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Scripture Reading: 2 Cor. 1:21-22; 3:3, 6, 8, 17-18; 4:7, 16; 5:5; 12:8-9; 13:14
In the book of Romans, the Spirit is the Spirit of life, the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit of the Son of God for our sonship to make us the real sons of God so that Christ may be the Firstborn among many brothers. These many sons of God and brothers of Christ are the living members that form the Body of Christ as His corporate expression. Then in 1 Corinthians, the Spirit is the indwelling Spirit who reveals to us all the things of Christ to bring us into the enjoyment, the fellowship, of all His riches, and through this enjoyment He builds us up together as one Body. Thus, He is the building Spirit. As the Spirit for our sonship in Romans, He is the Spirit of life, and as the building Spirit in 1 Corinthians, He is the indwelling and revealing Spirit. This is the message of Romans and 1 Corinthians concerning the Spirit.
In 2 Corinthians, the Spirit is the transforming Spirit (3:18). For the building up of God’s house there is the need of transformation. This means that we all must be metabolically and inwardly changed in life, nature, and disposition and be renewed in our mind, will, and emotion. In this way we are wholly transformed in our soul. Then we will be the precious materials that are good for the building up of God’s habitation.
The thought of transformation is also found in Romans. Romans 12:2 says, “Be transformed by the renewing of the mind.” We are transformed in our soul by the renewing of the mind, emotion, and will. In 1 Corinthians 3 there is the thought of transformation, although this specific word is not in this Epistle. This chapter tells us that we must build the temple of God with gold, silver, and precious stones, rather than with wood, grass, and stubble (vv. 12, 16). Along with the building Spirit in 1 Corinthians there is the thought of the need of transformation for the building. Now the following book, 2 Corinthians, tells us that this indwelling, building Spirit is the Spirit who transforms us. Therefore, we may state in a simple way that in Romans He is the Spirit of the Son for our sonship, in 1 Corinthians He is the building Spirit, and in 2 Corinthians He is the transforming Spirit.
Second Corinthians 1:21 and 22 say, “The One who firmly attaches us with you unto Christ and has anointed us is God, He who has also sealed us and given the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.” We should highlight the words anointed, sealed, and pledge. These are precious words. Pledge is equal to the modern terms guarantee, security deposit, or down payment. A down payment is the first payment and a guarantee of future payments. The Holy Spirit given to us by God today is the down payment, deposit, and guarantee of a future payment. Ephesians 1:13-14 also tells us that God has sealed us with the Holy Spirit and given us the Spirit as the pledge of our inheritance. In addition to sealing and pledging, 2 Corinthians 1 speaks of a third item, the anointing. God has anointed us with the Spirit, sealed us by and with the Spirit, and given us the Spirit as a pledge.
According to the sequence in verses 21 and 22, the anointing is first, followed by the sealing and the pledge. In typology, the oil of the anointing ointment signifies the Spirit. We may compare the ointment to paint. In this sense, to anoint is to paint. The more we paint something, the more the paint is added to that thing. Originally, it may have been only wood with a natural color, but as we paint it, the paint is added to the wood and even worked into it. God Himself is the anointing ointment, the “paint.” For God to anoint us means that He paints us with Himself, and the more He anoints us, the more His element is added to us and wrought into us. Moreover, the ingredients of this anointing are all the elements of God. Thus, as He anoints us with Himself, His “ingredients” are being worked into us; that is, we have more of His element within us.
After a certain amount of painting, the paint and the thing that is painted are mingled as one. Likewise, God is within us in Christ as the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ to anoint us. It is by this anointing that God works Himself into us and mingles Himself with us. God has anointed us and is still anointing us with Himself, that is, with His Spirit as the ointment, so that we may have His elements, His ingredients. This must be very clear to us; it is vital to the Christian life.
