Introduction
In the previous passage Paul has taught that everyone in the church has spiritual gifts, that they all come from the same source, viz, God, and that they are to be used for the common good. With these gifts in mind, he now impresses upon them the profound truth of their union in Christ. They are not a mere collection of individual believers who associate together for a common cause. They are not merely a spiritual family of related believers. They make up the one body of Christ.
In our passage next week, Paul will develop the theme of the body having many and varied members, all of whom have important functions. The focus here is the union with Christ that produces the communion with one another as his body.
Text
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.
Note the remarkable phrase, so it is with Christ. Paul gives us the metaphor of a body. Just as a body has arms and legs and eyes and ears that are necessary for it to be fully functional, so the members of the church body serve necessary functions. But Paul doesn’t use the word “church”; he says so it is with Christ.
What a profound equation! The church is equated with Christ. How so? In verse 27 he says, Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. We, each of us who have been saved by our Lord, somehow make up his body.
The next verse gives us some idea how this works. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
Do you remember what John the Baptist said about Jesus? I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11). This verse confirms John’s prophecy. All of us become Christians by virtue of Jesus baptizing us with the Holy Spirit.
That baptism changes us. The word used here for baptism is baptizo; it is the same word used for pickling, say, a cucumber. What happens when a cucumber is “baptized” in vinegar? It becomes a pickle. Its nature changes. The baptism of the Spirit changes our identity so that instead of being regarding as isolated individuals or as belonging to some other distinct group of people, our identity is found in being members of Christ’s body.
So, whether we are Jew or Greek (i.e. everyone not a Jew) or slave or free (the basic worldly distinction) – whatever the case – once we are baptized with the Holy Spirit we are, in God’s sight, seen as members of Christ’s body.
The last analogy reinforces this unity – and all were made to drink of one Spirit. This is reminiscent of a promise made by Jesus: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive (John 7:37-39).
Here is Paul’s point. Because we drink of the one Spirit – not drink of the same type of Spirit – then possessing the same Holy Spirit within us unites us together in Jesus Christ. We are connected. Our unity is not merely based on following the same Lord; it is not based on merely having the same set of beliefs. These things are important. They enforce our unity, but the unity already exists because Christ’s Spirit already unites us together in Jesus Christ as one body of which Christ is the Head.
I want to take some time with this concept so that you will grasp its practical application. Bear with me as I take you through some scriptures. The first is Ephesians 4:11-16, the other significant passage about each church member having a role to play in the church. As I read, I want you listen for the way it develops this theme of different members forming a single body.
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Note what we are called to do – build up the body of Christ. We are not to build up each body of Christ; and though we are each to group up in Christ, the purpose is so that the single body of the church may grow.
In Colossians 1:18, Christ is exalted as “head of the body, the church.” In verse 24, Paul says to the Church at Colossae, “I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.” He equates his sufferings for the saints in the Colossian Church with suffering for Christ’s body.
We see in these passages, all of which were written by Paul, his reverence for the church of Christ, precisely because he regards the church as Christ’s body. We talked about this in chapter 11 where he discusses the abuse of the Lord’s Supper. He gets so worked up over the ill-treatment of some church members by others because they do not discern how together they make up the body of Christ. As he says in verse 29: For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.
We need to understand that this union in Christ is not simply an analogy, a way of speaking. People do speak in such terms. A coach might tell his team that they are to be one body working in unison, everyone doing the part assigned to them. Corporations might speak of themselves as living organisms, all the parts serving the whole and achieving the one goal. But the connection between the church and Christ is a very real (and for us – mystical) union, which is enacted by the Holy Spirit coming into each of us, baptizing us, and linking us together in Christ. Its reality has nothing to do with how we feel about it or how hard we work at being united. It exists purely because of the work of God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
We might be tempted to think that if union exists without my help, then I don’t need to be greatly concerned about it. All the more reason we are to strive outwardly for a union that reflects what is the spiritual reality. Listen to Ephesians 4:1-6. Paul writes:
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
We are called to maintain the unity of the Spirit. Because there is one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father, we must then do all we can (with humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearance) do all we can maintain unity with peace. To do otherwise is to disgrace Jesus Christ because we are disgracing his body. Disunity, discord in the church is that serious.
