Destruction for the Destroyer

November 11th, 2026
by Lance Waldie

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.

Verse 16 proves that church buildings, cathedrals, and worship centers are nothing more than bricks and mortar. They are not “sanctuaries” (holy places) as they are sometimes called. Some actually believe that God lives in church buildings. But 1 Corinthians 3:16 says that God’s dwelling place, His temple, is the Church—all of the individual saints of God who together form the corporate body. Whereas in the OT the presence of God was in the tabernacle and later the temple, in this dispensation of the Holy Spirit, God’s “temple” is His people. Paul’s rhetoric is harsh, and the fact that he uses this rhetorical question (“Do you not know”?) ten times in Corinthians and only once elsewhere (Rom. 6:16) attests to his strong feelings of frustration toward the Corinthians for their ignorant, immature understanding of this concept.

The foundation of the building is likened to knowing Jesus Christ as Lord, for He is the foundation of the Christian’s life. The building, represented by Christians and their obedient works in this context, is the temple of God. The latter phrase in v. 16 says that God’s Spirit “dwells” (oikeō), or lives, in His people. The believer’s life is thus where the Holy Spirit lives (cf. Rom. 8:9-11), dwelling in individual believers who comprise the local and universal church.

Now in the same way that the temple of God, where His presence dwelt in the OT, was adorned with solid building materials and was meticulously put together (cf. Ex. 25-31), so must the saint of God, who is far greater. The good works of the saints are paralleled to the master craftsmen and their materials in their building of the temple in Jerusalem (cf. 1 Kings 5-8).

Verse 17 draws the natural deduction about what happens to those who might “destroy” (phtheirō), or spoil, God’s temple—referring to the corporate gathering of God’s people in this context (though it refers to individual believers in 6:19-20). It thus offers a third kind of pastor: the one who destroys. The first kind of pastor Paul references is faithful and receives a reward (3:14). The second, though saved, is a failure as a pastor; his work is burned up (3:15). This third type of pastor, however, destroys God’s temple. How? He either denies or ignores the gospel; thus, ruining the people he pastors and serves. The Spirit of God certainly dwelt in the church in Corinth, yet their divisions and petty quarrels threatened to destroy it. Paul thus reminds them that if anyone destroys God’s temple, the local church, “God will destroy him.”

Those who “destroy” any local Christian church will have their evil actions matched by God’s righteous reaction. For they too will be destroyed (phtheirei). Schreiner says, “The idea is rather similar to the ban (ḥērem) in the Old Testament (cf. Exod. 22:19; Lev. 27:28; Deut. 7:26; Josh. 6:17; 7:11, 25). Achan is destroyed in Joshua 7 since he took what was devoted to the Lord, what was under the ban. In the same way, those who destroy the church ruin what is holy, what is consecrated to God. Those who touch and deface what is holy will be placed under the ban themselves. Like Achan, they will be destroyed by God.”

Food For Thought
Christian pastors and teachers must beware and take their responsibilities seriously. God will destroy the lazy ones and those who seek to do things their own way. This is not the loss of salvation but the loss of eternal rewards. The good ones, however, strive to mature, and their diligence shows not only in their own lives but in those who are fed by them. Amy Carmichael wrote, “The work will never go deeper than we have gone ourselves.” If we dig deep for gold, when we find it, we’ll share it. But if all we search for are scraps, we’ll all burn up!