The Body of Christ (Part 5 of 5)

Leadership

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:11-16)

The Body of Christ has only one Head. Christ is the Head of the Body, who has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. This means that the Head sets the agenda for the Church. The Church does not have the right to set its own agenda but must take all of its orders from the Head. One of the problems with the Church today is the unwillingness to accept Christ’s headship. Many churches and Christian organization seem to want to establish their own agenda and do their own thing. But the marching orders for the Church of Jesus Christ have already been given. When Christ ascended into heaven after His resurrection He gave these orders, which are for the Church in every place and in every Age:

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).

If the Church is not obeying the command of Christ then it has lost connection to the Head. There came a point in the history of the Church when it did begin to set its own agenda and the institutional Church, which is not the Body of Christ, came into existence. Every church should examine itself today to see if it is connected to the Head or if it is doing its own thing.

Jesus ascended into Heaven after His resurrection. So Christ is no longer here in the flesh to guide the Church. Jesus did send the Holy Spirit to be another helper and to dwell in believers individually and in the Body corporately. The Church must listen to the Holy Spirit just as it would listen to Christ Himself. And while we might conclude that the presence of the Holy Spirit is sufficient to guide the Church, Christ has also placed leaders in His Body. Some members of the Body are given as leaders to the Body. Paul mentions the positions of Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, and Shepherd/Teacher. (The last position is actually one and not two separate functions.) Many wonder how there can be Apostles in the Church today after the original Apostles have passed away. The original Apostles of the Lord had a foundational ministry that cannot be duplicated. However, there may be those in the Body today who have a ministry and function similar to that of the original Apostles. When men take the Gospel into new territories where Christ has never been heard, what we usually call the work of a Missionary, this may be the function of an Apostle. Obviously there is no Apostle today who is writing inspired Scripture so this particular function is no longer needed today. The function of a Prophet is what we typically think of as preaching. A Prophet speaks the Word of God, applying it to the needs of the Body, so the Body is encouraged and built up in the faith. Again, we do not need a Prophet to add to the inspired words of Scripture. A true Prophet speaks only what is in agreement with the written Word of God, applying that word to the needs of the Body today. An Evangelist is a well-known gift of leadership today, but most Christians think an Evangelist only speaks to the unsaved. But a true Evangelist also speaks the Gospel to the Body of Christ, which needs to hear it expounded and applied. And then the Shepherd/Teacher is what we would call a Pastor today. This leader functions as a guide for the people of God, keeping them well fed and away from spiritual temptations and dangers, just as a shepherd would care for his flock. The Shepherd is also a teacher in that he feeds the flock from the Word of God. We should take note that all of these leadership positions involves some type of speaking ministry. It is not possible for Christian leaders to do their work without speaking the truth of God’s Word to the Body.

The work of leadership in the Body is to equip the saints for ministry. While there are different leadership functions and these positions are not all the same, there is really only one common goal for leadership, which is to make sure the members of the Body are ready for ministry. Unfortunately, this model of equipping the members of the Body for ministry is not commonly known in the Church today. Because of the rise of professional, educated clergymen in the Church, this model has been forsaken. These religious professionals are supposedly trained to do the work of the ministry while the people themselves support them financially. This means that in the Church today very few of the members are actually involved in ministry themselves. People work their jobs, take care of their families and homes, attend Church services, tithe, and that is all they are expected to do! That is not the New Testament model of the Body of Christ. In the Body of Christ all of them members have a function. These functions are not all the same, and not everyone has a leadership role. But everyone does have a role and there are no parts of the Body that are unnecessary and idle. These members may not be fully prepared to accept their roles in the Body, and this is where leadership must step in and help.

The goal of leaders should be to make the people mature and stable. When a person is a new believer, they are like a baby and need some special care. Just as children must be taught and learn how to be responsible people, new believers must also be given what is necessary for their growth and maturity. We expect children to grow and learn certain things, and we even discipline them when they do not learn as they should. It would be completely unacceptable for a teenager to still be unable to feed himself, for example. The same is true in the Body of Christ. We expect the members of the Body to grow and mature and it is unacceptable when they remain infantile in their faith, unable to help themselves or others. Unfortunately, the Church today is often tolerant of baby Christians who should be mature and able to help others. Part of the problem may be that the leaders have not helped these believers mature. The result is that many Christians are weak, unstable, and unreliable, easily falling into sin or deceived by false teachers. The point of good teachers and Gospel preaching in the Body is so that believers will mature and grow in their understanding of God and of the Gospel of their salvation. When believers are confident that God is their Father and are able to make godly decisions about life, the Body of Christ will be strong.

