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Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 1:1-2, 5-7, 9, 22-24, 30; 2:2, 9-16; 3:1-3, 7-13a, 16-17; 6:17, 19; 7:10, 12a, 25, 40; 10:1-4; 12:3-4, 7-13; 15:45b
It is not easy for many Christians to receive the proper light concerning the life-giving Spirit in 1 Corinthians. Even though the apostle presents the Spirit in a particular way, many today are too impressed with the supernatural gifts of the Spirit. Before we get into this book, we need to forget this kind of unbalanced impression. Let us come to this book with a pure understanding. If we put off the “tinted glasses” from our eyes, we will see the pure revelation from the pure Word.
Let us consider certain important passages from this book. Verses 1 and 2 of chapter 1 say, “Paul, a called apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Sosthenes the brother, to the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, the called saints, with all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, who is theirs and ours.” We should highlight the phrase theirs and ours. This means that Christ is both their portion and our portion. Then verse 9 says, “God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” Christ is our portion, and God has called us into the fellowship, the enjoyment, of this portion. Verse 30 says, “Of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” That Christ has been made all these items to us means that He is everything to us. He is our divine portion, and He is all in all to us.
Verses 22 through 24 say, “Indeed Jews require signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” The phrase but we preach Christ in verse 23 indicates that signs and wisdom are not Christ. Rather, to certain people they are substitutes for Christ. We do not want to follow the Jews or the Greeks. The Jews require a sign, which is something miraculous, and the Greeks seek wisdom. Instead, we want to follow the apostles, who preached Christ crucified.
Verses 5 through 7 say, “In everything you were enriched in Him, in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you do not lack in any gift, eagerly awaiting the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Utterance, knowledge, and gifts may also be substitutes for Christ. These things are good, but all these are not Christ Himself. The Corinthians did not lack any gift, but they were not spiritual men. Rather, they were infants and fleshy (3:1-3). They had all utterance, knowledge, and gifts, but they were short of Christ.
In 1 Corinthians 1 Christ is presented as our all-inclusive portion. He is the wisdom prepared for us by God to be our righteousness in the past, sanctification in the present, and redemption in the future so that He may be our portion and our all in all. Moreover, we have been called by God into the fellowship of this Christ. He is ours, and He is theirs. He is the divine portion allotted by God to every believer. Miracles, signs, wisdom, utterance, knowledge, and gifts may simply be substitutes for Christ. We can be distracted from Christ by all these things that are not Christ Himself. In this chapter Paul stresses that nothing less than the all-inclusive Christ is our portion, not even the good things. Paul confirms this in chapter 2, saying, “I did not determine to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and this One crucified” (v. 2). Paul made the decision not to know anything of signs, miracles, wisdom, utterance, knowledge, or gifts. Instead, he determined to know Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
In chapter 2 Paul gives us the practical way to experience and enjoy Christ by the Spirit. Verses 9 through 14 say, “As it is written, ‘Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard and which have not come up in man’s heart; things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’ But to us God has revealed them through the Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the things of man, except the spirit of man which is in him? In the same way, the things of God also no one has known except the Spirit of God. But we have received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit which is from God, that we may know the things which have been graciously given to us by God; which things also we speak, not in words taught by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things with spiritual words. But a soulish man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him and he is not able to know them because they are discerned spiritually.” The things that God has graciously given to us are the things of Christ, including His life, and the depths of God are Christ in many aspects as our enjoyment. Interpreting spiritual things with spiritual words in verse 13 is to explain spiritual things by spiritual means. The Spirit explains the spiritual things, the deep things of God concerning Christ, by means of spiritual words.
In these verses five verbs are used to describe how the Spirit works within us related to the things of Christ: revealed, searches, knows, taught, and discerned. The Spirit of God searches the things of Christ, knows the things of Christ, and reveals and teaches the things of Christ to us, and we discern these things by the Spirit.
Verses 15 continues, “But the spiritual man discerns all things, but he himself is discerned by no one.” We need to be spiritual and not soulish. If we are soulish, we cannot understand and receive the things of Christ. To be soulish means to live and to walk in the soul. To be spiritual means to live and walk in the spirit. The way to experience Christ is by the spirit, not by the soul. The deep things of God are Christ Himself, and the things that God has graciously given to us are also Christ Himself. We need to experience this Christ in our spirit through the Holy Spirit, because it is the Spirit who searches the things of Christ, knows the things of Christ, and reveals, teaches, and discerns the things of Christ.
