Those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, the called saints, are the constituents as the framework of the church (1 Cor. 1:2c). The Triune God is the contents of the church, with the Spirit as the essence, the Lord as the element, and the Father as the source. The church’s framework is the genuine believers, the real saints, the sanctified ones in Christ Jesus. The church must be of God, on its local ground, and with the saints as the constituents.
First Corinthians was written to the saints in Corinth with all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place-the recipients of this Epistle in every place other than the saints in Corinth (1:2d). Even today we are the recipients of this book. This Epistle was written to the church in Corinth, the composition of the saints in that city, but it has been and will be read by people in thousands of places throughout the generations.
Christ being “theirs and ours” means that Christ is the portion of the local saints in Corinth and of all the saints in whatever place, who participate in the fellowship (enjoyment) of Christ, into which all the believers have been called by the faithful God (1:2e, 9). The same Christ is the portion not only for one local church but also for all the churches on the earth. He is the common portion allotted to us by God. Every local church has a portion of Christ. Also, we have been called by the faithful God into the fellowship of Christ. As called saints, Christ is our portion, and we have been called into the enjoyment, the fellowship, of Christ as the center.
Divisions among the saints are condemned by the apostle as the deputy authority of Christ the Head (1:10-13). Paul wrote to the church in Corinth because he heard that there were divisions among them. Some said that they were of Paul, others that they were of Apollos, others that they were of Cephas, and still others that they were of Christ. They were divided into four groups, but Paul asked them, “Is Christ divided?” It was as if Paul were asking, “How many Christs do you have? Do you have a Christ for Cephas, for Apollos, for Paul, and even for Christ? Regardless of Cephas, of Apollos, of Paul, and of Christ, what you have is only one Christ. The fellowship you all are in is the fellowship of one unique Christ. Christ is not divided.” Divisions among the saints were condemned by the apostle as Christ’s deputy authority.
Christ is unique, not divisible nor divided (1:13). What a shame it is that there are so many divisions among today’s Christians when Christ is not divided.
Paul said that division is of the flesh, according to the manner of man (3:3-4). The Taiwanese want to have a Taiwan Gospel Church because they like the flavor of Taiwan. Some Chinese brothers do not like to attend the English meetings, because they miss the Chinese flavor. Even within the United States there are the Texans and the New Yorkers and the blacks and the whites, whose cultural pride and natural preferences are divisive. We should not have our own flavor. Being divided because of any racial, national, or cultural flavor is fleshly, according to the manner of man and not according to the manner of the saints.
Concerning the spiritual and divine things for the church, we must keep in mind four crucial points. First, we must go through the cross. Our native flavor should be crossed out by Christ. Both the Americans and the Chinese should be crossed out. In the church there is room for no natural person, but Christ is all and in all (Col. 3:11). On the cross both the Jews and the Gentiles were crossed out. Second, everything should be by the Spirit. Third, this is to dispense Christ to others. Fourth, everything is for the building up of the church. In other words, whatever we do should be through the cross by the Spirit to dispense Christ to others for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ.
But today people would not take the cross or live by the Spirit. Instead, they would live by their flesh. They would not care for dispensing Christ. Instead, they care for their kind of social life. After our meetings, we like to congregate with the ones who match our natural background. The Chinese go to the Chinese and the Americans go to the Americans. This shows that we need to be crossed out. The Japanese flavor, the Chinese flavor, the Taiwanese flavor, and the American flavor all have to be crossed out. We should not do things according to our feeling but according to the Spirit. We should not enjoy Christ merely for ourselves but to dispense Christ to others. The flavor of our natural man with our culture is the flavor of men, the flavor of the flesh. That has to be crossed out by the Spirit in order that we may dispense Christ for the church.
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