The Bible has a principle: every book in the Bible has a focal point which is supported by many verses. These supports may be considered like the four legs supporting a table. Even a small table has four legs supporting it. To find out the supports of a focal point in a certain book, you have to take care of the context of the entire book. In Romans, the expression, “in Christ,” does have adequate support. What are the verses which are the supports of this organic union “in Christ” found in Romans?
In chapters one through four it is hard to find any support of the organic union. But in chapter five there are several supports. Verse 10 says we are saved in His life. We were justified, reconciled, through the death of Christ, but we shall be saved more in His life. Then 5:17 reads, “For if by the offense of the one death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” Martin Luther stressed the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness very much, but I doubt whether he stressed that the abundant grace and the gift of righteousness are for reigning in life. To reign in life is much higher than being saved in life. Then verse 18 uses the term, “unto justification of life.” This means justification is for life or unto life. Verse 21 goes on to say that grace might reign unto eternal life. Unto means with a view to or resulting in. Grace reigns with a view to or resulting in life. In chapter five, life is mentioned at least four times: first, we need to be saved in life, second, we need to reign in life, third, we are justified for life, and fourth, grace reigns, resulting in life. So according to chapter five, life, not justification, is the focus.
Now let us go on to chapter six. Verse 3 says, “As many as have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death.” Many teachers have stressed that we are baptized into His death, but they have not stressed adequately that we have been baptized into Christ. That we have been baptized into Christ Jesus is the strongest support of the phrase, “in Christ.” How did you get into Christ? You have been baptized into Christ. Although I do not like to speak concerning others’ shortage I must point out that many Christians today stress the tail more than the head. They pick up the tail and forget about the head. Many teachers have stressed that we have been baptized into His death. I have never heard a message at a baptism telling people that they have been baptized into Christ. They always said we are baptized into the death of Christ. But this verse concerning being baptized into Christ is the strongest support of the thought of the organic union in Christ.
Verse 4 goes on to say that we “should walk in newness of life,” and verse 5 says that “if we have grown together with Him in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection.” This indicates a process of growth where we are growing into His death and through His death into His resurrection. This is an organic union in which growth takes place so that one partakes of the life and characteristics of another. In 6:5 there is an organic union. This growing together with Christ is a kind of organic union. In this organic union, the life grows. Growth takes place. One part partakes of the life and characteristics of the other part. That means we partake of the life and characteristics of Christ. This is the organic union.
Verse 8 goes on to say that “we shall also live with Him.” If you are not one with Him, how could you live with Him? It doesn’t mean that you simply stay together with Him; it means that you live together with Him. Verse 11 says that we are “alive to God in Christ Jesus.” Verse 13 says that we need to present ourselves to God as alive from the dead. This also indicates our union with Christ. The last verse in this chapter also is a support for the organic union: “The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Today the Pentecostal people often ask, Have you received the “gift”? My answer would be, What kind of gift do you mean? This would open their eyes. When they speak of receiving the “gift,” they are mainly referring to speaking in tongues. But I have received a bigger gift than a tongue! I have received the eternal life. This is a much bigger gift. This shows the superficiality of today’s Christians. We have received the gift of eternal life. This means the organic union is a free gift.
Chapter eight also has some strong supports for this matter of being in Christ as an organic union. Verse 2 mentions the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. Here is life, here is the Spirit of life, and here is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. This is a strong support. Verse 6 says that “the mind set on the spirit is life and peace,” and verse 10 says that “the spirit is life because of righteousness.” In the Life-study of Romans we pointed out that these verses in chapter eight reveal four layers of the matter of life. First, God’s Spirit is life. Second, our human spirit is life. Third, the mind is life, and finally, our body is life. This life firstly is the life of the Spirit. Then this life comes into our being, into our spirit. Then it saturates our soul and, eventually, saturates our body. This is the organic union.
Chapter eleven, revealing the grafting, also is a strong support of the organic union. All of us were wild branches, yet thank the Lord, His grace has grafted us into Christ! Again, it is ridiculous to say that mingling is a heresy. The branches grafted into the tree are not only united but mingled. To say that they are only united and not mingled is terrible. They are not like two iron bars. Two iron bars may be united, but they are not mingled. But if a branch is grafted into a tree, no doubt the two are mingled. The two bars of iron can only have a kind of connecting. They don’t have the organic union. An organic union is a matter of mingling.
From chapter eleven we go to chapter twelve. Chapter twelve indicates that we need to consecrate our bodies so that our minds may be transformed to see and discern the will of God, which is just to have a Body for Christ produced out of the organic union. Verse 5 says, “So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and severally members one of another.” This verse means we many are just one Body in Christ, in this organic union. Have you seen all these supports of this one focal point—in Christ? Chapter twelve continues by saying that as a believer, based upon the organic union in Christ, you need to realize the Body life by having all three parts of your being exercised. Our body is mentioned in verse 1 where we are told to present our bodies as a living sacrifice. So our body needs to be offered. Then in verse two we need to have our mind renewed. Our mind represents our soul. It is the main part of our soul. So this refers to the transformation of the soul for the Body life. The body needs to be presented, and the soul needs to be transformed. Then in verse 11 we have to be burning in spirit. This refers to the exercise of the human spirit, the mingled spirit, for the Body life. For the Body of Christ we have to offer our body. Then our soul needs to be transformed, and our spirit needs to be on fire. Thus, all three parts of our human being are exercised. In order to realize this focus of the Christian life, that is, the Body of Christ, we need to fully experience the organic union in Christ with a thorough realization that we are organically one with Christ in life.
To practice this Body life, you must first have your body offered to God. After having your body offered to God, you must have your soul transformed. You must be transformed in your soul by the renewing of your mind. Rarely can you hear teaching concerning this point among today’s Christians. You can hardly hear a message on transformation or on the renewing of the mind. In the past twenty years we have put out many messages on transformation. This is absolutely and thoroughly needed. Our body must be offered and consecrated; our soul must be transformed by the renewing of our mind. Then our spirit has to be burning, to be on fire. If this is your case, I have the full confidence you are now practically in the Body life. If you don’t realize the organic union in Christ and you do not have your body offered, your soul transformed by the renewing of the mind, or your spirit burning, you are just outside of the Body and apart from the Body, practically speaking.
From now on we will spend much of this Training on Romans. If you have some leisure time, think about Romans, and pray about the Body of Christ. Restrict your consideration, your feeling, and your sensation about the Body of Christ to Romans. If time and occasion allow, I also hope you would fellowship with some others. It is best to fellowship with only two or three, or at the most four. We, the married people, do have a privilege in that we always have at least two. Fellowship about this, and pray. This is not a small thing. We need a strong revelation, and we need a stronger vision to see this matter. It is too mysterious! The mystical Body of Christ is too mysterious for us human beings to grasp. Yet we do have the life of this Body, and we also have the Spirit of this Body. Thank the Lord for this. So pray and exercise your inner being to think over this book concerning the Body. Also remind yourself of what we have covered in the past two Training Meetings. Don’t consider that these are simply doctrines. You must consider that these are precious light from the very heart of God. They are altogether worthy of our thinking, considering, praying, and fellowshipping. This Training has no intention to pass on to you mere doctrine. We have the heavy burden to help all of us enter into the practical Body life. We all need an entrance into the practical Body life. If we could have this kind of life, this kind of vision, of the Body we will be able to enter into the practical Body life.