In 1 Timothy 3:15 Paul tells us that the church as the house of the living God is “the pillar and base of the truth.” The church is the supporting pillar and holding base of the truth. Here truth refers to the real things revealed in the New Testament concerning Christ and the church according to God’s New Testament economy. The church is the supporting pillar and holding base of these realities. A local church should be such a building that holds, bears, and testifies the truth, the reality, of Christ and the church.
God’s New Testament economy is composed of two mysteries: Christ as the mystery of God (Col. 2:2) and the church as the mystery of Christ (Eph. 3:4). Christ and the church, the Head and the Body, are the contents of the reality of God’s New Testament economy. As the pillar which bears the truth and the base which upholds the pillar, the church testifies the reality, the truth, of Christ as the mystery of God and the church as the mystery of Christ.
According to the context, we may say that the truth in 1 Timothy 3:15 denotes the mystery of godliness, the manifestation of God in the flesh, in verse 16. The unique truth, the unique reality, in the universe is the manifestation of the Triune God in the flesh. As we shall now see, this manifestation is not only in Christ but also in the church.
First Timothy 3:15 and 16 indicate that the church as the house of God is also the manifestation of God in the flesh-the mystery of godliness. God is manifested in the church, the Body of Christ and the house of the living God, as the enlarged, corporate expression in the flesh.
First Timothy 3:15b and 16 say, “The house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth. And confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness, who was manifested in the flesh, vindicated in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.” In Greek, the antecedent “who” is omitted but easily recognized. The antecedent is Christ, who was God manifested in the flesh as the mystery of godliness. The transition from “the mystery...” to “who” implies that Christ as the manifestation of God in the flesh is the mystery of godliness (Col. 1:27; Gal. 2:20). This mystery of godliness is the living of a proper church. Such a living is also the manifestation of God in the flesh.
First Timothy 3:15 and 16 imply that not only Christ Himself as the Head is the manifestation of God in the flesh but also that the church as the Body is the manifestation of God in the flesh. When the church grows in Christ with the growth of God (Col. 2:19), it will function as the house of the living God for His move on earth and as the supporting pillar and holding base of the truth, bearing the divine reality of Christ and His Body as a testimony to the world. Then the church will become the continuation of Christ’s manifestation of God in the flesh. This is the great mystery of godliness: Christ lived out of the church as the manifestation of God in the flesh. Such a church is the continuation, the enlargement, and the expansion of God manifested in the flesh. The church, then, is the increase, the enlargement, of the manifestation of God in the flesh. This is God manifested in the flesh in a wider way according to the New Testament principle of incarnation.
The conjunction “and” at the beginning of verse 16 indicates that Paul’s speaking about the church in verse 15 is not finished. This conjunction indicates that, as the house of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth, the church is also the mystery of godliness. According to the context, godliness denotes the living of God in the church, that is, God as life lived out in the church to be expressed. This means that the church life is the expression of God. Both Christ and the church are the mystery of godliness, expressing God in the flesh. Therefore, the mystery of godliness is the living of a proper church, and such a living is the manifestation of God in the flesh. This manifestation began with Christ when He was on earth, and now it continues in the church. May we all see this vision of the church as the house of God.
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