In the progressing stage of God’s full salvation, the believers experience the dispensing of the divine Trinity corporately by living in the Body of Christ. We have covered certain aspects of this living that are found in 1 Corinthians 12. In this message we shall cover other aspects that are found in Romans 12.
Romans 12:5 says, “We, being many, are one body in Christ, and severally members one of another.” The phrase “in Christ” is very significant, for it indicates the believers’ organic union with Christ. The phrase “in Christ” always implies the thought or the fact that we are organically one with Christ, that we have a life union with Him. We were born in Adam, but we have been transplanted into Christ. Because we have been organically united with Christ, we have been planted into Christ’s Body organically. Now, in Christ, we have an organic union with the Body of Christ, and we are organic parts of the Body.
In the organic union with Christ there is life. This life joins us not only to Christ but to all the members of Christ. The Body of Christ is altogether a matter of life that keeps us in an organic union with Christ. When we remain in this organic union, we are in the Body. But if we do not remain in this organic union, we are out of the Body. The actuality of the Body is in or remaining in the organic union with Christ. If we would live in the Body, we must stay in the organic union with Christ. In other words, we must remain in Christ. The more we stay in the organic union with Christ, the more in actuality we are living in the Body of Christ.
The Body life is a corporate life. We can realize this by considering our physical body, which is a corporate entity composed of many members, all of which have their life and function in the body. If a member becomes separate or detached from the body, it loses its life and function. This indicates that no member of the body can be independent of the body or become individualistic. The principle is the same with the Body of Christ. None of us as members of the Body is a complete entity; rather, each of us is a member of the Body. Therefore, we need to remain in the Body for life and function.
Romans 12 reveals the importance of the practice of the Body life. Verse 5 reveals that we are members of one another in one Body. We, being many, are one Body, one entity. In the Body we can function and express Christ in a corporate way. We are many members, not many separate units. As members, we need to coordinate with each other so that we may be a living, functioning Body. If we do not cooperate with each other, then we are detached members, and the Body life cannot be realized in a practical way.
In 12:5 Paul tells us that we are “severally members one of another.” The word “severally” here does not mean separately; it means differently. This word indicates that we are different kinds of members of the Body. Hence, we are severally members one of another.
The believers live in the Body of Christ by presenting their bodies as a living sacrifice. In Romans 12:1 Paul says, “I beg you therefore, brothers, through the compassions of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, well-pleasing to God, which is your most reasonable service.” In order to have the Body life, we need to have our body presented both to the Lord and to the Body. We should present our body to the Lord for the Body. In His salvation the Lord has released our body from the usurping hand of the enemy, Satan. Now, in the organic union with Christ, we need to present our released body to the Lord for the Body life.
Presenting our bodies to God is the practical side of consecration. Because our being exists in the body, we must present the body so that our whole being may be given over to God in a practical way. Many believers have a heart to consecrate themselves, but because their physical body has not been offered, their consecration is useless. Real consecration means that our body has been presented; it is neither a mere desire nor a verbal yieldedness, but a giving of ourselves entirely and practically to God.
In 12:1 Paul begs us to present our bodies a living sacrifice. In 6:13 and 19 he encourages us to present the members of our body as weapons for fighting and as servants for serving because Romans 6 is a matter of warfare and service. However, the Body life is a matter of sacrifice, a matter of offering ourselves to God for His satisfaction. The Body life as a whole is an offering for the satisfaction of God. Although many bodies are presented, the sacrifice is one. Because the many members are one Body and the many believers are one church, the many bodies presented to the Lord for the Body are one sacrifice.
Paul says that this sacrifice is a living sacrifice. Here Paul is comparing this sacrifice with the sacrifices of the Old Testament. The sacrifices offered in Old Testament days were all slain, but the Body life is not a slain offering; it is a living offering full of Christ as life. Romans 8 reveals that the believers should be filled with Christ as the life-giving Spirit. Now in Romans 12 the believers are encouraged to offer themselves as a sacrifice to God, as a living offering filled with the Spirit of life.
Furthermore, this sacrifice is holy. This means that the presenting of our bodies as a living sacrifice is separate from common things and possesses God’s nature. God is holy, absolutely different and separate from all other things. God’s holy nature has been wrought into the members of the Body of Christ. Hence, the Body also is holy and unique. Nothing common can be brought into it.
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