The whole mind and will of God for us is contained in the Scriptures, and if we are to be here for God's pleasure, we must "stand perfect and complete in all the will of God." This will has been revealed regarding our individual path, and also for us as having part in the church of God. If our lives are not influenced by these great truths, we suffer spiritual loss, and there is commensurate lack in our testimony for the Lord. It is not enough to be enlightened by the truth: the truth must be held in love, attracting the heart to Christ, and controlling the life at the centre of the moral being. Should the heart not be affected by divine light, there will be spiritual decline, and the danger of the light within becoming darkness, with resulting opposition to the truth.
"Why persecutest thou me?"
One of the great truths to which we have alluded is that of the church as the body of Christ. Paul received from Christ the ministry of this, which accounts for the truth of the body being found in his writings only. The words uttered by the Lord to Saul, while on the road to Damascus, revealed that the persecuted saints were livingly united to Him in heaven; and this revelation contained the germ of the great truth that the saints on earth form the body of Christ.
Romans 12. — The epistle to the Romans unfolds the position and the blessings that are ours as individuals; and chapter 12 opens by showing that the great end for which God has blessed us is to have us intelligently serving Him with our bodies presented a living sacrifice. As separate from the world, and as transformed by the renewing of the mind, we are to prove in devoted service the blessed character of God's will. Having learned God's will for us in an individual way, God would teach us our corporate relationship to each other as members of "one body."
"One body in Christ,"
To understand the meaning of "One body in Christ." we must get hold of the truth of "In Christ" as taught in Romans 8. As "In Christ" there is no condemnation for the believer, he is not in the flesh; but he has the Spirit of Christ, and Christ is in him as his life. So that the one body is a living organism, formed by God, and composed of those who have been justified, and who have partaken of Christ's life and Spirit. The "one body" is analogous to the human body, inasmuch as there are different members with different offices. Every Christian has his own part and function as a member of the "one body;" and each functions in harmony with all for the benefit of the whole. Whether our office is prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhortation, giving, ruling or showing mercy, it should be done in interdependence on the other members, as being mutual participators of the grace divinely communicated. No Christian who realises that we are "members one of another" would act in self-will or independently of his brethren, under the plea of being only responsible to the Lord in service.
1 Corinthians 12. — If Romans delineates our individual position as believers, 1st Corinthians gives our collective position and privileges as God's assembly. We have been called into the fellowship of God's Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, and are the Temple of God. As come together in assembly, the saints act for the Lord; and have the privilege of partaking of the Lord's Supper. There, the Spirit of God acts in the different members; and through the gifts ministers for the edifying of the church.
"Many Members, yet but one body."
The unity of the body is thrice noticed in v. 12, and is also referred to in vv. 13 and 20. Although there are many members "The body is one," which bespeaks unity in manifold action, and precludes any action by any member that would deny in practice this divine unity. That there is "one body" repudiates the idea of there being more than one Christian company. The church of God is not composed of a number of different religious organisations and independent societies: but is the living organism produced by the baptism of the Spirit, and in which every member has drunk of that Spirit. No other unity than this is recognised by God: therefore any religious company gathered on any other ground than that of the "one body" is not on the divine ground of the church of God. Consonant with this, in writing this epistle, Paul addressed it to "the church of God which is at Corinth," but also to "all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours." Because of the unity of the church, the instructions given to the church at Corinth were binding upon all Christians everywhere; and the disciplinary action undertaken there in the name of the Lord, by apostolic instruction, obliged all the gatherings of the saints to act in the light of it.
But although the church is one, it is composed of many members; and their manifold function in the manifestation of the Spirit witnesses to the divine unity. Likewise, when the assembly is not convened, the divine unity of the body subsisting in the One Spirit is evinced in the care the members have one for another. Every member is necessary for the well-being of the body; and God has set the different members in their places according to His pleasure; therefore none should say "I am not of the body," because he does not consider his place important or conspicuous. There are also some who say, "I have no need of thee;" which leads to independent action and quenching of the Spirit. Clerisy is the result of some refusing to function in the place in which God has set them; and of others arrogating to themselves the functions of other members.
"No schism in the body."
To function intelligently as members of the "one body" we must realise the varied character of the many members, and be content with the part that God, in His wisdom, has given us. Apparent usefulness is not the true valuation of a member's worth. Let the meaning of these words sink into the heart, "Those members of the body which seem to be more feeble are necessary," and "God has given more abundant honour to that part which lacked." Some, who have been lightly esteemed by men, have been of the greatest use to the church.
To understand the truth of the body, we must see that it is a divine conception and formation, and that "God hath tempered the body together — that there should be no schism in the body." Although we may have failed to act in the light of the body; we shall gain in the measure we do act upon it. Because of the great ruin of the church very many of the members are not available to us, and consequently we suffer; but if we walk in the light of the body with those who are available we shall prove that "Whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it."
