In 3:16 we see that the Spirit dwells in the church: “Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” In this verse “a temple of God” refers to the believers collectively in a certain locality, as in Corinth. But in the following verse “the temple of God” refers to all the believers universally. The unique spiritual temple of God in the universe has its expression in many localities on earth. Each expression is a temple of God in a particular locality. To say that the Spirit of God dwells in the believers as a temple of God means that the Spirit of God dwells in the church. The dwelling of the Spirit of God in the church is also a matter of the divine dispensing.
As we consider all these verses in 1 Corinthians, we see that the unique thing that is taking place in the church life is the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity. I realize that in the book of 1 Corinthians we cannot find the word “dispensing.” But just as we have the fact of the Trinity in the Bible even though this word is not used, we also have the fact of the divine dispensing even though this term cannot be found in the Scriptures. Day by day this dispensing is taking place among us in the church life. Therefore, the church life in a practical way is the issue of this divine dispensing. The divine dispensing of the Triune God results in the practical church life. The proper church life comes from the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity.
If we see this, we shall realize that we cannot teach anyone how to have the proper church life. No, the proper church life comes only through the dispensing of the Triune God into us. The more we have this dispensing, the more we have the genuine and proper church life. I hope that many of us will enter into the depths of Christ through the divine dispensing of the Triune God in our practical church life.