How Should We Respond to the Holy Spirit?

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. (1 Corinthians 3:16–17)

Today’s big question: how should we respond to the Holy Spirit?

In previous devotionals, we have learned that the Holy Spirit is God and the Holy Spirit dwells within believers. Today’s passage of Scripture explains what our response should be. If we believe that God’s Word is truth, then understanding that truth is important. Applying the truth to our lives is also extremely important, which is what Paul taught here in his letter to the Corinthians.

All believers are the temple of God since God’s Spirit dwells within them. Jesus also referred to His body as a temple (John 2:19). Since Jesus is fully God and fully man, we know that His body is a perfectly holy temple. Because of His holiness, Jesus was uniquely qualified to die on the Cross and cover our sins. Believers are redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:19, emphasis added).

God is holy (Leviticus 11:44), and He required a holy sacrifice in order to provide a covering for our sins. We are not holy, and consequently, we cannot save ourselves, but Jesus already “gave Himself for our sins” (Galatians 1:4). Since the Holy Spirit is God, holiness is also an important part of the Spirit’s character.

Therefore, believers are to be holy because they have the Holy Spirit abiding within them. Being holy means to be an imitator of God, and if we truly love God, we will want to follow His commandments in Scripture. Being holy and loving God should not be separated; Paul states the following about this subject in Ephesians:

Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. (Ephesians 5:1–2).

When believers behave in an unholy manner, they “grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30). We cannot be perfect until the redemption of our bodies, but holiness should be the goal of every believer.

Today’s big idea: believers are to be holy because the Holy Spirit dwells within them.

What to pray: ask God to help you to strive for holiness in all things.