As we believe in Christ and take our steps forward in faith through baptism and placing our trust in Jesus, both for our salvation and for our headship as our King and Lord, God promises to give us the Holy Spirit to live within us. Previously, God’s presence was found in the temple in Jerusalem. As Solomon built the temple, we see that God’s presence filled the temple.
But as Jesus died, the temple curtain was ripped and everyone had access to God. No longer just those who were designated as priests for the people. Instead, we have all become priests. We have all been determined to be part of those who serve God. In all ways that one should serve God, we do as well.
As we receive the Holy Spirit, we see that we are, ourselves, a new type of temple. God’s Spirit takes up residence within us. We have God himself living inside of us!
It is for this reason that Paul admonishes the Corinthians against sexual sin. He points out that sexual sin is the sin that we can commit that is against our own body, which in reality is a sin against the temple of the Holy Spirit. The use of our body for sexual sin, whether to unite it with a prostitute as Paul points out, or otherwise, is a sin against our own bodies having been intentionally united with that which is intentionally impure.
Paul explains it clearly:
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
1 Corinthians 6:18-20
Paul says that we should not consider our bodies to be the bodies with which we can make whatever choice we want. Yes, in a certain sense that true, but as believers in Christ, we believe that his blood bought us. Our spirit, our body, all of it. We don’t separate one versus the other. We give all of it to Christ because he bought it all. He purchased us for his kingdom, so now we give him all that we have and all that we are and serve him with it all as temples of the Holy Spirit.