Salvation through Jesus Christ includes redemption of the body from evil just as it includes salvation of the soul. Paul affirmed that we are to serve God and introduce him to others while we are in the body. He was saying to new believers,
- “Honor God in your body.
- Demonstrate his grace through your body.
- Introduce others to God by means of the Holy Spirit’s presence within your innermost being.
- Become the kind of people who will serve as temples where God can come and meet unbelievers and where unbelievers can come and experience God’s presence and learn about his great love.”
Click the YouTube link at the end of the manuscript to hear an audio recording of the sermon.
1 Corinthians 6:9-20 NIV Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit. Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
Text:
1 Cor. 6:19–20 NIV “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies”
Introduction
Today I want to talk about the Holy Spirit And Our Great Salvation.
On Pentecost Sunday I talked about the fact that the Holy Spirit Makes the Difference. I said that your spiritual growth and maturity is directly proportionate to your submission to the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. When we talk about the Holy Spirit, we are not talking about a New Age mysticism, cosmic power, emotionalism or psychic phenomenon. We are talking about a person. He is God, the third member of the triune Godhead; coexistent, eternal, and equal with the Father and Son.
Our scripture and text today is from a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to the Chirstian Church in Corinth. Corinth was a famous city that stood at the gateway between two worlds. It was cosmopolitan, sophisticated, and wicked. The people who responded to the gospel experienced forgiving grace and accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. They became children of God.
The apostle Paul, as God’s servant and as the instrument of his love, instructed the Corinthian believers in the heritage they received as God’s children. Through example and teaching, he communicated to them that salvation through Jesus Christ is more than a mere introduction into the family of God and a relationship with him. Jesus came to do something more than just give them a ticket to heaven.
Paul stressed that their great salvation was more than the salvation of their souls and a ticket to heaven at the end of the way.
He explained that salvation not only involves the soul, but it also provides deliverance and freedom from self-destructive attitudes and actions that prevent a person from reflecting God’s goodness.
Paul noted that these believers previously had been part of a corrupt society. He reminded them of a dramatic change in their relationship with God—a relationship that had now become real through faith in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit’s presence within them.
1 Corinthians 6:11 NIV And that is what some of you were (corrupt). But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
They were now seated with Christ in heavenly places as it says in
Ephesians 2:6 (NLT2)6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.
The point of our scripture and text today is to emphasize that salvation through Jesus Christ includes redemption of the body from evil just as it includes salvation of the soul. Paul affirmed that we are to serve God and introduce him to others while we are in the body. He was saying to new believers,
- “Honor God in your body.
- Demonstrate his grace through your body.
- Introduce others to God by means of the Holy Spirit’s presence within your innermost being.
- Become the kind of people who will serve as temples where God can come and meet unbelievers and where unbelievers can come and experience God’s presence and learn about his great love.”
Paul had stood in Corinth among pagan temples that were supposedly the dwelling places of the gods (little “g”). He now declared that the church was the shrine of the Holy Spirit. He said that to live an immoral life was to defile the temple in which God wanted to work to meet the needs of an unsaved world.
We have seen how God uses Scripture to help us fully comprehend our great salvation in the present.
We know that he has given us the privilege of prayer so that we can achieve this goal.
Today let us respond to the Holy Spirit as a way to enable us to experience our complete salvation.
1. The Holy Spirit came into the world on the day of Pentecost to continue the work of Jesus Christ.
There is no way to talk about the Christian life without talking about the person and work of the Holy Spirit. As I mentioned on Pentecost Sunday, the Holy Spirit is mentioned 261 times in the New Testament alone.
On Pentecost Sunday we talked about the fact that Jesus told His disciples before He ascended back to the Father, to wait for something.
Luke 24:49 NIV I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
He also told them
Acts 1:7-8 NIV ... “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
He also told them this;
Matthew 28:18-19 NLT …., “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Jesus described the Holy Spirit in very personal terms in;
John 14:16-17 NLT And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.
2. The Holy Spirit convinces us of our need for salvation (John 16:8–11).
How does He do that? The Holy Spirit convicts people of their sin.
John 16:8-11 NLT And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me. Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more. Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged.
This conviction serves the same function for the soul that fever does for the body. Fever is not the illness; it is just a symptom of the illness. We’ve heard a lot about fever as one of the symptoms of COVID-19. In fact, those of you that are here in the sanctuary today had your temperature checked to see if you have a fever. Fever is the body’s cry for a cure.
The guilt we feel about our sin is God’s way of telling us that we have a problem that needs to be solved. Only Jesus Christ can solve it.
In Paul’s first letter to Timothy he writes;
1 Timothy 4:1-2 NIV The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.
The picture given by the apostle Paul is one in which a person's conscience or convictions have been desensitized. Through repeated exposure to evil, a person's sense of right and wrong can become numb to the point that a person can no longer easily distinguish between good and evil.
The Holy Spirit’s conviction of sin puts a check on us and if we listen to Him we can keep our consciences from becoming seared or desensitized to sin.
