I am accountable to God for the way I control my body under His
authority. Paul said he did not “set aside the grace of God”— make it
ineffective (Galatians 2:21).
The grace of God is absolute and limitless, and the work of salvation
through Jesus is complete and finished forever. I am not being saved— I
am saved. Salvation is as eternal as God’s throne, but I must put to
work or use what God has placed within me. To “work out [my] own
salvation” (Philippians 2:12)
means that I am responsible for using what He has given me. It also
means that I must exhibit in my own body the life of the Lord Jesus, not
mysteriously or secretly, but openly and boldly. “I discipline my body
and bring it into subjection . . .” (1 Corinthians 9:27).
Every Christian can have his body under absolute control for God. God
has given us the responsibility to rule over all “the temple of the Holy
Spirit,” including our thoughts and desires (1 Corinthians 6:19).
We are responsible for these, and we must never give way to improper
ones. But most of us are much more severe in our judgment of others than
we are in judging ourselves. We make excuses for things in ourselves,
while we condemn things in the lives of others simply because we are not
naturally inclined to do them.
Paul said, “I beseech you . . . that you present your bodies a living sacrifice . . .” (Romans 12:1).
What I must decide is whether or not I will agree with my Lord and
Master that my body will indeed be His temple. Once I agree, all the
rules, regulations, and requirements of the law concerning the body are
summed up for me in this revealed truth-my body is “the temple of the
Holy Spirit.”
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