Because this Spirit is now in our spirit, we must be in our spirit. If we are soulish and in the soul, we are foolish; we cannot know and receive the things of Christ. We need to live and walk in the spirit and not in the soul. If we live and walk in the soul, we become soulish and natural men, men who cannot receive the things of Christ. It is in the spirit that we contact the Spirit of God who reveals and teaches all the things of Christ to us.
Chapter 2 concludes with verse 16, which says, “Who has known the mind of the Lord and will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.” To have the mind of Christ means that our mind is renewed and our soul is transformed. Romans 12:2 says, “Be transformed by the renewing of the mind.” As we have seen before, man is of three parts — spirit, soul, and body. The Spirit dwells in our spirit to reveal and teach all the things of Christ to us. Therefore, we need to walk and live in the spirit, not in the soul. When we walk and live in the spirit, we give the free way to Christ to flood us and fill us. From our spirit He will spread into the parts of our soul, which are our mind, emotion, and will. Then our mind will be renewed. It will no longer be the natural mind but the mind of Christ. This is to be transformed in our soul. It is in this way that we experience Christ as our all-inclusive portion.
In 1 Corinthians 1 we have Christ as our portion, and in chapter 2 we have the Spirit as the way, the means, for us to enjoy our portion. Because this Spirit is in our spirit, we need to be spiritual men living and walking in our spirit. In this way we will continually contact the Spirit who reveals and teaches Christ to us. Moreover, as we walk and live in the spirit, the Spirit will take possession of our entire being, and Christ will have the free way to flood and saturate us. Then all the parts of our soul will be renewed and transformed, and we will enjoy Christ as everything to us.
First Corinthians 3:1 says, “I, brothers, was not able to speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to fleshy, as to infants in Christ.” In chapter 2 Paul says that we must be spiritual men. If we are soulish, we cannot enjoy Christ. In chapter 3, however, he says that he could not speak to the Corinthians as to spiritual men, but as to fleshy. Fleshy is a stronger expression than fleshly. In chapters 1 through 4 the Corinthians had jealousy, strife, and divisions. All these are fleshly things. In chapters 5 and 6, though, some committed things even more evil. Those who did such things were fleshy, made of the flesh and totally of the flesh. Paul spoke to the Corinthians as to fleshy, because among them there was even one who committed incest with his stepmother. This was to behave not only as soulish or fleshly but as fleshy.
Chapter 3 continues, “I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, for you were not yet able to receive it. But neither yet now are you able, for you are still fleshly. For if there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly and do you not walk according to the manner of man?” (vv. 2-3). The Corinthian believers, who had received all utterance and knowledge and were lacking in no gift, were short of Christ. They were babyish, soulish, fleshly, and even fleshy.
Verses 7 through 9 say, “So then neither is he who plants anything nor he who waters, but God who causes the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s cultivated land, God’s building.” Here Paul says that we are two things. We are God’s cultivated land to grow a harvest, and we are also God’s building. As the cultivated land we need to grow, and as the building we need to be built up. The house of God is not a house without life; it is a living house, a house that is full of life. Therefore, the building of this house depends on the growth of life. We need not only to be built together but also to grow together.
Verses 10 through 13a say, “According to the grace of God given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid a foundation, and another builds upon it. But let each man take heed how he builds upon it. For another foundation no one is able to lay besides that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. But if anyone builds upon the foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, grass, stubble, the work of each will become manifest.” Then verses 16 and 17 continue, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him; for the temple of God is holy, and such are you.”
According to a careful reading of this chapter, the Holy Spirit today is the Spirit who indwells us to give us the growth in life, transform us into precious materials, and build us up together. Following this, there is the temple of God. Again, this house of God is a living house. It is a building that requires the growth of life. On the one hand, we are the cultivated land of God, and on the other hand, we are the building of God. Therefore, we need to grow. The way to grow is by the Spirit. Then by growing we are transformed into gold, silver, and precious stones. Originally, we all were only clay. We were not gold, silver, or precious stones. However, by growing in life we are transformed into these precious materials, and by being transformed we are built up together. The work of the indwelling Spirit is to give us the growth of life, transform us into precious materials, and build us together as the temple of God.
The way the Spirit gives us the growth is by feeding us (v. 2). The Spirit who dwells within us feeds us with Christ either as milk or as solid food. If we are too young or childish, the Spirit knows that He must feed us with Christ as milk. Mothers know that they cannot feed babies with steak. They need to be fed with milk little by little. The apostle Paul fed the Corinthian believers in this way. Growth in life comes not merely from teaching. Growth comes by feeding on something of Christ either as milk or as solid food (Heb. 5:12-14). It is by feeding that we grow, it is by growth in life that we are transformed, and it is by this transformation that we become the precious stones that are good for the building up of the temple of God. In 1 Corinthians 3, therefore, the indwelling Spirit is the feeding Spirit, the transforming Spirit, and the building Spirit.
