by Pastor Afolabi Oladele

And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. Matthew 21:12-13 (see also Mark 11:15-28; John 2:12-22)

The temple in reference here requires some reflection. To give context, consider what Paul wrote first in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17: 

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

The Amplified Classic Translation renders the same as follows:

Do you not discern and understand that you [the whole church at Corinth] are God’s temple (His sanctuary), and that God’s Spirit has His permanent dwelling in you [to be at home in you, collectively as a church and also individually]? If anyone does hurt to God’s temple or corrupts it [with false doctrines] or destroys it, God will do hurt to him and bring him to the corruption of death and destroy him. For the temple of God is holy (sacred to Him) and that [temple] you [the believing church and its individual believers] are.

If as an individual my body or yours is His temple, the question begging for reflection is this, what’s going on inside of me and you? Are the thoughts or deeds we allow in our lives desecrating our worship of He who saved us? To gain further into the introspection required of us at this time consider again 1 Corinthians 6:19 and 2 Corinthians 6:16 (KJV/AMPC):

¹⁹ 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? – KJV

¹⁹ Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? You are not your own – AMPC

¹⁶ And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people – KJV

¹⁶ What agreement [can there be between] a temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in and with and among them and will walk in and with and among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people – AMPC

Your confession to being Christ’s is also an admission to surrendering your liberty to Him; but is this true in the manner you live your life? Are you joined to idols, branded by men who perpetrate false doctrines that will lead you to damnation? Are you an idolater like Esau who for temporary pleasure or gratification threw away God-ordained birthright? Beloved this is time for deep reflection. Take time out for this inward search.

Photo by Jon Asato on Unsplash