The Body of Christ

This past Sunday I had the opportunity to preach about the basis behind the unity of the church as it is stated in 1 Corinthians 12:12-13. Just as the body has many different types of parts, but they all come together to make one body, so it is with the church. The various members of the church with all their different spiritual gifts, abilities, and talents come to serve together as one symbiotic whole.

I particularly appreciated that Paul writes in vs. 12, "so it is with Christ." He does not say, "...so it is with the church," or even "...so it is with the body of Christ." He makes the point that the church is the physical representation of Christ on earth. When the members come together to serve in the church, they are fulfilling their role as part of Christ's body. In other words, to be committed to the church is to show one's commitment to Christ Himself.

Paul writes in vs. 13 that the church is made one by God's Spirit in whom we have been baptized by Christ (cf. Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33; Acts 2:33). By being baptized in the Spirit, we are made one body in Christ. It does not matter whether we are Jew or Gentile, slaves or free; if we are in Christ, we are one body. Paul is clear to indicate that all the believers at Corinth had received this baptism. It was not a second work of grace in their lives but came as a result of their salvation. When they were saved, they were baptized in the Spirit and made part of the body of Christ. This is a profound statement. In a real sense, church membership came as part of the package when they became Christian!

Not only have we been immersed in the Spirit, but Paul concludes that we have been made to drink of that Spirit as well. By this, Paul is referring to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Not only do we have the external support of the body of Christ having been baptized in the Spirit, but we also have the Spirit's internal influence as well! Certainly this is great cause for rejoicing for the believer. We who were completely void of the Spirit before coming to know Christ now have the Spirit's influence around us and within us. It bears witness to the fact that when God saves an individual, He does not withhold His blessing (cf. Luke 11:13).

The following passages in 1 Corinthians 12 go into the practical outworkings of this unity and are very applicable for the church, so I can't wait to get into those passages in the coming messages.

Do People Possess Inalienable Rights?

I'm not entirely sure if everyone from Lighthouse is aware of this, but during the second service a group of people meet upstairs for an informal time of discussion about Pastor John's sermons. No, this isn't a time to analyze every little theological detail from the sermon and evaluate his delivery. It is more a time devoted to thinking through practical application of God's Word. This past Sunday, we had a particularly interesting discussion over John’s message on being a slave for Christ.

It's unfortunate if you missed out on this time because John preached a message that is very counterintuitive for our age and culture. One statement from the message that particular raised some eyebrows was that John mentioned that people do not have inalienable rights. I think this caused a little bit of confusion because John was not speaking about the rights we exercise in relation to one another. The point he was trying to convey was that no person has an absolute inalienable right that even God is subject to respect. Any rights and freedoms that people enjoy are always in every case limited by the sovereignty and will of God.

In no way was John saying that he is against the Declaration of Independence or Constitution. John is not an anarchist. John and I both understand that these founding documents were written with biblical principles in mind. For instance, when the Bible teaches that murder is wrong because all men have been created in the image of God (Gen. 9:6), we understand that God is essentially teaching that people have the “right to life.” However, when in the sovereignty of God He determines that a person’s time has come to die, no man can appeal to God that he has a right to life that even God is subject to respect.

That being said, there still is something to be said about freedoms that all believers should understand. We need to be careful about what we say we deserve. Kyle Grindley mentioned this during the discussion and it is related to the whole idea of personal rights and freedoms. Too often we face difficult people, circumstances, and challenges and think to ourselves, “Why is this happening? I deserve better. What about my rights?” Such is unbiblical thinking because the Bible is clear we deserve much worse. Any sinner before a holy God deserves immediate, eternal, divine punishment. To think we deserve anything better is entirely arrogant and cheapens the grace of God in salvation. This is the basis behind John’s statement that the only right that people truly have is the right to die.

Though God has granted certain inalienable rights for humans to enjoy (understanding that they are only inalienable insofar as God has granted them by his grace), we must constantly be reminded that we never receive these rights because we are deserving of them. These rights must be understood in light of who God is and what He requires of us. Perhaps this is the reason why through time the definition of our rights has changed so much. As this country has moved farther and farther away from God and His Word, the Constitution has become more and more ambiguous and open to interpretation. Certainly, the Constitution was written with biblical principles in mind, but it is no longer interpreted with those same biblical principles.