1Working together, we entreat also that you do not receive the grace of God in vain. 2For he says,
“At an acceptable time I listened to you.
In a day of salvation I helped you.”
Behold, now is the acceptable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. 3We give no occasion of stumbling in anything, that our service may not be blamed, 4but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God: in great endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, 5in beatings, in imprisonments, in riots, in labors, in watchings, in fastings, 6in pureness, in knowledge, in perseverance, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in sincere love, 7in the word of truth, in the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, 8by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report, as deceivers and yet true, 9as unknown and yet well known, as dying and behold—we live, as punished and not killed, 10as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing and yet possessing all things.
11Our mouth is open to you, Corinthians. Our heart is enlarged. 12You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections. 13Now in return—I speak as to my children—you also open your hearts.
14Don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship do righteousness and iniquity have? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? 15What agreement does Christ have with Belial? Or what portion does a believer have with an unbeliever? 16What agreement does a temple of God have with idols? For you are a temple of the living God. Even as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk in them. I will be their God and they will be my people.” 17Therefore
“‘Come out from among them,
and be separate,’ says the Lord.
‘Touch no unclean thing.
I will receive you.
18I will be to you a Father.
You will be to me sons and daughters,’
says the Lord Almighty.”
2 Cor 6:16 Temple (Gk. ναός, naos). (2:7; Matt 13:11, Eph 1:9; 3:3, 4, 9; 5:32) Strong’s 3485
This word refers to a dwelling place of a deity, “temple.” In the Bible, the tabernacle and then the temple in Jerusalem define the category, and as the book of Hebrews explains, the archetype of the tabernacle was the heavenly dwelling place of God. In this passage, Paul proclaims that the individual believer is a temple of the Holy Spirit, a statement describing the relationship of the believer and God, and affirming the divinity of the Holy Spirit. Not only does Paul assert that the individual Christian is a temple of the Holy Spirit, He also describes a church as a temple of God (1 Cor 3:16, 17; 2 Cor 6:16; Eph 2:21). God is present in and dwells in the assembly of believers, the local church. The presence of God is central to both OT and NT theology, and is especially powerful in the NT’s incarnational theology. Of the 45 uses of this word, it is not surprising that nine are found in Matthew and sixteen in Revelation.