We must not only know Christ but also feed on Christ. We need to enjoy Christ by eating and drinking Him (John 6:57; 7:37). Then we will grow in life, and it is by this growth that we are gradually transformed into precious materials for the building of God’s house. We can see this also in the six parables in Matthew 13. The first four parables deal with the sower who sowed the seed, the seed growing into wheat, the growing mustard seed, and the fine flour from the wheat that becomes bread. All these are related to God’s cultivated land that grows something to be blent as fine flour to make a loaf, signifying the Body of Christ. Following this are the parables of the treasure hidden in the field and the pearl hidden in the water. Both the treasure and the pearl are precious materials that are good for the building of God. This indicates that the precious materials come from the transformation of that which grows out of the land.
This growth of life comes from feeding on Christ as our food, our nourishment. We need to feed on Christ day by day. Then we will be nourished to grow, and by this growth we will spontaneously and gradually be transformed into precious materials for the building of God. All this is the work of the indwelling Spirit.
First Corinthians 6:17 reveals something even more wonderful. It is a great matter, not only in the Bible but also in the whole universe. This verse says, “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” Following this, verses 19 and 20 say, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price. So then glorify God in your body.” This passage states clearly that the Holy Spirit dwells not only in our spirit but also in our body. Our whole being, not only our spirit but also our body, becomes the temple of God.
This is wonderful, but it requires much work. A fleshly or fleshy person’s body cannot be the temple of God. This body must be saturated by the Spirit who dwells in our spirit. The Spirit is in our spirit, and now He wants to spread through our soul to permeate our body. Then even our body will become a part of the divine temple. This is the proper meaning of glorify God in your body. To glorify God in our body is to manifest God through our body. Our body, not only our soul, must be under the control of the spirit. When our soul and our body are both under the control of our spirit, the spirit can manifest something of God in our body.
When the Spirit possesses even our body, we are fit to be built up together as the Body of Christ. Romans 12:1 tells us to present our body for the Body of Christ. We need to offer our physical body for the mystical Body of Christ. If we fellowship with the Lord with our spirit and love Him with our heart, but our body is not occupied by the Spirit for the Lord’s purpose, we cannot realize the Body life. In order to realize the church life, our spirit must be filled with the Holy Spirit, our soul must be transformed by all of its parts being renewed, and our body must be occupied by the Spirit. This means that our entire being — spirit, soul, and body — is taken over by the Spirit. Then it will be easy to be related with the other saints, and we will be in the Body of Christ in a practical way. We need to offer our physical body for the mystical Body of Christ. A spirit to contact the Lord and a heart to love the Lord are not good enough. We also need to offer our body to the Lord as a living sacrifice. Then we will have the Body life, and when we have the Body life, we will truly glorify God in our body.
We fellowship with the Lord, but fellowship is a matter of the spirit. Likewise, we love the Lord, and we set our mind on the spirit, but this is a matter of the heart. Our body, however, may not yet be a living sacrifice for the Body of Christ. Our body needs to be set free from many preoccupations. When we visit certain ones, they sometimes say, “Thank you for your concern. I have been away from the meetings for several months, but I assure you that my heart is with the Lord.” Yes, our heart is with the Lord, but what about our body? If our body is not presented for the practical church life, then to say that our heart is with the Lord is to speak a kind of lie wrapped in a truth. If our body does not come, our being is not coming in reality. To say that our heart is in America though our body is in Taiwan simply means we are still in Taiwan. The body is the appearance of a man in reality. If our body is not present, our being cannot be present.
The spirit is in the soul, the soul is in the body, and the body is in time. Therefore, we need to designate time for our body to come to the church life in practicality. If our time is occupied, our whole being is occupied. That is why we need to separate out a part of our time for our body to come to the church life. Then when our body comes, our soul comes, and when our soul comes, our spirit comes. The Holy Spirit within us today is working to transform our soul, occupy our body, and separate our time to the Lord. Then we will glorify God in our body by being in the Body of Christ in practicality.
