We will examine the Epistles of Paul. Of the Epistle to the Romans, the church is not the subject. Having convicted the Gentile without law, and the Jew under the law, of being both guilty before God; it shows the individual justified before God, not by the law, but through faith; introducing resurrection, as putting him in a position quite new, as regards justification, as regards life (that is, a new life, outside of the dominion of sin); and, as to the law, by grace the believer was justified, renewed, an heir of God, had the feelings of the Spirit, and was kept for glory by a love from which nothing could separate him. This well established, the apostle reconciles (9, 10, 11) the admission of Jew and Gentile, without distinction, to the enjoyment of these blessings, with the promises made to the Jews; and he shows that the Gentiles have been grafted in, to be a continuation of the line, as children of Abraham, in the enjoyment of the promises.
But, although the main subject of the Epistle to the Romans does not afford opportunity for teaching concerning the church, the exhortations at the end of the Epistle furnish us with an element which flows naturally from the revelation made on the way to Damascus. It is, that being members of the body of Christ, we are necessarily, for that reason, members one of another (12:4). “For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office; so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing,” etc.
The church is absolutely one. It is evident, here also, that the apostle speaks of what is upon earth; and, even though there were members whose souls were with the Lord (thus being no longer able to glorify the Lord upon the earth, whence He had been rejected, and where Satan exercised his power), he refers to those only who were still down here. The body, in its practical and true sense, was composed of those only.
The First Epistle to the Corinthians furnishes us with precious instructions on the point now engaging our attention. This epistle gives us details of the interior of a local and particular church; being addressed, at the same time, to all who call on the Lord. It teaches us that the Christians of a locality, gathered in one body, are the realization, so far, of the unity of the whole body. The church at Jerusalem was, at the beginning, both these two things at once; and though there were many assemblies, yet the Christians of each locality gathered together in a body, and formed the church, or the assembly, of God in that locality: “Unto the church of God which is at Corinth.” There was but one. It was composed of those that were sanctified in Christ Jesus, of called saints who were at Corinth. The apostle reckoned on their being confirmed unto the end. They were outside the world; a body known as entirely separated from it, by their profession and common walk as a body. Their individual relations with the world are discussed, and go no further than the ordinary communications of life; but even in these, the most formal and complete distinction is marked between the brethren and the world. There were those without and those within; that is to say, it was not a moral difference in the individual walk alone, but a common walk as a body, and as a body formally, separated from the world. (See 5:7-13; 10:17, 21, 22; compare 2 Cor. 2; 6:16, 17). The Lord's Supper was the external sign that gathered them together (1 Cor. 10:1717For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread. (1 Corinthians 10:17)). Now, the presence of the Holy Ghost was found in the body—in the whole body of the church; but it was realized and manifested in the local body, according to its state.
This presence of the Holy Ghost in the body, is distinguished from the presence of the Holy Ghost in the individual. The body of the individual is the temple of the Holy Ghost (1 Cor. 6:1919What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? (1 Corinthians 6:19)). But the church was also the temple (3:16, 17), because the Spirit dwelt in it.
Having gathered this scattered information, we may examine the chapter which expressly treats of our subject, introduced by that of the spiritual powers which were manifested in the assembly. The demons are many. The Spirit of God is only one Spirit, whatever may be the manifestations of His presence. These manifestations of the Spirit were found in the gifts; and these were given for common use, the Holy Spirit dividing to every man severally as He will. These gifts were found very largely developed among the Corinthians. Having long been carried away by the craft of demons, they were in danger of confounding the energetic manifestations of these demons with those of the Holy Spirit; because they were looking for power rather than for grace. The apostle gives them, first, an absolute rule, for discerning between the Spirit of God and the demons, in the confession that Jesus was Lord—a confession which these demons would never make. Afterward, he takes pains to make the Corinthians understand the true doctrine of the presence of the Holy Ghost; the effect of which went much further than to produce the confession of the Lordship of Jesus; though this confession was the touchstone of it. The Holy Ghost united all Christians in one body; and Christian service, or the exercise of gifts, was nothing more than a member of the body exercising its functions for the good of the whole body. It was that one and self-same Spirit which divided to each: “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ"—Christ; for the church is Himself —His body. “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body.” The unity of the body being thus established, all the gifts came under the idea of members of this body; that is, all exercise of ministry was the activity of the members of the body.
