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Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 1:9-12, 17-31; 2:1-16
In 2:11 Paul says, “For who among men knows the things of man, except the spirit of man which is in him? So also the things of God no one has known except the Spirit of God.” If we would know the things of man and the things of God, we need the two spirits, the human spirit and the divine Spirit. Because the Corinthian believers neglected these two spirits, they could know neither the things of man nor the things of God. Thus, in chapter two Paul seems to be saying to them, “Corinthians, instead of relying on your philosophical mind, exercise your spirit, not your soul or your flesh. If you exercise your spirit and rely on the Spirit of God, you will know your condition, situation, position, need, and destiny. No one knows these things of man except the spirit of man. By failing to exercise the spirit and instead using your philosophical mind, you have missed the mark. You do not know the things of man, and you do not know yourselves. You do not know your situation, and you do not realize how pitiful your condition is. I urge you to exercise your spirit just as I am exercising mine. Because I exercise the spirit, I know the things concerning you. I know your position, condition, and situation.” In dealing with the Corinthian believers Paul certainly was in the spirit.
Something Paul says in 4:21 makes it very clear that Paul was in spirit as he wrote to the believers at Corinth. In this verse Paul asks, “What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of meekness?” Paul was a person fully in the spirit. He could come to Corinth either with a rod or with a spirit of meekness. Because he was in the spirit, he could say, “My spirit causes me to know the things concerning you. As I exercise my spirit, I realize that you have departed from your standing in Christ, that you are ignorant of your destiny, and that you are neglecting the blessings which you have in Christ. Instead of exercising your spirit, you are exalting your philosophy and wisdom and are making choices according to your preferences. You, however, don’t know these things about yourselves, because you don’t exercise the spirit. Forget your Greek mentality and use your regenerated spirit. Then you will know the things of man, the things concerning yourselves.”
Paul also realized that the Corinthian believers trusted more in their philosophical wisdom than in the Spirit of God. In chapter two he seems to be telling them, “When I came to you, I did not trust in my wisdom. Although I had received an excellent education, when I was with you I determined not to know anything except Christ and Him crucified. I exercised my spirit, and I trusted in the Spirit of God. Therefore, when I was among you, I was a person in the mingled spirit. Because I am in the spirit, I know your situation, and I know the things of God. I know Christ, God’s wisdom and God’s power. I even know that God’s weakness is stronger than man’s power and that God’s foolishness is wiser than man’s wisdom. I came to know the things of God in my spirit mingled with the Spirit of God. God has even revealed the depths of God to me. I not only know the things God has done and is doing; I even know the depths of God Himself, the depths of God’s being. What I am able to do, you cannot do, because you do not rely on the two spirits, your human spirit and the Spirit of God.” Many Christians today also neglect these two spirits.
The majority of believers hold to a doctrine of dichotomy — the belief that man is composed of two main parts, the soul and the body. According to this view, the spirit of man is identical to man’s soul. Some who teach dichotomy even claim that the spirit, the soul, the heart, and the mind are all synonymous. They say that the spirit is the soul, that the soul is the heart, and that the heart is the mind.
In 1954 I had a conversation with an American missionary who believed in dichotomy. At the end of a conference held in Hong Kong, he told me how much he appreciated the conference. However, he could not agree with the teaching that the human spirit is different from the human soul. He claimed that the spirit and the soul are identical. I referred him to Paul’s word in 1 Thessalonians 5:23. In this verse Paul speaks of the spirit and the soul and the body, purposely using two conjunctions. I asked him how, on the basis of this verse, he could insist that the soul and the spirit are synonymous. Nevertheless, he still held to the view that the soul and the spirit are the same.
Many believers do not have an adequate understanding of the Spirit of God. Certain fundamentalists emphasize doctrine. In many cases they are even afraid of talking about the Spirit. They do not pay proper attention to the two spirits in the New Testament. In particular they do not place the proper emphasis on the two spirits in the Epistles of Paul. Thus, the fundamentalists represent one extreme with respect to the Spirit of God.
Certain Christians in the Pentecostal movement or charismatic movement represent another extreme, for they overemphasize particular gifts of the Spirit, such as healing and speaking in tongues. The situation among many of these Christians is very similar to that of the believers in Corinth: they place too much emphasis on tongues and miracles. In many cases, the supposed occurrences of speaking in tongues and healing are not genuine. According to Acts 2, speaking in tongues must be the speaking of a language or dialect. Genuine tongues-speaking does not consist of the mere repetition of sounds. If the so-called speaking in tongues practiced in many charismatic groups today were recorded and studied by a linguist, the linguist would conclude that the sounds uttered are not that of any language or dialect.
