We have seen that Christ as the Spirit in Romans is the Spirit of life and the Spirit of the Son for the divine sonship. Following Romans are the Epistles to the Corinthians, which reveal Christ as the Spirit in further aspects.
First Corinthians 3:16 and 17 say, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him; for the temple of God is holy, and such are you.” To say that this passage speaks merely of the indwelling Spirit is the natural and religious concept. There is no need of much revelation to say this, since the passage clearly says, “The Spirit of God dwells in you.”
Verses 9 through 15 say, “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s cultivated land, God’s building. According to the grace of God given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid a foundation, and another builds upon it. But let each man take heed how he builds upon it. For another foundation no one is able to lay besides that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. But if anyone builds upon the foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, grass, stubble, the work of each will become manifest; for the day will declare it, because it is revealed by fire, and the fire itself will prove each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built upon the foundation remains, he will receive a reward; if anyone’s work is consumed, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”
After carefully reading this portion of the Word, the main impression we receive is one of building. We are God’s cultivated land for God’s building. Paul, as a wise master builder, laid a foundation, and others build on it, but we must be careful with what materials we build. We must build with gold, silver, and precious stones, not with wood, grass, and stubble. Finally, we are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in us, so we must be careful not to destroy the temple, the building. If we read this portion properly, we will understand that the Spirit who dwells within us is not merely for indwelling. The indwelling Spirit is the Spirit of building. If we see that the Spirit in 1 Corinthians is the Spirit of building, this book will be a new book to us. The Spirit mentioned throughout the entire book of 1 Corinthians is the Spirit of building.
Verses 17 through 20 of chapter six say, “But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. Flee fornication. Every sin which a man may do is outside the body, but he who commits fornication sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price. So then glorify God in your body.” Paul’s word that he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit is based on the illustration of a man being joined to a woman, as verses 15 and 16 say: “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Absolutely not! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute is one body? For He says, ‘The two shall be one flesh.’” We are joined to the Lord just as a wife is joined to her husband. Genesis 2:21 through 23 and Ephesians 5:25 through 32 show us clearly that the wife signifies the church as the Body of Christ, and the husband signifies Christ the Head. In this portion of the Word, therefore, the Spirit is for the Body.
Although these verses speak not of the Body of Christ directly but of our own bodies, verse 15 says that our bodies are members of Christ. This proves that the Spirit who dwells in our bodies is for the building up of the Body of Christ. Similarly, verse 17 tells us that he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit, just as a wife who is joined to her husband is one body with him. As we have seen, the wife typifies the church, which is the Body. We are the wife who is joined to the Lord as the Husband, and we are the Body of Christ joined to the Head as one spirit. Our being one spirit with the Lord and the Holy Spirit’s dwelling in our bodies are both for the building up of the Body of Christ. The Holy Spirit dwells in us to make us the members of the Body of Christ, He builds us up as the Body, and He dwells within us to join us all as one spirit for the purpose of the building up of His Body. Therefore, the Spirit spoken of here is the Spirit of building, the Spirit who works to build up the Body.
Our being joined to the Lord as one spirit is not only for each person individually to be one with the Lord. It is for all of us to be one with the Lord. It is a corporate matter, a Body matter, not an individual matter. Again, therefore, the Spirit mentioned in this part of the Word is the Spirit for the building, the Spirit of building.