Commentary on "Nutrition in the Bible"

PHIL HARRIS

 

Day 7: Friday, June 18, 2010 - Further Study

 

Overview

In defense of the health message the claim is often made that if we eat foods that are considered unclean, we are defiling our bodies, the temple of the Holy Spirit. The favorite proof texts used to support this claim is found in First Corinthians chapter three.

Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple. (I Cor. 3:16-17 ESV)

We will conclude this week’s commentary by examining that claim by putting this favorite proof text back into its context and examining the relevant passages that bear upon the topic of what defiles our bodies, the temple of the Holy Spirit.

 

Observations

An interesting passage on the topic of clean or unclean foods is Mark 7:15-22 which can be summarized with verses 18 through 20:

And he said to them, "Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?" (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, "What comes out of a person is what defiles him.” (Mark 7:18-20 ESV)

Keeping in mind that Jesus declared all foods clean in this passage found in the Gospel of Mark we will now turn to First Corinthians chapter three and learn what Paul declares will defile members of the body of Christ which is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

In verse one we see that he is speaking to ‘brothers’ which he calls ‘infants in Christ’. In verse two we learn that his topic is ‘jealousy and strife’ within the church which he calls ‘of the flesh’ in verse three.

There are divisions where one person follows Paul and another follows Apollos. He settles this issue by pointing out that only God ‘gave the growth’. When we reach verse ten, he uses the analogy of skilled workers erecting a building upon a foundation that he, Paul, had laid.

In verse eleven Paul declares that this foundation is Jesus Christ and that there can be no other foundation. This is key to understanding what defiles the temple of the Holy Spirit. This is why what we lay on this foundation will be tested in fire, verses twelve through fifteen.

Therefore, when we come to our theme text, verses sixteen and seventeen, we learn that division and strife within the church takes our focus off of Jesus Christ, the foundation of our faith. This is what defiles the temple of the Holy Spirit. These are the things that will not withstand the test of God’s fire.

Now, consider Paul’s final admonition in this chapter:

Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, "He catches the wise in their craftiness," and again, "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile." So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future--all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's. (I Cor. 3:18-23 ESV)

 

Summary

1. Jesus Christ declares all foods as clean and that they cannot defile our bodies. When I Cor. 3:16-17 is taken out of context in an attempt to support the health message, the real lesson that Paul is stressing is being ignored and lost.
2. Division within the body of Christ, the true church, is what defiles the temple of the Holy Spirit. As Paul clearly states, if anyone regardless of how godly that person may be, is placed above the person and work of Jesus Christ, the temple of the Holy Spirit has been defiled.
3. Consider the consequences of who is number one in your life. What and who is the foundation that your faith is laid upon? If you are standing before God and he were to ask you; “Why should I let you into my kingdom?”, what would your answer be?

 

 

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