16 Don't you realize that together you have become God's inner sanctuary[] and that the Spirit of God makes his permanent home in you?[]17 Now, if someone desecrates[] God's inner sanctuary, God will desecrate him, for God's inner sanctuary is holy, and that is exactly who you are. - 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 (TPT)

When we give our lives to Christ, everything belongs to Jesus. The redeemed body of a believer belongs to Jesus. God has a plan for every part of our being. Remember we learned that we are spirit, we have a soul and we live in a body.  Now the spirit is already perfect. But our souls and body constantly need to be cleansed and to be in proper alignment with the plans of God. 

God's plan of redemption especially includes our body. The bible says, "you have become God's inner sanctuary." That's something to think deeply about. God doesn't dwell in a church, but He can visit the building? Why? Because of believers in whom God inhabits.  

16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another []Helper, that He may abide with you forever— John 14:16 (NKJV)

The scripture above reveals many things about the Holy Spirit. First of all, He is not the least in the Godhead. He is the power of God. And most importantly, He is a person. He has a personality. We see that Jesus gave us someone like Him. The Holy Spirit is the exact replacement of Jesus. He is not weaker. 

The other thing we see is that the Holy Spirit comes to help us. We need help. A lot of times we don't realize how helpless we are as humans. If we are ever great and a blessing to others, it is only because of the presence of the Holy Spirit in us. Without Him, we are left to our own devices. A person that doesn't know much about the Holy Spirit cannot fully utilize His presence. If the Holy Spirit lives in us, we should learn some things about Him. 

The Spirit of the Lord

6 And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done. - Judges 14:6 (NKJV)

There are many aspects or attributes of the Holy Spirit. And in the life of Samson, He operated as a mighty force. Samson was aware of the Holy Spirit as a power. But He had never learned about the Holy Spirit as a person. We can operate in the power of the mighty force of God without knowing Him. 

We all might know that Heads of state have power or authority. And just having the head of state's signature on a piece of document can give us access to certain places. But that still wouldn't mean that we know him. As we see from the scripture above, the Holy Spirit is first God's spirit and is a mighty force. 

With the power of the Holy Spirit, Samson did many mighty things. That much we know. How could a normal man tear apart a lion? Clearly Samson had help. And I just wanted us to see that there's a reason the Holy Spirit is called a helper. We need help to live the life that Jesus expects us to live. Samson shows us how much we need the Holy Spirit to fulfill our purpose. What purpose did Samson have?

The Holy Spirit helps us to fulfill our purpose

5 For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines." - Judges 13:5 (NKJV)

Samson was born to deliver Israel from the philistines. And how was he going to do it? By allowing the Holy Spirit to operate in His life as a helper. The Holy Spirit comes to help us to fulfill our purpose on Earth. That's why we need to know about Him. This Holy Spirit dwells in our bodies. God lives in the inner sanctuary of our being. 

We are helpless without the Holy Spirit 

16 And it came to pass, when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was []vexed to death, 17 that he told her all his heart, and said to her, "No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man." - Judges 16:16-17 (NKJV)

Let's notice what Samson says in this scripture. His hair was a symbol of God's strength. But that hair was not the source of His strength. We have already agreed that The Holy Spirit helped him. The bible says, "If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me." 

The next part of the scripture says, "and I shall become weak, and be like any other men." This scripture reveals that naturally, man is weak. Without the presence of the Holy Spirit, we are weak and very ordinary. After Samson's hair was shaved off, he became weak like any other man. On our own, we are subjected to temptation, we are subjected to many things that rather expose our weakness. What does this have to do with our body being a temple? Well, I am glad you asked. I was just showing us an aspect of who the Holy Spirit is in us. He is the power of God. And more importantly, He seeks to dwell in us. 

