The Spiritual Man

(^3 3)
God as the Life of the Body
We noted earlier how our body is the temple of the
Holy Spirit. What arrests our attention is the special
emphasis the Apostle Paul gives to the body. The
common concept is that the life of Christ is for our
spirit, not for our body. Few realize that the salvation of
God reaches to the second after He gives life to the first. Had God
desired that His Spirit live solely in our spirit so that only it might be
benefited, the Apostle would simply need to have said that “your
spirit is the temple of God” and not mention the body at all. By now,
however, we should understand that the meaning of our body as the
temple of the Holy Spirit is more than its being the recipient of a
special privilege. It likewise means being a channel for effective
power. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit strengthens our inner man,
enlightens the eyes of our heart and, makes our body healthy.
We have also noted how the Holy Spirit makes alive this mortal
frame of ours. To wait until we die before He raises us up is not
necessary, for even now He gives life to our mortal body. In the
future He will raise from the dead this corruptible body, but today
He quickens the mortal body. The power of His life permeates every
cell of our being so that we may experience His power and life in the
body.
No more need we look upon our outer shell as a miserable prison,
for we can see in it the life of God being expressed. We now can
experience in a deeper way that word which declares that “it is no
longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.” Christ has presently
become the source of life to us. He lives in us today as He once lived
in the flesh. We can thus apprehend more fully the implication of His
pronouncement: “I came that they may have life, and have it
abundantly” (John 10.10). This more abundant life suffices
additionally for every requirement of our body. Paul exhorts Timothy