Second, verse 22 says that God has sealed us. According to the custom of the ancient times, for someone to seal something meant that he put a mark, a likeness, on that thing to signify that it belonged to him. Likewise, for God to seal us means that He puts His likeness upon us as a mark. The more God seals us, the more we have God-likeness as a mark that we belong to Him. On a certain occasion I went to a ship pier to meet a new believer. I had only received a cable concerning him, but I had never seen him, even in a photograph. As hundreds of people come off a ship, it is usually difficult to recognize anyone. However, this did not bother me. While people flooded out of the ship, I simply kept watching until I saw a person upon whom God had placed His mark. Then I knew that this one must be a brother. There was no outward mark upon him, simply a certain kind of expression by which I could recognize him as a brother.
Once in 1933 a sister sent us a letter telling us that she was coming to us from Shanghai. Again, we had never seen her, but we went to wait for her. As the ship stood at a distance, a number of small sampans carried people to the shore. With so many small boats in the sea, it is difficult to find a particular person. However, as we were watching from the pier, I told the brothers, “Look, there is one person in the third boat. I believe she must be the sister.” All the other brothers agreed that she must be the one, and indeed it was she. There is a certain kind of seal, a mark, placed upon us through the work of the Spirit. From our appearance, our countenance, people can recognize that we are children of God, those who belong to the Lord. This is a living mark as the outer operation of the inner Spirit. When we have the Holy Spirit within us, God causes us by the Spirit to have His likeness. This does not mean that we merely behave in a certain way. Even if we do nothing but stand here, the believers can still recognize that we are children of God, their brothers and sisters. This is because of the sealing of the Holy Spirit.
As we are being anointed by God with the Spirit, spontaneously we have this mark. In a sense, the anointing itself is the sealing. People often use paint to mark certain items. If we paint something in this way, this means that it belongs to us. The anointing is the marking. It is a shame if others cannot tell whether we are children of God or children of the devil (1 John 3:10). We need to have a living mark, a living seal, that tells others that we belong to God, that we are children of God. We should have a certain kind of likeness that is the mark of God. God has marked us, sealed us, with the anointing Spirit. However, it is sometimes not easy to recognize whether or not someone is a brother. This is because the “paint” is not deep and rich enough in him. If the mark upon us is not clear, this means that we are short of God’s anointing.
Third, 2 Corinthians 1:22 speaks of the pledge. The pledge is the proof, guarantee, and down payment that all that God is, is our portion. The seal means that we belong to God, and the pledge guarantees that God belongs to us. The seal declares that we are God’s, and the pledge declares that God is ours. God has given us the Holy Spirit within as a down payment of our future enjoyment. The Holy Spirit within us today is the firstfruit and foretaste of our enjoyment of Him, guaranteeing that God will give us the full enjoyment. God has anointed His ingredients into us, and He has sealed us with Himself as a mark. In addition, He has put the Holy Spirit within us as a down payment, a guarantee, and a deposit to ensure that all that God is, is our portion. This is the work of the Holy Spirit within us. The anointing, the sealing, and the pledging are all for the purpose of transforming us. The more God anoints us, the more He seals us, and the more we enjoy the pledging Spirit, the more we are transformed.
Chapter 3 reveals the Spirit in five aspects. First, verse 3 says, “Since you are being manifested that you are a letter of Christ ministered by us, inscribed not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tablets of stone but in tablets of hearts of flesh.” The Spirit here is the writing Spirit to write Christ into us, and our heart is the tablet for the inscribing Spirit. We are the living letters, and the “story” written on these letters is Christ. Moreover, the writer of these letters is the Spirit through the apostles, and the ink also is the Spirit. The indwelling Spirit is continually writing something of Christ upon our heart.