When the Body is strong, it can build itself up. As believers mature and begin to do the work of the ministry, the Body will function as it should and be able to care for itself in love. This means that the members of the Body will be able to minister to each other. It is impossible for just a few leaders to ministry to the needs of every member of the Body! This would lead the leaders to a point of exhaustion in a hurry, which is exactly what happens to many professional ministries in the traditional Church today. But that is not the New Testament model of leadership and ministry. Every member has a ministry, not just the leaders. As the leaders provide spiritual food for the Body, the Body is healthy and is able to grow naturally. This principle is seen in nature. A healthy plant with a good root system, water supply, and sunlight will naturally grow. God has designed things this way. Children that are given plenty of healthy food, and who have loving parents to care for them, will naturally grow and mature because that is how God designed things to work. These illustrations in the natural world are there for application to the spiritual realm. When the Body of Christ is being equipped by its God-given leaders, it will be mature and stable and will then be able to grow and care for itself as each member loves and serves the rest of the Body.

The Body of Christ (Part 4 of 5)

Unity and Interdependence

But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together (1 Corinthians 12:24-26).

In spite of all the divisions created by men, there is really only one Church. Christ cannot be divided. All those who believe in Christ are joined to Him spiritually, through the work of the Holy Spirit, and are therefore joined to one another. Just as we could not choose our siblings in the flesh, we cannot choose our spiritual family. When we were joined to Christ we got a lot of brothers and sisters, whether we were willing to accept them or not. But we must learn to accept them. The Apostle Paul wrote to Corinth because that Church had been torn apart. And division is perhaps the greatest damage that can be done to a church. It is a sin against Christ and a misrepresentation of Him to the world. I shudder to think what the Church must look like to the world! If we cannot agree with each other, how can we expect the world to take us seriously and listen to our message? We preach a message of reconciliation, yet we cannot ourselves be reconciled. It is no wonder that most people think Christians are nothing but hypocrites! In spite of this mess we have created, we must understand that Christ is not actually divided. This means there is only one, true Church which is the Body of Christ.

We are to strive to keep the unity that reflects the true nature of Christ. Christ is one, yet churches can become divided. It happened at Corinth and it happened later in Church history. And it still happens today. Unity can be a delicate thing. It is like a beautiful rose that can easily be destroyed if not properly cared for. We can’t actually divide the Body of Christ. But we can behave in a way that does not reflect the unity of Christ’s Body. In the same way it is possible for married people to fight and argue with one another. This does not mean they are not married, though they may not be happily married. If a couple fights with each other, they are still married but are not reflecting the true nature and purpose of a marriage. Now this metaphor breaks down because some married people do not reconcile and the marriage ends in divorce. Jesus will never divorce His Church, which is His Bride. So perhaps a better metaphor is that of the family where siblings must learn to live together. Siblings often fight with each other, yet they are still related to each other, having the same parents. Brothers and sisters may even refuse to speak to each other, yet they are still related and you can’t actually disown DNA! Siblings who fight each other are not reflecting what a loving family should be and was designed to be. In our marriages and our family relationships we must strive to maintain what is the true nature and purpose of these relationships. Likewise, the true nature and purpose of the Body of Christ must be maintained by the members of that Body. If this love and unity break down, this does not mean we are not brethren. We are all still in Christ. But it does mean we have failed to correctly represent Christ.

Why does unity often break down? Why do Church splits happen? And why do we have all of the different Christian groups and denominations today? The answer is actually very simple to understand, yet the problem is extremely difficult to solve in actual practice. Division is a work of the Flesh. The Flesh is that part of us that is still subject to sinful desires. In every believer there is still a little sinner who wants to have his own way and who does not care about anybody else. This is the part of us that we inherited from our Father Adam, who was the first sinner in the human race and passed on his problem to all his offspring. When we become Christians, we are born again and the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our mortal bodies. This means that although we have this old, sinful nature still with us we also have a Helper who lives in us as well. The Spirit of God is stronger than our old, sinful nature and no believer has to live under sin’s dominion. However, this does not mean we are not capable of sin. Every Christian knows what it is like to slip back into the old ways of thinking and living. If we slip back into the Flesh, then there will almost certainly be a cause for division as pride, selfishness and worldly thinking begin to infect the Body. It happened at Corinth and it happens in churches today. The Flesh is a constant threat to the Body of Christ.