"Ye are Christ's body."
When God formed the first man and his wife He called their name Adam. Similarly, the church, taken from Christ in death, bears His Name: "So also is the Christ." It takes all the saints on earth to form "The body of Christ;" but the saints in any locality have the character of "Christ's body" (which is the true translation of v. 27). An illustration of this frequently used, conveys the meaning: — A detachment of any regiment of soldiers, in any locality, bears the name and character of the regiment; but it takes the sum of all the detachments to complete the regiment. Being Christ's body, the saints have the privilege to manifest in their locality the dignity and character of the name they bear; and are responsible to act in the light of the "one body" towards saints everywhere. It cannot be sufficiently stressed, that no matter how great the church's ruin, two or three gathering to Christ's Name may walk in the light of the Christian position, as set forth here, and get the gain derived from the only unity that is divine. Any other ground of gathering than that of the "one body," is human organisation, which is at variance with the truth of God.
Colossians. — This epistle teaches that Christ is "The Head of the body, the assembly;" and reveals that the church is His body. The Corinthian assembly was Christ's body locally; but this Epistle speaks of the church universally as "His body." The Son of the Father's love, presented in many glories, is the "Head of the body;" and Paul, who valued the church, because of its preciousness to Christ, filled up "that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ" in his service for it. United to the Head, the body partakes of His life, with a view to manifesting the life of the Head in testimony here.
"The increase of God."
The growth of the body depends on the nourishment supplied by the Head; and if there is to be divine increase in the assembly, the saints must have the spiritual condition spoken of as "Holding the Head." At Colosse, the brethren were evidently occupied with human philosophy and Judaism; and there was the grave danger of the assembly being governed by the worldly principles of human religion and earthly institutions. Any increase brought to the assembly by such means, is not the "increase of God;" and time shows its hindrance to spiritual prosperity, and the unrest and sorrow that it brings. To hold the Head, we must rely on Christ; drawing upon His supplies in communion with Him: allowing only His mind and will in all the affairs of His assembly. This divine supply is communicated from the Head through those members who facilitate the spiritual exercises of the saints, and who labour in binding them together. In the "one body," God has called us to peace, His own peace, which should rule in all our hearts.
Ephesians. — In Romans the truth of the "one body" gives weight to the exhortations connected with our service: in 1st Corinthians the light of "Christ's body" is to correct the disorder in the assembly: in Colossians, the truth of "His body" was given so that the saints might hold the Head: and in Ephesians the church is viewed as "The fulness of Him that filleth all in all," that the saints might enter into the greatness of their calling in Christ. This last aspect of the church embraces all the saints from Pentecost to the rapture; and brings out the church's place in God's counsels, as the vessel in which God's glory shall be displayed; and in which Christ's mind, will, and glory shall be expressed to the limits of the vast creation.
"Reconciled in one body"
As regards God's counsels, the church is destined to be the fulness of Him that fills all in all; but in the ways of God, Jew and Gentile, who were estranged from Him, have been brought into right relations with Him as having part in the one body. God accomplished this reconciliation by the cross, where He made known His infinite love; and by giving those who received the knowledge of His love, this place of nearness in association with Christ. The one body is neither a body of Jews, nor a body of Gentiles; but it is a "joint-body" composed of believers of both Jews and Gentiles; where in new creation they share together, without distinction, in all the blessings and privileges belonging to this glorious calling.
"Christ is the Head of the body."
"There is one body," heads the sevenfold statement of Christian unity given in ch. 4; which further emphasises the unity of the church brought out so clearly in 1 Cor. 12. In order that the truth might be brought to all, the ascended Head of the church gave gifts unto men for "the edifying of the body of Christ." This ministry is to continue "till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." From Christ, the Head, as articulated with Him, there comes through the joints of supply that living nourishment, which through the functioning of each part of the body, produces growth in the divine nature. If we are to answer in a practical way to this truth, it must be held in love; and in result we shall correspond to the features of moral beauty that belong to our heavenly Head.
"We are members of His body."
Being Christ's body, the church is part of Him, which makes it suitable to be united to Him. This was before Gods mind in forming Eve from Adam. In the same way, the church is bone of His bone, and flesh of His flesh, and is therefore meet for union with Him. Each saint is a member of Christ's body, being united to Him in life by the Spirit of God, so that we may receive all that is necessary from the Head, for the maintenance of the place of dignity given to us by the grace of God. As having the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him, we are enabled to enter intelligently into the wonders of God's counsels, which give the church the intimate and blessed place of "The body of Christ."
Wm. C. Reid.