HOME / PROCLAMATION! MAGAZINE / 2012 / FALL / LIVING IN THE CHURCH, THE BODY OF CHRIST
F A L L • 2 0 1 2
VOLUME 13, ISSUE 3
Living in the Church, the
Body of Christ
DALE RATZLAFF
Today is August 27, and I am writing from cool Canyonville, Oregon—9,037 miles into our Vacation/Gospel Tour. We have driven over some horrific roads, seen dozens of wild animals—mountain goats, stone sheep, caribou, elk, bison, black bears, cinnamon bears, grizzly bears, wolves, porcupine, and arctic squirrels. We saw humpback and killer whales, spawning salmon, sea lions, harbor seals, bald eagles, numerous other birds, beautiful flowers, and huge glaciers.
The high point of our trip, however, has been meeting with a number of small groups and individuals and sharing with them the joy of our mutual salvation. We met with a couple in Idaho who were participants in our seven-month study of the Sabbath in the early 1980’s. They live some distance from a good church, so they often have their own devotions instead of attending a service. Lee said, “We have a stack of Proclamation! magazines and read them over and over again.”
We had a number of visits with people in our various overnight stops along the way, and we answered their questions about what we do and explained to them the importance of our ministry. We met with groups in Kelowna, British Columbia, Walla Walla, Washington, and Scappoose and Salem, Oregon. Yesterday we drove out to Reedsport, Oregon, to encourage the couple mentioned in the last Proclamation! who were baptized just before they left the little church group in the RV resort to escape the summer heat of Casa Grande. We had encouraged them to find a good church and get involved as soon as possible. We were overjoyed to hear that they did just that, and they faithfully attend a gospel centered, Bible-teaching church. They took us on a little tour of the spit where the fishing and pleasure boats were harbored and where a vintage car show had snarled the traffic. Then they topped off the day by treating us to a huge piece of marion berry pie.
We look forward to at least four more stops before we back our fifth wheel into its parking place by the side of our home in Casa Grande.
We were greatly encouraged to see the strong faith and clear understanding of the gospel in many who attended our meetings. However, we have one concern that I want to address in this short article. Some of the “formers” we met are not regular in church attendance. Some have not been in church for years. Age, physical condition, and location were valid reasons for some. At the same time, others were involved in a healthy church and were excited to be where the word of God is taught each week. We fully understand how difficult it is to find a good church, especially in some areas. In fact, Carolyn and I have experienced this problem on several occasions. Usually, however, if we visit every church within driving distance, we will find one that is suitable.
The reality is that once we are placed into Christ, we share our position in Christ and our possessions in Christ with the body of Christ which is an interdependent family all sharing these gospel truths.
Moved into the body of Christ
First let us be clear on our definition of church. It is not a building or a denomination; rather it is the body of Christ. There is only one way to enter the true body of Christ. Consider the three following verses.
“For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13).
How did the Corinthian believers enter the body of Christ? They entered by being baptized “into Christ” by the Holy Spirit. Several things need to be noted here lest we give a misleading interpretation. First, all the believers were baptized into Christ by the Holy Spirit. This baptism cannot refer to speaking in tongues as Paul is clear that all did not speak in tongues1 yet all were baptized by the Spirit into the universal body of Christ.
Second, “were baptized” is aorist passive meaning that this baptism took place at a moment in time in the life of each believer. This baptism was a once for all event done by the Holy Spirit and not by the human agent who later baptized in water. It happened the moment after they responded to their God-given faith after hearing the gospel.
Third, this baptism expresses positional truth. Before being baptized by the Holy Spirit a person is outside of Christ and none of the “in Christ” truths apply. Baptism of the Holy Spirit moves their location from the family of Adam into the family of Christ. This event has major implications which are beyond the scope of this article.
Fourth, they and we are baptized into one body. This body is the universal church of all grace believers and is expressed mystically as the body of Christ.2 We should be vigilant against any organization that seeks to call people out of this one body into some other body. For when they do, they are calling people out of the one, true body of Christ.
For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ (Gal. 3:27).
Again we read that our entry into the body of Christ was through (Spirit) baptism. But here we pick up additional truth. If we have been moved into the family of Christ, we have put on Christ as an outer garment. We are to see ourselves wrapped in Christ—His righteousness, His love, His grace, His wisdom. We have all spiritual blessings in Christ and are surrounded by others who comprise His one body.
Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life (Rom 6:3-4).
These three references all confirm that we are moved into Christ by Spirit baptism. If we have been baptized into Christ, then we are in the one body of Christ, the universal church. As a member of Christ’s one body we have many blessings and obligations. And it is these blessings and obligations that I wish to bring to the attention of our readers and those we met on our gospel tour.
In Christ each believer’s position is the same. We are forgiven of all sin; we have imputed to us the very righteousness of God;3 we are free from condemnation;4 we have all spiritual blessings;5 we are seated with Christ in heavenly places;6 and this list can be greatly extended. But the believer does not have a unique right to all the “in Christ” truths.7 Because He has been placed into the one body of Christ, he shares these truths with all the other members in the one body.
