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Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 1:2, 9, 18, 22-24, 30; 2:2, 14-15; 3:1, 3
As we saw in the previous chapters, the first five books of the New Testament are a history of the universal man, Christ with the church. After this history, Romans gives us a full sketch of the definition of this universal man.
Following this sketch, 1 Corinthians presents cases and illustrations to show us that in this universal man there are two matters that are basically and vitally important: Christ and Christ crucified, or we may say, Christ and the cross. In 1:22-23a Paul says, “Indeed Jews require signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified.” Christ crucified refers not only to Christ Himself but also to Christ with His cross. In this universal man there is Christ on the positive side and the cross on the negative side. Without Christ and His cross it is impossible for the believers to realize the practical life of this universal man. The practical life of the universal man depends on the practical realization of Christ as everything to us on the positive side and of the cross as our all-inclusive termination on the negative side. Following Romans, therefore, 1 Corinthians gives us a lengthy illustration to show us how much we need to realize Christ as everything and to experience the cross of Christ in our daily walk, in our church service, and in everything.
There are a few key verses in the first three chapters of this book. First Corinthians 1:2 says, “Our Lord Jesus Christ...who is theirs and ours.” This short word is very meaningful, for it says that Christ is theirs and Christ is ours. To say that Christ is merely our Lord and their Lord is not the proper meaning of this verse. The right meaning is that Christ is our portion and their portion. This can be proved by verse 9, which says, “God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” To be called into the fellowship of Christ is to be called to share Christ, to partake of Christ. Christ has been given to us as our portion. The term the allotted portion of the saints is found in Colossians 1:12. The lot, the portion, of the saints is Christ Himself. The book of Colossians especially deals with this matter, telling us that the portion that we received from God is Christ Himself. No philosophy or any element of this world is our portion. Christ, not anything else, is our portion. Therefore, 1 Corinthians 1:9 says that we were called into the partaking of Christ as our portion. We have to partake of Him.
Following this, verse 18 speaks of the word of the cross. This is the preaching of the cross. The ministry and preaching of the apostle Paul were a preaching of the cross. Paul preached not only Christ Himself but also Christ with the cross.
Verse 22 continues, “Indeed Jews require signs and Greeks seek wisdom.” Signs are a matter of power; in order to perform signs, we need power. Wisdom in this verse indicates knowledge and the way to do things. If we have wisdom, we have the knowledge and also the way that enables us to do things. Power is one matter; the way to do something is another. With all things in this universe, there is the need of the power and the way. We may illustrate this with a car. We need gasoline within the car, and we also need to know how to drive the car.
Verse 24 says of Christ crucified, “To those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” Christ is the power and energy of God, and He is also the wisdom and way of God. Christ is the power for us to do the things of God, and He is also the very wisdom, knowledge, and way for us to do them.
Verse 30 continues, “Of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” The King James Version renders the latter phrase as “wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” However, the first and here is the Greek word te, which is better rendered as “both.” This construction indicates that wisdom is the heading, and under this heading there are three items — righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Christ is God’s wisdom to us, which includes righteousness for our past, sanctification for our present, and redemption for our future. Righteousness is for us to be justified at the time we believed. After being saved, Christ is our sanctification in our daily walk and in everything. The redemption mentioned here is the redemption of our body in the future (Rom. 8:23), because it is mentioned as the last of the three items. This redemption is Christ Himself.
Christ is our righteousness for the past. Christ is also our sanctification for the present; we are being sanctified in Christ. Then in the future, Christ will be our redemption; that is, our body will be redeemed in Christ. In this way we enjoy God’s full salvation. These three matters are the items of Christ’s being wisdom to us. This means that Christ is everything to us.
Chapter 2 goes on to say, “I did not determine to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and this One crucified” (v. 2). Paul indicates that he made the decision not to know anything but Christ and His cross.
In 1:7 Paul says, “So that you do not lack in any gift, eagerly awaiting the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The Corinthian believers were not lacking in any gift; they had all gifts. However, in chapter 3 Paul says, “And I, brothers, was not able to speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to fleshy, as to infants in Christ” (v. 1). Strictly speaking, the word used in this verse is not fleshly but fleshy, referring to one who lives entirely by the flesh. Verses 2 and 3 say, “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?” Although the Corinthians had all the gifts, they were still infants in Christ, not only fleshly but fleshy.