Division is a sure sign that the Flesh has been at work in the Body. And divisions can only be maintained if some of the members regard some of the other members as disposable. There are organs in the physical body that we can live without. Does this also apply to the Body of Christ? Can we ignore or remove certain members without any consequences? Because God has placed all of the members in the Body where He wanted them, we cannot view any member as unnecessary. Sometimes divisions are caused by members of the Body regarding other members as unnecessary or insignificant. This is usually a sign of the hideous sin of pride. At Corinth this pride may have been in spiritual gifts. Those with a certain gift considered themselves to be more important and other members who had different gifts were expendable. But if every member has a different place and function in the Body, then this makes each member indispensable. The members of the Body depend on each other because no single member has everything that is needed. We can all add something to each other. When we see how we need each other, it becomes impossible for us to maintain divisions and continue to ignore other members of the Body of Christ.

I believe that underneath many of the divisions in the Body of Christ is the sin of pride. When we are proud we think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. We think we are better and are more important than other members of the Body. And therefore we think we don’t really need these other members after all. Pride leads to a feeling of independence. Some proud people think they don’t need God. And some proud Christians think they don’t need other Christians! We may think we have everything we need to make it on our own. So we don’t feel so bad about ignoring and excluding other members of the Body. In Western countries we have exalted the independence of the individual. The individual has the right to make his own decisions and be his own master, without conferring with anyone else. To many today the highest value is that of the freedom of the individual to chart his own course in life. This completely ignores the fact that we are in need of relationships and community. God created us this way. And when we are reconciled to God He places us in the Body of Christ where we must learn to depend on other members of the Body. This interdependence should make each of us more humble. We have to be humble enough to receive God’s grace, especially when God wants to give us grace through one of our brothers or sisters in the Body of Christ!

The Body of Christ (Part 3 of 5)

Edification

So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church (1 Corinthians 14:12).

All spiritual gifts are for the edification of the Body of Christ. Instead of arguing about which spiritual gifts are in or out of the Church today, the focus should be on edification. No gift is given just for personal use and private enjoyment. This does not discount the vital ministry of the Holy Spirit in each of our lives. In fact, if the Holy Spirit is not at work in each of us, it is doubtful that He will be able to move among us when we are gathered together. If we are walking in the Spirit individually then we will be able to respond to the Spirit and operate in the gifts when we are gathered together as the Body. But in his discussion of spiritual gifts in Corinthians, Paul’s focus is on the Body of Christ and not the individual Christian. The gifts are given for the Body and are never considered apart from this context by Paul. The modern invention of a private, spiritual prayer language finds no support in Paul’s discussion of the gifts. In fact, Paul would not allow a person to speak in a tongue in the assembly unless there was an interpreter because this would not edify the Body. The focus of the Body must be on edification even if that means a particular gift is not utilized when it does not edify.

The Body meets together in order to edify itself. I know that this is not usually the reason for most Church assemblies today. Many would say the reason the Church gathers is to preach the Gospel to the lost. The Gospel certainly needs to be preached to the lost! No one will argue with this point. And the preaching of the Gospel should be a part of the gathering of believers. But to make the gathering of the Church an evangelistic event for unbelievers is unbalanced at best. The believers must be edified. Edification is a word that belongs to the world of construction and building. From this word we get our English word “edifice.” To edify means to build up and secure something – like the construction of a sturdy, brick wall. Believers need their faith to be built up and reinforced. This is the real purpose behind the gathering of the saints. Some Christian people, with good intentions, will state that the purpose of the Church gathering is to worship. These are probably the folks who enjoy music the most. There is no doubt that God’s people are worshipers. But we worship God at all times and not just when the Church gathers. We can worship God privately at home, but we cannot function as the Body of Christ while we are alone. Edification is a corporate undertaking. This is because as we are edifying each other, building each other up, we are also being built together as a holy Temple for the Lord.

This implies that each member must begin to think about the other members. There is no place for selfishness in the Body of Christ. Each member must have concern for the other members. We all form one Body. Christ is not divided. We are interdependent. Oh how I wish Christians could learn this lesson! We have far too many people who think they can stand on their own without other believers. This kind of thinking has to come from the Devil because I know it did not come from the Lord. It is a serious error to think that you don’t need other believers. If you isolate yourself, you will die, having been severed from the Body of Christ. I have every reason to believe that Satan would love to isolate believers from the Body so that he can devour them! In Western culture we believe in the priority of the individual. We have cultured this kind of private spirituality and personal freedom that actually contradicts the very essence of Christianity, which is belonging to the Body of Christ. You simply cannot have Christ and not also be a part of His Body. When you get Christ you get everyone else who is in Christ. We are all one Body and there is no other Body because Christ is one and is not divided.