In some charismatic meetings neither the tongues-speaking nor the interpretation of the tongues is genuine. For example, someone may utter certain sounds, which are given a particular interpretation. On another occasion, the same person may utter the same sounds, but they are given an altogether different interpretation. On one occasion, the interpretation may be an exhortation to be humble before the Lord, whereas on another occasion, the interpretation may be a word about an earthquake or the Lord’s coming. Certain believers devote much attention to the exercise of so-called spiritual gifts without any attempt to discern what is genuine from what is false.
In some Christian groups there is great emphasis on miraculous healing. I once attended a healing campaign in Manila purposely to see if there were any cases of genuine healing. In the meeting I attended there was not one instance of a real healing. Some claimed to be healed, but eventually this supposed healing was proved to be merely a psychological phenomenon. There was no permanent cure. After a period of time, everyone who was supposedly healed in that meeting was the same as before.
The claim has been made in some Pentecostal groups that in their meetings people’s teeth have been filled with gold miraculously. I absolutely do not believe such reports. Why would God not restore the teeth instead of filling them with gold? That would be more in agreement with the principle in the Bible. Furthermore, if such miracles had actually taken place, newsmen would learn of them and publicize them.
In 1963 I attended some meetings of a particular Pentecostal group. In one of these meetings, a woman gave a short word in tongues. Then a young man gave a long interpretation of that word. Later the leader of the group admitted to me that the interpretation given by this young man was not genuine. Much later I met this young man in another place and asked him about that interpretation he had given. In particular I asked him if he thought this interpretation was genuine. He denied that what he had spoken was intended to be the interpretation of that woman’s message in tongues. Then I reminded him that he had clearly indicated to all present that he was giving an interpretation. I went on to say, “There is no need for us to do such things. I definitely believe that you love the Lord. Why don’t you simply preach the truth and minister the riches of Christ to others?”
The situation of today’s Christianity is very much like that of the church in Corinth. There is the neglect of the human spirit and often the identification of the spirit with the soul. Furthermore, there is either the neglect of the Spirit of God because of a preoccupation with doctrine, or an overemphasis on spiritual gifts, genuine or false.
In dealing with the division and confusion at Corinth, Paul did not depend on doctrine. Instead he took as his basis the experience of Christ. In 2:1 and 2 he says, “And I, when I came to you, brothers, came not with excellence of speech or wisdom, announcing to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and this One crucified.” The crucified Christ was the unique subject, center, content, and substance of the apostle’s ministry. Christ crucified is the center of God’s economy. Paul determined that, among the Corinthians, he would not know anything except this crucified Christ.
If we did not have the ministry of Paul, we would not know God’s eternal purpose or His economy. Although Peter was a leading apostle, he does not tell us anything about the Body of Christ. The highest word in Peter’s writings concerns the partaking of the divine nature: “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4). In Paul’s writings many terms are used to show that Christ is all-inclusive and extensive, that He is the life-giving Spirit, that He is everything in God’s economy and everything to us. In his Epistles Paul also reveals that the church is the Body of Christ, the fullness of Christ, the dwelling place of Christ, the bride of Christ, and even the new man. Furthermore, in his ministry Paul tells us that we are in Christ, that Christ is in us, and that we are joined to Christ as one spirit. In Paul’s ministry, the completing ministry, there is a central vision. This is the vision that Christ, the ultimate expression of God, has become the life-giving Spirit so that He may impart Himself into us as our life to make us living members of His Body to express Him organically. This is the central vision of Paul’s completing ministry. Paul is the only one to make this tremendous matter clear to us.
The Lord’s recovery today is the recovery of the central vision of Paul’s completing ministry. The primary goal of the Lord today is not the recovery of doctrinal truths. During the past centuries, the Lord has recovered many truths. For example, the truth of baptism by immersion has been recovered. According to the Bible, baptism must be by immersion. However, this is not the central goal of God’s economy, and neither is it an aspect of Paul’s completing ministry. In fact, in 1:17 Paul declares, “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in wisdom of speech, that the cross of Christ should not be made void.” Paul was sent not to baptize people in a formal way, but to preach the gospel, ministering Christ to others for the producing of the church as an expression of Christ. Nevertheless, certain believers treasure the truth of baptism by immersion and even take it as the basis to form the Baptist denomination.
Other doctrinal matters have been recovered which also are not elements of the central vision of Paul’s ministry. For example, the truths regarding presbytery, divine healing, and holiness are according to the Scriptures, but they are not the focus of the Lord’s recovery today. In His recovery the Lord is seeking to recover the all-inclusive Christ as the life-giving Spirit who imparts Himself into the believers and makes them His living Body. In other words, the center of the Lord’s recovery today is Christ and the church.