God's inner sanctuary

16 Don't you realize that together you have become God's inner sanctuary[] and that the Spirit of God makes his permanent home in you? - 1 Corinthians 3:16 (TPT)

I like the part that says, "inner sanctuary." God doesn't just want to dwell in us, but He wants to dwell in our inner most being. This part of scripture reveals how sacred our body is to God. If we want to live the life that God planned out for us, we should see things the way God sees them. A lot of people don't like their bodies. And a lot of times, we are sensitive about how we look. Most times, it is to do with what we pay attention to. If we look to worldly standards of what beauty is, we'll find it hard to accept that God meant to create us as we look. 

14 I thank you, God, for making me so mysteriously complex!
Everything you do is marvelously breathtaking.
It simply amazes me to think about it!
How thoroughly you know me, Lord!
15 You even formed every bone in my body
when you created me in the secret place;[]
carefully, skillfully you shaped me[] from nothing to something. - Psalm 139:14-15 (TPT)

Some people think it's humility when they call themselves ugly. Just look at how David talked about himself. He thanked God for making him so mysteriously complex. Just look at how complex the human body is. Everything was created perfectly and God meant to add everything that we find on our vessel. 

The bible says, "you created me......carefully, skillfully you shaped me from nothing to something." God created us carefully. If people think we are ugly. That's okay. Nobody was there when God created you. Do you see that the bible says you were created secretly? How you look is something that was carefully decided upon. Some of us hate our shades of black. Some of us hate our shades of white. We are very sensitive to these things. Black or white or yellow or whatever. The bible says, "Everything you do is marvelously breathtaking." 

We are an artistic creation of God the creator who purposely wanted us to look the way we look. When we begin to see ourselves the way God sees us, that's when we'll begin to live out our best lives glorifying Him. Sometimes we can make a god out of how we look. Always trying to perfect our being. The sooner we accept that God created us in a marvelous way, the better we'll live for Him. 

What is the purpose of our body?

19 Don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NLT)

The body was created to honor God. How do we honor God with our bodies? Let's think about church as a building for a moment. Even non-believers usually have some form respect for church buildings. Why? Because of the kind of things that go on in a place of worship. We pray in church. We listen to the word of God in church. And because of that kind of atmosphere, many respect the church. 

Now the bible says, "Don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?" Our bodies being the temple of the Holy Spirit is important. But the Holy Spirit living in us is more important. It's more important that we know that the Holy Spirit lives in us. Why? Because you can own a building that you don't live in. Owning property is good. But those properties need maintenance. That's where the Holy Spirit comes in. He lives in us to maintain our spirituality. There's no spirituality without God's Holy Spirit indwelling in us. 

The bible then says, "God bought you with a high price." Have you ever seen the way mothers protect their china set? They value those cups and plates. They value them so much. Sometimes they end up never using them at all. When you know the value of something, how you use it matters. God values our bodies because it took His Son to die for us in order to have us. That's why we should not allow ourselves to get involved in activities that desecrate the temple of God, which we are. 

Slaves to righteousness 

19 I am speaking []in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented []the parts of your body as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, []resulting in further lawlessness, so now present []your body's parts as slaves to righteousness, []resulting in sanctification. - Romans 6:19 (NASB)

The first thing to notice is that the flesh is weak. I think by now, we know this. The bible says, so now present your body's parts as slaves to righteousness." Here's the thing we should know. We have to do the presenting. Much as God lives in us, we also have a will of our own. And usually, this is where we struggle as believers. We can struggle with giving God our will. Our will consists of our desires. 

We have to do the presenting. We have to consciously choose to live righteous lives. Paul says, "For just as you presented the parts of your body as slaves to impurity." God cares about what we do with our bodies. If there are people who fornicate and have sex willingly and whenever, it shouldn't be something that we engage in. Why? Because God cares about our  bodies and how we live. 

If other people do drugs and drink alcoholic beverages, we should choose to present our bodies as instruments of righteousness. What happens after we present our body? The bible says, "resulting in sanctification." The way we live either manifests righteousness or sin.