Bible Q&A: If Flesh Does Not Inherit the Kingdom of God, How Are Our Bodies the Temple of God?

If flesh does not inherit the kingdom of God, how are our bodies the temple of God?

Paul wrote, “I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable” (1 Cor. 15:50).  He wrote this in the context of describing the resurrection of the dead on the last day.  Paul had been discussing how our current physical bodies will die and be resurrected as spiritual bodies when the trumpet sounds on the last day (15:35-55).  When he spoke of our bodies being temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19), he was doing so in the context of commanding Christians to not use their physical bodies to commit the sin of fornication (6:12-20).

Thus, our physical bodies are currently the temple of the Holy Spirit.  However, we will receive new, immortal, spiritual bodies on the last day since it is not God’s will that physical bodies enter eternity in heaven.

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