The true Body of Christ represents all believers unified by faith and love, transcending physical assemblies and denominations.
Last time, I discussed the Church (or the Assembly) and concluded that the true Church, the Assembly of Messiah, is that spiritual entity which is built upon faith in him. If you have not yet read or listened to that article, I would suggest reviewing it ahead of today’s discussion, as I will be building on terminology that was explained in detail there. Today, I will continue to focus on the spiritual nature of the Assembly of God’s people as we discuss the Body of Christ, because the two terms are equated in the biblical writings.
THE BODY OF CHRIST
In his writings to the various congregations, Paul began to use the term of the body of Messiah to mean the collective group of Messianic believers that was in the process of becoming a new sect amidst the synagogues.
That the body and the church (or the Assembly) were considered synonymous by Paul can be demonstrated in these famous passages he wrote to the believers in Ephesus and Colosse:
Ephesians 1:22-23 – And he [God] subjected everything under his [Messiah’s] feet and appointed him as head over everything for the assembly, which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.
Colossians 1:18, 24 – He [Messiah] is also the head of the body, the assembly … Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Messiah’s afflictions for his body, that is, the assembly.
So we can see how Paul clearly equated the body of Messiah with Messiah’s church/assembly. When the term body was used in the context of the Assembly, Paul was using the term in that universal, overall sense that we saw previously in Acts 9:31.
Acts 9:31 ESV – So the church [that is, the Assembly] throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.
The body was never equated with the local assembly or gathering, as in “the body at Colosse” or “the body at Thessolonica.” It was also not used of a specific building or place of worship, but always with the generalized meaning of the ekklesia, the overall growing Assembly of “called out ones.”
The apostle Paul made ample use of the body as a metaphor for how the individual believers, when taken together as a whole group, collectively were to make up the “body” of Messiah as his representative people. These were the scattered believers among the synagogues in which he conducted his missionary activities, some of which had even begun new, Messianic-based synagogue/assemblies.
UNITY AND FUNCTION IN THE BODY
What is interesting about the term the body of Christ/Messiah as it occurred in Paul’s writings is that he always seemed to use it in the context of either defining the function of individual members within the larger group or providing a metaphor for unity among competing factions.
For example, Paul used the body metaphor as a way of describing the function of the different spiritual gifts that had been given to them, just like individual body parts, were to have been supplementing the unity they already possessed with each other, not creating further division.
Romans 12:4-6 – Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, in the same way we who are many are one body in Messiah and individually members of one another. According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts…
1 Corinthians 12:4-7 – Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different ministries, but the same Lord. And there are different activities, but the same God works all of them in each person. A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good…
Notice how Paul said these gifts were individual manifestations of the spiritual unity they already possessed, by the grace of God, within the spiritual body of Messiah. The unique gifts of the Spirit had been given also for the good of the overall Assembly, the body of Messiah, and not just for the benefit of an individual or a local, earthly congregation. This is why we see gifted individuals like Paul, Barnabas, Timothy, Stephen, Mark, etc. traveling between congregations, to build up the overall Assembly, the Body of Messiah at that time.
1 Corinthians 12:12-14 – 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 by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body–Jews or Greeks, slaves or free–and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many.
Paul says there is one Body, created by immersion into that one Body by one Spirit. This is the very definition of an eternal, spiritual entity. If it is a spiritual baptism that joins the body together, then that Body, by default, must be a spiritual body or collection of individuals; hence, a spiritual Assembly, not an earthly one. This is why the body of Messiah is not a single physical assembly of people on the earth, but rather a spiritual assembly of all those who have ever professed Yeshua as the Messiah. This is also why the Body, as a spiritual entity, was to have been manifested, not through physical organizations, but through spiritual gifts as signs to the non-believing Jews of the day.
Paul appeared to have been building on the foundation of spiritual baptism laid down by both John the Baptizer and Yeshua, as they had taught of the necessity of a spiritual baptism:
Mark 1:8 – I indeed have baptized you with water: but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
Luke 3:16 – John answered, saying to [them] all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit, and with fire:
Acts 1:5 – [Yeshua says:] for John baptized with water, but before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
So it’s not surprising that the apostle Paul continued to build on that premise, that the believers had been spiritually baptized by one Spirit into one spiritual Body of believers.
