You were bought at a price!

 [Christ] has set you free from spiritual powers of the world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world...

Colossians 2:20

As followers of Christ, we are not of this world and we are to be set free (or set apart) from the 'ways of the world' (See John 17:16, 1 John 2:15, Romans 12:2) 

If we are to be set apart from the 'ways of the world', 

wouldn't it make sense that we are to follow the ways of God's Word instead? 

Before Jesus, the only way a person could be forgiven of their sins and 'made right' in God's eyes was through a sin offering. This sin offering was the sacrifice of an animal - performed in the temple by a priest - on your behalf. 




During the sin offering process, the priest would 'purify' a person before the Lord, making them right with God and thus being forgiven for the sins they had committed. See Leviticus 6


The temple was a Holy Place - it was the place where God was; His house; His dwelling. 


Priests had to be clean, make sacrifices themselves & be purified before they could come to God on another person's behalf. Special care was taken every time a priest entered the temple to make sure that the temple was kept clean & pristine. The priest went to great lengths to make sure he didn't get the temple dirty or ruin it because this was the place where God lived, and He deserves great respect and honor. 

By His grace & mercy, God sent Jesus! and His blood shed washed away the need for rituals and sacrifices... Jesus Himself, His body, was the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. We don't need to go to the temple and have a priest sacrifice animals for us and our sins. 

Jesus was the sacrificial lamb for our sins, and believers of Christ are now God's temple!

Don't you realize that you together are the temple of God, 

and the Spirit of God lives in you? 

1 Corinthians 3:16

Followers of Christ are the temple: we are that most pristine and holy place where God lives every moment of every day. God also tells us that He made our bodies and He cares about them... He cares about our bodies because they are His Holy Temple; His house; His dwelling place! 

You are members of God's family. We are His house. The cornerstone of His house is Jesus. We are carefully joined together in Him, becoming a Holy temple for the Lord. Through Christ, you are made part of this dwelling where God lives by His spirt. 

Ephesians 2:19-22

They [our bodies] were made for the Lord and the Lord cares about our bodies. 

1 Corinthians 6:13c NLT 

Read the verse above one more time. 

Our bodies were made for the Lord and He cares about them...

Our bodies were not made for ourselves! They were not made so we can do with them whatever we please, or live however we want. Our bodies were not made so we could abuse them, or put bad things into them, or do bad things to them, or to mistreat them, or to make them sick and unhealthy. 

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. 

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 

You body is not just a temple, it is God's temple! and it belongs to Him. God bought you. When Jesus died on the cross and paid for your sins, He also paid for you. 


You can no longer say, "Well, these are my lungs and I'll smoke it I want to." 
They are not your lungs. 
You can no longer say, "This is my stomach, I'll eat whatever I want to, whenever." 
It is not your stomach. 
You can no longer say, "These are my eyes and I'll look at what I want to." 
They are not your eyes. 
You can no longer say, "This is my mouth and I'll say what I please." 
It is not your mouth. 

We have been bought with a price. We are no longer our own. 

God has the claim of redemption over followers of Christ because He has bought us with the blood of His own son. When we begin to see our bodies as a temple where God lives, it changes our entire perspective... on everything!


We know that the Spirit of God lives in us, our bodies were made for the Lord and they were bought at a price. And, we also know that the priests took special care to make sure the temple was kept clean and pristine. 

Wouldn't it make sense that we also should also take special care to make sure God's temple (our body) is kept clean & pristine? 

Many of us are unhealthy and we don't keep God's temple clean & pristine. We eat & drink whatever we want, we overeat or don't eat enough, we smoke or use drugs, we don't get enough rest, we don't drink enough water, we don't stay in shape... we are all guilty of this.

When we don't take care of ourselves, we start to feel the ill-effects of that neglect: we feel run-down, tired, stressed, irritable, achy, physical pain, and more. Those things cause us to become pre-occupied with our bodies and how we feel [whether physically or emotionally]. And, when we are pre-occupied with ourselves and how we feel, it becomes hard for us to glorify God. We end up focusing on ourselves more than God.


God has this wonderfully good plan for each & every one of us, and we need to give Him the glory, honor and respect of caring for ourselves & taking care to keep our temple's in pristine condition. 

Our bodies were made for the Lord!

We belong to Him!

We are His temple!


everyone who is called by My name, whom I created for My glory, 

whom I formed and made.

Isaiah 43:7


God wants us to glorify Him in everything we do, including taking care of ourselves - not just spiritually, but physically & emotionally as well - so that He can use us to our fullest potential! 

So you must honor God with your body.

1 Corinthians 6:20 NLT

Special thanks to http://www.faithandfitness.net/node/319