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Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 1:5, 7; 2:14-15; 3:1, 3; 4:21; 8:1b; 12:31—13:1, 3, 8; 14:1, 37; 16:18, 24
If we are going to experience the things mentioned in 1 Corinthians, we have to see that in this book, four lines are presented to us: the line of Christ, the line of the gifts, the line of the spirit, and the line of the church.
The first line is the line of Christ. Chapter 1 says that God has called us into the fellowship, the participation, the enjoyment, of Christ (v. 9). God’s intention is that we all may share Christ, partake of Christ, and enjoy Christ as everything to us. Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God (v. 24). He has been made to us righteousness for our past, sanctification for our present, and redemption for our future (v. 30).
In chapter 2 Christ is the Lord of glory (v. 8) and the depths of God (v. 10). In chapter 3 He is the foundation (v. 11). In chapter 5 He is the Passover (v. 7) and the unleavened bread (v. 8). In chapter 10 He is the spiritual food, the spiritual drink, and the spiritual rock (vv. 3-4). In chapter 11 Christ is the Head (v. 3). In chapter 12 He is the Body (v. 12). Finally, in chapter 15 He is the firstfruits (vv. 20, 23), the second man (v. 47), the last Adam (v. 45), and the life-giving Spirit. He is the first, the second, and the last.
Christ is everything, and this all-inclusive Christ became a life-giving Spirit. This life-giving Spirit indwells our spirit, so he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit (6:17). Today all the items of what Christ is are the elements, the components, of the life-giving Spirit, who dwells in our spirit to be our portion.
The second line in 1 Corinthians is the line of the gifts. This line is not very positive. Rather, in a certain sense, it may be considered as negative. In chapter 1 Paul said that the Corinthians had been enriched in Christ in everything, especially “in all utterance and all knowledge” (v. 5). He did not say that they were rich in life, in the spirit, or in the experience of Christ. They were rich in speaking and in knowledge in the mind. Furthermore, the Corinthians practiced the miraculous, outward gifts such as healing, speaking in tongues, etc., mentioned in chapters 12 and 14. But they were still infants in Christ. They were not only fleshly but even fleshy (3:1).
In chapter 12 Paul said that there are distinctions of gifts (v. 4). The gifts are many in number, but at the end of chapter 12 Paul advised the Corinthians to earnestly desire the greater gifts. Of the nine gifts which Paul listed in chapter 12 as the manifestation of the Spirit, speaking in tongues and interpretation of tongues are listed last because they are not the best gifts (vv. 7-10). Then at the end of chapter 12 Paul spoke of the placing of the gifts. He said, “God has placed some in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then works of power, then gifts of healing, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues” (v. 28). Notice that various kinds of tongues are listed last. Paul went on to say, “Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all have works of power? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret tongues? But earnestly desire the greater gifts” (vv. 29-31a). Speaking in tongues and interpretation of tongues are again, for the third time, listed last in Paul’s writing because they render the least profit to the church (14:4-6, 19).
Then Paul said, “Moreover I show to you a most excellent way” (12:31b). There is something more excellent than the best gifts. The excellent way is love, which is fully defined in chapter 13. Speaking in tongues is listed last on Paul’s positive lists. Then on his negative list in chapter 13, it is listed first. Verse 1 says, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but do not have love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.” Sounding brass and a clanging cymbal give sounds without life. This is a genuine illustration of tongue-speaking.
Verse 2 says, “If I have the gift of prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.” Without love we are nothing. Verse 3 says, “If I dole out all my possessions to feed others, and if I deliver up my body that I may boast, but do not have love, I profit nothing.” This shows that if we have the gifts or do anything without love, there is a great lack. We need the gifts plus love. In verse 8 Paul said, “Love never falls away. But whether prophecies, they will be rendered useless; or tongues, they will cease; or knowledge, it will be rendered useless.” Love never falls away.
People always associate love with the heart, but Paul put love with the spirit in 1 Corinthians. In 4:21 he spoke of coming to them either with a rod or in love and a spirit of meekness. Love is even deeper than the heart. Love is in the spirit, because it is in our spirit that Christ dwells. The real love, which is the expression of Christ, goes with our spirit because Christ is in our spirit. In 16:18 Paul said that his spirit had been refreshed. Then in verse 24 he said, “My love in Christ Jesus be with you all.” His spirit was refreshed, and his love was with them. Love goes along with our spirit. If our love is merely out of our heart, that is a natural love, not the divine love which is the expression of Christ. The love which is the expression of Christ comes out of our spirit.
In chapter 14 Paul charges us, “Pursue love, and desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy” (v. 1). This shows that the apostle Paul was a balanced person. He said to pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, but he made clear that we need to desire the best gift, which is to prophesy. The most important thing, however, is to pursue love. The Corinthians had the gifts, but they were short of love in the spirit. Love is the very God embodied in Christ who lives in our spirit.
The third line in 1 Corinthians is the line of the spirit. Here we are referring to the human spirit and the Holy Spirit. In chapter 5 Paul told the Corinthians that when they came together, he would meet with them, not in his body but in his spirit. He said, “When you and my spirit have been assembled...” (v. 4). In this assembly he judged a sinful person in the name of the Lord, in the spirit, and in power by delivering such a one to Satan (v. 5).