Our Confession of Faith has a chapter about this subject of union with one another, which it labels “Communion of the Saints.” Most of it is taken up with practical application. It starts off saying, “All saints, that are untied to Jesus Christ their Head, by his Spirit, and by faith, have fellowship with him in his grace, sufferings, death, resurrection, and glory.” That is the union with Christ that we have. So then, what about it? The Confession then adds: “Being united to one another in love, they have communion in each other’s gifts and graces, and are obliged to the performance of such duties, public and private, as do conduce to their mutual good, both in the inward and outward man.” Our union with Christ makes us united to one another, and it is a union to be characterized by love. This union means that we are to have communion, i.e. take share in, the spiritual gifts and graces of the whole church. Furthermore, it means that we are to do whatever is needed for the mutual good of everyone.
The second paragraph spells out what to do. “Saints by profession are bound to maintain an holy fellowship and communion in the worship of God.” That, by the way, is the justification and the reason for going to one worship service. The first outworking of unity ought to be unity in worship. The most significant Christian fellowship is the fellowship that takes place in worship.
The next application is “in performing such other spiritual services as tend to their mutual edification.” Our union in Christ is manifested when we build one another up in the faith. That was the point of the Ephesians passage: “speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (v. 15). We are to meet together to edify one another. It may be through Sunday School classes, circle meetings, home Bible studies and other small groups; it may through one-on-one time. It may through formal lesson plans or informal gatherings for fellowship. The point of the matter is that we make an effort to be together to build each other up in the faith.
The third application is physical assistance: “as also in relieving each other in outward things, according to their several abilities and necessities.” This is the special work of the deacons, but also belongs to everyone. It includes taking meals when someone is sick; driving someone to a doctor’s appointment; babysitting someone’s kids. It includes repairing a house or a car; helping pay a bill or provide groceries. It includes visiting the sick, the prisoner, the shut-in.
Jesus put this work into perspective when he taught the parable of the sheep and the goats. Recall his words: Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me’ (Matthew 25:34-40).
Why should I be concerned to help my brother and sister? I must answer that question by saying how concern I am with the way I treat my Lord.
Do you see now the importance of this doctrine of church union in Christ? Do you see how it drives what we are to do as a church? How we are to treat one another? How we are to worship and serve our God?
This doctrine also corrects a prevalent attitude among we modern Christians, the view that my relationship with Christ is a private affair. Philip Ryken, in reflecting on this doctrine writes:
Although the Christian has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, it is not a private relationship. We began this chapter by saying that there is no communion of the saints apart from their union with Christ. We have now arrived at an important conclusion: There is no union with Christ without communion with the saints. We cannot be united to Christ without also being united to every Christian. Union with Christ is not so much union between Christ and the Christian as it is a union between Christ and the church. Thus it is better to speak of our union with Christ than my union with Christ. We are all in Christ together.
Isn’t that good news? Remember what God said after making Adam? “It is not good that the man should be alone.” That is not just a statement about a man needing a woman. It is a statement that God has made all of us to be (as the song goes) people who need people. He has made us to desire the community of other people of flesh and blood. Our Redeemer came to us in flesh and blood. He came to unite us to himself that we might be united to one another. Ephesians 2:16 says that Jesus is our peace that he “might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross.” The gospel of grace is extended to us all that we might be one in Christ, not a collection of isolated individuals that may or may not get along.
There is enough hostility in the world that we don’t need it in the body of Christ. There is enough alienation, enough separation, enough isolation without it having to permeate the church as well. Our business is to tear down walls and to build up one temple to God. Our business is to grow together so that the one body of Christ might be built up in love. Remember, we have been baptized – we have been redeemed and transformed in Christ – that we might become one body. Let us praise God for this union he has made, and let us glorify him through the unity we display.
