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Scripture Reading: 2 Cor. 3:3-6
In the book of 2 Corinthians, a very deep book, Paul presents himself as a pattern of living Christ for the church. In this Epistle Paul presents us his living, the way he lives. Paul’s life is a pattern for all Christians.
When I was a young Christian, I heard again and again that Christ is our example and that we should imitate Him. I was also taught that the Apostle Paul is an example for us. In 1 Timothy 1:15 and 16 Paul says that he was the greatest sinner, the chief of sinners, but he received mercy in order to become an example, a pattern, for the believers. However, I never heard that in 2 Corinthians Paul presents himself as a pattern of living Christ for the church.
Paul is a pattern not only of living Christ, but of living Christ for the church. As God’s new creation, we are destined to live Christ. Furthermore, we are to live Christ not merely for salvation, spirituality, power, or evangelical work, but for the church. To live Christ for the church is the destiny God has appointed to His new creation.
The matter of living Christ for the church is something that has been lost and that needs to be recovered. At the time of the Reformation, Martin Luther recovered justification by faith. By God’s grace, Luther was willing to risk his life for the recovery of justification by faith. Justification by faith in an objective way can be compared to the skin of a chicken; it is not the meat. According to Romans and Galatians, justification by faith must have a result. These books reveal that justification by faith is unto life. This means that justification is with a view to life. It should not stand by itself; rather, it must result in life.
Caspar Schwenckfeld saw that justification must result in life. He may be regarded as one who touched not only the “skin” of the revelation in the Bible, but also began to see the “meat” under the skin. One day I was very surprised to learn that Schwenckfeld used some of the expressions we use today to speak of life. He even spoke of the life-giving Spirit. My point in referring to Luther and Schwenckfeld is to say that the Lord wants to recover not only the skin, that is, certain fundamental doctrines; He also wants to recover the meat under the skin of the Word.
In message seventeen of this Life-study I pointed out that the truths of the Bible can be compared to the feathers, skin, and meat of a chicken. In reading 1 Corinthians 1, for example, we may pay attention to the feathers and neglect the skin. In 1 Corinthians 1:12 Paul says, “Now I mean this, that each of you says, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ.” In this verse we have feathers, not meat. Readers of 1 Corinthians 1 often pay attention to the feathers in this verse; however, they neglect the meat in verse 9. There Paul says, “God is faithful, through Whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” Many read 1 Corinthians 1 without paying adequate attention to this verse and to the meat contained in it. Others may study this verse, but without an adequate understanding of the word fellowship. They may think that to have fellowship with the Son is merely to contact the Son of God in a prayerful way. Not many believers realize that the fellowship of the Son refers to the enjoyment of the Son of God. The Son of God here is rich meat to be our portion.
The thought of enjoying the Lord as rich, nourishing meat is found in Luke 15. In the parable of the prodigal son, the prodigal repented and came back home. The father received him and had the best robe put upon him. Some Bible teachers use this parable to teach that salvation is by grace, not by works. The son planned to tell the father to make him like one of the hired servants. The father, however, interrupted him and told the servants to put the best robe upon him. This robe signifies Christ as our righteousness. We received this robe not by our working, but by grace, the free gift, of God the Father.
I myself preached gospel messages from Luke 15 emphasizing this point. But there is more in this parable than the robe. There is the fatted calf. The robe can be likened to the skin, and the fatted calf to the meat. For years, I preached a “robe gospel,” that is, the message that salvation is by grace. But eventually I came to see that Luke 15 also speaks of the fatted calf. The robe is outward; it is something that covers us. The fatted calf is related to something inward; it is food for nourishment. After I saw this, I began to preach the gospel in a somewhat different way, emphasizing the fatted calf as well as the robe. However, certain ones who saw only the robe and not the fatted calf, only the skin and not the meat, were not happy with this kind of gospel preaching. They did not agree with the teaching concerning the eating of the fatted calf.
Sometimes in my preaching from Luke 15 I said that the prodigal son repented and returned not because his clothes were dirty but because of hunger. The son came back home because he was hungry, so hungry that he was even willing to feed on the husks that were given to swine. Luke 15:17 says of the prodigal, “And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!” Therefore, he resolved: “I will arise and go to my father” (v. 18). He did not say to himself that in his father’s house were many robes. No, he remembered that there was “bread enough and to spare.” Instead of remaining where he was and starving to death, he decided to return home.