So the Church should gather together for the purpose of edification. Each member should be thinking about the whole Body and not himself alone. We do not gather to get something only but to give to the Body. But how do we edify each other? Edification is accomplished primarily through speaking and understanding the truth, particularly the Gospel of Christ. That is why prophecy is the greatest gift, because it edifies the Church. Paul’s primary purpose was the edification of believers. But he wanted the Church at Corinth to be able to edify itself even when he could not be there. It seems the Church at Corinth had plenty of spiritual gifts and they should have been able to edify each other. But they were divided and were competing with each other instead of edifying the whole Body. Paul writes to rebuke them for this in his first epistle to the Corinthians. There seems to have been a particular issue with the gift of tongue there in Corinth. Paul forbade the use of this gift unless there was someone to interpret the tongue so that all could be edified. Paul did not forbid tongues as long as it was interpreted. But he preferred prophecy as the superior gift because a prophet spoke to edify the Church. Trying to understand the gift of tongues and prophecy would require another series of articles. (But prophecy could be similar to what we call the preaching of a sermon today.) The point is that the Church must be edified, that is, the people must understand what is being said so that the mind or the understanding is fruitful.

Edification happens when our minds are enlightened by the spiritual truth of the Word of God. We cannot be edified by what we do not understand, which is why Paul commanded that tongues be interpreted in the Church. The result of edification is stability. Just as a strong building will stand firm, a believer who is edified will be strong, firm, and stable. The purpose of edification is to make people strong, solid, and confident in their faith so they can stand firm in all of the trials and temptations of life in the world. Edification is needed because this world is like a storm that blows against us at all times, seeking to tear down what faith has built in us. People who live near the coasts know how important it is to have a house that is reinforced to withstand the strong gale of hurricane winds. The believer must be reinforced spiritually to withstand life in the world. All kinds of winds crash against the believer. There is the force of the world and all of its carnal pleasures and temptation. There are Satan and his demons and all of their deception and false teaching. And there is the constant opposition that comes from our own Flesh, or the sinful nature, that is still within the believer. To withstand all of these assaults we must be strong. We have been placed in the Body of Christ so that we can be edified!

The Body of Christ (Part 2 of 5)

Spiritual Gifts

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good (1 Corinthians 12:4-7).

There is perhaps no area of greater controversy in the Church than the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Some Churches claim to be Spirit-filled, exercising all of the gifts mentioned in the New Testament, while other Churches teach that there are only some of the gifts available to believers today, the miraculous gifts having ceased. Most of the controversy is over the gift of tongues. But if these spiritual gifts are being given by the Holy Spirit to the Body of Christ, then how should they be utilized? When writing to the Corinthian Church, which was torn apart by divisions, Paul addresses this very issue. Paul does not discourage the use of spiritual gifts. The problem at Corinth was in how these gifts were being used. If the gifts of the Spirit are not exercised in a way that benefits the whole Body, then nothing of value is accomplished. For example, if the gift of tongues is actually given and someone speaks in a tongue, but there is no one who can interpret the meaning so that everyone can benefit, then it would be better for the speaker to keep silent. So while we can argue about which gifts are given today, the whole point is the edification of the Church and not just a miraculous display of the gifts. No gift should be operating unless it is being used for the edification of the whole Body. Otherwise, we are just making noise.

The giving of spiritual gifts is according to the will of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Distributor of the gifts that are needed to edify the Body. If the members of the Body are in-tune with the Spirit then the gifts can flow freely. It seems that the Church at Corinth had plenty of spiritual gifts, but there were other things hindering the use of these gifts for the edification of the Body. For example, if the gathering of believers was disorderly, then the gifts that were given by the Spirit could not be used properly. If many people were all speaking at the same time and not yielding to one another, then there was just a lot of noise. Now this seems strange to modern Christians because our Church gatherings usually only have a single speaker, or preacher, and everyone simply listens to him. In most Church services today there is no format or place given for the operation of spiritual gifts except what is given to the preacher or pastor and maybe the worship leader. Corinth had all the gifts going at the same time, which was disorderly. The modern Church does not provide a format for the gifts at all. Modern Church services are not designed with the Body in mind, but are more like a spectator sport where a professional performs and others watch. It is difficult to see how the Holy Spirit can distribute gifts in these environments.

There is no single person in the Body of Christ who has every gift. If the main purpose of the gathering of the Church is for edification, or the building up of the faith of believers, then it must be understood that a single person cannot accomplish this work. The Body is only edified when all of the members are utilizing the gifts that the Holy Spirit distributes. There is no set formula or pattern for how this is to be accomplished. There is not a single way to accomplish this goal of edifying the Body and that is why there is no pattern in the New Testament for how a Church meeting or worship service should be constructed. We should not get sidetracked by such trivial matters as the order of worship! Paul’s instruction to the Corinthians was that everything should be done in an orderly manner, for the edification of everyone in the Body, so that all of the gifts the Spirit gives might be utilized. That being said, it is not realistic to expect a single person, like a pastor, to be able to do everything by just preaching a sermon. Sermons must be preached, but that is just one of the gifts of the Spirit.

