First Corinthians 3:16 and 6:19 say that we are God’s temple. God is in us; the Spirit of God is living in our spirit. Once a person is saved, he is not only begotten of God, having God’s life; he is also God’s dwelling place, God’s resting place. God lives in him, and God can completely entrust Himself to him. This is the high status of a believer.
In the Old Testament a priest was a priest, and the temple was the temple. But in the New Testament a spiritual priest is the spiritual temple because the priest and the temple are the same. We, the saved ones, are God’s priests and His temple. We are, on the one hand, those who serve God, and on the other hand, the temple in which God dwells. These are all very great things.
Ephesians 5:30 and Romans 12:5 say that we are also members of Christ. This means that once we are saved and have the life of Christ, we are a part of Christ, just as our hands and feet are our members and a part of us. If we cut off our feet, we would immediately be incomplete. We praise the Lord that once we are saved, we enter into a high status of being a part of Christ and being indispensable to Christ. Our salvation is eternally secure.
There was a black slave girl who was saved and very happy. One day a highly educated friend of her master saw that she was very happy. She was happy while she washed clothes and swept the floor. She was smiling so much that it seemed as if she could not close her mouth. Out of curiosity, he asked her, “Why are you so happy today?” She said, “Oh, I am saved! I am saved! I am in the hands of the Lord Jesus!” Based on John 10:28-29 she added, “We are the Lord’s sheep. He gave us eternal life, and we will not perish. No one can snatch us out of His hand.” She explained that the Lord Jesus’ hand was big and powerful, and that, being in His hand, she could not be snatched out by anyone. She was eternally saved. Her master’s friend was not saved, but having some knowledge of Christianity, he made fun of her. He said, “Don’t you see that our hands have spaces between the fingers? You must know that since our hands are small, the spaces also are small. But because the hands of the Lord Jesus are big, the spaces also are big. A small child like you must be careful in His hands. Do not be too happy; otherwise, you may slip between His fingers!” But this child was so clear. She said, “Sir, the hands of the Lord Jesus are big; that is absolutely correct. I am small, and that is also correct. Let me tell you, I am not only in the hands of the Lord Jesus, but I am also His little finger. So I will never slip out of His hands.”
This shows that she knew she was a member of Christ and could not slip through His fingers and perish. Our salvation is firm and secure. The Lord has not only made us citizens of His kingdom, priests who serve Him, and His temple and His dwelling place, but He has also made us part of Him, His members. Our salvation is secure to this extent.
A member is not only secure, but it also has a function. In relation to God, we are priests to serve Him, and in relation to Christ, we are members with a function to express Him. On the one hand, we are God’s dwelling place for God’s rest and His priests to serve Him, and on the other hand, we are members of Christ with living functions to express Him.
In order to manifest our function as members, we need to grow in life and to exercise. On the one hand, we need the Holy Spirit in us to cause us to grow and mature in life gradually, and on the other hand, we need to exercise much in the church. We cannot be lacking in either of these aspects.
For example, all children have life and can grow. But a child in a Chinese family will learn to speak Chinese, and a child in a Japanese family will learn to speak Japanese. As a result, they will speak different languages and their functions and skills will differ, even though their life and growth are the same. This shows the importance of the church. The leading and training by the church to new believers shapes the functions they can manifest in the future.
In order for a member to manifest his function, he must have inner growth by the Holy Spirit and outward exercise. It is regrettable that some people repudiate and condemn outward exercise and put too much emphasis on the inward growth in life. However, our example clearly shows that although both children grow, the one in the Japanese family does not speak Chinese, and the one in the Chinese family does not speak Japanese. Therefore, we cannot underestimate outward exercise, just as we cannot underestimate the inward growth in life.
We have considered eight “beings.” Let us now consider the matter of belonging. We belong to God, that is, we are of God (2 Tim. 3:17). Since we are the children of God, we are of God; since we are God’s household, we are of God; since we are citizens of God’s kingdom, we are of God; since we are priests of God, we are of God; since we are God’s temple, we are of God; since we are God’s inheritance, we are all the more of God. We belong to God because we are God’s.
Since we are of God, we belong to Him. We are not without the Lord. Even the most educated person in the world does not know whom he belongs to, but we know that we belong to God. As soon as we are saved, we belong to God. In other words, He is our Lord, and He has sovereign right over us. Thus, we do not need to be afraid of perdition. Every person is careful with his precious items and keeps them safe out of a sense of responsibility. In the same way, since we belong to God and are under His sovereign right, He eternally bears full responsibility for us. We can forget God, but He cannot forget us. Even if we want to stay away from God, because we are His possessions and He is our Lord, He will never let us go. The sovereignty over us is in God’s hands. We are of God.