We have just seen the negative view of division; now let us see the positive view of unity as is demanded in the Bible. “We who are many are one Body; for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Cor. 10:17). Here Paul said, “We who are many....” This includes the children of God at Corinth. This “one bread” is the bread on the table at Corinth. During the breaking of bread at Corinth, a loaf was displayed before the children of God, indicating that though they were many, they were still one bread. In other words, the Body of Christ that the brothers at Corinth should express must at least be expressed at Corinth. Here we must recall the situation at that time. Let us take our mind back to the time at Corinth. When the brothers and sisters gathered together, a loaf was displayed before them, with all the saints gathered around it. Perhaps fifty were breaking bread together; Paul was saying that the fifty, being many, are one bread.
In other words, the Body of Christ has a universal expression: the church; this church is the Body of Christ. But the brothers in each locality also express the Body of Christ. It does not mean that the brothers at Corinth are the Body of Christ, while the brothers at Ephesus are not the Body of Christ. It means that the children of God at Corinth are the Body of Christ; so, both according to the spiritual principle and the spiritual fact, they should express themselves as the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ is the universal church, the church which is in all places and throughout all generations both in space and in time. However, the brothers in a locality must at least stand in the same position, applying the same principle to express the same fact. In other words, the minimum boundary of unity is the boundary of locality. In the locality of Corinth, the unity of the Body, the unity of life, must be expressed. This is very wonderful. The Body spoken of in Ephesians refers to all the children of God, but the Body spoken of in Corinthians refers to the children of God in a certain time and at a certain place. The children of God there and then are also the Body of Christ.
As we continue reading 1 Corinthians 12, we see the matter of the Body again. The one Body with the one Holy Spirit is discussed: “For even as the body is one and has many members, yet all the members of the body, being many, are one body, so also is the Christ” (v. 12). “If the foot should say, Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body, it is not that because of this it is not of the body. And if the ear should say, Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body, it is not that because of this it is not of the body....And the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you; nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you” (vv. 15-16, 21). First Corinthians 12 speaks of the Body of Christ in much detail. The Body of Christ spoken of in 1 Corinthians is different from that which is spoken of in Ephesians. As I have said, the Body of Christ in Ephesians refers to the universal church. This is not a problem to most Bible students. But the Body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12 refers to the church at Corinth. This is because it is different from that which is spoken of in Ephesians. The Head in Ephesians refers to whom? Ephesians 5:23 says, “Christ is Head of the church.” First Corinthians 12 also speaks of the head, but to whom does this refer? First Corinthians 12:21 says, “And the eye cannot say to the hand....” Here the eye is a member, and the hand is also a member. Verse 21 continues, “...nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.” The head spoken of in 1 Corinthians 12, therefore, is a member.
This statement cannot be used and applied as an illustration in Ephesians-that would be terrible. A parallel cannot be drawn here. If it were, the Head would be in a very low position. The head in 1 Corinthians 12 is but a member, the position of which is different from that of the Head in Ephesians. The Head in Ephesians is absolutely Christ, while the head in 1 Corinthians 12 is one among the brothers who acts as a head. He is but one of the members, not the unique Head. He is low, not high. Thus, for the expression of the unity of the Body, the Bible shows us that locality is the minimum boundary. I hope the brothers and sisters will see that the minimum requirement of unity in the Bible is the unity of locality. God’s children must have spiritual unity in each locality. This is the basic demand of the Bible.
What then is the purpose of God? It is “that there would be no division in the body” (v. 25). Paul said this because of the divisions spoken of in chapters one and three. Paul showed them that having divisions in the locality of Corinth was the same as having divisions in the Body of Christ. Unity must have locality as its boundary. If I live at Corinth, at a minimum I must be one with the children of God in the locality of Corinth; at a minimum I must live out a life that is in oneness at Corinth. I cannot have divisions.
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