Paul was a man who behaved in his spirit. In chapter 4 Paul asked them whether he should come to them with a rod or in love and in a spirit of meekness. When he came to them the first time, he came in demonstration of the Spirit by the exercise of his spirit (2:4). Chapter 7 also shows that he was a man in his spirit. In this chapter he was one with the Lord to such a degree that even when he gave his own opinion, he had the Spirit of God.
To be a spiritual man does not mean that you have the Holy Spirit descending on you in a miraculous way to speak in tongues. Balaam’s donkey miraculously spoke in tongues, that is, in a human tongue, but his donkey was not spiritual (Num. 22:28-30). Paul, however, was genuinely spiritual. He said in 1 Corinthians 7 that he did not have the Lord’s commandment, but as one who had obtained the Lord’s mercy, he gave his opinion (v. 25). His opinion became a part of the divine revelation in the Bible. At the end of chapter 7 he said, “I think that I also have the Spirit of God” (v. 40). It seems that he was not so sure that he was in the spirit. This shows that to be a spiritual person is to be very human. Many Christians think that to be spiritual one must be angelic, but that is not a spiritual man. A spiritual man is very human in the spirit.
The word spiritual is used a number of times in 1 Corinthians. Paul said in chapter 2 that the spiritual man discerns all things (v. 15). In chapter 3 he said that he could not speak to the Corinthians as to spiritual men (v. 1). In chapter 9 he said that he sowed spiritual things (v. 11). In chapter 10 he spoke of the spiritual food, spiritual drink, and spiritual rock (vv. 3-4). Then in chapter 14 he spoke of those who think they are spiritual (v. 37).
In order to be spiritual, we always have to exercise our spirit. We always have to walk, behave, and have our being in our spirit. If we are going to be humble, we must be humble in the spirit. Actually, if you live and walk in the spirit, you will be humble without any consciousness of your humility. You will have the reality of being humble without having the consciousness of it. We are also told in the Bible to love one another, but our love may be a soulish love, a natural love. Such love is not the spiritual, divine love which is God Himself embodied in Christ to dwell in our spirit and to be expressed through our spirit. We must love one another in the spirit.
The fourth line in 1 Corinthians is the line of the church. This is a book written to the local church in Corinth (1:2). In this book there is a definite church-consciousness. Whatever Paul said was for the church.
Today the Lord’s desire is to recover the proper church life. From the time of Martin Luther, the Lord began His recovery work in a definite way. Within the Lord’s recovery there have been four main categories of things: (1) the teachings or doctrines of fundamentalism, (2) the gifts of Pentecostalism, (3) the preaching and spreading of the gospel of evangelicalism, and (4) the inner life. The Lord’s recovery has passed through these stages to reach the present-day recovery of the local churches. All the previous recovery work is for this present-day recovery, the building up of the local churches for the building up of the Body of Christ. We need to take Christ as our inner life for the building up of the church.
We also need to see the difference between the gifts and life. Balaam’s donkey speaking a human language was a gift, but that did not change the donkey’s life. There was no change in life, but there was a change in speaking ability. Some think that the more gifts they have, the more life they have. But a gift is an enablement or ability for service. It is not life. First Corinthians 13 confirms this. This chapter tells us that everything is empty without love, and love is the expression of Christ as life. If you have the gift of speaking in tongues without love, you are as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal, making empty sounds without life (v. 1).
Gifts are outward. They are the outward endowments of God to enable and equip us for His service. But in addition to these gifts, we need the inward life. The Corinthians had the gifts, but they were short of life. In fact, they were still babes, with hardly any growth in life. They were not only soulish but also fleshly and even fleshy. They misused their gifts because of the shortage of life. They were short of love, which is the expression of life. The gifts are the outward abilities, but life is the inward spiritual essence, which is Christ Himself.
In order to realize life, we have to learn how to exercise our spirit, because the essence of life is Christ Himself. Today Christ is the life-giving Spirit who indwells our spirit, so we have to learn to walk, to behave, and to have our being in our spirit. Never do anything according to what you think, what you like, or what you decide. But always have your being in your spirit. You have to renounce and reject your smart mind, your loving emotions, and your strong will. If you behave yourself in these parts of your soul, you are a soulish man, and you are through with Christ. Your behavior will become an insulation between you and Christ. It is not a matter of whether we are good or bad. It is a matter of whether or not we are one with Christ. You may do good things and yet be insulated from Christ. You have to remain in the spirit to be spiritual, not soulish, fleshly, or fleshy.
We can practice the church life and build up the church life only by living in our spirit. Christianity has been divided by teachings, doctrines, and by gifts. Also, the church cannot be built up by good speakers. Many good speakers today minister very little of Christ. We need to enjoy, experience, and partake of Christ and then minister what we have experienced to others. If we enjoy Christ in the spirit and minister Christ to one another, the local church will be built up, and there will be no division. We will have the oneness of Philadelphia with the real brotherly love. As long as Christ is enjoyed and ministered, the church will grow up with the nourishment of Christ. Today we are in the age of the recovery of the local churches by Christ being enjoyed by us to be our nourishment for our growth in life.
