The church is appointed to be God's spiritual temple
Not only is the church appointed to be a chosen generation, a royal priesthood and a holy nation but it is also appointed to be the spiritual temple of God and has received the instructions to; “Come to Him (Jesus Christ) as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house” (1Peter 2:4-5).
The church is the household of God and so we have been duly admonished saying; “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:19-22).
The foundation on which our spiritual temple is being built is on the four corner stone of our salvation as we have been duly admonished saying; “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God --- and righteousness and sanctification and redemption ---that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the LORD" (1 Corinthians 1:25-31).
So the four corner stone of our salvation are:
Jesus Christ taking on the nature of man, the wisdom and power of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
Jesus Christ our Righteousness Who through His death made things right with the Father and presently seated t the right hand of the Father interceding on our behalf
Jesus Christ our Sanctification, Who sanctifies us and set us apart through His body which He gave us to eat in the form of the Unleavened Bread.
Jesus Christ our redemption Who through His blood receives forgiveness for our sins
As the Lord's spiritual temple, it is the church's responsibility to keep her pure from sexual immorality. For we have been admonished saying; “Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's” (1Corinthians 6:18-20).
The church has also been duly instructed saying; “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 4:3-8).
We are told that, “Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water (flesh) by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.”
Therefore, the main objective of the church is to attain what was ordained for it even before the foundation of the world which is, to be holy, for it is written; “ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love” (Ephesians 1:3-4).
To be holy simply means to be free from sin and defilement of the human body and believe it or not, the Lord has made all the provisions necessary to present to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
To be continued, stay tuned
With brotherly love
Lucius Joseph
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