We have pointed out that if we are going to have the proper function in the local church, we need first of all to be captured by Christ. Christ must exercise His victory over us. If we are not defeated by Him, it is impossible to have a real spiritual function in life. This is because the function of the Body is simply the expression of Christ. In order to have the expression of Christ, we must be subdued, captured and taken over by Christ. And after being captured by Him, we must grow in Him. The more we grow in Him, the more we will receive of Him our function in the church.
The function must come completely out of Christ. If we are devoid and short of Christ, we may have many activities, but we do not have any function in life. Some dear ones in the church only have activity, but this is not the function of life. Activity is natural. Perhaps I am clever and capable in speaking; so I stand up to give a message. But this is not the function in life; this is an activity of the natural man. All such activities are not good for the church; they are only good for some social organization. They are not good for the expression of Christ, because the expression of Christ is simply Christ manifested through His members.
Therefore, we, His members, must be captured and taken over by Him. And we must grow, not only in Him, but also with Him. The real essence of growth in life is nothing less than Christ Himself. Then, we will have the function with Christ in life.
The above verses in Ephesians and Colossians set forth a number of principles concerning our function in the church. One of the basic principles is the putting off the old man and the putting on the new.
I am afraid that many of us have been Christians for years, but have never learned the practice of putting off and putting on. Some may ask, “Put off what?” We must put off the old man. Some may ask, “What is the old man?” The Apostle Paul said that in the new man, which is the Body of Christ, there is no Greek, no Jew, no circumcision, no uncircumcision, no barbarian, and no Scythian. This means that there is no natural person, no religious nor unreligious person, and no cultured nor uncultured person. The natural person must be put off. If you are a religious person, you also must be put off. Some of us are still so religious. But in the church there is no circumcision nor uncircumcision, no religious nor unreligious. Many have the concept that as long as we are religious, it is sufficient. But in the church there are no religious people. The religious are really dreadful; they are a real damage to the church life. But the unreligious are even more dreadful. There is no circumcision nor uncircumcision, no religious nor unreligious in the church. And there is also no Scythian. Scythian refers to those who are highly cultured. Culture or education, just as religion, mean nothing in the church. Race means nothing, religion means nothing, and education means nothing. Whatever you are means nothing, and whatever you have attained means nothing. Do not think that you are something in the church because you have the highest attainment in education and religion. You must listen to the word of the Apostle. In the new man, the Body of Christ, there are no Gentiles and no Hebrews, no religious and no unreligious, no cultured and no uncultured. All of these must be put off.
If we have never learned how to put off, we may be very active in the church, yet we are not functioning. There is a great difference between activities and functions. Activities are natural; they are something either of religion or of culture. In the church life we do not need activities. We need the functions which are the flow of life, the manifestation of Christ. It is not something of religion, nor of culture or education. We all must learn to put off all these things. Everything of religion, everything of culture or education, and everything of natural ability must be put off.
As a Christian, we may have learned how to be adjusted or corrected, but I am afraid that we have never learned how to put off. We must simply put off ourselves. We must put off our religion, and we must put off our education. Only then can Christ flow out. When we put off what we are and have, our natural being, our religion, our education, etc., then we can function and express Christ, who is the very life-giving Spirit indwelling our spirit.
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