Suppose the father had said, “Poor son, you look like a beggar. I’ll tell the servants to get the robe I have prepared for you and put it on you so that you may have a proper appearance.” If the father had provided only a robe to cover him, the son might have said, “Father, I’m hungry. You are satisfied with the robe, but I need something to eat. Please give me some food.” The father, however, did not care only for the robe. After telling the servants to bring forth the best robe, the father said, “And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry” (v. 23).
Furthermore, the elder son was jealous not because of the robe, but because of the feast. He complained to his father: “Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment; and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends” (v. 29). The elder son did not say that the prodigal son had the best robe. He was jealous because the fatted calf had been prepared for his younger brother.
In certain points the teaching in the Lord’s recovery is different from that common among today’s Christians. Some who care only for the robe and not for the fatted calf go so far as to say that our teaching is heretical. In the recovery we have both the robe and the fatted calf. Luther recovered the robe, but now we are also enjoying the recovery of the fatted calf. By the Lord’s mercy we are in His recovery enjoying Christ, the fatted calf, as our rich, nourishing portion.
When you read chapter six of 1 Corinthians, what will attract your attention, the feathers or the meat? Paul’s word condemning fornication is a “feather truth.” Anyone who is ethical or moral will appreciate Paul’s word regarding this matter. In reading this chapter, some Christians pay attention to verse 19, where Paul says that our body is the temple of God and that we should glorify God in our body because we have been purchased with a price. Others in reading this chapter would pay attention to Paul’s word concerning lawsuits between brothers. Not many would recognize that the key verse in this chapter is verse 15.
Some may wonder why I say verse 15 is the key verse when I have placed such strong emphasis on verse 17. In verse 17 Paul says, “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” In verse 15 he says, “Your bodies are members of Christ.” Verse 17 explains how it is possible for our bodies to be the members of Christ. Because our bodies are members of Christ, we should not misuse them. Our bodies have been organically united to Christ; they are now a part of Christ. How can we use such holy bodies to commit sin? But how is it possible for our bodies to be the members of Christ? This is possible because we are one spirit with the Lord. Since our spirit has been joined to the Lord as one spirit, our spirit should be the predominant part of our being. Then our body should be under the control of the spirit and saturated by the spirit. First the spirit becomes the spirit of our mind and, eventually, the spirit of our body. In this way our bodies become the members of Christ. This is the meat in 1 Corinthians 6.
In chapters two, three, and four of 2 Corinthians it is difficult to find any feathers or skin. There certainly are not any feathers, but in chapter three there may be a thin layer of skin. In 3:1 Paul asks, “Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some, letters of commendation to you or from you?” With this verse as the basis, some Christian groups have set up a system of writing letters of recommendation for those moving from one place to another. Those who follow this practice claim that letters of recommendation were written for the saints during Paul’s time. This, however, is a thin layer of skin; it definitely is not the meat in 2 Corinthians 3. It was not Paul’s intention in this chapter to write concerning such letters of commendation. Rather, his intention was to speak concerning the writing of living letters by the life-giving Spirit of the living God.
As one who was a pattern for living Christ for the church, Paul was competent to write living letters. He was qualified, and he had a mastery of the skill necessary for this. Paul was competent of Christ to write these living letters with Christ Himself as the spiritual alphabet. The book of Revelation says clearly that Christ is the alpha, the first letter of the Greek alphabet, and also the omega, the last letter. Surely Christ is also all the letters between alpha and omega.
No matter how long a particular composition may be, it is written with words composed of the letters of the alphabet. If we use a typewriter to write the word God, we simply have to press the keys G-o-d. We can go on to write other words and then sentences, paragraphs, and chapters. In the same principle, with Christ as the heavenly alphabet, Paul could write living letters.
Based upon the statement in the book of Revelation that Christ is the alpha and the omega, we also say that He is all the letters of the heavenly alphabet. Do you believe that Christ is only two letters and not the remainder of the letters? No, He is all the other letters. Anyone who lives Christ for the church knows Christ as alpha, beta, gamma, delta and every other letter of the heavenly alphabet.
Paul also knew how to use the divine typewriter to write Christ on others. Whenever he was with the saints, he would write Christ upon them. Paul knew Christ in a detailed way. He also knew how to write living letters of Christ. If Paul were to speak with you for a period of time, a certain amount of Christ, perhaps a paragraph, would be written on your heart.
