In 1 Timothy 3:15 Paul tells us that the church of the living God is “the pillar and base of the truth.” The pillar supports the building, and the base holds the pillar. The church is such a supporting pillar and holding base of the truth. Truth refers to the real things revealed in the New Testament concerning Christ and the church according to God’s New Testament economy. The church is the supporting pillar and holding base of all these realities. A local church should be such a building that holds, bears, and testifies the truth, the reality, of Christ and the church. God’s New Testament economy is composed of two mysteries: Christ as the mystery of God (Col. 2:2) and the church as the mystery of Christ (Eph. 3:4). Christ and the church, the Head and the Body, are the contents of the reality of God’s New Testament economy. The church as the supporting pillar and holding base of the truth testifies the truth, the reality, of Christ as the mystery of God and the church as the mystery of Christ.
The truth in 1 Timothy 3:15 refers to the divine realities, the realities of God. These realities are revealed particularly in John 14 through 16. According to these chapters, truth, or reality, is revealed as the truth of the Spirit, that is, the reality of the Spirit. The Spirit is the Spirit of all divine realities. Today the church is the pillar and base of the truth, holding up the realities of the Divine Being. The realities of God are testified through the church as the pillar and base of the truth.
First Timothy 3:15-16 shows that the church is also God manifested in the flesh—the mystery of godliness. God is manifested in the church, the Body of Christ, as His enlarged and corporate manifestation in the flesh. These verses say, “The house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth. And confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh, / Justified in the Spirit, / Seen by angels, / Preached among the nations, / Believed on in the world, / Taken up in glory.” He refers to Christ, who was God manifested in the flesh as the mystery of godliness. The transition from the mystery of godliness to He implies that Christ as the manifestation of God in the flesh is the mystery of godliness (Col. 1:27; Gal. 2:20). This mystery of godliness is the living of a proper church, and such a living is also the manifestation of God in the flesh.
This portion of the Scriptures implies that the manifestation of God in the flesh is not only Christ Himself as the Head but also the church as the Body. When the church grows in Christ with the growth of God (Col. 2:19), the church functions as the house and household of the living God for His move on the earth and as the supporting pillar and holding base of the truth, bearing the divine reality of Christ and His Body as a testimony to the world. Thus, the church becomes the continuation of Christ as the manifestation of God in the flesh. This is the great mystery of godliness—Christ lived out of the church as the enlarged manifestation of God in the flesh.
First Timothy 3:16 begins, “And confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness.” The conjunction and indicates that in verse 15 Paul has not finished speaking about the church; it also indicates that the church is more than just the house of the living God and the pillar and base of the truth. The church is the mystery of godliness. According to the context, godliness in verse 16 refers not only to piety but also to the living of God in the church, that is, God as life lived out and expressed in the church. The church life is the expression of God. Christ and the church, the Head and the Body, are the mystery of godliness, expressing God in the flesh. This great mystery is confessed universally by the believers in Christ. The church as the manifestation of God in the flesh is a mystery—the mystery of godliness.
The mystery of godliness is the proper church life, and such a life is the manifestation of God in the flesh. When a church is well taken care of according to the instructions given in 1 Timothy, with the oversight of the elders and the service of the deacons fully established, the church functions as the house and household of the living God and as the pillar and base of the truth. The church also becomes the continuation and enlargement of God’s manifestation in the flesh. This manifestation began on the earth with Christ and is now being continued in the church. Therefore, the church, as the manifestation of the invisible God, is the mystery of godliness. If, through the reality of the kingdom, we have the proper church life, God’s manifestation that began in Christ will be continued in the church.