You Are The Temple of the  Holy Spirit

1 Cor 3:16-17(NIV)  Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?  If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.

1. You ARE what He says you are. and... 
2. You should want to KNOW what you are!

Diagram 2:

The reason I feel that this is so important is simple.  The Christian life is predicated upon “change” and it is very difficult to change something when you have no idea how it works. 
There are many more intricate little details that I don’t have the space here to go into.  So it is the goal of this article simply to help you more clearly understand how God has designed you to operate and grow while here on the earth.

First you need to grasp the concept that scripturally you are a ‘spirit;’ that you have a ‘soul’ (which contains your mind, will and emotions) and you live (dwell, abide) in a ‘body.’  Also, according to scripture, you have a heart (not your blood pump, but your heart of hearts that contains both your spirit and your soul). And you also have your words and your works.  You will note in diagram 2 (above) that the nine (9) parts of man are listed.

HEART
According to Luke 4:18 Jesus stated:  “The spirit of the lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me (and sent me) to … heal the brokenhearted.” 

Your heart of hearts, before you were born again, was completely broken.  Scripturally your heart has two (2) chambers: your spirit and your soul.  (Locate your heart in diagram 2.)

Here are some attributes of the heart.
The heart:

• Can be clean, honest and good.
• Is where your treasure is. (Is a treasury.)
• Can contain an abundance of good and/or bad.  Including good thoughts, faith, belief, the Word of God, love and hope or evil thoughts, doubt, sorrow, murders, adulteries, fornications, wickedness, deceit, pride, foolishness, lawlessness, thefts, lies and blasphemies.
• Things from there can defile a man.
• Can become calloused, hardened, slow and dull.
• Can receive the seed of sown words there good and/or bad.
• Can rejoice.
• Can be repentant.
• Can be distant from Jesus.
• Can be gentile and humble.
• Can think and consider.
• Our words can come from there.
• Can be filled (furnished) by Satan (to lie to the Holy Ghost).
• Can be broken or whole (healed).
• You can love the Lord with it.
• You can say things from there.
• You can keep sayings (rhema) there.

We must guard our hearts as to what we allow to enter our heart.

THE VEIL 
Your heart may have a veil.

Lam 3:65  Put a veil over their hearts, and may the curse be on them!

2 Cor 3:14  But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It (the veil) has not been removed, because only in Christ is it (the veil) taken away.
2 Cor 3:15  Even to this day when (the books of ) Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts.

In the tabernacle, we see the veil as a heavy curtain separating the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies.
This was known as the "third veil" or "the Life."   The Hebrew word for this veil was 'Poreketh' and translated to "the separation".  This veil was part of the curse, from which we were redeemed by Jesus.

John 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

If you remember Jesus said, "I am "the Way" (the 1st veil), "the Truth" (the 2nd veil) and "the Life" (the 3rd veil).  In retrospect we understand that "the Life" is the Way of Life - eternal life with Jesus. 

I believe this 3rd veil - to be the SAME Life that we are to CHOOSE over death.  Or put another way, This veil can mean life, or the Lack of life.

Deu 30:19  I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

Jer 21:8  And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death. 

The Bible teaches that there is a surgically sharp sword which we know to be the Word of God, (the Rhema Word of God).

Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Heb 4:12  For the word of God is quick (living), and powerful (effective), and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing (penetrating) even to 'the dividing asunder' ("the separation") of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

The Greek word for the 'two-edged' sword is 'distomos' and at first may seem very odd - because it translates to "two-mouthed" sword. The Rhema Word of God is the 'spoken' (or mouthed) Word of God.  And the sword is two-mouthed because first God spoke (or revealed) His Word, and then we speak His Word, which activates it.  So the emphases here should be that it refers to the spoken, revealed Word of God.
The Greek word for 'piercing' is 'Dukneomai' which translates to "penetrating".
The Greek word for 'the dividing asunder' is 'Merismos' and translates to "the Separation".  The same as the Hebrew word for veil.  So Heb. 4:12 could be translated like this:

The Word of God is alive, effective, comprehensive and decisive - taking the place of (or exceeding) any double-edged blade (or sword) penetrating the separation (the veil) between the soul and spirit. ...

So the Rhema, the spoken, revealed Word of God can perform spiritual heart surgery; Dividing, splitting, cutting away, opening or removing that veil when we turn our heart to the Lord Jesus Christ!

- revealing your spirit to your soul (your mind, will and emotions). 
- revealing that your spirit is real.
- revealing your spirit's connection to the Holy spirit who abides there.

1 Cor 2:9-10  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God.

The Greek word for 'revealed' here is 'Apokalupto' and means "to unveil."  So vs. 10 could be translated like this:

God has revealed to our mind, will and emotions by His spirit, by cutting down the veil that previously obscured our view and blocked God's plan from our sight.

The Old Covenant veil was a veil of separation FROM God and his plan.
The New Covenant veil is a door, an opening, a passageway TO direct contact, revelation and communications from and with God, through His Holy Spirit.

