The Temple's Influence on Exercise and Spiritual Disciplines
The concept of the temple in biblical thought significantly influences Christian understanding of the body and spiritual disciplines. In the Old Testament, the temple was understood as the dwelling place of God, a sanctuary where His presence resided among the people of Israel [4, 8]. This identification of the temple as God's dwelling and the seat of His sovereignty was not new, as seen in earlier texts like 1 Samuel 4:4 [4, 5]. Prophets like Ezekiel envisioned a restored temple where God would live forever among His people, signifying that their sins would no longer drive Him away from His sanctuary [4, 5]. Similarly, Zechariah emphasized that the rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple would succeed not by human strength, but by the empowering presence of God's Spirit [7].
This understanding of the temple as God's dwelling place is profoundly reinterpreted in the New Testament, particularly in relation to the human body and the community of believers. Jesus himself referred to "the temple of his body," indicating that His physical being was the place where His divinity dwelt [1]. This concept is further developed by the Apostle Paul, who teaches that believers, both individually and corporately, are the temple of God. In 1 Corinthians 3:16, Paul asks, "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" [6]. This means that the Holy Spirit takes possession of a person's entire being—soul and body—in regeneration and sanctification, dwelling within them as in a temple [3].
Therefore, the body, being the temple of the Holy Spirit, carries significant implications for spiritual disciplines and ethical conduct. John Gill notes that it is "abominably scandalous and shameful" for a body that is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit to be used for unholy purposes [3]. This theological framework encourages a view of the body not merely as a physical shell, but as a sacred space. While Solomon recognized that no human-built house could truly contain God, the temple served as a symbol of His presence [2]. In the New Covenant, this symbolism is transferred to believers, implying that the care and use of one's body should reflect its status as God's dwelling. This perspective underpins various spiritual disciplines aimed at honoring God with one's body and maintaining its purity as a vessel for the Holy Spirit.
Sources
- John (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on John 2:21: Of the temple of his body - Rather, the temple, his body: his body had no particular temple: but it was the temple of his Divinity - the place in which, as in the ancient temple, his Godhead dwelt; See how the Jews perverted these words, Mat 26:60 (note), and the notes there.”
- 2 Chronicles (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on 2 Chronicles 6:18: how much less this house which I have built! Have respect therefore to the prayer of thy servant--No person who entertains just and exalted views of the spiritual nature of the Divine Being will suppose that he can raise a temple for the habitation of Deity, as a man builds a house for himself. Nearly as improper and inadmissible is the idea that a temple can contribute to enhance the glory of God, as a monument may be raised in honor of a great man. Solomon described the true and proper use of the temple, when he entreated that the Lord would "h”
- 1 Corinthians (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 1 Corinthians 6:19: What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost,.... What is said in Co1 3:16 of the saints in general, is here said of their bodies in particular. The Holy Spirit, in regeneration and sanctification, when he begins the good work of grace on a man, takes possession of his whole person, soul and body, and dwells therein as in his temple. So the Jews (o) call the body of a righteous man the "habitation" of the Holy Spirit. Now it is most abominably scandalous and shameful that that body, which is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, which is sa”
- Ezek (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Ezek 43:5: 43:5-7a The Spirit then carried Ezekiel into the inner courtyard so that he could hear the Lord declare that the restored Temple was the palace in which his throne and his footstool were located, and that he would live . . . forever among the people of Israel. The identification of the Temple as God’s dwelling and the seat of his sovereignty was not new (see, e.g., 1 Sam 4:4). The Temple would now be God’s throne forever; never again would the sins of his people drive him away from his sanctuary.”
- Ezekiel (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Ezekiel 43:5: 43:5-7a The Spirit then carried Ezekiel into the inner courtyard so that he could hear the Lord declare that the restored Temple was the palace in which his throne and his footstool were located, and that he would live . . . forever among the people of Israel. The identification of the Temple as God’s dwelling and the seat of his sovereignty was not new (see, e.g., 1 Sam 4:4). The Temple would now be God’s throne forever; never again would the sins of his people drive him away from his sanctuary.”
- 1 Corinthians (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 1 Corinthians 3:16: Know ye not that ye are the temple of God,.... The apostle having spoken of the saints as God's building, of himself as a wise master builder, of Christ as the only foundation, and of various doctrines as the materials laid thereon, proceeds to observe to this church, and the members of it, that they being incorporated together in a Gospel church state, were the temple of God; and which was what they could not, or at least ought not, to be ignorant of: and they are so called, in allusion to Solomon's temple; which as it was a type of the natural, so of the myst”
- Zechariah (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Zechariah 4:6: 4:6 Jeshua and Zerubbabel would have success in the rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple, not by their own force or strength, but because of the presence of God’s empowering Spirit (cp. Hag 2:4-5).”
- Isaiah (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Isaiah 60:13: 60:13 The Temple was God’s sanctuary, the symbol of his presence on earth. Believers now are the temple of God by the indwelling Spirit (1 Cor 3:16). We still await the fullness of God’s presence (Rev 21:22).”