When Jesus saves a person, his body becomes the temple of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Spirit takes up residence inside.  Yet, he never likes what he sees when he first moves in.  To him, we are like a fixer upper.  He must change some things to make us a suitable temple.  And like a fixer upper, he makes the changes in phases.

The Fixer Upper Phases

Purchase The Fixer Upper

First, the Lord buys us.  1 Cor 6:20 ye are bought with a price.  Just like people don’t renovate houses they don’t own, so the Holy Spirit won’t fix up a house he doesn’t own.  This is why religion can never produce a sanctified saint.  The Holy Spirit isn’t involved in the remodel.  

With fixer uppers, the price must be considered carefully before the purchase.  The buyer doesn’t want to overpay.  However, in our case, the purchase price is never a factor.  Jesus paid the same price for the greatest saint as he did for the worst sinner.  He cannot pay more than he has already paid.  He paid it all.

Plan It

After buyers own the fixer upper, they carefully plan their renovations room by room.  They often generate computer graphics to visualize the changes.  Likewise, the Holy Spirit knows exactly what renovations to make.  However, unlike contractors, he had the plan long before he owned the temple.  Look at the plans God had for Saul before he saved him, Gal 1:15-16.  God has plans for you and me, too, Ps 139:14-17.

Demolish It

The owners and contractors always seem to delight in the demolition phase.  They tear out all the old walls, cabinets, counters, and fixtures that they want gone.  And they often find some ugly, nasty, unexpected stuff hiding behind the walls.  They just keep tearing out and the old house doesn’t even seem to mind.  

But we mind.  This demolition phase is the painful phase for us.  Tearing all the carnal, fleshly things out of our lives is gut wrenching.  But this is work that must be done.  Frankly, this is where most Christians quit growing.  They would just as soon the Holy Spirit live in a trashy old house than submit themselves to a whole-house cleaning.  But if you know anything about the Lord and the Holy Spirit, the last thing they want is a dirty, defiled temple.

Renovate It

The renovation of the house is the goal of the owners and contractors.  They want it fixed up.  And it is remarkable to see the transition.  It is amazing what they can do.

Whereas, the owners of houses must work within a budget to keep from exceeding the appraised value, the Lord spares no expense to fix us up.  There is no price too high.  He turned Saul into Paul, and a wicked, demon-possessed naked man into a witnessing disciple of Christ.  The Lord is not worried about staying within a sales price.  Once he owns you as his temple, he will never sell you.  

Furthermore, unlike fixer uppers, he is not concerned with non-essentials like landscaping and exterior finishes.  His interest in all on the inside.  There won’t be a shocking contrast between the before and after pictures of your temple.

Furnish It

In 2 Tim 3:16 by the scriptures, we are furnished unto all good works.  According to Eph 2:10, we are his workmanship created unto good works.  The continual furnishing with the words of God and the continual application of those words in our lives, keeps the temple functional for the Holy Sprit.  Through us he can do his work as he planned.

A Continual Fixer Upper

The Holy Ghost will continue to make improvements to his temple since there are always things to renovate in our lives. Nevertheless, we will be a much better temple after his initial phases than we were when he first moved in.