The church is the fullness of Christ, expressing Christ; wherever Christ is expressed, there is the reality of the church. However, Christ cannot be expressed through a group of believers who are merely saved. Paul’s Epistles show that the church, as the fullness of Christ to express Christ, needs to pass through much building. Believers who have not been built by God are merely saved. Although they may be called the church in name and position, they are short of reality and expression. Believers who have not passed through a great deal of God’s building work cannot be the fullness of Christ, and the expression of Christ will be limited among them. They may not express Christ in their meetings even if they are zealous and diligent.
In social organizations there are people who are enthusiastic for public welfare and who diligently render service to the public. Such merits, which come from man’s natural being, do not have the element of Christ; instead, they have the element of Adam. Everything we have naturally is of Adam. Not only are the bad elements of Adam, but even the good elements are of Adam. We think that once we are saved, we should reject the bad elements that belong to Adam and keep the good elements, even bringing them into the church. We may be naturally gentle, sympathetic, magnanimous, charitable, diligent, and accommodating. We bring them into the church after we are saved because we think that these merits are pleasing to God. Nevertheless, these elements still belong to Adam. Others may praise us, and we may be thankful to God, thinking that these virtues are the result of God’s moving within us. This is not correct. We should realize that the elements we possessed before our salvation are natural, not spiritual; they originate from the created Adam, not the resurrected Christ. Therefore, we should never consider our natural qualities as being of Christ.
The salvation of Christ can be seen to a certain degree in a newly saved brother; however, strictly speaking, it is difficult to detect the element of Christ within him. Although Christ is living in him and he has the life of Christ, we must admit that not much of Christ has been built into him and is being expressed through him. Although his salvation through repentance has delivered him from gross sins, he is still unable to express much of Christ’s element. Although he is grateful to God, loves the church, and likes to associate with the saints, not much of the element of Christ is manifested in him. This is because he has not been built; there is not much building of Christ in him. He has repented and is a believer, but Christ has not yet been built in him and expressed through him.
On the one hand, we acknowledge the fact of his salvation and testify that it is the work of Christ within him by His grace. On the other hand, we must realize that there is not much Christ within him. His joy and exultation are the work of Christ, but he has only a small measure of Christ. Suppose a newly saved brother gives a testimony, full of rejoicing and exultation. But if someone says to him, “You have just been saved, and now you need to read the Bible more and pray more,” his countenance may change, and he may become unhappy. This change in countenance is the expression of Adam. When he was testifying, we could see that Christ is in him, but when he becomes unhappy, we realize that he does not have much element of Christ.
A great deal of building is required for Christ to be manifested in a person. We cannot expect a person who is saved in the morning to manifest Christ by noontime. He may manifest Christ in the morning, manifest Adam in the afternoon, and manifest the flesh in the evening. Second Corinthians 5:17 says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away; behold, they have become new.” However, Colossians 3:10a says, “And have put on the new man, which is being renewed.” A believer must pass through God’s building. This can be compared to the new man, which has been put on but is still being renewed.
From God’s point of view, everything is new, and the New Jerusalem is built; however, from man’s point of view, the old man has not been completely stripped off but is still upon us. Therefore, we need to pass through a process. Although we are saved and have Christ within, outwardly we are still Adam. Adam can be compared to a thick layer of rubber wrapped around us. But there is a treasure hidden in us, which is Christ. It takes only a moment for Christ to enter into us at our salvation, but it is not that simple for Christ to come out of us. This requires the stripping off of layer after layer of the old creation. Only then can Christ come out of us and be expressed through us.
The building of Christ in us is a troublesome matter to God and a complicated matter to the church. In the Epistles building refers to Christ being worked into us and expressed through us. The Christ we have gained not only has the fullness in Him, but He Himself is the fullness. The fullness is now in us, but the question is whether the fullness can be expressed. The fullness cannot be expressed simply by our praying or uttering words of praise and thanks. For the fullness to be manifested through us, we must first be built. Without building, the fullness cannot be expressed.
The most important aspect of the building is the tearing down. Without any tearing down, Christ can never come out of us; without the tearing down, the fullness of Christ within us cannot be expressed; without the tearing down, Christ cannot be built up in us. Ephesians 4 shows that God gave the church different ones as gifts with ministries for the building up of the Body of Christ, for Christ to be built in us and expressed through us. He gave some as apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers (v. 11). Their unique work in the church is to build up the Body of Christ.
