In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul describes the church using three metaphors: a field under cultivation, a building whose foundation has been laid, and a temple in which the Spirit of God dwells."Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple." 1 Corinthians 8:16-17