Christ today has come into our spirit, but He may not yet be written on our heart. Our heart mainly surrounds our spirit, being composed of our mind, emotion, and will, in addition to our conscience. Therefore, for the Spirit to write Christ on us as living letters means that He writes Christ into our mind, emotion, and will; that is, the Spirit takes our whole heart as the tablet for inscribing Christ. As He does this, we become a complete epistle of Christ, and people can read Christ upon us. When people “read” our mind, emotion, and will, they will say, “Every bit of this person is Christ. His thought is Christ, his love is Christ, and even his hating is Christ (Rev. 2:6). Moreover, his deciding is also Christ. His deciding to keep something is Christ, and his deciding to reject it also is Christ.” I am afraid that sometimes people cannot read Christ upon our mind, emotion, and will. When they read our heart, they may read only our car or our bank account. What is written on our mind, emotion, and will? Has Christ been written on, that is, wrought into, our heart?
To inscribe Christ in our heart is the work of the transforming Spirit within us. The transforming Spirit is waiting for the opportunity to write Christ into our mind, emotion, and will, to make us complete epistles of Christ. The indwelling Spirit, who is the transforming Spirit, is doing the work of writing in us, but we need to give Him our cooperation. We must let Him have the free course to write something into our mind, emotion, and will.
Second Corinthians 3:6a goes on to say, “Who has also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant, ministers not of the letter but of the Spirit.” As ministers of the word today, we must be the good writers of Christ into others. This means that we must minister Christ to people to cause those who listen to our message to become the living epistles of Christ. Ministers not of the letter but of the Spirit indicates that the Spirit here is the ministering Spirit to minister, to write, Christ into us. Verse 8 also speaks of “the ministry of the Spirit.”
Verse 6b continues, “For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” Here the Spirit is the life-giving Spirit to always impart life into us. Life includes satisfaction; to be satisfied means that we are full of life. Life also includes strength; to be weak means that we are short of life, but to be full of strength means that we are full of life. In addition, to be in the light and full of light means that we are full of life, but to be in darkness means that we are short of life. When we have rest, comfort, and peace, that also means that we have life, but to be short of these indicates that we are short of life. The life-giving Spirit always ministers life and the life supply to us.
Verse 17 says, “The Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” The Spirit in verse 17 refers to the Spirit who gives life in verse 6. In verse 17 the Spirit is the liberating Spirit, liberating us from every kind of bondage, particularly from the bondage and veiling of the law. By the work of this liberating Spirit we are released from any kind of covering and bondage. We have been liberated. However, we still need to give Him the ground, the opportunity, and the free course to do His liberating work. This verse says, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” This means that He must be with us, and He must have the ground in us. If He is not with us, we do not have freedom; if He does not gain the ground in us, we cannot obtain freedom. On the other hand, if the ground in us is His, the freedom is ours. He is the liberating Spirit, liberating us from every kind of bondage, suppression, oppression, and occupation, but we must give Him the ground in us.
Verse 18 says, “We all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.” We are mirrors that reflect while we behold. However, we must have an unveiled face. If our face is veiled and covered, the mirror will not function. As we behold the Lord, we reflect His glory, and by this beholding and reflecting, we are gradually transformed into the image of the Lord from glory to glory. This transformation is the work of the transforming Spirit. In chapters 1 and 3 there are eight items related to the Spirit: anointing, sealing, pledging, inscribing, ministering, life-giving, liberating, and transforming. The first seven aspects are all for the purpose of transformation. The Spirit within us continually anoints us, seals us, and gives us the assurance that God is ours. He also inscribes Christ into us, ministers Christ to us, imparts life to us, and liberates us from bondage. All this is so that He can transform us into the image of Christ.
I would ask you all, especially the young brothers and sisters, to memorize all these items: anointing, sealing, pledging, inscribing, ministering, life-giving, liberating, and transforming. What we must always do is open ourselves to Him, not only from our heart but also from our spirit. We must open ourselves from the depths of our being so that we may truly have an unveiled face, a face with no covering or hindrance. If we are open to Him, the transforming Spirit will be free to work within us to transform us into the glorious image of Christ from glory to glory.
