When you read chapter six of 1 Corinthians, what will attract your attention, the feathers or the meat? Paul’s word condemning fornication is a “feather truth.” Anyone who is ethical or moral will appreciate Paul’s word regarding this matter. In reading this chapter, some Christians pay attention to verse 19, where Paul says that our body is the temple of God and that we should glorify God in our body because we have been purchased with a price. Others in reading this chapter would pay attention to Paul’s word concerning lawsuits between brothers. Not many would recognize that the key verse in this chapter is verse 15.
Some may wonder why I say verse 15 is the key verse when I have placed such strong emphasis on verse 17. In verse 17 Paul says, “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” In verse 15 he says, “Your bodies are members of Christ.” Verse 17 explains how it is possible for our bodies to be the members of Christ. Because our bodies are members of Christ, we should not misuse them. Our bodies have been organically united to Christ; they are now a part of Christ. How can we use such holy bodies to commit sin? But how is it possible for our bodies to be the members of Christ? This is possible because we are one spirit with the Lord. Since our spirit has been joined to the Lord as one spirit, our spirit should be the predominant part of our being. Then our body should be under the control of the spirit and saturated by the spirit. First the spirit becomes the spirit of our mind and, eventually, the spirit of our body. In this way our bodies become the members of Christ. This is the meat in 1 Corinthians 6.
In chapters two, three, and four of 2 Corinthians it is difficult to find any feathers or skin. There certainly are not any feathers, but in chapter three there may be a thin layer of skin. In 3:1 Paul asks, “Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some, letters of commendation to you or from you?” With this verse as the basis, some Christian groups have set up a system of writing letters of recommendation for those moving from one place to another. Those who follow this practice claim that letters of recommendation were written for the saints during Paul’s time. This, however, is a thin layer of skin; it definitely is not the meat in 2 Corinthians 3. It was not Paul’s intention in this chapter to write concerning such letters of commendation. Rather, his intention was to speak concerning the writing of living letters by the life-giving Spirit of the living God.
As one who was a pattern for living Christ for the church, Paul was competent to write living letters. He was qualified, and he had a mastery of the skill necessary for this. Paul was competent of Christ to write these living letters with Christ Himself as the spiritual alphabet. The book of Revelation says clearly that Christ is the alpha, the first letter of the Greek alphabet, and also the omega, the last letter. Surely Christ is also all the letters between alpha and omega.
No matter how long a particular composition may be, it is written with words composed of the letters of the alphabet. If we use a typewriter to write the word God, we simply have to press the keys G-o-d. We can go on to write other words and then sentences, paragraphs, and chapters. In the same principle, with Christ as the heavenly alphabet, Paul could write living letters.
Based upon the statement in the book of Revelation that Christ is the alpha and the omega, we also say that He is all the letters of the heavenly alphabet. Do you believe that Christ is only two letters and not the remainder of the letters? No, He is all the other letters. Anyone who lives Christ for the church knows Christ as alpha, beta, gamma, delta and every other letter of the heavenly alphabet.