Every gift is given for the benefit of the whole Body. The gifts are not given just to edify the individual. The very idea of a private spiritual gift that is only for the individual to use to edify himself goes against the design of the Body of Christ. The Holy Spirit simply does not give these kinds of gifts. If a gift is given, it is for the edification of the Body. The individual to whom the gift is given must use that gift for the Body and not keep it to himself. For example, if a person receives some kind of encouraging word for the Body, it is the responsibility of that person to share what the Holy Spirit has given. Of course, there must be a format for this kind of sharing to take place. Unfortunately, most Church services do not provide this format. It is time for the Church to reevaluate the purpose of the gathering of believers together. Most Churches think of their services only as a place for preaching, and that for preaching to the unsaved. These kinds of services are not designed with the edification of the Body of Christ in mind at all and the exercise of spiritual gifts is next to impossible.

The gifts are given to promote unity and mutual edification in the Body of Christ. Leaders in the Body should give some serious consideration as to how this can best be accomplished when the Body is gathered together. The goal of the gathering of the Body is not to evangelize the lost, but to edify the believers. It is unfortunate the most Christians think of Church services only as a kind of evangelistic crusade designed to get lost people saved. There is nothing wrong with evangelistic crusades. But the gathering of believers is not for this purpose. Of course, it is possible that an unbeliever will attend a gathering of the Body of Christ. This is all the more reason for the assembly to be done in an orderly fashion so that the Spirit can move freely and the gifts can function. If an unbeliever sees the Spirit of the Lord at work in the Body of Christ, it is possible that he or she will be convicted of sin, perceiving that the presence of the Lord is there. This has happened, no doubt, on more than one occasion. There is no more powerful witness to the world than a unified, strong, spiritual Church.

The Body of Christ (Part 1 of 5)

The Church is the Body of Christ

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:12-13).

There seems to be a tremendous amount of confusion regarding the nature of the Church. In fact, the word “Church” has been corrupted and is almost a negative rather than a positive term. For instance, when most people hear the word “Church” they almost always think of a building. Perhaps even worse is the fact that people think of the Church as a religious organization or institution. There are literally hundreds of different Christian groups today, each claiming to be the Church, yet often teaching contradictory doctrines. How confusing this must seem to the world! It is impossible for the Church to present a coherent message to the world while being so divided and confused. I cannot imagine how confusing it must be for someone who decides to seek the Lord is confronted with the multitude of religious entities that claim to be the Church. Some of these institutions even make the incredible claim that their group is the only true Church! Trying to understand how the Church became so divided is a difficult undertaking. However, we must begin by admitting that what is called the Church is often a poor and inaccurate representation of Christ. The Church represents Christ and should never be separated from the Lord Himself. The Church is not a building or an institution but is the Body of Christ.

The Body of Christ is made up of individuals who have been spiritually joined to the Lord Jesus. The Apostle Paul is the only writer in Scripture to develop this doctrine of the Church as the Body of Christ. While Paul is obviously using a metaphor, we should not think that there is no reality behind the imagery. Paul is comparing the Church to the human body. The point is that there is both unity and diversity in the Body of Christ, just as the various parts of the human body together constitute the whole body. The spiritual reality behind this is that every member of the Body of Christ has actually been joined to the Lord. It is the presence and work of the Spirit that has joined us to Christ, making us a part of His Body. Just as our physical bodies are really instruments that allow us to exercise our will as we move about and work, so the Church is the Body of Christ, allowing Him to continue to exercise His will and accomplish His work in the earth while moving through His Body with its various members. The members of the Body of Christ are animated by the Spirit of Christ. Every member is indwelt by the Spirit who also joins each member to the Body. The same Spirit works in all the members, joining them together into a common purpose and fellowship.

