1 Corinthians 12:12-13

[swathdiver]

"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.

 

For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit."

 

What does this teach?  

 

Does one body refer to the local church and or the believer being part of the physical body of Christ?

 

What about the baptism part?  What does the Spirit refer to?  The Holy Ghost?  If so, I do not understand the context yet.

[TheSword]

As I understand it:

 

The context of this passage is talking about the diversity of spiritual gifts. Paul is teaching that they are all from the same Holy Spirit and work together for God's purpose and the common good of His church. This is the crux of verse 12. The body it refers to is the body of Christ, i.e. the church and the members are, well, the members of the body, i.e. the individual believers. It is a metaphorical comparison to the human body where each part serves a unique purpose and is beneficial to the entire body; while at the same time it is cannot live on it's own. A mouth cannot eat lest the hand put food in it. The hand cannot transfer food lest the feet taken him to it. Etc. Etc. It speaks of the interdependency of the members of the local church.

 

Verse 13 is a furher clarification that such spiritual gifts are dispersed to all who are in Christ and there is no distinction between Jew/Gentile, free/slave, man/woman, etc. Everyone in the body of Christ is equally brought into the body by the same Spirit who blesses with gifts as He sees fit. On the whole, these verses say a Jewish free man with the gift of prophecy is no better or no more important than a Greek slave woman with the gift of wisdom. The remainder of Chapter 12 expounds on this principle. You'll also notice in the transition from Chapter 12 to Chapter 13 showing that charity (self-giving love) is better than all of the spiritual gifts that the Corinthians were squabbling over. The thrust of Chapters 12-14 are corrective instruction on spiritual gifts to get the Corinthians less focused on their own individual prestige to being more focused on exhorting and serving others.

 

Hope this helps.

[swathdiver]

Very much, thank you.

 

So could we infer from this and other passages that the body is the local church made up of members and that the body are all the local churches in Christ?  Same meaning, different contexts, like "wine"?

[TheSword]

If I understand what you're asking, I'd say yes. Each individual local church is the body of Christ who is the Head of each. However, that can also be extrapolated to the larger concept of the church in which all believers are members of the collective body of Christ. Please don't take that to mean some type of universal or ecumenical church hierarchy. Rather, as we are both saved, we are both part of the body of Christ; thus we call each other Brothers in Christ. There is no single leader or governmental structure for the larger body of Christ because God has vested that in the local New Testament church.

[swathdiver]

Please don't take that to mean some type of universal or ecumenical church hierarchy. 

 

So what would you call it?  Same as the other, the "Body of Christ"?

[TheSword]

So what would you call it?  Same as the other, the "Body of Christ"?

 

That's a good question. It's hard to say because a term like universal Body of Christ would be an accurate description, but "universal" invokes thoughts of the Catholic church, ecumenism, and the apostate church of the end times. The Collective Body of Christ or the Larger Body of Christ would probably also be an accurate description. Perhaps it's best to simply say the Body of Christ for the general sense of it and the Local Body of Christ for the individual local church.

[OLD fashioned preacher]

Immediate and extended family

[ASongOfDegrees]

 

"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.

 

For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit."

 

What does this teach?  

 

Does one body refer to the local church and or the believer being part of the physical body of Christ?

 

What about the baptism part?  What does the Spirit refer to?  The Holy Ghost?  If so, I do not understand the context yet.

 

It's speaking of the body of Christ primarily yet the local church is suppose to represent this body on earth.

 

The baptism is the baptism of the Spirit into the body of Christ. If you apply it to the local church you will have the believer constantly being re-baptized everytime he joins a different church. Which, by the way, some baptist churches do.

 

The local church is NOT the body of Christ but is comprised of members who are part of that body. The local church is just a meeting place for those called out but it may contain members who are not born again. Thus, why no local church can be "the body of Christ". 

[swathdiver]

It's speaking of the body of Christ primarily yet the local church is suppose to represent this body on earth.

 

The baptism is the baptism of the Spirit into the body of Christ. If you apply it to the local church you will have the believer constantly being re-baptized everytime he joins a different church. Which, by the way, some baptist churches do.

 

The local church is NOT the body of Christ but is comprised of members who are part of that body. The local church is just a meeting place for those called out but it may contain members who are not born again. Thus, why no local church can be "the body of Christ". 

 

Interesting ASOD, I have a friend that seems to take the same view.  Preacher Jerry, Brother John, Chief Dave, anyone else?

[TheSword]

The local church is NOT the body of Christ but is comprised of members who are part of that body. The local church is just a meeting place for those called out but it may contain members who are not born again. Thus, why no local church can be "the body of Christ". 

 

I somewhat disagree with you on a couple points here. The local church is certaily a group of members of the larger body of Christ (i.e. saved people); however, it is not at all a physical location or meeting place as you termed it. The essence of the Greek word behind "church" is a "called out assembly." It is a group of individuals gathered for a specific purpose. Additionally, it should not at all be comprised of members who are not born again. Admission to membership in a New Testament church assumes the person is regenerated/saved.  That's why members are accepted by testimony, transfer letter, or baptism. This doesn't mean that there are no instances of people falsely claiming to be saved and being admitted to church membership, but since it is a faith issue people must be taken at their word. There is no physical way to prove whether a person is saved; but not person should be admitted to church membership without a profession of faith.