In chapter 2 Paul says, “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. But the spiritual man discerns all things, but he himself is discerned by no one” (vv. 14-15). In these two verses there are two kinds of persons: the soulish man and the spiritual man. Along with these two kinds of persons, there is the fleshly man in chapter 3. These verses reveal the fleshly man, the soulish man, and the spiritual man.
The verses that we have mentioned are the key verses of the entire book of 1 Corinthians. On the positive side, they show us how we must realize Christ as everything in our daily walk and Christian service, and on the negative side, they show us that the cross is the only way to deal with all things other than Christ Himself. Second, they reveal that we may have the so-called gifts yet still be infants in Christ, not only childish but even fleshly in our Christian life. Third, they tell us that Christians can be three kinds of persons. We can and must be spiritual persons; we can be soulish persons but should not be; and we can be fleshly, even fleshy, persons, which is the worst. These are the three main points revealed to us in this book. The remainder of the book simply deals with a number of cases that illustrate these points.
Bible students agree that it is rather difficult to divide this book into proper sections. It is not divided into sections in the same way as Romans. As we have seen, two and a half chapters of Romans deal with condemnation. Then there are another two chapters that deal with justification. Following this are a few chapters concerning sanctification, and the last five chapters deal with the Body life. However, 1 Corinthians is not composed in this way. Rather, it is composed according to principles and main points. These principles are first that in the Christian life and service we must take Christ as everything, and all things other than Christ have to be dealt with by the cross in a practical way. Second, we should not pay attention to the gifts rather than to Christ Himself. We may even have all the gifts yet still be babyish and fleshly. Third, we can be a spiritual man, a soulish man, or a fleshly man. Then this book gives us a number of cases to illustrate these three main points. Therefore, it is not necessary to divide this book into sections. We should simply keep in mind that it shows us three main points concerning the Christian life, which are proved by many cases.
After the general sketch given to us in the book of Romans, the New Testament continues to show us by real cases that we as Christians must realize that Christ is everything to us in our daily life, church life, and church service. It is not a matter of gifts, doctrines, or anything other than Christ. Christ must be our power, and He must be our way. We are not called by God to share in signs, miracles, or gifts. Nor are we called by God to partake of wisdom, knowledge, doctrines, and teachings. Rather, we are called by God into the fellowship of Christ. The portion ordained and given to us by God is Christ Himself, not gifts, doctrine, knowledge, teaching, signs, miracles, or wisdom. Therefore, Paul at the very beginning of this book declares, “Indeed Jews require signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified” (1:22-23a).
Many people think that they need power, wisdom, energy, and strength to do things. They feel that they need knowledge and the best way to do things. However, they may not know that Christ is the power, Christ is the wisdom, Christ is the energy, Christ is the strength, and Christ is the knowledge. Christ is also the way for us to do things. God has not given us anything other than Christ. Christ is the wisdom of God as righteousness for us to be justified in the past, as our sanctification in the present, and as our redemption in the future. Moreover, He is the power of God, the way, and everything. Paul even declared to the Corinthians that he determined not to give them anything but Christ and Christ crucified.
We all must be clear about this. If we look at today’s Christianity, we can see that Christ as wisdom given to us by God has been very much neglected. Rather, the formal churches pay their attention to the proper forms in their practice. The fundamental churches pay their full attention to doctrines, teachings, and theology. Sometimes they even forget about Christ, yet they insist on their doctrine. Another category is the Pentecostal churches, which pay their attention to gifts, mainly one gift — speaking in tongues. Wherever we go, if we talk with people about Christ Himself, only the hungry, thirsty, and seeking ones appreciate what we say. Many others do not appreciate it and even condemn it as wrong teaching. However, we must realize that God’s intention is not to give us forms, doctrines, or gifts. God’s intention is to give Christ Himself as life and as everything to us. We must learn how to experience Christ. Have we ever been taught that Christ is righteousness, sanctification, and redemption to us? We need much time to realize, learn, and experience these three items.
Several hymns today teach wrongly by speaking of “the righteousness of Christ.” However, there is not such a term found in the New Testament. It is not a matter of the righteousness of Christ but of Christ Himself being righteousness to us. What is the difference between the righteousness of Christ and Christ as righteousness? To receive merely the righteousness of Christ is too objective. In this case, Christ could have given us this righteousness and then departed to the heavens, leaving us only the Holy Spirit as His “representative.” This is not the proper understanding. Righteousness is Christ Himself; we can never separate it from Christ. If we have Christ, we have righteousness; if we do not have Christ, we do not have righteousness.