UNITY THROUGH DIVERSITY IN STATION OF LIFE
In other instances, beyond the diversity of the spiritual gifts they had received, Paul uses the metaphor of the Body in the context of providing for spiritual unity through diversity of background or station in life: Jew or Greek, slave or free, man or woman. The radical ideal of this level of equality among believers in Paul’s day cannot be overstated. There have been no historical equivalents in antiquity. In first-century Judea and throughout the Roman world, class division, elitism, gender inequity and human rights abuses were more pervasive than in our current cultures, even with all of our current societal failings. Yet, Paul stressed the unity that should be evident among believing communities:
Galatians 3:27-28 – For those of you who were baptized into Messiah have been clothed with Messiah. There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Messiah Yeshua.
1 Corinthians 12:12-14 – For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body — so also is Messiah. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body — whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free — and we were all given one Spirit to drink. Indeed, the body is not one part but many.
1 Corinthians 12:23-25 – And those parts of the body that we consider less honorable, we clothe these with greater honor, and our unrespectable parts are treated with greater respect, which our respectable parts do not need. Instead, God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable, so that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern for each other.
Paul taught that the best way to provide for the balance and overcome those divisions was not by seeking the best or most important spiritual gifts, or by emphasizing national or class supremacy, but through unified concern and love for one another, because only the love that was of God had the capacity to resolve everything and provide for lasting unity.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 – Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs. Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends…
If this kind of love is eternal, then it is a spiritual reality. But the beauty of the gospel message is that this type of love is a spiritual reality in heaven that can be uniquely expressed in the here and now. The entire summary of Paul’s argument over these chapters on spiritual gifts is that love is THE single spiritual ideal that ALL within the Body of Messiah were to attain to express here on earth. All of the other gifts combined are of no consequence if they were not expressing God’s love in their lives. Love is the “more excellent way” (1 Cor. 12:31).
Once again, Paul appeared to have been building on what Yeshua had previously taught about the primary importance of the expression of this spiritual love.
Mat 5:44 – But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
Mat 22:37, 39 – 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. … 39 And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Luke 6:35 – But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish.
John 13:35 – By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 15:10, 12, 17 – 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. … 12 This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. … 17 This I command you, to love one another.
The other apostolic writings agree on expressing this spiritual love, even to the point that if one does not have love for others that it is likely an indicator that one needs to evaluate the sincerity of their own faith.
James 2:8 RSV – If you really fulfil the royal law, according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well.
1 Peter 1:22 RSV – Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere love of the brethren, love one another earnestly from the heart.
1 Peter 3:8 RSV – Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love of the brethren, a tender heart and a humble mind.
1 Peter 4:8 RSV – Above all hold unfailing your love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins.
1 John 4:7-8 RSV – Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God; for God is love.
Yeshua expected that his followers would love him as their Lord, love God as their Father, love one another, and even love their enemies. This is the root of the spiritual unity that would bind his spiritual Assembly, his body, together forever, and it transcends all space and time. I believe that this is why the body of Messiah, his assembly, feels like it should be present now, even though it is not discernible in any one physical organization. There is no one physical church, denomination, or organization on the earth which currently can be identified as the place where his Body exists. And yet, every person who has encountered Yahweh God through his Spirit and his Word has been baptized by his Spirit into this eternal, unseen fellowship of the Kingdom. There is only one true church or assembly, but it is that spiritual assembly of Messiah which is eternal in the heavens. Believers today demonstrate their spiritual participation in that assembly by expressing the spiritual love that only God can provide when their hearts have been renewed. It is in this way that the Body of Christ becomes evident on the earth.
1 John 4:7-8 – Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Faith in Yeshua as God’s Son, the Anointed Lord of his Kingdom, and love born of a repentant and renewed heart is what defines the true Body of Messiah, his Assembly.
John 3:3, 6 KJV – (Yeshua speaking) …Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. … That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Yeshua taught that the spiritual Kingdom of God had drawn near, and it required repentance and new birth from above to experience it. We, therefore, are a Kingdom people. Yeshua said his kingdom was “not of (or from) this world.” This type of love does not emanate from this world; it comes from above.
