1 Corinthians 3:16-23 Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?… Why false doctrines are a defiling. First, from the pure nature of God's truth, and His worship, which falsehoods do stain and take away the glory of. Oh, then, how humble, tender, and careful ought men to be! Are the truths and ordinances of God by institution, and in their original so pure? Come not, then, with thy foul hands to handle such precious things. Secondly, they are called defilements and pollutions, because the truths and Church of God are not only pure, but dedicated and appropriated to Him, as the only object. Thirdly, errors and heresies may well be called defilements, because they are a disease, and so spread over the Church. Fourthly, they are defilements, because they pollute the conscience, mind, and heart, and whole life of a man. Hence you have that phrase, "Men of corrupt minds" (1 Timothy 6:5; 2 Timothy 3:8). Lastly, Corrupt doctrines are called defilements, to show how loathsome and abominable they should be to us. We have despatched the sin supposed, we come to the punishment proposed — "Him shall God destroy." Let us consider the aggravation of this destruction. First, it is an eternal destruction; a destruction that is always destroying, and yet the party is not extinguished. Secondly, it is a universal destruction in a moral sense. There is not the least mixture of any joy, of any hope. Thirdly, it is an inevitable destruction. God will destroy; who can stop God's hand? (A. Burgess.) Parallel Verses KJV: Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?WEB: Don't you know that you are a temple of God, and that God's Spirit lives in you? |
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