1 Corinthians 6:19 - Homilies By R. Tuck

The temple body and its sanctity.

The idea of the old temple was not that of the modern church, which is a building in which men may gather to worship God. The old temple was a shrine for Deity to dwell in; and this Divine presence in the central shrine was conceived as hallowing the entire temple buildings, right through to the outer courts and gates. Nothing might enter the precincts that defiled or worked abomination. Illustrate from Solomon's temple, and the extreme jealousy with which the Jews regarded the sacred place. Two points may be dwelt on as working out the figure of the text.

I. THE DEITY IN THE SHRINE SANCTIFIED ALL THE COURTS MAKING UP THE TEMPLE BUILDINGS .

II. THE DEITY IN THE SHRINE SANCTIFIED THE VERY CITY AND LAND . So, if "Christ dwells in our hearts by faith," if our souls know his Divine presence,—then all the forces and powers of our body are consecrated, and ought to be hallowed. Our whole life, in its narrower and in its wider circles of relationship, must be thought of as sanctified, treated as pure, made and kept ever "clean," ever "holy."—R.T.