Second Corinthians 1:22 says that God “has also sealed us and given the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.” We must never forget this verse that speaks of the sealing Spirit and the Spirit as the pledge. To be sealed with the Holy Spirit is to be marked with the Holy Spirit as a living seal. The word pledge in Greek has the meaning of foretaste or firstfruit. Whereas the seal marks us out as God’s inheritance, God’s possession, the Spirit as the pledge is an earnest, guaranteeing that God is our inheritance and possession.
Following this, 3:6 says, “Who has also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant, ministers not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” Here again we have the life-giving Spirit, the Spirit who gives life.
Verses 17 and 18 continue, “And the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.” Here we have the liberating Spirit and the transforming Spirit.
Verse 7 of chapter four says, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not out of us.” This corresponds to the concept of transformation in 3:18. There is no need for the treasure to be transformed, but there is a real need that the earthen vessels be transformed to correspond with the treasure. The treasure is something precious, but the earthen vessels need to be transformed. Verse 16 of chapter four says, “Therefore we do not lose heart; but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.” This also confirms the concept of transformation.
Throughout the entire book of 2 Corinthians, the main thought is transformation. In this book almost every chapter is a record of the process of suffering for the purpose of consuming the outer man and renewing the inner man day by day. This is to be transformed day by day through all the sufferings.
In 2 Corinthians, therefore, we have the Spirit as the sealing Spirit, the Spirit who gives us the foretaste of all that God is to us, the Spirit who gives life, the liberating Spirit, and the transforming Spirit. If we look into all of the Epistles with the point of view that Christ is the Spirit, these books will become so interesting, meaningful, and even new to us.
Why do we need 2 Corinthians to follow 1 Corinthians? As we have seen, the first Epistle is a book of building. All the ministries in 1 Corinthians are for the building, but the building requires not wood, grass, and stubble but gold, silver, and especially precious stones. Originally we are not precious stones; we are clay, earthen vessels that need to be transformed. Therefore, in 2 Corinthians we see the process of transformation. First, the transforming Spirit comes into us as the sealing Spirit to seal us. Second, He becomes a foretaste of our enjoyment of God. We can be transformed only by tasting and enjoying God, and this Spirit is the foretaste of the full enjoyment of God. This Spirit is also the life-giving Spirit, imparting life into us. In this way He liberates us, setting us free from bondage, depression, oppression, and suppression. This Spirit transforms us from glory to glory until we are conformed to the very image of the Son of God. By this we become the materials that are good for the building.
In the previous message and in this one, we have dug a rich mine. May we all keep in mind the foregoing titles and aspects of the Holy Spirit: the Spirit of life, the Spirit of the divine sonship, the Spirit of building, the manifestation of the Spirit, the Spirit of sealing, the Spirit of pledging, the Spirit who gives life, the Spirit who liberates, and the Spirit who transforms. We need to know all these matters, experience them, and minister them to others. This will be a rich ministry, imparting to people not mere doctrine but something real and living. If we have a vision from the Lord concerning these things, the Epistles will be new books to us.