First Corinthians 3:1-3 says, “And I, brothers, was not able to speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to fleshy, as to infants in Christ.” In chapter 2 Paul says that we must be spiritual men. If we are soulish, we cannot enjoy Christ. In chapter 3, however, he said that he could not speak to the Corinthians as to spiritual men but as to fleshy. Fleshy is a stronger expression than fleshly. In chapters 1 through 4 the Corinthians had jealousy, strife, and divisions. All these are fleshly things. In chapters 5 and 6, though, some committed things even more evil. Those who did such things were fleshy, made of the flesh and totally of the flesh. Paul spoke to the Corinthians as to fleshy, because among them there was even one who committed incest with his stepmother. This was to behave not only as soulish or fleshly but as fleshy.
Chapter 3 continues, “I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, for you were not yet able to receive it. But neither yet now are you able, for you are still fleshly. For if there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly and do you not walk according to the manner of man?” (vv. 2-3). The Corinthian believers, who had received all utterance and knowledge and were lacking in no gift, were short of Christ. They were babyish, soulish, fleshly, and even fleshy.
Verses 7 through 9 say, “So then neither is he who plants anything nor he who waters, but God who causes the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s cultivated land, God’s building.” Here Paul says that we are two things, in two aspects. We are God’s cultivated land to grow a harvest, and we are also God’s building. As the cultivated land we need to grow, and as the building we need to be built up. The house of God is not a house without life; it is a living house, a house that is full of life. Therefore, the building of this house depends on the growth of life. We need not only to be built together but also to grow together.
Verses 10 through 13a say, “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.” Then verses 16 and 17 continue, “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.”
According to a careful reading of this chapter, the Holy Spirit today is the Spirit who indwells us to give us the growth in life, transform us into precious materials, and build us up together. Following this, there is the temple of God. Again, this house of God is a living house. It is a building that requires the growth of life. On the one hand, we are the cultivated land of God, and on the other hand, we are the building of God. Therefore, we need to grow. The way to grow is by the Spirit. Then by growing we are transformed into gold, silver, and precious stones. Originally we all were only clay. We were not gold, silver, or precious stones. However, by growing in life we are transformed into these precious materials, and by being transformed we are built up together. The work of the indwelling Spirit is to give us the growth of life, transform us into precious materials, and build us together as the temple of God.
The way the Spirit gives us the growth is by feeding us (v. 2). The Spirit that dwells within us feeds us with Christ either as milk or as solid food. If we are too young or childish, the Spirit knows that He must feed us with Christ as milk. Mothers know that they cannot feed babes with steak. They need to be fed with milk little by little. The apostle Paul fed the Corinthian believers in this way. Growth in life comes not merely from teaching. Growth comes by feeding on something of Christ either as milk or as solid food (Heb. 5:12-14). It is by feeding that we grow, it is by growth in life that we are transformed, and it is by this transformation that we become the precious stones that are good for the building up of the temple of God. In 1 Corinthians 3, therefore, the indwelling Spirit is the feeding Spirit, the transforming Spirit, and the building Spirit.
We must not only know Christ but also feed on Christ. We need to enjoy Christ by eating and drinking Him (John 6:57; 7:37). Then we will grow in life, and it is by this growth that we are gradually transformed into precious materials for the building of God’s house. We can see this also in the six parables in Matthew 13. The first four parables deal with the sower who sowed the seed, the seed growing into wheat, the growing mustard seed, and the fine flour from the wheat that becomes bread. All these are related to God’s cultivated land that grows something to be blent as fine flour to make a loaf, signifying the Body of Christ. Following this are the parables of the treasure hidden in the field and the pearl hidden in the water. Both the treasure and the pearl are precious materials that are good for the building of God. This indicates that the precious materials come from the transformation of that which grows out of the land.
This growth of life comes from feeding on Christ as our food, our nourishment. We need to feed on Christ day by day. Then we will be nourished to grow, and by this growth we will spontaneously and gradually be transformed into precious materials for the building of God. All this is the work of the indwelling Spirit.
First Corinthians 6:17 reveals something even more wonderful. It is a great matter, not only in the Bible but also in the whole universe. This verse says, “But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” Following this, verses 19 and 20 say, “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.” This passage states clearly that the Holy Spirit dwells not only in our spirit but also in our body. Our whole being, not only our spirit but also our body, becomes the temple of God.
This is wonderful, but it requires much work. A fleshly or fleshy person’s body cannot be the temple of God. This body must be saturated by the Spirit who dwells in our spirit. The Spirit is in our spirit, and now He wants to spread through our soul to permeate our body. Then even our body will become a part of the divine temple. This is the proper meaning of glorify God in your body. To glorify God in our body is to manifest God through our body. Our body, not only our soul, must be under the control of the spirit. When our soul and our body are both under the control of our spirit, the spirit can manifest something of God in our body.
When the Spirit possesses even our body, we are fit to be built up together as the Body of Christ. Romans 12:1 tells us to present our body for the Body of Christ. We need to offer our physical body for the mystical Body of Christ. If we fellowship with the Lord with our spirit and love Him with our heart, but our body is not occupied by the spirit for the Lord’s purpose, we cannot realize the Body life. In order to realize the church life, our spirit must be filled with the Holy Spirit, our soul must be transformed by all of its parts being renewed, and our body must be occupied by the Spirit. This means that our entire being—spirit, soul, and body—is taken over by the Spirit. Then it will be easy to be related with the other saints, and we will be in the Body of Christ in a practical way. We need to offer our physical body for the mystical Body of Christ. A spirit to contact the Lord and a heart to love the Lord are not good enough. We also need to offer our body to the Lord as a living sacrifice. Then we will have the Body life, and when we have the Body life, we will truly glorify God in our body.
We fellowship with the Lord, but fellowship is a matter of the spirit. Likewise, we love the Lord, and we set our mind on the spirit, but this is a matter of the heart. Our body, however, may not yet be a living sacrifice for the Body of Christ. Our body needs to be set free from many preoccupations. When we visit certain ones, they sometimes say, “Thank you for your concern. I have been away from the meetings for several months, but I assure you that my heart is with the Lord.” Yes, our heart is with the Lord, but what about our body? If our body is not presented for the practical church life, then to say that our heart is with the Lord is to speak a kind of lie wrapped in a truth. If our body does not come, our being is not coming in reality. To say that our heart is in America though our body is in Taiwan simply means we are still in Taiwan. The body is the appearance of a man in reality. If our body is not present, our being cannot be present.
The spirit is in the soul, the soul is in the body, and the body is in time. Therefore, we need to designate time for our body to come to the church life in practicality. If our time is preoccupied, our whole being is occupied. That is why we need to separate out a part of our time for our body to come to the church life. Then when our body comes, our soul comes, and when our soul comes, our spirit comes. The Holy Spirit within us today is working to transform our soul, occupy our body, and separate our time to the Lord. Then we will glorify God in our body by being in the Body of Christ in practicality.