 

A local church is a group of called out believers gathered to carry out the work of God (i.e. evangelization and discipleship). Christ is the head of the church (Eph 5:23) which functions as His body to execute His will on earth. In that sense, every local church is a representative body of Christ. See also Eph 1:20-23 and Col 1:18 that specifies Christ as the head of the church which is His body. Either every local New Testament church is the body of Christ or there is justification for a physical universal/catholic church.

[JerryNumbers]

And in that day we will all be one as Jesus prayed, & until them there will only be the local churches, & a local New Testament Church is a full functioning body trying to carry out the mission God has given it, no matter how small or how large.

 

Once the young pastor for the local SBC told me I ought to bring our members down & join with them & be one, & went on to say every church in the area ought to do the same. I told him I could not do that, that's there's no way I would join in worship with all the false teaching churches they do. He thought I was nuts & knew nothing about the Bible. That church will join together with, even inviting the pastors of churches that teach works based salvation to preach behind their pulpit.

[TheSword]

Once the young pastor for the local SBC told me I ought to bring our members down & join with them & be one, & went on to say every church in the area ought to do the same. I told him I could not do that, that's there's no way I would join in worship with all the false teaching churches they do. He thought I was nuts & knew nothing about the Bible. That church will join together with, even inviting the pastors of churches that teach works based salvation to preach behind their pulpit.

 

That's pretty arrogant. Good job sticking to your guns and rebuffing him. I'm always baffled by pastors who don't quite grasp the whole ecclesiastic separation thing.

[ASongOfDegrees]

I somewhat disagree with you on a couple points here. The local church is certaily a group of members of the larger body of Christ (i.e. saved people); however, it is not at all a physical location or meeting place as you termed it. The essence of the Greek word behind "church" is a "called out assembly." It is a group of individuals gathered for a specific purpose. Additionally, it should not at all be comprised of members who are not born again. Admission to membership in a New Testament church assumes the person is regenerated/saved.  That's why members are accepted by testimony, transfer letter, or baptism. This doesn't mean that there are no instances of people falsely claiming to be saved and being admitted to church membership, but since it is a faith issue people must be taken at their word. There is no physical way to prove whether a person is saved; but not person should be admitted to church membership without a profession of faith.

 

A local church is a group of called out believers gathered to carry out the work of God (i.e. evangelization and discipleship). Christ is the head of the church (Eph 5:23) which functions as His body to execute His will on earth. In that sense, every local church is a representative body of Christ. See also Eph 1:20-23 and Col 1:18 that specifies Christ as the head of the church which is His body. Either every local New Testament church is the body of Christ or there is justification for a physical universal/catholic church.

No, the "called out assembly" is the body born again believers in heaven and on earth. They make up the body of Christ with Christ as the head. This union comes through the spiritual baptism of the Holy Ghost upon salvation not when you decide to join a local church and be baptized or send out any transfer letters. A local church is just a meeting place of these believers that have been called out. Once you make the local church (any of them) the body of Christ you are opening the door to all kinds of heresies and "we are the one true church" teachings just like the RCC and every other cult teach including Baptist Briderism. A local church can contain unbelievers who are children of the devil, the body of Christ does NOT contain children of the devil. The thief on the cross did not have anytime to join his local church.

[TheSword]

No, the "called out assembly" is the body born again believers in heaven and on earth. They make up the body of Christ with Christ as the head. This union comes through the spiritual baptism of the Holy Ghost upon salvation not when you decide to join a local church and be baptized or send out any transfer letters. A local church is just a meeting place of these believers that have been called out. Once you make the local church (any of them) the body of Christ you are opening the door to all kinds of heresies and "we are the one true church" teachings just like the RCC and every other cult teach including Baptist Briderism. A local church can contain unbelievers who are children of the devil, the body of Christ does NOT contain children of the devil. The thief on the cross did not have anytime to join his local church.

 

It is both a local assembly and the entire collection of believers. Paul's epistles were written to individual churches, including Ephesians which I referenced above to show that Christ is the head of every church. I don't think anyone tried to say that salvation and spiritual baptism were dependent on church membership. If church membership presumes one is already saved, which I argued above, then you're making a false argument.

 

Additionally you won't find anywhere in the Bible a mention of a church being a place. Rather what you find are references of a church being AT a place: "unto the church of God which is at Corinth" (1 Cor 1:2; 2 Cor 1:1), "unto the churches of Galatia" (Gal 1:2), "to the saints which are at Ephesus" (Eph 1:1), "to all the saints in Christ jesus which are at Philippi" (Phi 1:1), "to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Collosse" (Col 1:2), "unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thess 1:1), "unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Thess 1:1). Paul's opening greetings are consistent and his interchanging use of "church" with "saints/brethren" makes clear that the church is equated with the group of believers. Even more telling is Paul's candid statement that a church meets somewhere rather than people meeting in a church somewhere (1 Cor 16:19).

 

My position in sum is that people are brought by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ (collectively speaking) the moment they are saved and that the local church is the representative body of Christ that carries out His work in a certain location.

[Standing Firm In Christ]

For me, an important lesson I get is that each individual that has truly placed his or her trust in Christ has been baptized into Christ.

We each are individuals that comprise the collective whole.

This also assures the saved of their eternal security. We each are members of His body. God will not have an amputee victim for a Son. In other words, Christ will not lose an hand, a eye, a foot, or even a seemingly insignificant toe.