Temple of Glory: Paul’s Ecclesiology and the Manifest Presence in the Church
I am increasingly convinced that the Church is supposed to be a dwelling place where the presence and glory of God is manifest and experienced by those who encounter her, especially in her corporate gatherings. You might think, that’s an obvious thing for a charismatic leader to say. But I want to emphasize that I am gaining more and more clarity as I study the scriptures and consider Paul’s ecclesiology (the study of the church—its identity, purpose, and role in God’s redemptive plan). I am moved by Paul’s conviction to steward the presence of God in the assembly of the redeemed.
When considering Paul’s ideas of the church you have to understand that Paul’s ecclesiology is thoroughly temple-centric, but not abstractly so. His apostolic burden was to see the corporate church become the living temple of God, a dwelling place for His manifest presence. He doesn’t simply teach about God’s omnipresence; Paul sees the local church as a place where God’s glory is expected to dwell as it dwelt in the Old Testament tabernacles and temples. And when we investigate His admonitions to the local assemblies, we find that he encourages cultivating space for the presence of God to manifest corporately. As both a theologian and a spiritual director of sorts, Paul stewarded this divine presence in the church throughout his apostolic ministry, using imagery and practices rooted in temple worship, prophetic order, and priestly language.
Here are four examples:
1. Church Discipline and the Authoritative Presence
1Corinthians 5:4 “When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus…”
Paul presumes that when the church gathers, Jesus Himself would be tangibly present with power. The phrase “with the power of our Lord Jesus” functions not as theological rhetoric but as an expectation for the divine presence to be manifest in a significant moment of church discipline.
This passage suggests that Paul views church gatherings as places of divine encounter, where the risen Christ manifest tangibly and authoritatively. Paul was not attending this gathering personally, but he affirmed it spiritually, expecting God’s presence to manifest in real-time judgment and restoration.
Gordon Fee states: “Paul’s theology of the gathered community assumes the real and dynamic presence of the Lord Jesus among His people… The church is not merely Christ’s body metaphorically but is the space where His lordship is enacted by the Spirit.”
— Pauline Christology, p. 178
2. Prophetic Order and the Convicting Presence
1Corinthians 14:24–25 “…he is convicted by all… and falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.”
Here Paul gives practical instruction on how prophetic gifts are to be administered to ensure clarity in the practice and that God’s presence is tangible and recognizable to outsiders. The goal of the gathered assembly is divine encounter that leads to repentance and transformation.
Paul is stewarding the order of the gathering intentionally to maximize the experience of God’s presence for all. Presence is not a symbolic idea; it is an experiential reality that can be identified and “declared” even by the unbeliever.
“True worship, in Paul’s mind, happens when the presence of God is made manifest among His people, especially through the gifts of the Spirit which point to His immediacy.”
- David Peterson, “Engaging with God” p. 224
3. The Glory in the Midst
Ephesians 2:21–22 “…in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”
Paul uses temple language here to describe the multi-ethnic church as a sacred construction for God's presence. The church is not metaphorically like a temple—it is the new temple, built together for a singular purpose: to host God's glory.
Paul’s apostolic role is about planting churches that are built as dwelling places for God’s glory. His ministry lays the foundation of Christ (1 Cor. 3:11) so that the Spirit may fill the house. His use of Old Testament temple imagery shows his intentional pursuit of presence-based ecclesiology. The Church as the new Temple is continuing God’s desire to dwell in manifest glory among His people.
4. The Glory That Transforms
2 Corinthians 3:17–18 “…where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom… and we all… are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.”
Paul draws on Moses’ experience of glory and transfers it to all believers, who now behold and reflect God’s glory by the Spirit. Worship, in this context, is engagement with the unveiled glory. This is the key to personal transformation according to Paul. And this motif is clear cut temple theology rooted in God’s glory dwelling among His people (cf. Exodus 34). Paul envisions worship as a corporate beholding of divine presence that shapes the church into Christ’s image. And contextually its evident that the corporate beholding is to be an ongoing practice offering continual transformation.
It's evident when taken all together that Paul’s theology of the church is not merely structural or ethical—it is presence-centered. His letters show that he not only believed in God’s indwelling presence among the believers but actively structured, governed, and ministered in such a way that God's glory could dwell and manifest in the church. Whether in discipline (1 Cor. 5), worship order (1 Cor. 14), church planting (Eph. 2), or devotion (2 Cor 3), Paul viewed his entire apostolic life as a priestly vocation (Rom 15:16), cultivating the new temple for God's habitation.