But what about “handed over to Satan”? Recall that the Israelites viewed their land as holy ground and the territory of the non-Israelite nations as controlled by demonic gods. Israel was holy ground because that was where the presence of Yahweh resided. The opposite was true everywhere else. In the last chapter, we saw that gatherings of believers were viewed the same way. God’s presence was no longer in the Jerusalem temple, but in the temple which is the body of Christ (1 Cor 3:16–17). The Corinthian church was therefore “holy ground”; outside that gathering was the demonic realm. To be
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