1 Corinthians 6:19
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?

Here the Apostle Paul is writing to the Church in Corinth, one of the Churches that He himself planted in a foreign city and devoted much time to preaching and connecting with the people and teaching the good news of Jesus.

Can you imagine the tone in which he wrote the words “do you not know”?!?!?!?!?

As if to say, c’mon, this is new believer milk stuff. It is a fact that if you believe, if you worship, if you repent and follow Jesus Christ then YOU HAVE THE HOLY SPIRIT!

The Holy Spirit is not given just to the new believers in the early church, or as I’ve been told by some, only to the first 12 Apostles and the few around them whom they laid hands upon.

The in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit is very real, personal and an incredibly powerful gift of God for all those who believe and obey. The gifts that come with the Holy Spirit and the convictions and grace may manifest itself in different ways for everyone, but the Holy Spirit is the 3rd whole being of the Trinity –  Three as One and never changes. 

Mark 13:11
Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

Acts 5:32
We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

Romans 5:5
And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

1 Thessalonians 1:6
You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.

Notice in these supporting verses that as self-proclaimed believers we are to act like believers, not just talk like it. The Holy Spirit is given to “those who obey” and that we are to “become imitators”.

How we live our life matters, and the truth of the in-dwelling Holy Spirit is again one of the most profound and life changing promises of God we can rely upon as we mature in our faith.

It is Him who sets us free and allows us to live life as a new creation. We can claim with confidence that as a fruit-bearing Christian seeking through prayer and worship to connect with God and others and to live a life that is God-honoring by helping those in need around us with everything at our disposal (time, money, effort) that truly any successes we have are by His works in us and not by our own doing.

In context, Paul was speaking specifically to the sexual immorality that existed within the church. People who were Christians however who drew the bar too low and were living life for their own pleasures and not honoring God with their bodies.

1 Corinthians 17-20
 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

We were bought with a price, and that price was the life and death of God’s Son, which He freely poured Himself out for us, the sinner in need of a Savior. Thank you Jesus!

Father God it is you who sets the sinner free. I recognized this morning when I got up and dropped to my knees in prayer that I asked for you to set me free this day but you placed in my heart that I am already set free. So I ask Lord that you instead help me more easily recognize and live in the freedom I already have, because You paid the price on the cross and You Holy Spirit are in my soul leading me, convicting me, holding me up with grace, filling my heart with song and praise, and you petition God in heaven on my behalf, for it is You Holy Spirit who knows what I need, who is with me for eternity, leading and loving me to be the man You created and are calling me to be. Let me not seek the things of Your kingdom, but instead recognize that the kingdom is within, in the temple of my body that I must maintain. Give me the desires of Your heart Lord that I might eat healthy, let only pure thoughts reign in my mind, let only wholesome images in through my eyes, and listen and partake in wholesome conversations, to live, love and laugh for Your glory Father God. Let me honor Your temple which is my body Lord. You fill us with great hope this day and for always, thank you God. It is in Jesus name I pray…