1 Tim. 3:15
In a short transitional passage
(3:14-16), Paul identifies the house of God (οικος θεου) as the
church of the living God: “I am writing these instructions to you so that if I
am delayed, ye may know how one ought to behave in the house of God (οικος θεου), which is
the church of the living God, the pillar (στυλος) and bulwark (εδραιωμα) of the truth” (3:14b-15). Since the term οικος is used in the sense of household in the immediately
preceding passage (3:4, 5, 12), οικος
θεου in verse 15 can also mean the household of
God. However, the close connection of οικος
θεου with
the architectural terms “pillar” (στυλος) and “bulwark”
(εδραιωμα) signifies that it more likely refers to the temple
of God. The combination of the building image and the phrase “living God” also
indicates that Paul’s common concept of the church as God’s temple is in view.
A similar progression of the images from the household of God (οικειος του
θεου) to the building (οικοδομη) and then to the holy temples (ναος αγιος) has
already seen in Eph. 2:19-22.
The analysis of the passages in which Paul
explicitly or implicitly designates the church as the temple, the building, or
the house of God leads to the following conclusions: (1) Paul uses the terms “temple”
(ναος), “building” (οικοδομη), and “house” (οικια or οικος) primarily
in a corporate sense, denoting the church. (2) In a few specific cases,
however, he uses them in an individual sense to refer to the present or future
life of the individual believers (1 Cor. 3:16, 2 Cor. 5:1-2). (3) his frequent
use of the introductory phrase ουκ
οιδατε οτι or οιδαμεν οτι indicates that
the concept of the church as the temple was a well-known early Christian
tradition. The occurrence of this concept in other New Testament writings also confirms
this assumption. (4) Interestingly, Paul always presents the temple as of God
or of the Holy Spirit, but never as of Christ. He describes the relationship of
Christ to the temple only in Ephesians as the cornerstone to the building.
Finally, (5) he closely relates the concept of the church as God’s temple to
the presence of God or of the Spirit and thus to the idea of holiness. (Sang-Won
(Aaron) Son, Corporate Elements in Pauline Anthropology: A Study of Selected
Terms, Idioms, and Concepts in the Light of Paul’s Usage and Background [Rome:
Pontificio Instituto Biblico, 2001], 134-35)
