To continue talking about our Mentor, God the Holy Spirit, I want to look at Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. They were a group of believers who did not know that God the Holy Spirit took up permanent residence inside them at the moment of salvation. They were, therefore, totally unaware of the difference that fact should have upon their lives as believers.

1 Corinthians 3:1-3

1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ.

2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able,

3 for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?

These Corinthian believers were living their lives just like the unbelievers around them were. They were indistinguishable from them! But they WERE believers; look how Paul starts his letter:

1 Corinthians 1:2

2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:

They were believers, but were living their life in a manner unworthy of their calling. They were quarrelling (1 Cor 1:11), arrogant (1 Cor 4:18), and divided within the church (1 Cor 11:18). Not only that, but…

1 Corinthians 5:1

1 It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father's wife. (Yuck!)

Paul starts out the letter to the Corinthians reminding them of the benefits of being a believer, and all that God has done for them in His grace. Then he starts the rebuke in verse 10. He addresses our specific subject in:

1 Corinthians 3:16

16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

Many of these Christians were former pagans. In Corinth, they would construct temples for the pagan gods so that the gods could dwell among them. So they really understood the principle that a temple was a residence for a god.

Paul is telling them that the Holy Spirit living inside them should affect how they live! They needed to truly KNOW the reality, and live accordingly.

How many Christians are there today who don’t know this principle?! And even of the ones that know it, how many are still living their life like they don’t know it?! They are still bitter, divisive, jealous, gossiping, lying and fornicating just like the Corinthians were. This indwelling of God the Holy Spirit is not just a theological principle, but a basis for living your life. When Paul says, “Do you not KNOW,” the Greek word is OIDA, and it means more than just book knowledge, but to know something as being real or vivid.

What does it mean to you as a Christian that God the Holy Spirit permanently dwells inside of you? He is with you everywhere you go, in everything you do. He doesn’t disappear or hide His eyes when you sin! He stays right there with us, but is grieved (Ephesians 4:30).

This fact that the Holy Spirit, our mentor, permanently lives in us should become a reality and a motivation for our daily Christian life.

We’ll get into more of this principle next time.