The Body of Christ – Romans 12:3-8

 Once again, I was surprised to find that we are coming to a doctrine which I have never directly preached. I am positive that in the course of wider messages I have dealt with the Body of Christ, and I am reasonably sure that in some of our Bible lessons on the Church we have addressed it, but according to my nearly infallible records, I have never actually preached a message on this subject. And therefore, once again I am vindicated in using this expository style in studying through Romans. Eventually we will come to every doctrine contained in the Word of God. Some might think that since Bro. Oldfield has never preached this subject, then it must not be important. While I am convinced that it is not necessary for you to agree with me tonight in order to be saved, I still assert that this is an important doctrine in several ways. It’s not that I have ignored this message for 30 years; It’s that I have been negligent and preoccupied with other subjects. Of course, I didn’t need to make this confession to you, but I thought that it was the right thing to do. You probably would never have realized it if I hadn’t brought it up.

If Romans 12 was the only scripture dealing with this subject, it would be far more difficult than it is. Nevertheless, it is still a difficult question, and those who wish to argue will find plenty of opportunity. I won’t summarize their points for you, but if you’re thinking tonight, some may pop out as we move along. I have developed a 3 point message as our guide: “The Body of Christ: definition, organization and function.” One reason that questions might arise is because Paul deals with only one of these points in this chapter. And in particular, if we don’t begin with some proper definitions, then what he says will not make sense.

The Body of Christ DEFINED.Of course the Body of Christ to which Paul refers here is not necessarily the same body mentioned elsewhere. Obviously, it is not the body which was nailed to the cross or which was placed in Joseph’s tomb. In Acts 1 the Lord Jesus ascended into Heaven. That ascension was literal and bodily, just as His return shall be literal and in a physical body. “And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” Paul spoke of the Body of Christ in regard to our new relationship to the law: “Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.” The Body of Christ in these verses is not the same body of Christ in Romans 12. In fact, this Body of Christ borders on an allegory. While still being true, it is a literary tool used to highlight something very special.

As far as I can remember, I have never met any writer, any preacher, or any theologian who did not say that the Body of Christ referred to here was not the Lord’s church. The Body of Christ is the Church. We will come back to some of these in a minute, but this is taught in I Corinthians 10 and 12, Ephesians 1, 4 and 5, Colossians 1 and 2 and elsewhere. As I say, this is something that is not debated. Ephesians 1 – God, the Father, “hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.” Colossians 1 – Christ “is before all things, and by him all things consist. He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.”

But here is the great debate: What is the church? Most Protestants, learning it from their spiritual mother, the Church at Rome…. Most Protestants believe that the Church is made up of all believers upon the earth at any one time. Even some who refuse to call themselves “Protestants” cling to this unbiblical idea. They use I Corinthians 12:15, Romans 12:4-5, and other verses to reach this unbiblical conclusion.

In order to define the Body of Christ, we must first define the Church of Christ. The word “ekklesia” (ek-klay-see’-ah) literally means “an assembly.” James Strong, the scholar who put together the greatest concordance of the Bible, was not a Baptist. The man was a Methodist – one of the Protestants. But he was intellectually honest. Strong’s definition of “ekklesia” is: “A gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place, an assembly; an assembly of the people convened at the public place of the council for the purpose of deliberating; in a Christian sense, an assembly of Christians gathered for worship in a religious meeting.” Intrinsic to the definition of a “church” is its ability to assemble – that it actually does assemble. Calvary Independent Baptist Church is a church because it assembles regularly. It is a Church of the Lord Jesus Christ because it assembles in Jesus’ Name and with His doctrine. The City of Post Falls will never be “a church” in any sense of the word, because it will never assemble. The Congress of the United States, because it assembles, could be called a “secular church,” but it won’t be, because it doesn’t want to confuse the idea of church and state. The United States, despite all the things which bind the people of this country together, cannot be called a “church,” because it never assembles. Similarly, to call all the people who claim to be Christians “a church” is contrary to definition and improper.

This certainly agrees with the use of the word “ekklesia” as it is found in the Bible. For example, the Book of Revelation speaks about seven churches located in Asia. It doesn’t talk about them all as “THE church in Asia,” because that would be contrary to the Lord’s use of the term. They were seven distinct churches – local churches if you’d like to use that term. The Book of Acts talks about the church in Jerusalem and the church in Antioch, as though they were separate assemblies, or congregations. Acts 13:1 – “Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.” Acts 14:23 – “And when they had ordained them elders in every church (established by Paul in central Turkey), and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.” Acts 14:27 – “And when they were come, and had gathered the church (in Antioch) together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.” In Romans 16:1, Paul said, “I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea.” I Corinthians is addressed “unto the church of God which is at Corinth.” Colossians 4:15 – “Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house.” Colossians 4:16 – “And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea.” Paul didn’t suggest that his letter be read in that part of the church which assembled in Laodicea. The church, that entire church in Laodicea, assembled regularly. I Thessalonians 1:1 – “Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Again, Paul wasn’t addressing a part of some world-wide body of believers called “the church.” He was addressing the saints which assembled together in Thessalonica to serve and worship God.

Admittedly, there are scriptures which speak about all the churches of Christ in one breath as “the church.” But those scriptures are not stripping away the fact that each of them were local assemblies. Never are those scriptures saying that there is only one true church made up of all believers, or even of all the baptized members of all the local churches.

