Next let us consider 2 Corinthians. This book mentions nothing about the gifts. What is dealt with in this book is transformation. We have to be transformed day by day from our natural life to the glorious image of the Lord (3:18). Although the outer man is being consumed, the inner man is being renewed (4:16). This is not a matter of gifts but a matter of transformation. We may illustrate transformation with an ugly caterpillar, which after a period of time becomes a beautiful butterfly. It is transformed from something ugly to something beautiful. Today on the one hand, we are a caterpillar, but praise the Lord, on the other hand, we are becoming a butterfly. However, we are not yet formed and beautified, so there is the need of the process of transformation. While this transforming process is going on, if someone tries to add something to us to make us beautiful, that will not help us but will only spoil the process of transformation. I have noticed in the past years that while certain brothers were in the process of transformation, others tried to help them to have the gifts in order to make them beautiful outwardly. They received certain gifts, but their transformation was spoiled. For us Christians, few things are as dangerous as the gifts. Many Christians have been spoiled in the process of their transformation and in their growth of life by the gifts. In many cases, I have worshipped God for not giving gifts to certain ones.
The second Epistle to the Corinthians mentions nothing about the gifts. Instead, it speaks of the experience of the cross through suffering upon suffering, death upon death, and consuming upon consuming. The apostle Paul did not speak much about his gifts; rather, he spoke a great deal about his sufferings. In 4:10-11 he tells us that he was “always bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus” and was “always being delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake.” Day by day our outer man is decaying, being consumed, and our inner man is being renewed. This is transformation. The building up of the church, the real expression of Christ in a corporate way, depends on the transformation from the old man to the new man, from the natural man to the spiritual man, and from the old nature to the new nature.
If we look at the situation of the church today, we have to admit that troubles in the church are often due to having too many gifts. We may need to pray, “Lord, take back all the gifts and grant us the growth of life. Stop all the gifts but encourage transformation in life.” We need the transformation of life and in life. The more gifts the Lord’s people have, the more troubles, the more divisions, and the more opinions the church will have. This is a fact. For this reason, in 2 Corinthians the experienced apostle forgot about the gifts and gave up all the matters related to the gifts. He told us that we need to be consumed, renewed, and transformed. We need to learn not to get rid of the thorn but to suffer under the thorn in order to know and experience the sufficient grace (12:7-9).
Now let us consider Galatians. In the Epistle to the Galatians we see that the believers were distracted from Christ and the church by attempting to keep the law and to do good. As long as you can do good, you will be very independent. Almost all good people are independent. The more you are a good person, the more independent you are. If you can be a humble person, you will be an independent, proud “humble” person. It is only Christ who does not make people proud, while the good we do becomes a factor that makes us proud. If I can be patient, patience becomes a factor to make me proud. I may say, “Oh, I am patient, and you are not!” To say this shows that I am really a proud person. I am afraid of good persons in the church. They are the most difficult ones to deal with. However, this does not mean that bad persons are easy to deal with. Both the good and the bad are not easy to deal with. Today it is only a matter of Christ: Christ revealed in me (1:16), Christ living in me (2:20), Christ being formed in me (4:19), and I having put on Christ (3:27). Everything is Christ, not the law or goodness. If we try to keep the law or try to do good, we can never build up the church. There is only one thing that can build up the church, and that is Christ Himself experienced by us as everything. When we experience Christ as everything, there is the possibility for the building up of the Body.
Home | First | Prev | Next