1 Corinthians 3:9-10 — For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

For the second of my pieces of the steps by which we end up being in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit I want to turn to the “build” step. 

The first thing we might note is that God is the architect … Another way of putting it is that he is the prime contractor. He’s the architect, and the one who manages all the parts of the building process — but some of the work might be delegated to others! In fact Paul describes himself as the master builder, responsible for the foundation. I think it’s like that for all of us. There’s someone who lays the foundation for us, someone who teaches us enough about being a Christian to start building us up.

Once we have a foundation laid, an interesting thing happens. We get to join the work crew! Look what Paul says later in 1 Corinthians:

How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying. (1 Corinthians 14:26)

Did you see that? “Edification” … That means “building up”. The Greek word is “oikodomeo” — building the house.
It is our collective responsibility to build each other up … To build the houses for the Holy Spirit to live in.

If we don’t work with the architect, our building is doomed to fail. All the teaching, preaching, all the good works … none of it will help without proper guidance: “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: …” (Psalms 127:1)

Working with the Great Architect is essential. So is following His instructions! 

“Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: .,.

And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:” (Matthew 7:24, 26)

We all work together, building each other up. As we do so, we build the homes for the Holy Spirit to dwell in — and together we build the most beautiful building of all, the church of Christ!