Whenever people come to me with the intention of arguing about doctrine or practices, I do not have the heart to say much. Some have tried to dispute with us about baptism or head covering. Regarding the sisters’ head covering, some have inquired, “Why do so many of the sisters in your meetings not wear a head covering? Don’t you know and believe what Paul says about this in 1 Corinthians 11?” To this I have replied that we certainly know and believe what Paul says about head covering. Furthermore, we do practice this matter according to the Bible. However, we do not force any sister to wear a head covering. Yes, we practice this truth, but not in a formal, legal way, as is done in some Christian groups. We realize that today what the Lord is seeking to recover is not head covering or any other doctrine or practice as a central thing. Rather, the Lord is recovering Christ as life and everything to us and the church as His Body, His fullness. We agree that immersion and head covering are aspects of the recovery, but neither of these things is the center. To repeat, the center of the Lord’s recovery is Christ and the church: Christ as the embodiment of God and the church as the expression of Christ. This is what God is seeking today, and it is crucial that we all see it.
If we would fulfill the Lord’s desire to have the proper church life on earth as His expression and as a preparation for His coming back, we must exercise our spirit to know the things of man, and we must also trust in the indwelling Spirit to know the things of God. Then we shall know that what God wants is not speaking in tongues, healing, or miraculous gifts. The Lord has recovered these matters, but they are not the center or the goal of His recovery. What the Lord wants is not tongues-speaking, healing, or the lengthening of legs; He wants a church composed of believers who are filled, saturated, and infused with Himself to be His Body for His expression. For this, we need the real experience of the indwelling Spirit, not merely the outward gifts of the Spirit.
God wants us to realize that the Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — has passed through a process involving incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. By crucifixion, Jesus Christ terminated the old creation. By resurrection, He germinated us in the new creation. By ascension, He was glorified, exalted, enthroned, appointed Lord, and commissioned with the divine government. Following this, He came down upon the church as the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit. Today, as this Spirit, He is waiting for people to receive Him by believing in Him. As soon as a person calls on the name of the Lord Jesus, Christ will immediately come into him, regenerate his spirit, indwell his spirit, and mingle Himself with his regenerated spirit to cause him to become truly one with Him. Then this new believer must come to know his spirit and also the life-giving Spirit, the ultimate expression of the Triune God, that he may be transformed and built up with others to be the Body, the organism to express the Triune God for the fulfillment of God’s purpose. This is God’s goal, the center of His recovery today.
We in the Lord’s recovery, therefore, should not care for insignificant things or be distracted by doctrines or practices. We should care only to become a living testimony by having the Triune God dispensed into us to make us members of His organic Body to express Him.
We do not expect that the majority of Christians will see this vision or take this way. But we do believe that it is of the Lord that a minority of His chosen people, who love Him and seek Him, will be brought into this central vision that they may grow in life and be transformed by the Spirit to become parts of the living Body of Christ. Eventually, this living Body will become Christ’s loving bride, who will prepare the way for His coming back.
In the first two chapters of 1 Corinthians Paul paves the way for us to see the central vision of His completing ministry. In these chapters Paul helps us to see the position, condition, situation, and destiny of the believers. If we are clear about these matters, we shall drop all natural things — our philosophy, wisdom, and culture. We shall not care for our attainments, but only for our position in Christ and our condition, situation, and destiny in Him. We shall also care for the genuine experience of the Triune God and for the enjoyment of Christ, the Son of God. By the Spirit in our spirit we shall know God and all the things of God, which are actually Christ Himself. We shall see that God’s power, and even His weakness, is Christ. When Christ was crucified, He became weak. If He had not become such a weak One, how could He have been arrested, tried, and put to death? Christ purposely became weak, but His weakness is powerful. Now Christ today is our power and wisdom from God. Furthermore, He is our daily righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. We may even know Him as the depths of God. In this way we know all the things of God.
By our spirit we know the things of man, and by God’s Spirit we know the things of God. As a result, we can live in Christ, with Christ, by Christ, and for Christ. Then He will have the proper church life as His organic Body to express Him.
What a mercy that we can see this vision! What a grace and what a wonder that we may be brought into the realization of this vision! We are burdened that all the saints in the Lord’s recovery will see the same vision and then speak the same thing, having the same mind with the same opinion. Actually, Christ is our mind, opinion, and speaking. The same speaking, the same mind, and the same opinion are nothing less than our dear Christ Himself. Truly He is everything to us. How precious is the revelation in these first two chapters of 1 Corinthians!
