The Edification of the Body of Christ

The Edification of the Body of Christ

“Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.” 1 Cor. 6:18. “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil . . . . For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.” Heb. 2:14-18. In Romans 7:18 Paul writes, “In me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells.” This was the same flesh that Jesus shared; therefore He could also be tempted in all things as we are. Heb. 4:15-16; Jas. 1:14-15.

However, desire never conceived in Jesus’ life. That is why His body never manifested sin. But what did happen in His body was that sin was condemned in the flesh. That means that it was brought into death in the flesh, and through this death He destroyed him who had the power of death, that is, the devil. Rom. 8:3-4. That is why this death is called the dying of Jesus. This death destroys the obstacle to Jesus’ life being manifested in our body. 2 Cor. 4:10-11.

The law was too weak to do this. It was weak because of the flesh. It could condemn sin only after it had been manifested by the body. However, the requirement of the law was, “You shall not covet.” Jesus taught us that he who lusts in his heart has already sinned. Matt. 5:27-28. However, it was only after they had committed adultery, theft, or had killed their brother that the law could do anything about it. The new thing which God did when He sent His Son was that sin was condemned in the flesh. Since covetousness did not enter His heart because it was put to death in the flesh, this new life—the life of Jesus—has now become possible for us, for those who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Jesus had not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. Matt. 5:17. By walking in the Spirit, this dying of Jesus to covetousness—the requirement of the law—was made possible in our body. Thus we are members of the body of Christ, and together we constitute His body. 1 Cor. 12:12-14.

We neither understand nor are able to live this life in our own strength. Therefore Jesus sent the Holy Spirit, by whom He offered Himself, on the day of Pentecost. Heb. 9:14. This Spirit is to guide us to the whole truth concerning what dwells in the flesh, so that we can put to death the deeds of the body by the Holy Spirit. John 16:13; Rom. 8:13. Those to whom James wrote had not understood this. The passions that warred in their members were the cause of all the strife and fighting among them. Jas. 4:1-3.

This is also the case among people wherever they do not understand God’s work in Jesus. The believers organize churches according to the biblical pattern, but they do not understand how to build the body of Christ. All such religious organizations end up like all the worldly organizations. Those who are talented gain power by means of a majority vote, and the result is that envy, strife, and partiality flourish. All this has nothing to do with the body of Christ. Jesus’ body comes into being through the gospel, just as we read in Ephesians 2:14-22. There we read about the tremendous work that was done in Jesus’ body. The enmity was abolished in His flesh, thereby making the law superfluous. Everyone was represented in that body because there is one flesh in man. This includes the Jews who had come near, and the Gentiles who were far off. The enmity was killed on the cross, and out of the two one new man was created. “For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father . . . in whom you also are being built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.”

In Chapter 3 we read how great this mystery is. This mystery is revealed only to those who come to faith in Jesus’ finished work, those who want to become disciples and who hate their own life according to the flesh. Luke 14:26-27. They begin to walk in the Spirit, serve in the newness of the Spirit (Rom. 7:6), and the flesh with its passions and desires is crucified. Gal. 5:16-24. The dying of Jesus is active in their bodies, and the fruit of the Spirit is manifested by their bodies. Thus they all become one new man. The body of Jesus with Jesus as Head—a body without covetousness in the heart— is growing forth. This is how sin is overcome, and the result is bodies that reveal the life of Jesus. The Head joins them together and works in individual members so they can grow “with the increase which is from God.” Col. 2:19.

God has chosen Greeks and Jews, barbarians, Scythians, slaves, and free. If they all walk in the Spirit—with their flesh crucified—they all become one in Christ. The peace of Christ to which they are called in one body rules in their hearts, and they are thankful. Col. 3:11-15. They all hate their own life according to the flesh and serve in the newness of the Spirit so that sin in the flesh is put to death. Those who are active in this service build up their own bodies to be part of the body of Jesus. They are being equipped for this ministry of helping others who have been chosen to grow with the increase which is from God, to be one body, which is the church.

This body cannot be divided; sin and strife cease, and Jesus’ life grows forth. This is the church. It is a work of God, and the unity that existed between the Father and the Son in the days of His flesh is growing, with the Lord adding to the church daily those who are willing to be saved. Acts 2:47.