Sharing together our possessions in Christ
We are built together in Christ
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit (Eph. 2:19-22).
Here Paul states that the one body of Christ, comprised of all those in Christ, is being “fitted together”. This is a construction term. Each member is seen as a part of the one building which is in the process of growing into a holy temple. This building metaphor is expanded in a following verse to include the body metaphor.
But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love (Eph. 4:15-16).
The message of these verses is patently clear. If the one body of Christ is to grow and build itself up in love, every believer must be fitted (passive) and held together (passive) according to “the proper working of each individual part” (believer). This means that the believer is shaped or built up spiritually by other believers. There is a positive mutual involvement by others that results in a process of spiritual growth for the whole body.
We are workers together in Christ
After Paul makes one of the most profound statements on the substitutionary work of Christ he invites us to be workers together with Christ.
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain (2 Cor. 5:21-6:1).
Near the end of the book of Romans, Paul sends greetings to his fellow workers “in Christ”. Note the emphasis on “in Christ” truth: “Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus,…Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you… Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ.”8
Grace believers do not work to achieve oneness with Christ; rather, from their position in Christ, seated in Christ at the Father’s right hand, fully righteous in the sight of God, we work together from that position.
We are blended together in Christ
One reason that some are not in fellowship may be that they do not see themselves as an asset to the body of Christ. They may not be in a position to give financially to the church, to teach Sunday school, or to help with important assignments in the church. Paul makes it clear that all the members of the body are blended together and all have the same importance to the body. If they have moved “into Christ” by Spirit baptism, they have equal value in the one body of Christ.
But now there are many members, but one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed [blended] the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are Christ's body, and individually members of it (1 Cor. 12:20-27).
It is easy for those of us who are older to feel that we are less needed. However, often the older saints may have wisdom and experience to share with the body. Sometimes it is the shut-ins who excel in praying for the members of the body of Christ. The bottom line is that we each have an important function in the body and need the members of the body to minister to us as well. In one of our recent meetings several of those who attended were not in fellowship. However, before the evening was over, several agreed to start a home Bible study. When a good church is not available this may be an acceptable alternative. From the record in the epistles it is clear that several, if not most, of the young churches met in homes.
Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who for my life risked their own necks, to whom not only do I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles; also greet the church that is in their house (Rom. 16:3-5).
Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea and also Nympha and the church that is in her house (Col. 4:15).
To Philemon our beloved brother and fellow worker, and to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house (Phm. 1:1-2).
If you are in a small, home group church it is vitally important that the gospel be thoroughly understood. Otherwise it could turn into a controlling environment where people are trying to measure up to laws for acceptance. People in a healthy group will understand they are already seated with Christ, fully righteous, fully sanctified9 and fully accepted.
At another stop on our gospel tour one of the attendees told of the healthy church he attended where the gospel was taught and the Bible was studied, where there were small home groups in connection with the church. Perhaps those of you who are in such a church should share that information with others by posting on the blog (http://blog.lifeassuranceministries.org).
I have not even mentioned the many “one another” references in the NT which clearly teach that we are members of one another and need to minister to each other and receive ministry from each other.
With Proclamation! being mailed to approximately 30,000 homes, I have no knowledge of most of our readers. Some may be at different stages in their transition. Others may have left one church for various reasons and feel fearful to give church another chance. I believe there is overwhelming evidence in the New Testament for the necessity of Christian fellowship in one form or another. Therefore, I implore you to keep trying, keep visiting, keep seeking until you find a healthy group where Christ and His cross are central, where Scripture is the source of authority and teaching, and where the Trinity is worshiped. At such a church you can use your spiritual gift and grow. Near the end of the book of Hebrews, after the writer has presented the truths of the new covenant, he states:
Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the [most] holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near (Heb. 10:19-25). †
Endnotes
- 1 Cor. 12:30.
- Eph. 5:30-32.
- Phil. 3:9; Rom. 3:22.
- Rom. 8:1.
- Eph. 1:3.
- Eph. 2:5,6.
- For an in-depth study of “in Christ truth” I highly recommend The Christian “in Christ” by David K Spurbeck Sr. Know to Grow Publications, Forest Grove, Oregon. LAM Publications, LLC now carries this book.
- Rom. 16:3-9.
- By this will we have been sanctified (perfect passive) through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (Heb. 10:10).
Copyright 2012 Life Assurance Ministries, Inc., Casa Grande, Arizona, USA. All rights reserved. Revised October 2, 2012. Contact email: proclamation@gmail.com
Dale Ratzlaff is the founder of Life Assurance Ministries, Inc., and owns LAM Publications, LLC. He served as an Adventist pastor for 13 years, seven at Monterey Bay Academy where he taught Bible. He and his wife Carolyn left the Adventist church in 1981 when he realized he could no longer teach the investigative judgment in clear conscience. He has authored Sabbath in Christ, The Cultic Doctrine of Seventh-day Adventists, The Truth About Adventist "Truth", and Truth Led Me Out. These are available through his website. The Ratzlaffs reside in Casa Grande, Arizona.