The Body of Christ is one entity made up of many different parts. Paul wrote to the Church at Corinth because they were deeply divided, which is always inappropriate for those wearing the name of Christ. It seems that the Christians in Corinth were competing with each other rather than working together toward a common purpose. The Corinthians were exercising many different spiritual gifts, yet they were not doing these things unto edification but for selfish display. The Corinthian Church meetings must have been disorderly and chaotic as they tried to display their gifts and be more prominent than the other person. This kind of chaotic competition contradicts the very essence of Christian fellowship and undermines the purpose of the Church. Paul’s answer to this situation in Corinth was to highlight the unity of the Body, even though there was a diversity of spiritual gifts. All of these gifts came from the same Spirit, Paul argues, and were intended by the Spirit to contribute to the edification of the whole Body. However, if the individual members were selfish and ignored the other parts of the Body then the whole Body would be weakened and could not function. The individual members must think of themselves only in reference to the whole Body and not consider themselves alone. The gift that each member has received is for the Whole Body, not just for the satisfaction of the individual members. No spiritual gift is for private edification. The diversity of gifts is a blessing if each member is concerned about the whole Body.

The focus must be on the health of the entire Body, each part contributing to the well-being of the Whole. Unfortunately, this manner of thinking does not occur naturally. In fact, selfishness is the norm for those who live according to the Flesh. The Church at Corinth was dominated by the wisdom of the world and by the Flesh, which resulted in their chaotic divisions. Paul himself had been the founder of the Church at Corinth. This Church had a legitimate beginning. They had heard the true and pure Gospel of Christ. Yet, these divisions and the resulting chaos still arose. This shows us the powerful influence of the Flesh with its worldly way of thinking. When we look around at the world, we see people living in competition with each other, each trying to have the preeminence. The world is an arena of struggle and conflict where many times the strong simply dominate the weak. The world knows of this tendency and even they try to take steps to avoid the self-destruction of order in society. Sometimes worldly people do manage to overcome their own differences in order to work for a common goal and some astonishing things have been accomplished. The Church is not to think like the world. When it does, as was the case in Corinth, the result is that the Body of Christ cannot function and does not accurately reflect the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is not divided so His Body cannot be divided.

Any personal or private agenda that does not contribute to the overall health and growth of the Body must be aggressively denied and repudiated. When each member is concerned about the other there is unity which leads to mutual ministry and edification. The design of the spiritual gifts is that the Holy Spirit works in particular ways in each member so that everyone can be edified, or built up. It does not seem possible that one person can contain all of the things the Holy Spirit wants to do in the Body. That is why there are many members and a diversity of gifts given. This is why the members of the Body need each other. No one can be independent because no single member has everything that is needed. Therefore, we must depend on each other rather than competing with each other. There is a dangerous kind of thinking today that denies the dependency of the believer on other believers. There are people who claim to be Christians who want to have nothing to do with other Christians. People think that they can have some kind of private faith that has nothing to do with anyone else. They are greatly mistaken. On the other hand, there are those who want to be a part of the Body of Christ, yet they continue to put themselves and their own needs, thoughts, and feelings ahead of the needs of the Body. This is also an unacceptable condition that can only be traced back to the Flesh and not to the Spirit. Those who are truly following the Spirit will subordinate their own needs and desires to the edification of the Body of Christ.

Lessons from the Hebrew Prophets (Part 5 of 5)

The Hope of Salvation

Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look (1 Peter 1:10-12).

Salvation is the theme of the Bible. The story of the Bible begins with mankind falling into temptation and sin. The result was that they were cast out of Eden and the way to the Tree of Life was blocked. But God did not desert mankind. There was the promise of salvation even as the curse of sin and death was announced (Gen. 3.15). We know that God is sovereign and that He had already made a plan for salvation even before Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. The Bible records the unfolding of this plan of salvation. But it should be made clear that man’s sin did not catch God unprepared. And salvation is more than just a reaction to human needs. God’s plan is to glorify Himself, or make Himself known, through the salvation of fallen man. There are hints in Scripture that there had been another rebellion and fall previous to Adam’s sin in Eden. The Devil and his angels engaged in a cosmic rebellion and were cast out of heaven. There is much mystery surrounding these events, yet there is nothing in Scripture about a Divine plan or salvation for the Devil and his minions. But when man fell, God announced a plan of salvation. We cannot correctly understand the message of the Bible unless we see the unfolding of this plan to rescue sinful man.

The plan of salvation was carefully and purposefully developed by God. There had to be a time of preparation before this project could be launched. It would take many centuries of time for God to set the stage for the final act of the drama of salvation. We must understand that God works with His purpose in mind. He knows the end from the beginning and does not have the limitations of a man, including the limitation of time. God was first developing two things that were vital to His plan of salvation: 1. He had to teach the human race about the nature and consequences of sin. 2. He had to develop a unique group of people with whom and through whom He could work in the world. The reason for the first development should be clear: God had to show man his need for salvation. From what, exactly, is God saving mankind? A plan of salvation would be meaningless unless the danger is clearly defined. Even today there are many people who do not understand the Gospel of Salvation through Christ because they have not been taught about the nature of sin. The second part of the development of God’s plan was related to the first: God would work with a particular group of people to reveal Himself to them and teach them about the nature of sin and their need for salvation. This group of people would be the descendants of a single, chosen man, whose name was Abraham. The nation that came from him was the nation of Israel. God worked almost exclusively with them, preparing and teaching them about Himself and His plan of salvation.

