James Denney, a Scottish theologian around the turn of the 20th century, said, “A text without its context is nothing but a pretext.”

I’d like to use this passage as an example of why context is so important as we seek to understand the message of scripture. There’s a popular interpretation of these verses that settles on a superficial application and misses its profound warning.

Contextually, Paul switched his metaphor in vv. 9-10 from a “growing a garden” to “building a building”:
“For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building. By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds.”

Christ is the building’s cornerstone. Paul through his evangelistic work in Corinth laid the foundation. Others like Apollos and Cephas built upon his foundation. That resulted in believers dividing over which teacher they followed - a problem he will deal with directly.

To begin, Paul identifies the building:

» 3:16-17
“16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.“

The building is the temple of God, where God’s Spirit lives. But that temple not a physical building. It is us, the church. We must carefully select the materials we use to build up the church. The worst possible consequence – destruction by God Himself – will come to anyone who builds it with destructible material.

It is short sighted to use this passage to say “Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. So don’t smoke. Don’t get drunk. Don’t eat unhealthy food, and don’t overeat.” By that line of reasoning Christians shouldn’t be firemen, coal miners, asbestos removers, football players, or missionaries to Africa, because all of those destroy their physical bodies. There are other reasons not to smoke, get drunk, or eat badly, but if we use this passage to support them (as is common), we’ll completely miss the real, more profound message. Paul is concerned about something much more important than an individual destroying his own body. So what is the real message?

First off, English doesn’t distinguish between singular and plural “you.” But Greek does, and here is what is said in Greek in these key verses:
v. 9, You (PLURAL) are God’s building (SINGULAR)
v. 16, You (PLURAL) are God’s temple (SINGULAR) and God’s Spirit lives in you (PLURAL)

That’s an important point. We are the temple collectively, not individually. This mirrors what we learn elsewhere:

John 2:19-21: Jesus said that if the people destroyed the temple He could rebuild it in three days. He was referring to His body. They destroyed His body, and He began to rebuild it as the church three days later through the resurrection, which brought salvation to His followers where the Spirit of God lives.

Eph. 2:19-22: “You are... fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

Paul wants to prevent the temple where Christ lives - the church, the body of Christ - from being destroyed.

Importantly, he’s concerned about destruction coming FROM WITHIN, not from without.

That is why he warned us to ensure that the material we use for building upon the foundation the apostles laid is indestructible, or fireproof. Failing to use such precaution will destroy the temple of Christ from within.

Consider this: Someday the antichrist will set himself up as the head of God’s temple (2Thes 2:3-4). That suggests that he will rise up from within the established church, doesn’t it? And then God will destroy him.

So what exactly is the destructible material Paul is concerned about? The next few verses tell us.

» 3:18-20
“18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, ‘He is the one who catches the wise in their craftiness’; 20 and again, ‘The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are useless.’”

The destructible material with which we must never build the church is the wisdom of the world, the standards of the age. Doing so will destroy the church.

If anyone tries to build a church with human wisdom, God will destroy him. Oh my! I fear for the 21st century churches in America!

In his own language Paul said in v.18 that we should become mōros (from which we get our word “moron”) to the wisdom of the world so that we can become truly wise with God’s wisdom. Being ignorant of worldly wisdom is the only way to responsibly build the church with indestructible material.

» 3:21-23
“21 So then let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, 23 and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God.”

As morons to the wisdom of the world, we will have no reason to follow certain men since they are as mortal and fallible as we are. Their value is only whatever truth and wisdom of God they may communicate – the seeds they plant and the water they spray. Nothing else about them – not their eloquence, personalities, charisma, or education – matters one iota.

So here’s my summary of the profound warning of this passage in its context:
The church – the body of Christ – is God’s temple. God’s Spirit lives in that temple. Build the church according to God’s wisdom only and remain ignorant of worldly wisdom. God will destroy anyone who allows human wisdom to infiltrate the church. Don’t honor the preachers, teachers, leaders, and others who build the church. All that matters is whatever wisdom they speak that is from God. He alone gets the glory.