God with us” (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:21–23).

Jesus Christ became the new earthly temple of God (John 2:21). “For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body,” says Colossians 2:9 (NLT; see also Colossians 1:19).

The complete image of the invisible God is revealed in Jesus our Savior (Colossians 1:15). Yet Christ is only the initial installment of God’s indwelling presence.

Today, the New Testament church—the body of believers who gather in the name of Jesus—constitutes the temple of God’s Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16). Jesus said, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them” (John 14:23).

Paul also taught the Ephesians that, as members of God’s household, the church is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.

In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit” (Ephesians 2:20–22).

The church of Jesus Christ is a spiritual temple made of “living stones . . . being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5).

Not only is the church as a whole or as the local body the dwelling place of God’s presence, but individual believers are also to consider themselves the temple of God’s Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16, NLT).

In 1 Corinthians 3:16–17, the apostle Paul wants believers to understand that the church of Jesus Christ is a holy sanctuary where God’s Spirit dwells: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are” (NKJV).

In this passage, the Greek term for “you” is plural; thus, Paul is speaking to the whole body of Christ. The New Living Translation reads, “Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?

God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple” (1 Corinthians 3:16–17, NLT).

In the Old Testament, God’s name and presence resided in the wilderness tabernacle (Exodus 25:8; 33:9–10; 40:34–35) and later in Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 8:29; 2 Chronicles 6:2). The Lord instructed His people to keep themselves from uncleanness, disobedience, and idolatry, which would defile God’s dwelling place (Leviticus 15:31; Numbers 19:13; 2 Chronicles 29:4–5; Jeremiah 7:30; Zephaniah 3:4).

The New Testament temple is the body of believers. The Holy Spirit resides in this temple made of “living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God” (1 Peter 2:5, NLT).

Elsewhere in the New Testament, this image of the “temple of God” is applied to individual believers who must recognize that their physical bodies are “the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God[.] You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price.

So you must honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20, NLT). For this reason, Paul urges Christians, “let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God” (2 Corinthians 7:1, NLT).

As temples of the living God, we should be holy in everything we do, just as God is holy (1 Peter 1:15–16).

In the same way the Jerusalem temple unified the people of Israel, the metaphorical New Testament temple is designed to unite believers in one harmonious community.

“In Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others” (Romans 12:5; see also 1 Corinthians 12:12–27; Ephesians 4:25). There ought to be no division in Christ’s body.

The Greek verb translated as “defile” in 1 Corinthians 3:17 means “to make a mess of or create disorder in; to corrupt, destroy, ruin.” When Paul wrote, “If anyone defiles the temple of God,” he was addressing a specific problem of division in the church (see 1 Corinthians 1:10–17; 11:18).

The Corinthians were split in their loyalties to different leaders of the church. Some were devoted to the teachings of Paul, others followed Apollos, and some aligned with Peter. The “super-spiritual” ones declared, “I follow only Christ” (see 1 Corinthians 1:12 and 3:4–6).

Exalting our Christian leaders to the point where we see them as making us “better” or “wiser” and therefore divided from our brothers and sisters in Christ, Paul argues, is to be deceived by human, worldly wisdom, which in God’s eyes is foolishness (see 1 Corinthians 3:18–23).

Church leaders are God’s servants, called to build and preserve the integrity and unity of the church. We should not defile the temple of God through unnecessary divisions.

Paul’s warning not to defile the temple of God is meant for believers. Christians must be careful not to create disorder and ruin the church through cliques, jealousy, and division. The church is torn apart and destroyed when its members are divided.

The most dangerous brand of defilement comes from the inside, not the outside.

Paul’s warning is meant to be taken seriously: “If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred” (1 Corinthians 3:17). If we defile and destroy the community that God has designed as a spiritual hospital, a sacred refuge, and a place of encouragement, healing, and spiritual life, then we are in sinful opposition to God’s holy purpose.

We invite God’s punishment. When Paul said, “God will destroy that person,” he wasn’t talking about eternal destruction (see 1 Corinthians 3:15) but a punishment that would fit the crime.

The judgment is severe because the temple of God is sacred.

God has called us to work together in the church so that “the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit” (Ephesians 2:21–22).

We are not to defile the temple of God but to “make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification” (Romans 14:19).

First Corinthians 3:16–23 is the third metaphor Paul uses to explain the relationship between works, spiritual growth, and God's judgment of our efforts. An emphasis here is on the superiority of God's wisdom compared to the fallible knowledge of man, echoing statements from chapters 1 and 2.

Paul's main point here, again, is that we ought to focus on allegiance to Christ and His will, rather than being divided over loyalty to different human teachers.