Once we reach that definition and that conclusion, it is easy to define the Body of Christ. Paul is talking either about the “ekklesia” which assembled in Rome, or he was talking about that “ekklesia” and the specific “ekklesia” in which he was a member, along with all the others. With that definition in mind, there is no problem when he says, “So WE, being many, are one body in Christ.” He was using something called the “editorial we.” He was using the word “we” in the same way as it is found in the Constitution of the United States. “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union…” In this case a group of men were speaking or writing on behalf of a great many others. Paul is speaking here of the Body of Christ – just as he was in I Corinthians 12:13. “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.” Under the direction of the Holy Spirit, those people who had been baptized in Corinth became a part of the Body of Christ in that location. That was just as Paul had been baptized into the Body of Christ in Damascus and eventually became a member of the Body of Christ in Antioch.

Here in Romans 12 Paul was writing about the Church of Christ which specifically gathered in Rome, and more generally about any Church of Christ found anywhere in the world, including Calvary Independent Baptist Church. This then brings us to Paul’s point at this point –

The ORGANIZATION of the Body of Christ. “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 according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.”

Why should we not “think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith”? Because, for one reason, despite our many differences in talents, faith, intellect, maturity and other qualities, we are all by the grace of God a part of the same body. In I Corinthians Paul says the same thing but kept closer to the illustration of the body. Please return to I Corinthians 12 and let’s read the chapter beginning in verse 12. Obviously, bodies are made up of many parts, and it might be argued that some parts are more important than other parts. But that is only a relative assumption. A person can live without a hand, but certain aspects of his life will never be the same without it. A person can live without sight, but no one will say that sight is not important. Then on the other hand, some parts of the body are essential – like the heart and brain. Did you notice that Paul didn’t talk about those parts in his illustration? We are not those parts in the Body of Christ. May it never be forgotten that the Lord is the life of this body of His – He is the heart.

Remember that Paul’s intention in using this illustration was to teach us that you and I should not be thinking too highly of ourselves. I may be the public mouth of the Body of Christ in Post Falls, but that doesn’t make me more important than the eye, or the ear. And then again, weren’t you a mouth when we were singing the praises of God a few moments ago? What is the Lord telling you today? Are you, as an ear, listening? Aren’t you a hand or a finger on the hand of this Body of Christ? Every part is important, and no part should vaunt itself against any other part of the body.

And this brings us to the FUNCTION of the body.Perhaps this is as much the import of the illustration as any, although not here in Romans 12. What do bodies do, or what should bodies do? What should the body of Christ do?

First they should GROW. I don’t know how many times I have heard mothers with year old babies, take a look at a new born baby and comment on how small he looks. Babies grow, and in proportion to their size, they grow very quickly. Of course, at some point those bodies stop growing, and I suppose that it might be said of churches too. Most religious pundits believe that there should be no limit to the size of the Lord’s churches, but I am not convinced of that. And certainly, the more godly, and theologically correct a church seems to be – the smaller it remains. Generally speaking, the growth of a baby and the growth of a church belong to the will of the Lord. That doesn’t mean that the child shouldn’t do his best to eat regularly, sleep when necessary and exercise. Obviously, we have something to so say about our growth. But ultimately, it is by the grace of God that we grow. Then too, when talking about the growth of physical bodies isn’t it true that many times, when we should stop growing we continue to grow? We reach our maximum height, being slim and trim, but then we keep on putting on weight. How many adults weigh more than their optimum best? Isn’t that true also of many churches? In their desire for growth, or for the advantages that growth provides, like money and workers, those churches just keep adding members who for one reason or other should not be members. Some of them are not children of God. And others have public sin which decimates their testimony and the power of God in the body. Some churches are fat and thoroughly unhealthy.

A second thing that bodies do is move; they DO THINGS. They sacrifice thank offerings. They build temples and tabernacles as places where God can be worshiped. They use their hands, their feet, and their mouths to serve their Lord and to serve His creation. They protest the insidious growth of sin in society. They publish the truth in one fashion or another. The body that merely lays about, will do nothing but deteriorate.

A third thing that bodies generally do is REPRODUCE. In the case of the Body of Christ, other bodies are to be started, matching them in doctrine and Spirit. True Bodies of Christ are very interested in missions and the spreading of God’s truth. They not only preach the gospel, but they teach & work toward the establishment of other Bodies of Christ. In this regard they even fellowship with, and encourage, other Bodies of Christ.

But let us return to Paul’s text.A finger may not have the ability to speak, although we could probably debate that point. But whatever that finger can do, it ought to do with all its might, for the glory of Christ and for the health of that Body of Christ. If you have the gift of ministry, then minister with all your might. To some degree I have been given the gift of prophecy – not the foretelling of the future – but the privilege of declaring the Word of the Lord. That is something which I need to do in faith and simplicity, in order to be a blessing to the Body. You have your talents and your abilities, which may be different from mine.

Each and every office and talent, has been placed in the Lord’s Church by God Himself. Those members have been placed their for a purpose. One should not look down on another, nor should he think more highly than he ought to think. What we all need to do is work together … “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” – Ephesians 4:12-13.