4:12 Death working in us means that “ye are dead” (Colossians 3:3). “Crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God” (13:4). Our perfection comes when we are weak in the flesh, and Christ is strong in us (13:9). We are crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20). If life is working in the Corinthians, it means they are not living the Christ life. I Corinthians 4:8-9 shows that they are not suffering enough.

4:13-14 Why is death working in Paul but life is working in the Corinthians if they both have “the same spirit of faith” (4:13)? Paul quotes Psalm 116:10, which is what Jesus said. Jesus was greatly afflicted and went to hell (Psalm 116:3), but He knew that God would deliver Him because He believed. Death had to be worked out in Christ before resurrection life could be worked out in Christ (Ephesians 1:19-21). The only way we can have Christ’s resurrection life live through us today is if we believe, as Jesus did in Psalm 116, that God will deliver us from the death and sin of our flesh. (Note that Paul does not quote the part of Psalm 116:10 where Jesus says, “I was greatly afflicted.” This is because Jesus was afflicted for us (5:21), taking our punishment for us.) Romans 8:10-13 says that we have the life of the Spirit in us. God can then quicken our mortal bodies by the Spirit so that we mortify the deeds of the body and have Christ live in us.

The Corinthians’ problem was that they were not believing God’s Word so that the resurrection life of Christ could work in them. So, Christ’s death worked in Paul, but the Corinthians’ fleshly life worked in them (4:12). At the rapture, both Paul and the Corinthians will be glorified.

4:15 If the Corinthians see Christ’s life working in Paul, it should cause them to want the same thing to happen to them. This is how “all things are for your sakes” (4:15). When they see “the abundant grace” of Christ working in Paul, they should thank Christ for this. They should then be followers of Paul (I Corinthians 4:16) in the things of 4:8-11, because they see the life of Jesus manifest in Paul’s mortal flesh. This means that Jesus’ life can be manifest in their flesh, as well. Then, when Christ lives in them, the result is that Christ’s grace redounds (contributes greatly) to the glory of God.

I learned right division in my late teens. I believed it to be true, but I did not really grow in the doctrine until I met John Verstegen in my early 30s. To him, right division was not a religious system, but it was the life of Christ in him. Seeing this life of Christ caused me to desire to get the doctrine in my inner man so that Christ could live in me to a greater extent. Now, people see the life of Christ in me, and they desire to have Christ live in them. This is how Christ’s grace redounds to the glory of God. It is the snowball effect of the Christ life, because it is so attractive to those who desire heavenly things.