First Corinthians 7:10 says, “To the married I charge, not I but the Lord, A wife must not be separated from her husband.” When Paul charged, it was not he but the Lord. This is the real oneness with the Lord according to 6:17: “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” Then verse 12a of chapter 7 says, “But to the rest I say, I, not the Lord.” In verse 10 he says, “Not I but the Lord,” while in verse 12 he says, “I, not the Lord.” We may be more “spiritual” than the apostle Paul. Today many ministers say in a pretentious way, “The Lord gives me the burden to speak to you.” Sometimes we do need to have the boldness to say, “I charge, not I but the Lord,” but sometimes we also need to say, “I, not the Lord.”
Verse 25 continues, “Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who has been shown mercy by the Lord to be faithful.” It seems that if someone does not have a commandment from the Lord, he should not speak. However, this chapter of 1 Corinthians is a portrait of a person at the peak of spirituality. On the one hand, he could say that when he speaks, it is the Lord speaking. On the other hand, he recognizes that although his speaking is not a commandment from the Lord, he could still give his judgment, concept, or opinion. This is genuine spirituality. Here is a person who has been occupied by the Lord, taken over by the Lord, saturated and permeated with the Lord, and mingled with the Lord. When he spoke, whether as from the Lord directly or simply in giving his opinion, he was one with the Lord. Even when he did not have the feeling that he had the Lord’s direct commandment, he could still speak something of the Lord.
Verse 40 concludes, “But she is more blessed if she so remains, according to my opinion; but I think that I also have the Spirit of God.” Paul gave his opinion, but he still thought that he had the Spirit of God. The more spiritual we are, the less assurance we will have. When we say, “I am sure that I am in the spirit,” it is doubtful that we are in the spirit. Rather, we should say, “I do not know, and I am not clear. This may be my opinion, judgment, and concept. I am not sure, but I think that I have the Spirit of God.”
Paul’s word in chapter 7 is recognized as the word of God. Brother Watchman Nee once pointed out to us that this is the climax of spirituality. A truly spiritual person must be like this. We must not say, “Because I am full of the Spirit and under the power of the Spirit, what I am speaking to you must be of the Lord.” Such a speaking does not appear in the New Testament. On the contrary, here is a person saying, “I say, I, not the Lord...I have no commandment of the Lord, but I give my opinion...But I think that I also have the Spirit of God.” Nevertheless, whatever he spoke was the word of God, because by this time the apostle Paul was a person truly joined to the Lord as one spirit. He was so occupied by the Lord, mingled with the Lord, and thoroughly saturated with the Lord that even his concept and judgment were something from the Lord.
This is the message of 1 Corinthians. Yes, in chapters 12 and 14 there is the matter of speaking in tongues. However, the church today needs chapter 7 more than the tongues in chapters 12 and 14. We need not merely the outward manifestation of the gifts but the inward mingling of the Lord with us as one. Even when we do not have the feeling or assurance that what we speak is something from the Lord, eventually what we speak is of the Lord because we are saturated with Him and one with Him in reality. “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit” (6:17).
Chapter 10 begins, “For I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank of a spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ” (vv. 1-4). This chapter shows us that today Christ is everything to us. He is not physical food, a psychological drink, or a material rock. Rather, He is our spiritual food, spiritual drink, and spiritual rock. Therefore, we need to enjoy Him, experience Him, feed on Him, drink of Him, and rely on Him in our spirit.
Verse 3 of chapter 12 says, “Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking in the Spirit of God says, Jesus is accursed; and no one can say, Jesus is Lord! except in the Holy Spirit.” Before the Spirit gives the spiritual gifts, He causes people to say, Jesus is Lord! Verse 4 continues, “But there are distinctions of gifts, but the same Spirit.” Then verses 7 through 10 go on to speak of the manifestation of the Spirit given to each one for what is profitable. Verses 11 and 12 say, “But the one and the same Spirit operates all these things, distributing to each one respectively even as He purposes. For even as the body is one and has many members, yet all the members of the body, being many, are one body, so also is the Christ.” In the normal and proper sense, all the gifts and manifestations mentioned in these verses are something of Christ for the building up of the Body of Christ. Verse 12 tells us that the Body is even Christ Himself. We should not isolate the gifts from Christ. They are something of Christ and for the Body of Christ.
Verse 13 continues, “For also in one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and were all given to drink one Spirit.” To be baptized in the Spirit and to drink the Spirit are two different matters. To be baptized in water is to be put into the water, but to drink the water is to take the water into us. We need the baptism of the Holy Spirit without, and we also need to drink the Spirit within. We are not baptized in water every day, but we drink water every day. In the same way, we need to drink the Spirit inwardly every day.
Finally, 15:45b says, “The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.” The last Adam is Christ. First Corinthians, a book that presents Christ to us as our portion, concludes by telling us that this Christ, who is our portion given by God, is the life-giving Spirit.