In 2 Corinthians 3 Paul uses the word “inscribe” to portray the way he wrote living letters of Christ. His writing did not merely write Christ on the saints; it inscribed Christ into them. In my ministry I also endeavor to follow Paul to inscribe Christ into the saints. It is not my desire merely to pass on doctrine. I do not even like to talk about being one spirit with the Lord simply as a doctrine. Rather, I care for the writing of Christ in life. Then the saints will receive not only the knowledge of doctrine, but the actual inscribing of Christ in their hearts.
Suppose a brother learns the doctrine that he is one spirit with the Lord. But this doctrine may not help him in his relationship with his wife. However, if a brother has Christ inscribed into him, he will experience being one spirit with the Lord in his married life. This is a proof that he has been helped by the ministry that inscribes Christ into his being.
Paul, a pattern of living Christ for the church, was made competent, sufficient, qualified, to write living letters. His qualification was of Christ and of all that Christ is. In Paul’s spiritual writings, Christ was every letter, word, sentence, paragraph, and chapter.
This inscribing of Christ into others is a deeper aspect of living Christ for the church.
My concern is not only for living Christ, but also for inscribing Christ into the saints. This inscribing of Christ into others is not for my work; it is for the church so that God’s administration may be carried out and His eternal purpose may be fulfilled.
The Lord’s recovery has a very promising future. The future is bright because Christ is all the letters of the heavenly alphabet. I believe that in the years to come the Lord will use many of the saints to inscribe Christ into others. These saints will not preach the gospel merely in a doctrinal way; they will write Christ into the inner being of others. Those who hear such a preaching of the gospel may not remember all the doctrinal points, but they will not be able to erase the Christ who has been written into them.
We also may forget many of the messages we have heard. Nevertheless, Christ has been inscribed into us, and He remains in our being. Even if you rebel against the Lord, you will not be able to remove what has been inscribed of Christ into you. Some have written to me saying that they are not able to forget the Christ I ministered to them. Even though they do not agree with me in certain matters, they still appreciate my ministering Christ to them. This proves that we cannot erase the Christ who has been inscribed into our being.
Religion is a matter of mere doctrine, not of the experience of Christ. Many are still arguing over doctrines. But in the Lord’s recovery we care for Christ in a deep way, not in a superficial way. We want to go deeper than the feathers and skin to touch the meat of Christ, to experience Christ as the deep things of God to be our portion.
I came to this country with a positive burden to write Christ into others. Sinners are not the only ones who need to have Christ written on them. Even pastors, theologians, and professors need more of Christ written into their being. Some have spent a great deal of time to gain academic knowledge, but they do not have much of Christ written into them. Some have a thorough knowledge of the Greek language; however, they do not experience Christ as all the letters of the heavenly alphabet.
On the one hand, we should seek to write Christ on others; on the other hand, we are living letters of Christ, living epistles, and others can read the Christ who has been inscribed into us. Young people, when you visit your parents, be assured that they are reading the Christ who has been written into you. They may read you in a secret way, without letting you know that they are reading you. Some may even oppose you and criticize the church life in the Lord’s recovery. I would encourage you not to be bothered by this kind of opposition or criticism. Instead of being offended or discouraged, you need to realize that your parents are reading the Christ who has been inscribed into you. Sometimes even opposition is a sign that others are reading us.
I know of many cases of parents who eventually turned to the Lord’s recovery because of what they read of Christ in their children. A father may repent, weep in the presence of his son, and say to him, “Son, I am sorry for the way I offended you. Over the years I opposed you and even rebuked you. But all the time I was reading you. I must admit that I saw something in you. What I have seen in you now causes me to weep before you and before the Lord. I would like to go with you to one of the church meetings.” Parents who oppose their children may later come into the church life. It may take time for a young person to exhibit before his parents the Christ who has been written into him. But after a while the parents will be convinced of the genuineness of this experience of Christ.
Young people, when you visit your parents, you should exhibit Christ to them, but you should not perform in any way. Neither should you try to defend the Lord’s recovery by arguing with your parents or by claiming to know many things. Simply be what you are. In 1 Corinthians 15:10 Paul says, “By the grace of God I am what I am.” When you visit your parents at home, simply be what you are by the grace of God. Christ has been inscribed into you. Others will be convinced not by your performance, but by what you are. What a young person is in his being especially convinces his parents, for every parent desires good things to happen to his children. Eventually, if you continue to have Christ written upon you and manifest this Christ to your parents, they will be convinced and may even decide to follow you into the church life.
The important matter is that Christ is inscribed into us. The more Christ is written into our being, the more others will be able to read Him in us.