When God spoke to the people of Israel the first time at Mount Sinai, He spoke the Ten Commandments directly to them. That was the first and last time He would do that. The people were afraid and begged that Moses speak to the people for God so they would not have to hear the voice of the Lord directly. Moses was the first of a long line of God’s spokesmen, also known as the Prophets. Through His prophets, God “leaked” certain things about the plan of salvation. Most of the prophets were sent to tell Israel about their sin and unfaithfulness to the Covenant God made with them at Mount Sinai. At Sinai the people had vowed to keep the words of the Covenant, which were the Ten Commandments. But they almost immediately turned away from God and His law, even making a golden calf to worship right there at the holy mountain of Sinai! This pattern of sin and covenant unfaithfulness continued throughout Israel’s history, which is why God raised up prophets to speak to the people and call them to repentance. But through these prophets God also spoke words of hope about His plan of salvation. For example, through the prophet Jeremiah God promised that He would one day make a New Covenant (See Jeremiah 31.31-34). Part of this New Covenant would be the complete removal of all of the people’s sins. Through the prophet Ezekiel, God promised that He would give the people new hearts so that they would no longer be unfaithful to Him as they had always been (Ezekiel 11.19-20; 36.26-27). And to the prophet Isaiah God revealed that His servant would one day come to suffer for the sins of the nation and make them righteous before God (See Isaiah 53). These words gave the people who believed the hope that God would not desert them or His plan of salvation.

The prophets themselves did not live to see the fulfillment of their words, yet they had hope in God. Most of the Prophets of God lived during difficult times when they saw the apostasy of the people and they had to announce the judgment of God. Yet their prophecies were also laced with hope. God would finish His work! While the people failed to keep the words of the Covenant, God had not forgotten the promises He had made to Abraham (See Genesis 12.1-3). Though they saw it dimly, the prophets wrote about a time of great victory, joy, and glory when God would fulfill all of His promises and bring the fullness of salvation. Joel saw a time when God would pour out His Spirit on the people, which would be the beginning of the Day of Salvation (Joel 2.28-33 and Acts 2.16-21). Amos saw a time when God would turn even to the Gentiles and they would be included in this plan (Amos 9.11-12; Acts 15.15-18). Isaiah even foresaw the time when God would create a New Heavens and a New Earth, free from sin and all of its effects (Isa. 65.17-25; Revelation 21.1). After Jesus had risen from the dead, the Apostles began to preach to the people of Israel that God was fulfilling everything He had promised them through the Prophets. Peter preached to the Jews in Jerusalem that

“what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed’” (Acts 3:18-25).

Hope is looking forward to the fulfillment of all God’s promises. Today believers are still waiting in hope for God to finish His great plan of salvation. We look forward in anticipation to the return of Jesus and to the New Heavens and the New Earth, wherein dwells righteousness (2 Pet. 3.13). We also look forward to the resurrection of the dead, our new, glorified bodies, and to eternal life in the presence of God (1 Cor 15.35-56; Revelation 22.1-5). This is why we were saved (2 Cor 5.1-5)! We are saved by hope that the work of salvation will be completed (Rom. 8.24-25). And so for this salvation we wait patiently, just as the Prophets who spoke of Christ waited in hope.

Lessons from the Hebrew Prophets (Part 4 of 5)

Encountering Opposition

Then they came near and said before the king, concerning the injunction, “O king! Did you not sign an injunction, that anyone who makes petition to any god or man within thirty days except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?” The king answered and said, “The thing stands fast, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked.” Then they answered and said before the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or the injunction you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day” (Daniel 6:12-13).

The very presence of God’s people is often perceived as a threat to the world’s agenda and desires. There was no logical reason for anyone to oppose the prophet Daniel. He had done nothing wrong. Their scheme was nothing but jealousy and selfish ambition. When the religious leaders conspired to kill Jesus, it was also done out of jealousy and a desire to protect their position and power. The Darkness hates the Light. God’s people disturb those hiding in the Darkness and this arouses their hatred and opposition. Daniel had done nothing to intentionally offend his fellows. They simply hated him for what he was and they were jealous of his position, which had actually been given to him by God. Most of what happens in the world is driven by greed, competition, and a lust for power or position. Daniel had not intentionally sought a high position for himself, but had been humbly serving God his entire life. Because of his humble obedience, God had placed Daniel in a position where he could be a spokesman for God. Daniel had faithfully served God and spoken God’s word in the courts of both Babylon and Persia, which had even earned the respect of the rulers of these great empires.