When we read 2 Cor 3:1-17 and 2 Cor 4:3-4 together we begin to see the prophetic type and shadow of this veil.
When Moses came down from the mountain where he in the presence of God received the tablets of the old covenant, his face shined too bright to look directly into.  Glorious!  So he placed a veil over his face to cover and hide the glory from the children of Israel.  It says that Moses was actually hiding the REAL purpose of the written law which has now been voided.

It says that the children of Israel's collective minds were made or rendered "stupid, petrified and hardened" or "made hard-headed". (Don't get mad at me, I just translated it straight from the Greek.) And that even to this day that same veil (hiding cover) covers their collective hearts never having been cut down or unveiled - while reading Moses (the first five books of the Bible) that includes the old (worn out) covenant - which is made void through Christ. But that WHEN their collective hearts turns (converts) to our Lord, that veil (hiding cover) will be cast off (removed & unveiled).

But was it God that made or rendered the people "stupid, petrified and hardened" or "hard-headed"?  No!  2 Cor 4:3-4 says, "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost and dying in this world whom the god of this world (Satan) hath blinded the minds of them which are unbelievers, lest the shining light of the gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine-forth unto them."

SPIRIT
When you received Jesus as your lord and savior you were ‘born-again’ and at that instant your spirit was renewed (or made brand new). And if you invited him to do so, the Holy Spirit moved in to live, dwell and abide in your spirit.  So that half of your heart is healed and made whole.  (Locate your spirit in diagram 2.)

SOUL
Now the soul is a different matter.  Remember your soul contains your mind, will and emotions.  And it does not automatically become renewed.  The renewal of the soul begins with the renewal of the mind, which is your responsibility.

Rom. 12:2 and be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

The “will of God” here is just talking about what God has already said in the Bible.  That’s what it takes to renew the mind – to the end that you get rid of the way that you used to think and begin to think the same way that Jesus thinks.  Once your mind starts becoming renewed, your will and emotions will follow.  (Locate your soul in diagram 2.)

HEART AND WORDS
You can tell when your heart is being healed from being broken – when you open your mouth and your words are now God’s words.  Diagram 2 doesn’t show it, but your words originate in the soul, go out the door through the body and out the gate  (or your mouth). Mat 12:34 says, “… out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.”  If what is in you heart is good, then your words will be good.  Conversely if what is in your heart is bad then eventually bad, (negative, non-productive, idle) words will come out of your mouth.

In mat. 12:36-37 Jesus says, “… Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the Day of Judgment.  For by your words thou shall be justified, and by your words thou shall be condemned.”

BODY, SPIRIT AND WORKS
James 2:26 says, “for as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” 

Here we see several things.  When your spirit leaves your body, your body dies.  2 Cor. 5:8 says that to be absent (you the spirit) from the body is to be present with the lord.

In the same way (it says) faith without works is dead (faith).  Or to say it another way, you can know and believe in your mind what the word of God says, but if you don’t believe it in your heart and act upon it (works), your faith is worthless, totally ineffective (as good as dead).
Works are also “good works” that is to say doing what Jesus said to do and doing the same things (works) that Jesus did during his earthly ministry – teaching, preaching and healing.

THE HOLY SPIRIT
Let’s look at how the Holy Spirit interacts with your spirit. 

God not only created you as a spirit with a soul and body, but he designed you so that you (the spirit) would take ascendancy, dominion and authority over your soul (mind, will, emotions), body, heart, words and works.  We refer to this as being in proper alignment.  Unfortunately, all to many Christians are totally ignorant of that fact.  And some of those that do know fail to act upon it due to fears, and oppressions (mostly demonic or religious in nature).

The Bible word “submit” really just means, “come under the protection of.”  When we are in proper alignment, all the other parts of man submit (come under the protection of) the spirit.  This makes you (the spirit) the head of the body.  You (the spirit) were designed to submit to the lord Jesus Christ – the soul, body, etc… will not on their own, submit to anyone or any thing – especially God.  Rom 8:7 says, … “The carnal mind is enmity (hostile) against God.”  Being in proper alignment is called ‘walking in the spirit’ while being out of alignment is called ‘walking in the flesh.’

When you (the spirit) are in control, the Holy Spirit can ‘direct connect’ with you (your spirit). This makes it easier to hear God speak to you, easier for the Holy Spirit to teach you, lead you, and operate through you in the form of the anointing.  Being out of alignment stops or hinders the flow of the anointing and disconnects from the Holy Spirit and the voice of God.  It takes you out from under the protection of the blood of Jesus because the soul will not only exalt itself over the spirit but even the blood of Jesus.

In order for the spirit to become strong it needs to be fed.  Scripture teaches that there are two ways to edify (build up) the spirit – by reading (hearing) the word of God and by praying in tongues (in the spirit).  Why?  That’s just the way God designed it.

An emaciated spirit can take authority and dominion but it takes a strong spirit to keep (or retain) it.  Faith or believing and acting on the word of God is the outward manifestation of a strong spirit and a heart full of the word of God.

You feed your body three times a day – how often do you feed your spirit?  As we Christians get closer and closer to the return of Jesus Christ, we must get on a spirit-building program in order to develop and strengthen our spirit.   Remember, the devil has to get you into the flesh to touch you – you have to get into the spirit to touch the world!