Consider the parable in Luke 15:11-32. The robe in verse 22 signifies that Christ is our righteousness to cover us and to justify us, thus enabling us to match the Father’s glory. However, this is not all. Christ is also the fattened calf for us to enjoy and partake of (v. 23). We put on Christ as the robe, and we take Christ in as the calf. It is not the righteousness of Christ that saves us; it is Christ Himself as righteousness who saves us.
We must learn that Christ Himself is everything to us. He Himself is righteousness, and He Himself is also sanctification. In order to realize the real meaning of sanctification, we must know Christ, and we must know how to serve Christ, how to enjoy Christ, how to apply Christ, and how to experience Christ. If we do not know how to apply and experience Christ, we simply do not know the practical meaning of sanctification. The practical meaning of sanctification is Christ Himself experienced by us. The Christ whom we experience day by day is the way, the sanctification, and the redemption.
Nearly all of the Christian hymns written about the second coming of Christ are too objective. They simply speak of this event as being glorious because the glorious One will come back. Rarely can we find one hymn that tells us something about the Lord’s second coming in the subjective way of life. The glory of the Lord’s second coming is actually Christ Himself. Christ in us is the hope of glory (Col. 1:27). Christ Himself is the glory, and this glory today is in us. He Himself is the glory, and He Himself is the hope. He is the redemption of our body.
All the forms, if they are necessary, and all the doctrines and gifts are for Christ. What God intends to work into us and to have us experience is nothing other than Christ. We have to learn how to appropriate Christ in our daily walk and in all our service.
We must also experience the cross. The enjoyment of Christ is something on the positive side, whereas the cross is on the negative side to deal with all the things that are not Christ Himself. The old creation, the self, the flesh, the natural man, and the soulish life all need to be dealt with by the cross. If we want to take Christ every day, we need to experience the cross. Christ and His cross are the unique solution to all the problems in the Christian life and church life. All problems in the Christian life and in the church can be solved only by Christ with His cross.
If a married couple is not able to get along well, this indicates that they are short of the experience of Christ and the cross. To be sure, if they learn how to experience Christ by taking the cross, they will live harmoniously. The primary problem in the church, in the work, among the co-workers, and among the brothers and sisters is due to one thing — the lack of experiencing Christ by taking the cross. It is the same in a family. If all the members of a family appropriate Christ in their daily life and take the cross, everything will be right among them. If the co-workers and responsible brothers in a church realize how to take Christ as everything and experience the cross, everything will also be right with them.
Teachings cannot solve our problems. The more we give people teachings, the more problems and troubles we create. For example, if we come to a husband to teach him to love his wife, he may say, “You had better tell my wife to submit to me.” If we then go to his wife to teach her to submit to her husband, she may say, “You must tell my husband that he needs to love his wife.” All of this is mere doctrine. I saw all of these things, and in the early days of my service I failed many times in this way. When I talked with a sister, I would tell her to read Ephesians 5, which says that she must submit to her husband. Then she would charge me, saying, “Don’t teach the sisters only. Go teach my husband.” Then I would go to the husband and teach him also, and he would tell me to go teach his wife. Sometimes teachings help in a small way, but they do not solve our problems thoroughly. The only answer to all our problems is Christ and the cross.
Many times I have tried to help people in another, better way. I would speak to a sister, saying, “Sister, do you love the Lord? Do you know where He is? He is within you. Would you like to contact the Lord, have some fellowship with Him, and offer yourself to Him?” We should forget about a sister’s quarrel with her husband and simply help her to take Christ and to realize that her old man, her flesh, and her soulish life all must be put on the cross. Then we may check to see if she knows how to realize the cross in her daily life. Although this is a teaching, it is a different kind of teaching. It is a teaching that helps her to realize Christ and apply the cross. In this way the problems will be solved, not by teaching but by Christ and the cross.
All the problems with Christians and all the problems in the churches can be solved only by Christ experienced and the cross applied. There were divisions among the Corinthians because those believers paid their attention to gifts, signs, knowledge, and wisdom, but they very much neglected Christ and the cross. Therefore, there were many problems. The more gifts and knowledge we have, the more problems we have. All the divisions and denominations were produced out of gifted persons. In the past four or five hundred years, whenever there was a deeper, gifted person, a division or sect was often created, and the more gifted the person was, the greater the division was.
