Matthew 21:12, New International Version

“Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.”

Let’s start with this question from the Apostle Paul, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?” (1 Corinthians 3:16, NIV) My dear family in Christ, I hope you do know the answer, firm and certain. Everyone who “…declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” (Romans 10:9-10, NIV) Moreover, “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth.” (John 14:15-17, NIV) God's Spirit dwells in His disciples, and that makes us a temple of God.

We are the temple of God, and as a result God Himself dwells among His people. Moses said, “…Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the Lord, the God of your ancestors. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary.” (2 Chronicles 29:5, NIV) Jesus declared, “It is written… My house will be called ‘a house of prayer’, but you are making it 'a den of robbers.’”(Matthew 21:13, NIV) These same statements about the temple of the Lord literally apply to us as well.

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth…” (John 16:13, NLT) “And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.” (John 16:8, NLT) The Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, drove out everything that is not right with the temple of God. In the same way, Jesus drove out all who were buying and selling in the temple. The Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, will also overturn every piece of your sin in your life just as the Lord Jesus overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. He will restore you into a house of prayer – the holy place.

“…Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.” (Leviticus 19:2, NIV)

“… we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:10, NIV)

“… you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11, NIV)

“…whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.” (1 Corinthians 6:17, NIV)

“When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains from the heart of Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire.” (Isaiah 4:4, BSB)

“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in various trials so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:6-7, BSB)

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4, NIV)