He also said his Assembly that he would build would exist beyond the gates of the realm of death. Everything he taught was fulfilling the natural types and shadows, and elevating them into eternal, spiritual realities where they could exist for all time.
THE BODY AS A TEMPLE
Yeshua, through the revelation expressed to the apostle John, taught about a spiritual temple where believers would dwell in God’s presence:
Revelation 3:12 RSV – He who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God; never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.
Likewise, both Peter and Paul taught that believers had come to that spiritual temple.
1 Peter 2:4-5 ESV – As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 RSV – Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If any one destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and that temple you are.
1 Corinthians 6:19 RSV – Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own;
2 Corinthians 6:16 RSV – What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will live in them and move among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Ephesians 2:17-22 RSV – And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Messiah Yeshua himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
If the physical body of Messiah was a temple of God because of the indwelling holy Spirit with which he was anointed, then it follows that the spiritual body of his believers would also become a spiritual temple in which God would dwell, as he had prophesied.
The physical temple in Jerusalem was in its final days during this covenantal transition until its destruction in 70 AD. Through this event, God was making it clear that the Jewish cultic sacrifices and rituals would no longer be necessary, as the new covenant was a spiritual covenant available to all people by faith in Messiah, no longer based in a central location, but would be spread to the world. This was also a fulfillment of the prophecy of Yeshua during his discussion with the Samaritan woman at the well:
John 4:20-21 CSB – “Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus told her, “Believe me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
All of the prophecies foretold of nations coming to Zion, the spiritual city that would supersede the physical Jerusalem. It was to be a heavenly (spiritual) Jerusalem, as described by the writer of Hebrews, and the apostle John in the book of the Revelation:
Hebrews 12:22-23 RSV – But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to a judge who is God of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect…
To further illustrate the spiritual nature of the new creation, not only is the temple shown to be the combined unity of all of those whom God has called, the temple imagery ultimately dissolves into the overall glory of the Father and the Son.
Revelation 21:22 RSV – And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.
Paul wrote about it this way:
1 Corinthians 15:28 CSB – When everything is subject to Christ, then the Son himself will also be subject to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.
This is the body of believers in and among whom God and the Lamb dwell. It is the body of believers from all ages who are in God’s presence for all eternity.
UNITY THROUGH LOVE
So, my question to you is this: why do we keep looking on the earth for that which is eternal only in the heavens?
And this is the conclusion I have reached regarding the assembly, the body of Christ. It does not reside in any one group or organization here on earth. Equally, it is not a sum of all of the different Christian factions present in the world today. It cannot be the collective of all denominations, as we continue to be separated by doctrinal minutiae and creedal stances, many of which are diametrically opposed to one another. Even the members within each faction do not subscribe completely to the creeds and doctrine of their respective denomination. Each group also contains within itself its share of “tares among the wheat,” those insincere or hypocritical people who may only have a surface assent to biblical principles but who are not exhibiting the spiritual fruit of love in their lives. These facts alone demonstrate how a unified Body of Christ does not exist (in a physical sense) on the earth today.
As critical as that may make me appear, I’m beginning to believe that all of these differing theological positions are actually by way of intentional design by God, because the differing denominational beliefs among Bible believers should not be the barrier to unity among God’s people, but the means of reestablishing our true unity. True unity can only be established in love, and only love can overcome differences of opinion. When we learn to express our differences in love, we open lines of communication previously blocked by competing traditions. We may not all agree on everything, but we can be united in love in our devotion to God and to one another.
Psalm 133:1, 3 ESV – Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! … It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the LORD has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.
While the Bible states that it is a blessing to live in harmony and agreement with others, we must not hold out total agreement as the uniting factor. It must be love which reveals the unity we already possess in Christ, not creedal agreement. This is a difficult distinction but one that we must be mature enough to accept and to practice. If we are to love even our enemies, as Yeshua taught, we should certainly be able to love our brothers. When the rest of the world can begin to see God’s children loving one another in spite of their differences, they will be more likely to be drawn to a loving community rather than one that shoots arrows at each other.