When we draw near to God, He draws near to us as it says in
James 4:8-10 NIV Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
Activities that move us away from God or desensitize our heart toward God should be removed. This can include how much television we watch or the kind of content we consume, books we read, the websites we view, or even video games we play. In this way, we will avoid a seared conscience and live in a way that pleases God and changes the lives of others.
We’ve talked about Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus a number of times when talking about the Holy Spirit’s role in the new birth.
John 3:3-7 NLT Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?” Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’
The Apostle Paul said something similar at;
Titus 3:4-7 NLT But— When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. Because of his grace he made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.
4. The Holy Spirit gave us assurance of kinship with the Father and the Son (Rom. 8:11–16).
Romans 8:11-16 NIV And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “ Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
Notice, Paul says our spirit is already testifying: “The Spirit … testifies with our spirit.” This means we already have evidence that we are Christians. We know we trust Christ. We have his promises. We see our lives changing and growing. All these pieces of evidence lead our “spirit”—our hearts—to have a measure of confidence that we really are his.
God wants us to have assurance of our relationship with him, that we know him as our loving Father.
1 John 3:1-2 NIV See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
The joy of this assurance belongs to all believers who trust and obey the Spirit as he leads us in understanding God’s Word and in bringing our lives into harmony with God’s will.
We are sons and daughters of the King of the universe. God the Father claims us as His children because of the atoning death of Jesus Christ. There is no status greater than this on earth.
Romans 8:1-2 NIV Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
Ephesians 2:6-7 NIV And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:19-20 NIV Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.
Our new status as believers in Jesus Christ brings new benefits, rights and responsibilities to our lives.
In order to walk in those benefits and rights and to assume our responsibilities as children of God we have to remove some things from our lives. We've been talking about those in our Wednesday Bible Study.
Ephesians 4:20-31 NIV That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. “In your anger do not sin” : Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.
The gift of the Holy Spirit is how God puts the official seal of his ownership on each believer. The presence of the Holy Spirit is the guarantee that he will rescue us from death and the grave and return us to the home of our heavenly Father. Salvation in the future tense.
Ephesians 1:11-14 NKJV In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
6. The Holy Spirit creates conflict with our sinful nature (Gal. 5:16–21).
The new birth and the infilling of the Holy Spirit do not instantly set us free from the tyranny of our sinful nature.
Galatians 5:16-21 NIV So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
The Holy Spirit comes in to purge out these enemies of the soul and to establish God’s will. The work of the Holy Spirit has some parallels to the work antibodies that our bodies produce to fight off and defeat infections. We have been hearing about the importance of antibodies during this COVID-19 pandemic. If you have the antibodies you may be immune from infection. If you had COVID-19 your body now has antibodies and will fight off any new infections. Any new vaccine will attempt to mimic the body's protection provided by antibodies. That's the way the Holy Spirit works. He produces spiritual antibodies to protect you.
7. The Holy Spirit creates conflict with our sinful nature and then leads us in cultivation of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22–23).
The Holy Spirit is interested in doing more than destroying evil. He wants to nourish the growth of our inner being so we will reflect the grace and beauty of Jesus Christ.
Galatians 5:22-23 NIV But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
These words present a verbal portrait of Jesus Christ. This fruit is the heritage of every believer who makes a proper response to God’s gift of the Holy Spirit.
Conclusion
What will your response be to God’s gift of the Holy Spirit? It is possible for you to reply negatively to the Holy Spirit. You may remain in ignorance concerning his gracious work, or you may neglect to make a positive and constant response to his work. Some people are afraid to let the Holy Spirit do his work because they mistakenly feel that they would become some kind of religious nut.
Instead of a negative response, let us each make a positive response.
- Recognize the presence of the Holy Spirit who has come to dwell within us.
- Rejoice in what the Holy Spirit has done for us in the past.
- Release yourself to the Holy Spirit’s control with trust
- Respond fully to the Holy Spirit as you come to understand his work.
Let us walk in the Spirit
Galatians 5:16 NIV So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Let us be led by the Spirit
Galatians 5:18 NIV But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Let us daily be under the control of the Holy Spirit
Ephesians 5:18-20 NIV Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us listen to him as he speaks to our hearts through Scripture and through life experiences
Hebrews 3:7-8 NIV So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness,
We Christians have an intimacy with God that is granted only to those who believe; this intimacy is never turned on and off. We have the privilege of being able to meet with God every day, to call Him by name, and ask for His guidance.
As Christians we are assured in our faith that once Christ is in our lives, He is in our lives forever. This intimacy, assurance, and inheritance are not won by merit or any effort of good works—but it is the gift of God that those who believe become part of the family of God. Every moment of this life has been given to us through grace. When we know who we are as children of God, we can work for God’s kingdom until He takes us home.
Psalms 71:17-19 NIV Since my youth, God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds. Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come. Your righteousness, God, reaches to the heavens, you who have done great things. Who is like you, God?
1 Corinthians 6:19 NLT 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,