But other truths of the greatest moment are revealed to us in this chapter, and particularly the means God used to produce this unity, to form this body. “By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body." Christ having fully accomplished His work, and having ascended up on high, has received the promise of the Father; that is, the Holy Ghost; and has sent Him into this world to be, on the one hand, the witness of this accomplishment, and of the personal glory of Jesus at the right hand of God; and, on the other, to unite the members of this body to Himself, and at the same time to one another, whether Jews or Gentiles; who, all distinction being lost, form but one body, united to its Head in heaven; that is, to the Lord Jesus. Two truths clearly result from the teaching of this chapter; first, that the formation of the body is accomplished by the presence of the Holy Ghost come down from heaven; and, second, that this body is formed upon the earth; its unity, such as it is presented in the word, takes place essentially upon earth, since the Holy Ghost has come down here to accomplish it. The accessory circumstances confirm this truth; for it is most evident that the gifts in question are exercised upon the earth. The disciples were the body of Christ, by the union produced among them by the presence of one Spirit; who, being one, was found in them all, and at the same time in the whole of the united body. It is well to recall the passages already quoted, which teach us the difference between these last two points. While 1 Cor. 16, reveals to us that the whole is the temple of the Holy Ghost, chapter 6:19 shows us that each believer individually is the temple of God.
It is evident, that this unity will not be lost in heaven, when all the members of the body are reunited; and that God keeps the souls of the deceased for that day of glory; but the manifestation of the unity of the body of Christ is now exclusively upon earth, where the Holy Ghost has come down to establish this unity. Faith knows very well that souls are preserved with Jesus for that day; but thus disunited from the body, they do not, for the present, enter into the account; being in a position where communion with a body on earth is no longer a possibility, any more than manifestation of unity or service for the glory of Christ.
Where the Holy Ghost has come down, and where He abides, there is the manifestation of the church, whilst its Head is seated on the right hand of the Father. The Spirit, in speaking to the church, addresses Himself to Christians on the earth, and to them alone. Thus it is said— “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And God has set some in the church; first, apostles; secondarily, prophets; thirdly, teachers; after that, miracles; then gifts of healing” etc.
I need not stop to prove that this applies to earth.
Here, then, we are taught by God that the church, which is the body of Christ, is formed in unity down here upon earth, by the Holy Ghost come down from heaven, and manifesting Himself by gifts in the members of this body. Let me add, that this presence of the Holy Ghost is to be distinguished from the regeneration of souls, and even from His work in the hearts of the regenerate; it is His presence in the body, sent from above as truly and personally as the Son was sent of the Father, though not in the same manner. It is evident, from Acts 1:55For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. (Acts 1:5), that the baptism of the Holy Ghost is the descent of the Holy Ghost.
The Epistle to the Galatians treats of the question of justification, and of the right to the enjoyment of the inheritance, through promise, as contrasted with the law; and only touches the doctrine of the church by the single declaration, that the Christians are all one in Christ Jesus (3:28).
But the Epistle to the Ephesians treats the subject at length, and requires special attention.
Chapter 1, after having laid the foundation of sovereign grace, declares (verse 10) the fixed purpose of God; which is to “gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth"; and, having pointed out the children of God as sealed with the Holy Spirit for the inheritance in the end, shows us the church united, as His body, to Him who was constituted Head over all things.
Chapter 2 reveals the working of the power which has united the church to Christ and the manner of this union; and showing that the Jew, by nature, was a child of wrath quite as much as the Gentile, and that both were dead in trespasses and sins, presents both as quickened together with Christ raised up together and sealed together in heavenly places in Christ. Thus the distinction was lost; God having made of the two one new man; reconciling them both in one body by the cross. Now that was the church. That work had its accomplishment in the church. The Christian was built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets (of the New Testament, comp. 3:5), Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone. The Gentiles were builded together with the Jews to be the habitation of God through the Spirit. This chapter teaches us, then (according to the Word in Matthew), that the church, by its union with its Head in heaven, was accounted as being there; and that its calling was absolutely heavenly. As Israel was separated from the nations, so was the church from the world—it was no longer of it. Its formation on earth began after the breaking down, by the cross, of the middle wall of partition It was as a new man; Jews and Gentiles being reconciled to God in one body. Besides, we find that, instead of a temple made with hands, Where Jehovah dwelt, this union of Jewish and Gentile believers in one body formed the habitation of God upon earth, and that this habitation was by the Spirit. This latter truth gives us the true character of the church upon earth—a character, it is evident, of the most important bearing—a character which involves the deepest responsibility; and, let me say it, a character most precious. For the responsibilities of Christians all flow from the grace which has been shown them. This character, in fine, thanks be unto God, in spite of its unfaithfulness to this responsibility, the church cannot lose; because it is made to depend on the grace and the promise of God that this other Comforter, the Spirit of truth, would not go away as Christ did, but abide forever with those that were His. It is also most plain that it is on the earth that all this takes place; though, being on earth, our special position is to be seated in the heavenly places in our Head, and to wait for the realization of our condition when we shall be gathered unto Him.
(Continued from page 189) (To be continued)