Now we need to see what the real content of the word is. In order to see the content of the word, we may use the illustration of food. Although there are many different kinds of food with many different vitamins and minerals, our food consists of two main kinds of elements—killing elements and nourishing elements. We have many germs in our body. If we do not eat for a few days, the germs in our body will multiply, and we will become sick. In all the food that we eat, there is an antibiotic, killing power that kills the negative germs. At the same time, there is also a nourishing element in the food we eat, which nourishes the positive cells. In the word of God, which is our spiritual food, there are the same two kinds of elements—killing elements and nourishing elements. The contents of God’s word are mainly Christ, the death of Christ, and the resurrection of Christ. Some may point out that in the Bible there are many items, such as the heavens, the earth, animals, plants, human beings, and history. However, these many items are like the many different foods we eat with the many different vitamins and minerals. In all these different items in the Bible, there are actually only two main elements—a killing element and a nourishing element. These elements are Christ’s death and Christ’s resurrection, both of which are in Christ.
The killing element in the Bible is referred to in 1 Corinthians 1:18 as the word of the cross. The word of the Bible crosses us out. The more we receive the word, the more certain things within us will be crossed out. The word crosses out our temper, our ambition, our natural life, our pride, our hatred, and even our hating self. The young brothers sometimes experience jealousy, not only in school life and family life but also in the church life. If the elders mention one young brother’s name in a meeting, other young brothers may immediately become jealous. This jealousy can never be corrected outwardly, but if we take in the word every morning by coming to the Bible, our jealousy and our jealous self will be crossed out. The word in the Bible has killing power.
There is a great difference between the teachings of Confucius and the Bible. In the word of the Bible there is a killing element. In the teachings of Confucius, however, there is no killing element. Rather, the more we study the teachings of Confucius, the more we may become proud, thinking that we are more ethical, humble, and honest than others. In contrast, we will not be proud after pray-reading a few verses of the Bible. The word of the Bible kills the proud self. Although there is a killing power in the food we eat, this killing power is completely digested and depleted after several hours. At that time we need another meal. Our pride will be killed if we pray-read in the morning, but because our pride may return in the afternoon, we will need another meal of the word of the cross.
There were many problems in the church in Corinth. Therefore, the believers there needed the word of the cross. In every chapter of 1 Corinthians there is a killing word, a word of the cross. Some in Corinth exalted tongue-speaking, but in 1 Corinthians 12:10 and 28 Paul ranked it last among the aspects of God’s operation in the church. This was a killing. Paul says, “The word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1:18). Because the word of the cross kills all the negative germs, it is able to rescue and heal the believers.
To be a young brother in the church is not easy. In the church life the young brothers are very competitive. Without competition in academics and business, there would be no growth. Nevertheless, in the church life competition needs to be killed. However, if the elders rebuke the young brothers, this will not kill their competitiveness. The only thing that works is for the young brothers to come to the Word every morning to pray-read a few verses. In this way they will spontaneously and unconsciously receive a killing element. After pray-reading, it is impossible to be proud because the word kills our proud self. As long as there are germs within us—negative things such as competition, pride, and jealousy—the word will carry out its killing work within us every time we come the Bible. The word in the Bible will spontaneously become the word of the cross, which is the death of Christ.