First Corinthians 7:10 says, “To the married I charge, not I but the Lord, A wife must not be separated from her husband.” When Paul charged, it was not he but the Lord. This is the real oneness with the Lord according to 6:17: “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” Then verse 12a of chapter 7 says, “To the rest I say, I, not the Lord.” In verse 10 he says, “Not I but the Lord,” while in verse 12 he says, “I, not the Lord.” We may be more “spiritual” than the apostle Paul. Today many ministers say in a pretentious way, “The Lord gave me the burden to speak to you.” Sometimes we do need to have the boldness to say, “I charge, not I but the Lord,” but sometimes we also need to say, “I, not the Lord.”
Verse 25 continues, “Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who has been shown mercy by the Lord to be faithful.” It seems that if someone does not have a commandment from the Lord, he should not speak. However, this chapter of 1 Corinthians is a portrait of a person at the peak of spirituality. On the one hand, he could say that when he spoke, it was the Lord speaking. On the other hand, he recognized that although his speaking was not a commandment from the Lord, he could still give his judgment, concept, or opinion. This is genuine spirituality. Here is a person who had been occupied by the Lord, taken over by the Lord, saturated and permeated with the Lord, and mingled with the Lord. When he spoke, whether as from the Lord directly or simply in giving his opinion, he was one with the Lord. Even when he did not have the feeling that he had the Lord’s direct commandment, he could still speak something of the Lord.
Verse 40 concludes, “She is more blessed if she so remains, according to my opinion; but I think that I also have the Spirit of God.” Paul gave his opinion, but he still thought that he had the Spirit of God. The more spiritual we are, the less assurance we will have. When we say, “I am sure that I am in the spirit,” it is doubtful that we are in the spirit. Rather, we should say, “I do not know, and I am not clear. This may be my opinion, judgment, and concept. I am not sure, but I think that I have the Spirit of God.”
Paul’s word in chapter 7 is recognized as the word of God. Brother Watchman Nee once pointed out to us that this is the climax of spirituality. A truly spiritual person must be like this. We must not say, “Because I am full of the Spirit and under the power of the Spirit, what I am speaking to you must be of the Lord.” Such a speaking does not appear in the New Testament. On the contrary, here is a person saying, “I say, I, not the Lord...I have no commandment of the Lord, but I give my opinion...But I think that I also have the Spirit of God.” Nevertheless, whatever he spoke was the word of God, because by this time the apostle Paul was a person truly joined to the Lord as one spirit. He was so occupied by the Lord, mingled with the Lord, and thoroughly saturated with the Lord that even his concept and judgment were something from the Lord.
This is the message of 1 Corinthians. Yes, in chapters 12 and 14 there is the matter of speaking in tongues. However, the church today needs chapter 7 more than the tongues in chapters 12 and 14. We need not merely the outward manifestation of the gifts but the inward mingling of the Lord with us as one. Even when we do not have the feeling or assurance that what we speak is something from the Lord, eventually what we speak is of the Lord because we are saturated with Him and one with Him in reality. “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit” (6:17).
Chapter 10 begins, “For I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank of a spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ” (vv. 1-4). This chapter shows us that today Christ is everything to us. He is not physical food, a psychological drink, or a material rock. Rather, He is our spiritual food, spiritual drink, and spiritual rock. Therefore, we need to enjoy Him, experience Him, feed on Him, drink of Him, and rely on Him in our spirit.
Verse 3 of chapter 12 says, “Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking in the Spirit of God says, Jesus is accursed; and no one can say, Jesus is Lord! except in the Holy Spirit.” Before the Spirit gives the spiritual gifts, He causes people to say, Jesus is Lord! Verse 4 continues, “But there are distinctions of gifts, but the same Spirit.” Then verses 7 through 10 go on to speak of the manifestation of the Spirit given to each one for what is profitable. Verses 11 and 12 say, “The one and the same Spirit operates all these things, distributing to each one respectively even as He purposes. For even as the body is one and has many members, yet all the members of the body, being many, are one body, so also is the Christ.” In the normal and proper sense, all the gifts and manifestations mentioned in these verses are something of Christ for the building up of the Body of Christ. Verse 12 tells us that the Body is even Christ Himself. We should not isolate the gifts from Christ. They are something of Christ and for the Body of Christ.
Verse 13 continues, “For also in one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and were all given to drink one Spirit.” To be baptized in the Spirit and to drink the Spirit are two different matters. To be baptized in water is to be put into the water, but to drink the water is to take the water into us. We need the baptism of the Holy Spirit without, and we also need to drink the Spirit within. We are not baptized in water every day, but we drink water every day. In the same way, we need to drink the Spirit inwardly every day.
Finally, 15:45b says, “The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.” The last Adam is Christ. First Corinthians, a book that presents Christ to us as our portion, concludes by telling us that this Christ, who is our portion given by God, is the life-giving Spirit.
