Body And Members

by Luxmoore, C. M. | Category: General | May 1932

The word "body" being used in Scripture firstly of the literal body, and thereafter applied to that of which it is the figure, it is proposed in this paper briefly to see within what range it is so used by holy writers in the New Testament.

Of about 140 occurrences of the word, the allusions to the literal body of the Lord Jesus before and after resurrection, and the allusions to the bodies of men and women, make, with one mention, of the body of a horse, and three of a plant, a total of about 121 occurrences. Then, what is a "body" as in these passages? The body of man; what is it? Is it an accidental or temporary aggregation? Is it an agglomeration of separable parts? Ask the members of that body. Ask the blood coursing in unhindered passage through the unbroken, and undivided veins, from heart to extremity and back to heart again. Ask the nerves; are they joined like telegraph wires, because, forsooth, there is a limit to the length that can be produced in one? Ask the head, as--the foot stumbling -the body is precipitated to the earth, but in a moment out have stretched the hands to catch the weight of the fall and save the precious head. Ask, I say, the members, and hear the one unanimous answer of each and all : "The body is ONE, having members indeed, but they so fitly framed and knit together through that which every joint supplieth that the body is ONE INDIVISIBLE WHOLE." And no one, I suppose, will suggest that this real, organic, vital oneness is less true of the resurrection body of the Lord Jesus, or of resurrection bodies of the saints, whether they be saints who receive celestial bodies or saints who receive terrestrial bodies.* In 1 Corinthians 15. 37, 38, a plant is spoken of as a body; and a plant is like the human body in this, that it is truly one, for it is fitly framed and knit together, and the sap flowing from root to leaf and leaf to root unites the whole in a real living unity.

[*The word "celestial" of 1 Corinthians 15. 40, is the usual word "heavenly"; as in verse 48; and the word "terrestrial" of verse 40, is the word "earthly"; i.e., "on the earth," corresponding to Revelation 5. 10, "on the earth," R.V.; but the word "earthy," in verses 47, 48, 49, is derived from the word " dust," as in Mark 6. 11, and Revelation 18. 19: that is to say, this latter word, describing our present bodies, compares them to the dust of the earth as to their origin and character; whereas the former word, as in verse 40, simply signifies the place for which they are suited, and unto which they are destined, namely, "on the earth."]

There remain about twenty other occurrences of the word "body," namely, in Romans 12. 5; 1 Corinthians 6. 16; 1 Corinthians 10. 16, 17; 1 Corinthians 12. 18, 27; Ephesians 1. 23; 2. 16; 3. 6; 4.4, 12, 16; 5. 23, 30; Colossians 1. 18, 24; 2. 17, 19; 3. 15. Most of these, clearly and without controversy, refer to one and the same thing, namely, the Body of which Christ is Head, which is His fulness. This Body these passages testify to be ONE; emphatically and repeatedly it is called ONE. Turning to 1 Corinthians 12. some find a difficulty in verse 27. Look first at verse 12, "As the body is one... one body, so also is the Christ." That is, the Head and His members together are here called "the Christ." Verse 27. does not in the original read, "Ye are the body of Christ," but, "ye are body of Christ" (see Newberry), not "ye are a body of Christ." And for this reason; "a body" implies other bodies (i.e., a body at Corinth, a body at Antioch, a body elsewhere, etc.). Now we may not so read, for there is no scriptural warrant for assuming a plural. We may say in our English tongue, "A church," that is, a church of God. Why? Because God uses the plural of church of God (1 Thessalonians 2. 14; 1 Corinthians 11. 16). But God never expressly or impliedly uses the plural of body, except as to a literal body. Never! The word here, 1 Corinthians 12. 27, is used characteristically; that is, as to the standing of those so addressed, who were of the Body and members in particular.

In the scriptures previously cited, that which is called the Body is so called in virtue of certain points wherein it is like the natural body; as to its oneness, as to the absolute needfulness of each member to each other member, especially of each member to the Head, and of the Head to each member, etc. (see passages cited); and no other company of Christians, be they man-gathered, or be they God-gathered, have the smallest warrant from Scripture to call themselves a "body," nor can others so call them who desire to use words which the Holy Spirit teaches, for they cannot have the characteristics of a body. For example, if the church of God in Corinth was a "body of Christians "how could they put away "a member" from among them? Thereafter it must have been a maimed body, or a lame body, or a blind body! Moreover they received this same "member" back again! Was the like ever heard of in a natural body?

Let it be noted that the engrafting of members into the one Body of Christ differs essentially from the receiving into fellowship in an assembly of God. The being in one or another assembly depends (among other things) on the place in which a believer resides; and in the providence of God, this, apart from any question of evil doctrine or practice, leads to a constant change of individuals in a given church, hence we never read of "members" of a church of God. In 1 Corinthians 12. 18, the engrafting into the Body is described as a vital process; the immersion in Holy Spirit into the Body finds a definite analogy in the way in which organic growth proceeds, which is distinct from the way in which, for example, a crystal increases in size ; in the latter, particle is laid on to particle, as bricks in the building of a wall; in the former, growth is by intersusception, that is by new particles being conveyed right into the midst of the older particles. In the growth of the cells of which a plant is composed, for example, what occurs? The whole growing part is bathed in water; in this water, or sap, the new particle begins its existence; in it, it is immersed by it, it is carried right into the midst of all the other particles, which have had a like origin, and have been in like manner conveyed each to its several place. There in the water and saturated by the water, they are all united thereby, and so really and truly have they become one, that the severance of any particle is an absolute impossibility, except as the whole is broken up. AND SO IS THE BODY OF CHRIST. Each member, as he or she becomes quickened by the Spirit, is in the same Spirit immersed (1 Corinthians 12. 13, R.V.), and not only immersed in the Spirit but immersed in the Spirit into the Body.

The scriptural use of the word "member" exactly corresponds to that of "body." We read of members of the natural body, members of the Body of Christ, and members of one another; but we never read of members of a church. Indeed, in Ephesians 5. 29, 30, we read, "For no man ever hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as Christ also the Church; because we are members of His Body." Why not say, "because we are members thereof"? The answer is evident, the Church here is the Body and the Body is the Church; but the expression members of the Church," or "members of a church," is definitely and invariably avoided; and the words "of His Body" are here introduced, because in Scripture it is ever kept clear that the word "members" belongs to, and is connected with, the word "body," and never with the word "church."

No allusion has been made above to 1 Corinthians 6. 15, 16,. which seems to teach how intimate and how permanent is the marriage tie in the sight of God. At least it in no way invalidates the conclusions arrived at, which will lead us to a correct and scriptural discrimination in the use of the words. "body" and "members."

Luxmoore, C. M. | May 1932
General