We have seen that in verses 15, 17, and 19 Paul covers three crucial matters: that our bodies are the members of Christ; that we are joined to the Lord as one spirit; and that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. In actuality and practicality these three are one. The key to all three is in verse 17. Apart from being joined to the Lord in our spirit, it is impossible for our bodies, which are sinful and lustful, to become the members of Christ. Another crucial matter related to this is Paul’s word in 6:14 that the Lord “will raise up us through His power.” We have pointed out that even now the Spirit of the resurrected Christ who dwells in our spirit gives life to our body. This impartation of life makes our bodies the members of Christ and a temple of the Holy Spirit. Have you ever wondered how our bodies can become the members of Christ and the temple of the Holy Spirit? The key is that the indwelling Spirit of the resurrected Christ imparts life into our mortal bodies.
Since this is the key, we must exercise and practice to experience the Lord as the life-giving Spirit dwelling in our spirit. This is to practice being one spirit with the Lord. If we exercise ourselves to experience this and enjoy it, we shall open the door for the Lord to impart life to our physical bodies. Then our bodies will be full of the resurrection life of Christ and will become the members of Christ. When our body becomes a member of the indwelling Christ, it automatically becomes the temple, the dwelling place, of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, in our experience the three matters of our bodies being members of Christ, of being one spirit with the Lord, and of our body being the temple of the Holy Spirit are three aspects of one reality.
The way Paul deals with the problems among the Corinthian believers is not shallow or superficial. On the contrary, it is deep and profound. As Paul deals with the different problems, he brings us back to the central vision of God’s economy—to the Triune God as the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit dwelling in our spirit. The Spirit today is the processed Triune God indwelling our whole being. All the problems among the believers are caused by the shortage of the experience of this indwelling Spirit. To repeat, Christians have problems because they lack the experience of the all-inclusive, life-giving indwelling Spirit. For this reason, Paul eventually brings us back to this Spirit in our spirit.
In 6:20 Paul says, “For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.” The way to glorify God in our body is to have our body occupied by God and thoroughly saturated with Him. Then we shall express Him in our body. As the Lord spreads from our spirit, through our soul, and into our body, we glorify God in our body. Thus, to glorify God in our body is to have our body one with the Triune God. This is to understand Paul’s word in verse 20 according to the central vision of God’s economy.
We should not think that 1 Corinthians is a shallow book dealing with problems in the church. Yes, in this book Paul does deal with many problems. But at the same time he brings us into the central vision of God’s economy, for he brings us back to the Spirit as the ultimate consummation of the processed Triune God.
If you get into the depths of these verses, your life, ministry, and service in the church will be affected in a revolutionary way. Your inner being and your entire church life will be radically changed. May we all pray about these verses until such a change takes place within us.