Yeshua called us to be peace makers, not just peace lovers. We must actively work to make peace with all others, as much as it depends on us individually. This is not intuitive or natural from a fleshly perspective, but it is a godly ability that he provides when we become new creations in him.
Romans 15:1-7 NLT – We who are strong must be considerate of those who are sensitive about things like this. We must not just please ourselves. We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord. For even Christ didn’t live to please himself. As the Scriptures say, “The insults of those who insult you, O God, have fallen on me.” Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled. May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.
God, therefore, receives glory when we accept each other.
I have understood that this maturity could only be accomplished when faithful believers were to pass into the next age beyond this existence, the age of the resurrection. In that age, the believers would no longer be pulled apart by competing theological doctrines. While it is true the age of the resurrection began when God redeemed his first-century people, including the saints of old, that age continues to this day. The saints were raised and given immortal bodies, and were to exist in his presence forever. From that point forward, we now live in the age that when we, as believers, die, we are brought into his presence immediately. This is how Yeshua overcame death. He was the new Adam, the firstfruit of the new creation and we are the rest of the crop that is harvested as it ripens.
I believe it is in one sense that we are living in the age of resurrection predicted by Messiah, not because we have already attained our spiritual-body resurrection, but because death no longer has its grip on those who place their faith in Messiah. He has become the life-giving Spirit who provides eternal life to those who repent of sinfulness and trust in him. This will be fulfilled when we pass from this life into his eternal presence. Unity on the earth in this day and age is complicated with Statements of Faith and creeds and doctrinal disagreements over the minutiae of Scriptural texts. However, to be “in Christ” is to have life and unity within the spiritual Body of Christ now, by the grace of God, and these petty things shall be resolved when we are in his Presence forever.
HOW WE ARE TO LEARN AND GROW
If there is no one, true “church” on the earth, how are we to learn and grow in spiritual things? Don’t we need some sort of authoritative teacher or apostolic tradition to guide us? Well, we already have both!
Even though he never personally wrote a book, we have a single faithful Teacher: Messiah.
Matthew 23:8-10 NKJV – “But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. “Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. “And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.
Additionally, those who were his apostles wrote down all doctrine necessary for our walk with God which has been provided to us in the Scriptures that we have.
2 Peter 1:13-15 ESV – I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.
1 John 1:1-3 ESV – That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life– the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us– that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
While this was written to first-century believers awaiting the imminent return of Messiah, I believe the same Spirit of God helps us understand Messiah’s teachings today because we are all baptized into that one spiritual Body by one Spirit for all time. Being led by the Spirit in the way of righteousness is the fulfillment of all that God had desired to do, as prophesied numerous times throughout the Scriptures:
Isaiah 2:3 – and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Isaiah 54:13 – All your sons shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the prosperity of your sons.
Jeremiah 31:33-34 – But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each man teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Micah 4:2 – and many nations shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Hebrews 8:11 – And they shall not teach every one his fellow or every one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest.
John 6:45 – It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Every one who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.
I believe that God teaches those who are repentant, renewing their hearts and drawing them to himself through his Spirit, realized in Messiah, the Lord of his Kingdom.
In summary, I believe the Body of Christ/Messiah is synonymous with the universal Assembly/Church of Messiah. It is a spiritual collection of believers from all ages which is defined as those who have placed their faith in Yeshua as the Messiah (or Anointed One) of God, and who seek first his Kingdom by expressing God’s love from renewed hearts. We must exercise care if we look for a representative authoritative organization of his Body on the earth. If there was to be such a thing as a single, “true” Church, just like any other representative thing, it could become idolatrous because its adherents would begin to rely more on that Church than on the God of that church. This was what had happened to the Jews in Yeshua’s day; they had put their traditions above the true intent of God’s Torah and had created an idolatrous system, “the mother of all harlots” (Revelation 17:5) which God, in righteous judgment, had needed to destroy.
But out from the destruction of the idolatrous entity, a new body had been formed from the deep roots of Abraham’s faith: the Body of Christ. Therefore, by establishing his church as a spiritual assembly, Messiah placed his community outside the reach of sin and corruption in this world; a perfect Bride which would live and rule with him in God’s image for eternity.
This will be the final topic next time in our review of the titles for God’s people: the Bride of Christ.