Believers also grow in the church. Just as children grow in a family, so believers grow in the church life. To grow in the church is to experience the real growth in life, which is the increase of the element of God, the increase of the measure of the stature of Christ, and the gaining of ground within us by the Holy Spirit. For the element of God to increase within us means that more of God Himself is mingled with us, is gained by us, and becomes our element. The more we love Christ, seek after Christ, and let Christ live in us, the more the measure of the stature of Christ increases within us. Furthermore, the more we grow, the more we allow the Holy Spirit to gain ground within us.
In 1 Corinthians 3:6 Paul says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth.” The believers here are signified by plants. Plants need the planting, watering, and growth. The planting and watering are carried out by the apostles, but only God, as the source of life, can cause the growth. The believers are God’s plants, planted in the church; the church is God’s cultivated land (v. 9). God causes the believers to grow in the church as His cultivated land. According to the first three chapters of 1 Corinthians, the life by which the believers grow in the church is the crucified and resurrected Christ. The more we experience and enjoy Christ in the church, the more we as God’s plants grow in the divine life.
In the early church life the saints had their possessions in common. To have our possessions in common is to share what God has given to us with the fellow saints who have need. We care for each other out of love, and we also care for the general expenses of the church. Acts 2:44-45 says, “All those who believed were together and had all things common; and they sold their properties and possessions and divided them to all, as anyone had need.” In this portion of the Scriptures, having all things common is not merely a sign of love; it is a sign of Christ’s dynamic salvation that saves us from greediness and selfishness.
Acts 2:45 tells us that the believers sold their properties and possessions and divided them to all according to need. This also is an evidence of the Lord’s dynamic salvation, which caused the believers to overcome their earthly possessions, which occupy, possess, and usurp all fallen mankind (Matt. 19:21-24; Luke 12:13-19, 33-34; 14:33; 16:13-14; 1 Tim. 6:17). Although the dynamic salvation of God caused the believers to forget about their earthly possessions, having all things common did not become a formal practice in the church life.
In 2 Corinthians 8:12-15 Paul says that we should be willing to give to others according to what we have. “As it is written, ‘He who gathered much had no excess, and he who gathered little had no lack’”(v. 15). This kind of giving and receiving results in what Paul calls “equality”: “At the present time your abundance for their lack that their abundance also may be for your lack, so that there may be equality” (v. 14). Equality means having all things common. God’s principle is to have equality. Even in the Old Testament there was a divine way of balancing the wealth of society. No Jewish person could sell his property for more than fifty years. In the year of jubilee, everything had to be returned to the original owner (Lev. 25:8-17). God’s way is to maintain equality.
The principle of equality is also portrayed in the matter of gathering manna in the Old Testament (Exo. 16:18). Paul speaks of this point in 2 Corinthians 8:15, saying, “As it is written, ‘He who gathered much had no excess, and he who gathered little had no lack.’” If an Israelite gathered much, God sovereignly arranged for him to have no excess. If someone gathered little, he also had no lack through God’s sovereignty. Thus, those who were feeble and not able to gather much manna did not have any lack. For those who gathered an excess of manna, perhaps wanting to store it up for days and weeks to come, God caused the excess to be taken away (Exo. 16:20). The divine way is that those who gather little have no lack and that those who gather much have no excess. This is God’s heavenly way of balancing the supply among His people. Concerning material riches, we should keep this principle. Those who are blessed by God with material riches should use their riches faithfully to take care of the needy saints and those who serve the Lord full time. When the saints share their excess with others, there is equality.