Key Idea: The identity of God’s singular and unique church as his one Spirit-filled temple calls for the vertical duty of Christ-centered glorification and the horizontal duties of bearing with and discipling one another.
God calls and forms his singular and unique church of all who trust Christ and only those who trust Christ. God himself chooses, protects, and disciplines his one global and local, timely and timeless church. Recognizing herself as the one temple of God instills the proper fear of God in the church and her members.
God himself makes her his one temple, the dwelling place of the Spirit, who protects her by bringing destructive consequences on any who divide his church. All the church’s members must prioritize her inherent, eternal unity. The church’s identity as the temple leads her to prioritize unity, worship, and the priesthood of all believers.
The church responds by practicing and prioritizing the vertical duty of Christ-centered glorification and the horizontal duties of bearing with and discipling one another. The church glorifies God in ways that flow from and to Father, Son, and Spirit, the one God.
Launching Pad: 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; E230407F0555