All the gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians are spiritual gifts, not natural gifts. We may think that spiritual gifts can do no harm. In actuality, the gifts themselves do no harm, but the persons who are gifted often do a great deal of harm by the gifts. From the time of the Reformation through the present day, there has rarely been a very gifted person who has not created a denomination, sect, or division. We cannot say absolutely that there has not been an exception, but it is rather difficult for us to point one out. Almost every famous gifted person in the past centuries created a division by his gifts.
Although we do need the gifts, we should not pay attention to the gifts. We must pay our full attention to Christ Himself. All the gifts are for Christ. The Corinthians were not lacking in any gift. Chapters 12 and 14 especially show us how many gifts were exercised and practiced among them. However, chapter 3 says that they were fleshly and babyish. In these days we must be aware that we should not pay attention to the gifts. If we pay attention to the gifts, divisions will come. Although the gifts themselves are good, it depends on how we handle them. We must realize that Christ is the center, and all the gifts are for Christ.
The third main principle in 1 Corinthians is that a believer can be spiritual, soulish, or fleshly, even fleshy. Simply speaking, a spiritual person is one who lives and walks by his spirit, whose soul is always subdued by the spirit, and whose body, the flesh, is always under the control of the strong will of his renewed soul. Such a one lives, walks, and acts by the spirit with his soul subdued and with the flesh controlled.
A soulish person, on the other hand, is neither fleshly nor spiritual but simply natural. This kind of person is one who lives by the soul, that is, by the intellect, by the mind, by the reasonings, by the will, and by the emotion. Whereas there is nothing sinful or fleshly with him, there is neither anything spiritual. He is neutral to being fleshly, and he is neutral to being spiritual. He does things, lives, and acts always by his intellect, by his will, or by his emotion.
Such a person cannot understand the things of God (2:14). There is no potential for him to know the spiritual things because he does not have the spiritual discernment. He simply cannot discern spiritual things because he does not exercise his spirit, which is the spiritual organ to know the spiritual things. For a soulish man to discern spiritual things may be compared to exercising our ears to substantiate color. It is impossible to listen to colors; this is to exercise the wrong organ. There is no potential for our ears to realize colors. If we want to substantiate color, we need to exercise our eyes. In the same way, we cannot know spiritual things if we live by the soul, by our mentality, reasoning, intellect, mind, will, or emotion. No matter how good we may be, we are still not spiritual; we are soulish.
A fleshly person is one fully controlled by the flesh. His soul is controlled by his flesh, and his spirit is covered by his soul. This person acts, lives, and does things by the flesh. The Corinthian believers were not only fleshly but even fleshy. There is a difference between being fleshly and fleshy. The case mentioned in chapters 1 and 3, for example, involves fleshly believers. These persons caused divisions and strife, saying, “I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ” (1:12). Those persons with jealousy and strife were fleshly (3:3). The cases in chapters 5 and 6, however, are more serious, involving people who were not only fleshly but fleshy, those who lived, walked, and did things by the fallen flesh. Fleshy denotes a person who does evil things directly from his flesh. Fleshly denotes a person who does things under the influence of the nature of the flesh and partakes of the character of the flesh. Quarreling, making divisions, and envying are matters done under the influence of the flesh. However, to do the evil things by the fallen flesh, as recorded in chapter 5, is to be fleshy, even like an animal.
All of this indicates that we can do things either by the spirit as a spiritual man, by the soul as soulish persons, by the flesh directly as fleshy persons, or under the influence of the flesh as fleshly persons. This is why Paul used these four different words in chapters 2 and 3: soulish (2:14), spiritual (v. 15), fleshy (3:1), and fleshly (v. 3).
I hope that you will keep these principles in mind and put them into practice. In the next chapter we will see at least ten problems in 1 Corinthians that illustrate how much we need to take Christ on the positive side and experience the cross on the negative side. All the time we must look to the Lord’s help to realize that as Christians we must always learn to apply Christ as everything in our family, in the church, in our daily walk, and in the church service. In addition, before we quarrel with others, do something for others, or deal with others, we must learn to apply the cross to ourselves. Moreover, we must realize that although we may have the best things, such as gifts, signs, knowledge, and wisdom, those things are not Christ Himself. It is not a matter of these things; we must have Christ. If we do not have Christ, we are finished; we may still remain infants in Christ and fleshly. In addition, we must realize that even though we are the children of God, we may still be something other than spiritual; we may be soulish, fleshly, and even fleshy. We must be burdened and trust the Lord that we may all walk in the spirit.
