The church is composed not only of one person or several persons but of millions of people. These millions have become one Body not only because they are of Christ but also because they have all been baptized in one Spirit into one Body (1 Cor. 12:13). The life of Christ within you causes you to be of Christ, and the life of Christ within me also causes me to be of Christ. The life of Christ in every believer causes them to be of Christ. Furthermore, we who are of Christ have been baptized in one Spirit into one Body. The divine life causes us to be of Christ, and the Holy Spirit causes us to be mutually joined together. Having the divine life, we are of Christ, and being in the Holy Spirit, we are mutually joined together. Thus, we become one Body.
The church as the one Body is formed by coming out of Christ and by being baptized in the Holy Spirit. By coming out of Christ and being baptized in the Holy Spirit, the church becomes one Body. Both are indispensable. Without the life that comes out of Christ, there would be no church, and without the Holy Spirit who baptizes the saints into the Body of Christ, there would also be no church.
We often say that we need to be in life. This is not enough. Being in life mainly emphasizes our relationship with Christ. We also need to learn to live in the Holy Spirit. It is only by being in the Holy Spirit that we can be joined mutually with all the saints. On the one hand, we need to have the life that comes out of Christ; on the other hand, we also need the Holy Spirit who baptizes us into the Body of Christ. This coming out and baptizing into cause the Body of Christ to be formed. Therefore, to live in the church in reality, we need to live by Christ as life, and we also need to live in the Holy Spirit. Our walk and work need to be in the Holy Spirit. We should now have a general understanding concerning the church. The church is something high, mysterious, heavenly, living, and spiritual.
The church as the Body expresses Christ. Christ expresses Himself in the Body. For us to express ourselves, we must use our body. If we do not have a body but have only a spirit and soul, we cannot express ourselves. Likewise, Christ expresses Himself in the universe, on the earth, among men, and in this age entirely by the church as the Body. Where the church is, there is Christ. Where the church is, there is the expression of Christ. The expression of Christ cannot be separated from the church. Since the church is the fullness of Christ, the Body of Christ, it is the expression of Christ.
However, Roman Catholicism is not the expression of Christ, and every denomination in Protestantism is not the expression of Christ. They are but human organizations and religious groups, not the Body of Christ. Because there is little element of Christ and little ground for Christ within them, they are not the expression of Christ. The Body of Christ is full of Christ within and is entirely Christ. Only such a Body and such a church is the expression of Christ.
First Timothy 3:15 speaks of the church as the house of the living God. The Bible mentions the house of God in many places. The Chinese Union Version translates each instance as the temple of God. The tabernacle and the holy temple in the Old Testament were the house of God (Judg. 18:31; 1 Kings 6:1); thus, they typified the church. This shows that in relation to God, the church is the house of God, just as the tabernacle and the holy temple in the Old Testament were the house of God. There are at least two important significances here.
A house is a person’s dwelling place, his place of living. It is the place where a person prefers to live. The church is the house of God, the dwelling place of God on earth where He can dwell in peace and where He can entrust Himself. Hence, Ephesians 2:22 says that the church is the “dwelling place of God in spirit.” In order to identify, distinguish, and discern whether a gathering is the church, we need only to see whether God can make His home, dwell in peace, entrust Himself, and be at rest there. If He is able to do this, such a gathering is the church and has not lost the nature of the church. If He is not able to do so, such a gathering is not the church. Very likely, it is only a religious organization.
A house is also the best place for a person to express himself. A person cannot be fully expressed in any place other than in his own house. There are certain things a person cannot say, will not say, and dare not say in a place other than his home. He cannot express certain intentions in other places, but he can once he is in his home. It is inconvenient to do certain things if he is not at home. Hence, a home is the place where man can best express himself.
A house occupied by a person from China expresses the ways of the Chinese; if it is occupied by a person from Japan, it expresses the ways of the Japanese; and if it is occupied by a person from America, it expresses the ways of the Americans. Simply by looking at the condition of a house, we can determine what kind of person lives there. We can look at the house and tell whether a clean person lives there or a messy person lives there. We do not need to see a person in order to know whether a person of high class or low class lives there; we only need to look at his house. In order to fully know a person, we often need to look at his house. For example, someone may dress neatly, but his house may be a mess. Someone may be dignified in appearance, as if he is a rich man, but his house may be in utter poverty. Therefore, we must look at a man’s house in order to know a person. His house is an expression of himself.
The church is the house of God, and it is also the place where God expresses Himself on the earth. First Timothy 3:16 speaks of the church as the great mystery of godliness, that is, God manifested in the flesh. God not only desires to make His home, settle down, and gain a place of rest, but He also desires to express Himself in the church. God desires to carry out His plan, express His desire, and manifest His glory in the church. All He is, all He has done, and all He desires to obtain must be expressed in the church as His house.
On the one hand, the church is the Body, the fullness, and the expression to Christ. On the other hand, the church is a house, a dwelling place, for God to express Himself. Both God and Christ are expressed in the church. This is the church.