It is vital that God’s people live above reproach. Daniel had lived this way for many years and is an excellent example of godliness and integrity in Scripture. There is actually no sin recorded against Daniel in the Bible! Daniel’s enemies were so desperate to find some fault, they actually had to invent a new law that they knew Daniel could not obey while serving God. God’s people should be like Daniel! It is a great tragedy and a scandal that in our time the people who profess to be Christians are often known as hypocrites who do not live according to the truth. If God’s people are going to be persecuted, it should not be because of wrongdoing but because of godliness and taking a stand for righteousness.

“But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name” (1 Peter 4:15-16).

If we do foolish or sinful things, we cannot then count our sufferings for those actions as the sufferings of Christ. If we do not live above reproach, we will give our adversaries an opportunity to blaspheme because of our poor conduct. If we have no integrity then our witness will be meaningless. Living above reproach will not necessarily gain the admiration of everyone. In fact, it may make us some enemies, as was the case with the prophet Daniel. But if we make enemies it should not be because of doing what is wrong, but for doing what is right. Sometimes doing what is right might mean that we have to obey God rather than men.

God’s people live unto God and not for the praise of men. The only way Daniel’s enemies could catch him in something wrong was to make a law that Daniel could not keep because it would violate the law of God. This is something that should be true of God’s people today, especially in light of the greater revelation we have in Jesus and the Gospel! Since God’s people live for God, there will be times when they will be in conflict with the values and thinking of the world. The world is in conflict with God and does not submit to God’s law. This is the nature of the Flesh, or the sinful nature of mankind. As soon as we determine that we are going to live for God, we will find ourselves in opposition to the world and its system. We cannot love God and love the world at the same time (1 John 2.15-17; James 4.4). Those who only want to court the favor of the world, seeking to have the praise of men, forfeit receiving any praise from God (John 12.42-43). This does not mean that God’s people will be known as lawbreakers and rebels. However, when the world’s laws and values conflict with God, we must choose God over the world. There can be no compromise and no negotiations. When God’s people take this stance against the world and its system, they must be prepared for the opposition from the world that will almost certainly follow.

When God’s people suffer, they put themselves in the hands of God, knowing that He can deliver them if He so chooses. Daniel was sentenced to death in the lion’s den for refusing to obey the law to pray only to the king. Daniel knew the consequences of his actions, yet he did not change what he had done before. Daniel had apparently prayed every day with his window open toward Jerusalem. Perhaps this was well known to everyone who was near to Daniel. I suppose Daniel could have changed his habit of prayer and not prayed, just to avoid the penalty of breaking this new law. But Daniel refused to change his act of worship and devotion to God. Daniel chose to openly display his faith in God, even though he knew it would certainly mean capital punishment. When encountering opposition, there is almost always a strong temptation to compromise in order to avoid certain inevitable consequences. And it is possible to avoid suffering for our faith. Daniel could have avoided being thrown into the lion’s den by simply not praying that day, or praying privately where no one could see him doing it. Fear is a powerful adversary that must be conquered by faith. We do what is right in the sight of God, in spite of the consequences, trusting God to take care of us. Daniel did not know if he would live or die when he was being cast into the lion’s den. But whatever the outcome, he was trusting in God.

God’s people glorify God through life or through death. Daniel was miraculously saved from the lion’s den. But Daniel did not know beforehand what his fate would be. If Daniel had been killed by the lions, he would have died having been faithful to God and would have left an example of being faithful unto death. Many of God’s people have not been rescued from death. There are great numbers of faithful martyrs, a number still growing, who have died as a result of their service to God and the Gospel of Christ. By their deaths they glorified God and gave a testimony of their faith. At other times God chooses to deliver his servants from death so that they might continue to be in the world, glorifying God both in their deliverance and their continued testimony. And so the Apostle Paul could say “to live is Christ and to die is gain.” If we live, it is to glorify God. If we die, it is also to glorify God. We do not fear those who can only kill the body, and after that can do nothing more! After his resurrection from the dead, Jesus spoke with Peter personally:

Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me” (John 21:18-19).

We too are called to simply follow Christ, not taking any thought for our own lives in the world, knowing that if we continue to follow Him all the way, even through the opposition of this evil world, we will eventually be with Him in Glory. And all our troubles in this world are not worthy of being compared to that eternal weight of glory!