Therefore, the building of God in us is carried out through these gifts. Many brothers and sisters serve the Lord excitedly and livingly after their salvation. They can testify of the Lord’s presence and blessing. Even though they are excited and zealous, a person who knows the Lord can sense that not much of the fullness of Christ is manifested among them. This means that there is not much expression of the Body of Christ among them. If a person has a ministry, has been commissioned by God, and is experienced in the Lord, having been dealt with and broken by God so that God has been built in him, he can differentiate between excitement and Christ and between zeal and Christ. He can discern whether the human excitement is merely the fervency of one who loves the Lord or Christ Himself.
In northern China some young brothers who loved the Lord preached the gospel to maintain the Lord’s testimony. They later decided to rent a meeting hall so that they could serve the Lord together. However, they had problems because some insisted on renting a two-story building, and others insisted on a one-story building. Thus, there was a dispute among them as to whether they should rent a two-story or a single-story building. Both sides were so insistent that eventually they could no longer come together. They did not rent a building and even stopped meeting together. What is this? They were a group of zealous saints who loved the Lord and were eager to preach the gospel and testify for the Lord, yet they divided as a result of their difference in opinion. This shows that their zeal to preach the gospel was not Christ; it was not Christ built into them and expressed through them.
Please remember that our fervent love for the Lord and our diligent service are not necessarily out of Christ. If our actions are out of Christ, we can withstand any test, opposition, suppression, or dealing. If our actions are out of Christ, we will accommodate others. The more we are out of Christ, the more we are able to accommodate others; we can meet in a one-story building or in a two-story building—either situation is acceptable to us. We can be accommodating to the extent that we do not have our own opinion or our own feeling; we will not insist on anything.
Christ coming out of us is not part of our natural constitution, and it is not something we obtain at the moment of our salvation. The moment we are saved, we have joy and peace, and we also love the Lord. However, this may not be Christ coming out of us. We need to pass through building to have the element of Christ. A person who has been dealt with by the Lord can sense whether the excitement and the zeal of the brothers and sisters are like clouds that eventually disappear. When he speaks for the Lord, he relies on the grace of the Lord and the power of the Holy Spirit to tear down the excitement, the zeal, and the natural love toward the Lord. This kind of speaking produces two results. One result is that some saints receive mercy within and are enlightened by the Holy Spirit to realize that their excitement, zeal, diligence, and love are out of their natural being, not out of Christ. This enlightenment causes them to be broken and torn down; they condemn the zeal, excitement, and diligence. They see that these things are not Christ Himself but have instead replaced Christ, usurped Christ’s position, and are even against Christ. The saints who receive mercy from the Lord are enlightened within to see what is out of man and what is out of Christ.
The second result is that other saints reject grace and disagree with the message. They may think, “What is wrong with loving the Lord? What is wrong with being excited? What is wrong with being zealous?” As soon as these saints encounter opposition, they cease to be excited and zealous; instead, they are deflated and simply withdraw. Therefore, after seeing the light, the natural man of some saints is deflated and falls apart. Others, however, rejecting the light, also become deflated and fall apart; thus, they can no longer be naturally excited.
A person who is gifted and has a ministry should do the work of tearing down and the work of building up. He should tear down the things that are out of man, and he should build up the things that are out of Christ. When a group of saints are passing through God’s tearing down, they may not be as lively, excited, and loving the Lord as before. However, after a period of time they will touch something of Christ, something solid within them. This is a portion of the element of the fullness of Christ being expressed through them.
When the saints gather together, they are often excited and active. This excitement and activity are very damaging to Christians. When a person does not love the Lord, he is indifferent toward everything, but once he is stirred up to love the Lord, the most damaging thing to him is to become excited and active. People often consider being excited and active as being spiritual, not realizing that God works on us to tear down all our excitement and activity. Christ is living, not busy; Christ is strong, not excited. A person may be full of Christ, be full of His vigor, yet not be busy and excited. If we understand spiritual matters, we can discern what is spiritual and what is excitement and what is of Christ Himself and what is of enthusiasm. That which has not been torn down is only excitement and business. Only that which has been torn down and built up is solid, spiritual, and out of Christ.