We may begin by getting a helpful idea from the type of Solomon's Temple. That was a gorgeous affair, but the very center of it was the holiest of all, where God dwelt between the cherubim. You remember doubtless that, when the Temple was dedicated, we read, " It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord: and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals- and instruments of music, and praised the LORD, saying, For He is good; for His mercy endureth forever: that then the house was filled with cloud, even the house of the LORD: so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God." (2 Chron. 5: 13, 14.) Here we get the idea that the Temple at Jerusalem meant the dwelling _place of God, the shrine where His glory was seen. It was typical of our Lord. When the Jews were astonished at His saying, " Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up " (John 2:19), they thought He was referring to the Temple on Mount Moriah, which took forty and six years in building. But our Lord spoke of the temple of His body, and His disciples remembered His words after He rose from the dead.
But now that the Lord is in Heaven He dwells amongst His people, thus forming " an holy temple in the Lord." (Eph. 2:21.) We read that now " The most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands." (Acts 7:48.) This holy temple is " a spiritual house," not made of great stones and costly, however deftly joined together, but of living stones, and of believers brought high by the blood of Christ, of saved men and women. No wonder the psalmist, who only had the typical building before him, could exclaim, "Holiness becometh thine house, O LORD, forever." (Psa. 93:5.) Nothing can be more precious than the thought of God dwelling among His people, and yet nothing can be more solemn. We read: "In whom [Christ] all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." (Eph. 2:21,22.) A special word is used here for the word, temple. In the Greek language there are two words translated temple. Hieron is a word used to describe the temple as a whole, precincts and all. Any Jew could go into the court of the Jews. Any Gentile could go into the court of the Gentiles. There were places where cattle and sheep were sold for the sacrifices, and where money changers carried on their business. All was included under the word, hieron.
But there is another word used for temple (Greek, naos), indicating the inner or more sacred part of the temple, where only the priests could enter, especially the holiest of all, where only the high priest could enter once a year. It was this word the Lord used when He spoke of the temple of His body, referring to His flesh and blood condition as Man on this earth. (John 2:21.)
The employment of this particular word [Greek naos] emphasizes the holy character of God's dwelling place among His people. It is the same word that is used when the body of the believer is viewed as the dwelling place of God's Holy Spirit. " Know ye not that ye are the temple [Greek, naos] of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple [naos] of God, him shall God destroy, for the temple [naos] of God is holy, which temple [naos] ye are." (1 Cor. 3: 16, 17.) What manner of behavior should be ours in the light of this solemn truth?