Verse 7 of chapter 4 says, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not out of us.” Then verse 16 says, “Therefore we do not lose heart; but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.” The outer man is the old soul with the body as its organ to express it, and the inner man is our regenerated human spirit with our renewed soul as its organ to express it. This implies that the life of the soul must be “whittled down,” crossed out, but the function of the soul must be renewed so that the soul as an organ can be used by the regenerated spirit.
The treasure in verse 7 is Christ in our regenerated spirit. Now we need to cooperate with the indwelling Spirit to live no longer by the soul but always by the spirit. The outer man must be crossed out so that we can give the Spirit the opportunity to renew our inner man day by day. This renewing of the inner man is mainly not in the spirit but in the soul — the mind, emotion, and will. Our spirit has been renewed and regenerated already, but now our soul must be renewed. Therefore, we must always cooperate with the indwelling Spirit so that He may spread Christ as the treasure from our spirit into our soul for the renewing of the soul day by day.
Verse 5 of chapter 5 says, “Now He who has wrought us for this very thing is God, who has given to us the Spirit as a pledge.” Again we have the Spirit as the guarantee, the pledge, but here the guarantee is for a heavenly tabernacle, a glorious body (vv. 1-2). At the present time we are in a temporary, earthen body, but the Lord promises us that one day He will change our body into a glorious one. The guarantee and foretaste of this is the Spirit. The apostle Paul was not waiting to die; rather, he was expecting to have a change from his temporary tabernacle to an eternal, permanent one, which is a glorious body. Because our body is very weak, it is a real bothering to us. By the Spirit, however, even this weak body is enlivened and strengthened. This is a foretaste of the change awaiting our body.
In 12:8 and 9, Paul says about the thorn in his flesh, “Concerning this I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He has said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness. Most gladly therefore I will rather boast in my weaknesses that the power of Christ might tabernacle over me.” The Lord would not take away the thorn. Rather, He supplied Paul with sufficient grace for his suffering. Grace is the Lord’s power, and this power is the Lord Himself. The Lord Himself as the power to us is the grace we enjoy.
The Lord’s sufficient grace is in our spirit. Galatians 6:18 says, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.” Philemon 25 says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.” Regrettably, many Christians know, “My grace is sufficient,” but very few know that this sufficient grace is in our spirit. In order to enjoy, apply, and appropriate this sufficient grace, we need to know that it is in our spirit, and we need to know how to exercise our spirit.
Some may say that since Paul’s suffering in 2 Corinthians 12 was in his body, the grace must also be in the body. This is not the case. Grace is in our spirit. When our spirit is strong, we can endure any kind of suffering in the body, but when our spirit is weak, the suffering of the body becomes a suffering to our whole being. Even if there is a certain amount of suffering in our body, our whole being will not suffer if our spirit within is strong. We are strengthened and we can endure any suffering because we have grace in our spirit.
Verse 14 of chapter 13 concludes, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” In this verse we have the Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. God is in Christ, and Christ is the Spirit. God as the source is love, Christ as the course is grace, and the Spirit as the flow is fellowship. Second Corinthians shows us how to enjoy Christ as our sufficient grace. The source of this grace is the love of God, and the course of this love is grace. In other words, love is the source, and grace is the expression of the source. This grace comes into us by the flow, the fellowship, the transmission, of the Spirit.
Love, grace, and fellowship are simply the Triune God Himself. Love is God, and this love, who is God Himself, is the source. Out of this love, Christ comes as our grace, and Christ as grace comes into us by the transmission of the Holy Spirit. Christians often use this verse as a benediction, but it is regrettable that many do not know what it means. This verse reveals the work of the transforming Spirit to transmit into us Christ as the grace from God Himself as love, the source. Out of God Himself as love, the transforming Spirit continually transmits and communicates Christ into us as our sufficient grace. Now we simply enjoy and experience this grace, and it is in this grace that day by day we are being transformed into His image. The process of this transforming work is being carried out by the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, at the conclusion of this book Paul commends to us the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit so that we may be transformed.
