It is not easy for many Christians to receive the proper light concerning the life-giving Spirit in 1 Corinthians. Even though the apostle presents the Spirit in a particular way, many today are too impressed with the supernatural gifts of the Spirit. Before we get into this book, we need to forget this kind of unbalanced impression. Let us come to this book with a pure understanding. If we put off the “tinted glasses” from our eyes, we will see the pure revelation from the pure Word.
Let us consider certain important passages from this book. Verses 1 and 2 of chapter 1 say, “Paul, a called apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Sosthenes the brother, to the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, the called saints, with all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, who is theirs and ours.” We should highlight the phrase theirs and ours. This means that Christ is both their portion and our portion. Then verse 9 says, “God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” Christ is our portion, and God has called us into the fellowship, the enjoyment, of this portion. Verse 30 says, “Of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” That Christ has been made all these items to us means that He is everything to us. He is our divine portion, and He is all in all to us.
Verses 22 through 24 say, “For indeed Jews require signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” The phrase but we preach Christ in verse 23 indicates that signs and wisdom are not Christ. Rather, to certain people they are substitutes for Christ. We do not want to follow the Jews or the Greeks. The Jews require a sign, which is something miraculous, and the Greeks seek after knowledge. Instead, we want to follow the apostles, who preached Christ crucified.
Verses 5 through 7 say, “That in everything you were enriched in Him, in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you do not lack in any gift, eagerly awaiting the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Utterance, knowledge, and gifts may also be substitutes for Christ. These things are good, but all these are not Christ Himself. The Corinthians did not lack any gift, but they were not spiritual men. Rather, they were infants and fleshy (3:1-3). They had all utterance, knowledge, and gifts, but they were short of Christ.
In 1 Corinthians 1 Christ is presented as our all-inclusive portion. He is the wisdom prepared for us by God to be our righteousness in the past, sanctification in the present, and redemption in the future so that He may be our portion and our all in all. Moreover, we have been called by God into the fellowship of this Christ. He is ours, and He is theirs. He is the divine portion allotted by God to every believer. Miracles, signs, wisdom, utterance, knowledge, and gifts may simply be substitutes for Christ. We can be distracted from Christ by all these things that are not Christ Himself. In this chapter Paul stresses that nothing less than the all-inclusive Christ is our portion, not even the good things. Paul confirms this in chapter 2, saying, “For I did not determine to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and this One crucified” (v. 2). Paul made the decision not to know anything of signs, miracles, wisdom, utterance, knowledge, or gifts. Instead, he determined to know Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
In chapter 2 Paul gives us the practical way to experience and enjoy Christ by the Spirit. Verses 9 through 14 say, “As it is written, ‘Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard and which have not come up in man’s heart; things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’ But to us God has revealed them through the Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the things of man, except the spirit of man which is in him? In the same way, the things of God also no one has known except the Spirit of God. But we have received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit which is from God, that we may know the things which have been graciously given to us by God; which things also we speak, not in words taught by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things with spiritual words. But a soulish man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him and he is not able to know them because they are discerned spiritually.” The things that God has given us freely are the things of Christ, including His life, and the depths of God are Christ in many aspects as our enjoyment. Interpreting spiritual things with spiritual words in verse 13 is to explain spiritual things by spiritual means. The Spirit explains the spiritual things, the deep things of God concerning Christ, by means of spiritual words.
In these verses five verbs are used to describe how the Spirit works within us related to the things of Christ: revealed, searches, knows, taught, and discerned. The Spirit of God searches the things of Christ, knows the things of Christ, and reveals and teaches the things of Christ to us, and we discern these things by the Spirit.
Verses 15 continues, “But the spiritual man discerns all things, but he himself is discerned by no one.” We need to be spiritual and not soulish. If we are soulish, we cannot understand and receive the things of Christ. To be soulish means to live and to walk in the soul. To be spiritual means to live and walk in the spirit. The way to experience Christ is by the spirit, not by the soul. The deep things of God are Christ Himself, and the things that God has given to us freely are also Christ Himself. We need to experience this Christ in our spirit through the Holy Spirit, because it is the Spirit that searches the things of Christ, knows the things of Christ, and reveals, teaches, and discerns the things of Christ.
Because this Spirit is now in our spirit, we must be in our spirit. If we are soulish and in the soul, we are foolish; we cannot know and receive the things of Christ. We need to live and walk in the spirit and not in the soul. If we live and walk in the soul, we become soulish and natural men, men who cannot receive the things of Christ. It is in the spirit that we contact the Spirit of God who reveals and teaches all the things of Christ to us.
Chapter 2 concludes with verse 16, which says, “For who has known the mind of the Lord and will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.” To have the mind of Christ means that our mind is renewed and our soul is transformed. Romans 12:2 says, “Be transformed by the renewing of the mind.” As we have seen before, man is of three parts—spirit, soul, and body. The Spirit dwells in our spirit to reveal and teach all the things of Christ to us. Therefore, we need to walk and live in the spirit, not in the soul. When we walk and live in the spirit, we give the free way to Christ to flood us and fill us. From our spirit He will spread into the parts of our soul, which are our mind, emotion, and will. Then our mind will be renewed. It will no longer be the natural mind but the mind of Christ. This is to be transformed in our soul. It is in this way that we experience Christ as our all-inclusive portion.
In 1 Corinthians 1 we have Christ as our portion, and in chapter 2 we have the Spirit as the way, the means, for us to enjoy our portion. Because this Spirit is in our spirit, we need to be spiritual men living and walking in our spirit. In this way we will continually contact the Spirit who reveals and teaches Christ to us. Moreover, as we walk and live in the spirit, the Spirit will take possession of our entire being, and Christ will have the free way to flood and saturate us. Then all the parts of our soul will be renewed and transformed, and we will enjoy Christ as everything to us.