Aug 1985 - Q & A

Is the Church which is His Body a functioning organism today? If so, how does it operate?

IN the Ephesian and Colossian letters Paul the apostle reveals the truth of the "one body" (Eph. 4:4). He emphasizes that it is intended to be a source of continual joy and intelligent investigation to angelic beings who perceive in its creation and existence God's manifold wisdom and ascribed glory (3:10,21). Its membership consists of those who have believed in Christ through the promise of the gospel. He is the Head through whom the Body has been fitly framed and knit together, functions efficiently and increases with the "increase of God" (Eph. 4:16; Col. 2:19).

Most of the members of the Body are no longer on earth. They are present with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8). Therefore the Body of Christ in its entirety is not seen in Scripture as a corporate unit of testimony. The invisible, mystical and spiritual relationship of the members of the Body is however to have expression among believers in a visible, united testimony, having regard to the care and well-being of each other (Eph. 4:25). "One to another" is a recurring phrase in Ephesians (4:32; 5:19,21).

How would these believers - members of His body - have this contact in practical circumstances? Where would they meet? The answer is clearly given in Scripture. The believers in the Church of God in Corinth were to be the local expression of that unity between member and member in the "Church universal" (1 Cor. 12:27). So the members of the Body are seen to operate together in collective testimony, as churches of God comprising the Church of the Living God, pillar and ground of the Truth (1 Tim. 3:15).

Each church of God was to be a microcosm of the Church the Body. What has reference to the universal, mystical, invisible Body of Christ is to have expression in communities of believers together in Churches of God (1 Cor.12:27). The Spirit of God who operates in all believers individually also operates in the corporate spiritual life of assemblies of the Lord's people (1 Cor. 3:16). Practical lessons from the working of the human body are enumerated in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12. In these passages Paul is writing to the assemblies about "situations" and drawing from these illustrations and lessons for believers in a united service to the Lord, having differing gifts and functions, yet bonded together.

Rom. 12 Human BodySpiritual Service

v.5Many members - one bodyMany saints - one assembly

v.4,6 Differing functionsVariety of gifts

v.10 Overall careTenderly affectioned one to

another

v.13 Communication/UnisonInterdependence

1 Cor.12

v.18 'Placing' of the membersSphere of Service in an assembly

v.19,21 Each member necessaryEvery saint has a 'usefulness'

v.25 Absence of dissension in membersWholesome care for each other

v.26 Suffering and rejoicing - oneSympathy and honour-sharing

and all

So the unity of the saints in service together was to be characteristic of their membership of the one Body - Christ's. A Church of God is an organism through which Christ the Lord expresses Himself.

unknown | Aug 1985
Question And Answer