{Destroyeth} (phtheirei). The outward temple is merely the
symbol of God's presence, the Shechinah (the Glory). God makes
his home in the hearts of his people or the church in any given
place like Corinth. It is a terrible thing to tear down
ruthlessly a church or temple of God like an earthquake that
shatters a building in ruins. This old verb phtheir(935c) means to
corrupt, to deprave, to destroy. It is a gross sin to be a
church-wrecker. There are actually a few preachers who leave
behind them ruin like a tornado in their path. {Him shall God
destroy} (phtherei touton ho theos). There is a solemn
repetition of the same verb in the future active indicative. The
condition is the first class and is assumed to be true. Then the
punishment is certain and equally effective. The church-wrecker
God will wreck. What does Paul mean by "will destroy"? Does he
mean punishment here or hereafter? May it not be both? Certainly
he does not mean annihilation of the man's soul, though it may
well include eternal punishment. There is warning enough here to
make every pastor pause before he tears a church to pieces in
order to vindicate himself. {Holy} (hagios). Hence deserves
reverential treatment. It is not the building or house of which
Paul speaks as "the sanctuary of God" (	on naon tou theou), but
the spiritual organization or organism of God's people in whom
God dwells, "which temple ye are" (hoitines este humeis). The
qualitative relative pronoun hoitines is plural to agree with
humeis (ye) and refers to the holy temple just mentioned. The
Corinthians themselves in their angry disputes had forgotten
their holy heritage and calling, though this failing was no
excuse for the ringleaders who had led them on. In  6:19  Paul
reminds the Corinthians again that the body is the temple
(
aos, sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit, which fact they had
forgotten in their immoralities.