The Body of Christ, His Members, and Members of One Another

The Body of Christ, His Members, and Members of One Another

That we together make up the body of Christ and thus are also members of one another—of one and the same body— is possibly the most powerful (the most powerfully active) of all truths and the most powerful way of presenting the truth. What a wonderful truth! What a wonderful teaching! 1 Cor. 12; Eph. 1:22-23, 4:15-16, 5:30-32; Col. 2:9-10.

If people believed this truth, sin would vanish like the dew before the sun!!! Who would then fall in adultery? 1 Cor. 6:13-20. Who could then be envious of his brother’s money, goods, honor, or gifts? His glory and gifts are also my glory and my gifts, as truly as we are members of the same body! In the deepest sense, we have all things in common. Believing that we are members of one another truly abolishes the right to ownership, even though technically we keep them. The one who helps his brother helps himself; therefore it is so unspeakably easy for those who possess this precious faith.

You bear it so easily when your fellow brother is exalted, for then you yourself are being exalted, seeing that you belong to the same body. If there is a meeting or a conference, you do not fall in the temptation of staying home (without a godly reason) because it would be meaningless, since we are members of the same body. When one member rejoices, everyone rejoices; and when one member suffers, we all suffer. Divisions must inevitably fall away because when we belong to the same body, that would amount to suicide. This also applies to feeling insulted and staying away for a shorter or longer period of time. Imagine that you are the pinkie and feel insulted and therefore stayed away from the other fingers for fourteen days! That would amount to the pinkie’s death. When you believe (are fully convinced) that you are a member of the same body, you cannot act differently. In this faith we cannot despise any brother or wish that some brother be put away, for that would be the same as wishing yourself to be harmed or ruined.