1 Corinthians 6:19-20 – Your Body Is the Temple of the Holy Spirit | KJV
“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.”
— 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 KJVThe exclamation 'What?' that opens verse 19 in the King James Version is Paul's expression of astonishment that the Corinthian believers could engage in sexual immorality while carrying within them the most sacred presence in the universe — the Holy Spirit of God.
In the Old Testament economy, God's presence dwelt in a specific location: first the tabernacle in the wilderness, then the temple in Jerusalem. The holy of holies was the place where God's glory resided, accessible only to the high priest and only once per year on the Day of Atonement. No ordinary Israelite could approach this place directly. The presence of God was real but localized, accessible through a system of priests and sacrifices. All of this changed with the advent of the grace age.
At Pentecost, the Spirit descended not on a building but on people. And in the letters of Paul, this indwelling becomes the permanent, universal characteristic of every grace-age believer: 'Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his' (Romans 8:9). The presence of the Holy Spirit is not a special achievement or a second blessing reserved for the spiritual elite — it is the defining mark of every person who has believed the gospel. From the moment of saving faith, the body of the believer becomes the dwelling place of God.
The phrase 'ye are not your own' carries enormous practical weight. In Paul's world, a person who was bought with a price was a freed slave whose purchase had been made by another — the new owner held full rights. Christ purchased the believer at the cost of His own blood (Acts 20:28). This is not metaphorical language; it is the language of legal transaction. The body that now houses the Holy Spirit belongs entirely to the One who bought it. This grace-age reality — the indwelling Spirit — transforms the entire framework for ethical decision-making from external law-keeping to internal Spirit-honoring.
'Therefore glorify God in your body' is the practical conclusion. The motive for holiness in the grace age is not fear of punishment or desire for reward; it is the reality of divine habitation. You would not desecrate a temple; you are one. The same reverence that ancient Israel showed toward the tabernacle and temple is appropriate for how the grace-age believer treats the body in which the Spirit of God has chosen to dwell.
Before choices that affect the body — what you eat, drink, view, speak, or do — pause with the question: does this honor the Spirit who lives here? This is not legalism; it is grateful stewardship of a dwelling that has been purchased at infinite cost and inhabited by infinite holiness. The motive is gratitude, not guilt; love, not law.
You were bought with a price. God chose to make your body His home. There is no more dignifying truth in all of Scripture than this — and no more motivating reason for lives of wholehearted dedication to His glory. Glorify God in your body today. Amen.
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