Sincere Question..... Could this be the reason why some believe in God and others don't......?

Question

Do you know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?..... 1 Corinthians 3:16-17
If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy.

So basically what I ascertain here is, if you defile the temple within yourself, God destroies the temple.... to where God's Spirit doesn't dwell anymore.
Is this the reason why ......
Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teach, but which the Holy Ghost teach; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
But the natural man receive not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spirtually discerned. 1CORINTHIANS 2:13-14

I am not trying to put anyone down, I am just seeking your thoughts of your understanding of this meaning, and is this the reason why some believe and others don't???

PEACE be with you all

Answer 1

Let me see if I understand you right. You're saying that those who do not feed themselves spiritually end up being a bit spiritually starved, and therefore have a more difficult time understanding the concept of gaining valid knowledge through spiritual means such as the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Is that right?

- I tend to agree with you here.

Answer 2

I'll preface this by explaining that I'm not a Christian. But you appear to be sincerely asking about a possible explanation of this verse, so perhaps you'll appreciate a different point of view.

It's my understanding that the only thing that can drive God's spirit from one's body is to voluntarily and forcefully demand that God do so. Other than that, I think that "God destroys the temple" would be more of a death threat than a threat to condemn someone to Hell without a Day of Judgment.

Then again, maybe not.

In any case, I believe that those who believe in God simply need to believe in God in order to believe there is a sense of justice in the world, whereas those who don't believe in God probably don't have that need. It's a question of psychology, in other words. I would very seriously question anyone who said that people who don't believe in God have been guilty of "defiling the temple within themselves" while those who do are completely innocent of such a thing. There are good and bad people of every faith and creed, and that includes both Christians and atheists.

Just my opinion.

Answer 3

That phrase means not that God will literally destroy the man(temple) but that the consequence of that man's sin (defilement) is that it will eventually destroy him. It is more clear if you have a study Bible and can reference the translation notes about the meanings of the original Greek words. You need to also read and understand the context of what Paul is speaking of in that chapter.
Your question of why some believe and others don't is a matter of individual will and has nothing to do with the examples offered.

Answer 4

That is a good verse in 1 Corinthians 2. Yes, they do not have the Holy Spirit, so therefore it is foolishness to them- just as it says:

1 Corinthians 1:18
[ Christ the Wisdom and Power of God ] For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

And many also do not believe because the Bible also says:

Romans 1:25
They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

-People want what they want, and they do not want to give up sin so they will believe in whatever suits them and makes them feel good....many put themselves above God and they just need to be broken and humbled....and only the Lord can do that!

Answer 5

Defile can have many meanings...It's usually of the Spiritual realm and not of the earthly realm which so many "christians" like to believe. God speaks of defiling (in my retarded opinion) as in: Denying God, Placing obsessions, addictions, compulsions and the like between you and God. Harboring resentment, hate, bigotry,judgments, self between you and the Holy Spirit...That's the miracle of the God and The Holy Spirit to me. When we cry out for God's love and forgiveness, we can clear all this wreckage that divides us from our soul (holy spirit). When we start trying to do his will, which is the Love of our brothers and sisters, and not our will which is based on selfish human desire, we begin to see a little light and our life gets better and better. And guess what, God ends up giving us all those wonderful feelings we were seeking thru other things...It's really cool. Now do we all fall back into selfish desire and naughtiness from time to time...You bet! Is God angry or upset with us? Nope. He knows were just spirits in a human body. He doesn't judge us by what the body does by by what is in the heart. Your intentions and actions. Your gonna do stuff that hurts ya from time to time. And you're gonna grow from it. That's what God wants, wants you to grow to be what you can be. He's a very very cool God full of Love for us and compassion for our humanity....That's why he's God! I love God! Kevin

Answer 6

I don't think it has anything to do with defiling the body. The Holy Spirit leads a person to Christ. When we ignore the Holy Spirit He does not dwell inside of us and we are lost.

Answer 7

The Bible is vague in so many areas, it's one of the main reasons it lives on today - it's so vague it leaves a huge area for interpretation..

Putting the Bible and Christianity to one side, if we are just talking about a creator, then I dont believe in that either because, well, it just seems very very unlikely, and to tied-in to the psychology of our "father figure".

I think God just does not answer the "source" question, its too easy to argue with "well who created god"...

If we ever find why the universe popped into existense the answer will be far more impressive than "god did it"..

Answer 8

But here's the thing. I believe in a God - just not the Christian perception of God. I also break my God down into smaller bits (also Gods) because I find it more palatable. So how can I be called a non-believer if I believe? (I've been called a non-believer quite often). These passages prove to me that according to the bible I'm completely fine with the God of my understanding (regardless the name I choose for him). The majority of Christians here would disagree.

I'm not trying to be sarcastic, just telling you how I see it.

Answer 9

Sincere answer. If u are reading the bible it wants u to be the temple of god.(ambassador) If u claim or (fake) u are the temple of god, and u sin, and die. God will destroy u. and thats with out truly asking for forgiveness. Thats it. Peace be your mind.

Answer 10

No, I don't think the bible explains every single possibility of what humans can be like and every single thing we are capable of thinking.

That is not the reason I don't believe in God. I don't need to believe in God to be a good person, so I didn't choose the "Dark Side," so to speak.