Who is In?
1 Corinthians 12:12-26
Who is In?
The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptised by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honourable we treat with special honour. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honour to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it.
The church is not a democracy! Shocking though that may sound to long-time Baptists, fifty percent plus one does not determine truth. To concede that the church is a democracy is to imply that we are a political entity. Such thinking has no basis in Scripture. In fact, according to the Apostle, the church is a body. The church is a living organism and not an organisation. Though the analogy may seem odd at first, it becomes exceptionally meaningful in light of the revelation God provides.
During our study last week I stressed one truth in particular which may be difficult to grasp for inhabitants of this secular age living in this political climate. That vital truth is that we do not join the church, but rather we are placed in a particular church. That God appoints us to service and by that same token appoints us to the assembly where we are to labour is assumed throughout this Corinthian letter. We do not join the church of our choice, but we are responsible to seek out the church of God’s choice. Consequently, this concept compels us to ask why God would change His appointment when we decide that we want to go somewhere else. What we discover is that excepting expanded opportunities for ministry it is difficult to imagine that God would move us from one congregation to another. This statement assumes, of course, that the church has not embraced doctrinal, moral or ethical error.
The theological foundations which we must hold before us and which will dictate the practical manner in which we live out the life of Christ were also detailed in the message last Sunday. For one brief moment I ask you to recall those theological truths. In the New Testament Church, God is the unifying factor. In the New Testament Church, individual believers are the expression of God’s grace and wisdom. In the New Testament Church, loving co-operation demonstrates understanding of God’s sovereignty.
Examining the Church — In the estimate of the majority of Christians, church is an organisation which is joined. We move to a new town and we probably first inspect the churches bearing the name with which we were formerly affiliated. We attend a church a few times to see if the people are friendly and to assess the quality of the service. Perhaps we will visit another church which is similar to that with which we are familiar. We are looking for an undefined something, though when we find it we will know.
May I be so bold as to suggest that for the most of us we are looking for those aspects of a church which make us comfortable. We want music which is lively, scintillating, and vibrant. We want to worship, whether it includes singing the well-loved hymns of the Faith or whether it includes the singing of choruses. We want our emotions to be engaged and frankly we look for that quality.
Likewise we are looking for ministries which meet our needs. If we have children we want to know that the church we settle on will care for our children. If we have infants and toddlers we will look for a well-equipped nursery which is clean and staffed with well-trained personnel. If our children are a little older, we want to see that there is a Sunday School available and hopefully activities such as Brigade or Mission Friends or Awana. Should we have teens in our house we want a challenging teen ministry. Hopefully there is a warm welcome to us, a group which provides insightful Bible study and opportunity for social interaction with people sharing similar interests.
If the preacher can speak well … bonus! Hopefully he can make the Word come alive and engage us through the ministry of teaching. After all, the unpardonable sin for a preacher is to be boring. Should we find a church in which this mix is just right we will probably quit looking and settle there. Shortly we will ask for offering envelopes and begin to make discreet inquiry of how we might unite with that church.
I suggest that when you think about how you came to your present church you went through something like that process—unless you are in the church where you were raised. In the vernacular of the church today, you were looking to meet felt needs.
I am not condemning the process of seeking out a church which serves the needs of people. If our church will grow we must consider how we can meet those same needs within the communities represented among us. We must have vibrant music and thoughtful preparation for worship if we will engage worshippers of the True and Living God. We must prepare for children through ensuring that our nursery is clean, well equipped and staffed with trained personnel. We must train Sunday School teachers and multiply the classes, even as we provide opportunities for Christian training for boys and girls. We must reach out to the teens and college-age men and women of our community. The teaching from the pulpit must be faithful to the Word and engaging if we expect others to participate in that act of worship. In short, we must prepare for growth and cease relying on what worked at some point in the distant past.
Having said this, I suggest to you that whether or not a church meets your felt needs should not be the first criterion for selecting that congregation wherein you determine to serve God. I recommend that you ask the Father what He would have you do concerning finding a place of worship and service. This means that you must be aware of what He has prepared you to do, how He has equipped you and whether you are willing to submit to the leadership and whether you can conscientiously embrace the teaching within that congregation in which you believe He is setting you. In short, you are responsible to discover the will of God and then do that will.
Clearly the will of God will not lead you to violate doctrine or morals or ethics. Therefore, any church which does not teach in accord with the revealed will of God should not even receive your briefest consideration as a centre for your service and worship. Any church which fails to promote godliness through biblical teaching concerning morals and ethics is unworthy of your service to Christ. What should be of primary concern, assuming that a congregation is sound in doctrine and morals and ethics, is whether you are permitting God to place you within that particular congregation or whether you are joining solely in response to your own felt needs.
The church you join will reflect your understanding of God’s work. The church is His unique creation and the local congregation is ideally an expression of that divine assembly which is met at Jesus’ feet. Interestingly enough, throughout the Word of God the Greek term which is translated by our English word church occurs 114 times. In every instance save one the primary reference is to a local entity. Only in Hebrews 12:22-24 do we see a reference to an entity which is not local and that is the Body of Christ prospective. Listen to that passage.
You have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
Thus when God speaks of the church as a body, we should think, not of an amorphous, unshaped phantom, but we should see that this is the congregation to which we are united. Ideally, our congregation will reflect the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, the Spirit of God places us in Christ’s Body, but the practical import of this placement is that He sets us in a congregation where we can honour Him through exercising the gifts He has entrusted to us and through building up that Body. The church to which you belong should be viewed as an expression of the Body of Christ.
When Paul wrote the Corinthians he said, The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ [verse 12]. The Corinthian saints would have understood that he was speaking of their congregation. Thus the admonition he includes in verses 14 through 19 would have also had immediate application to their own desires concerning the congregation. If God joins us to the Body we cannot “unjoin” ourselves. God is gracious, and though he permits us to exercise our own wills in the matter of participation in the church, we do so at some risk if our motives are solely self-centred. If we choose to place ourselves other than where He has equipped us to serve we run some risk that we may invite Divine discipline, as we are not necessarily equipped to build that particular Body we wish to unite with.
What practical reason can we imagine which would drive us from the church wherein Christ has placed us? Perhaps we discover moral corruption which is unconfessed and which the assembly refuses to address. Perhaps ethical violations are tolerated and the people refuse to acknowledge such laxity. Perhaps there has resulted some serious doctrinal deviation which we cannot reconcile with the Word of God and the church is unwilling to permit discussion of the matter. These conditions would provide reasons to seek God’s freedom to remove ourselves to seek out a new assembly. Conflict, however, should not be a cause for quitting the assembly. The instructions of Christ are quite clear that we should seek reconciliation and offer forgiveness in that case.
The reason for this view of the church as a Body is Christ’s emphasis upon unity in diversity. The church is not homogeneous if by homogeneous you mean that all the members are alike. This diversity is emphasised in Paul’s words found in verse 14 and 17. Now the body is not made up of one part but of many… If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?
The diversity of the church is evident from the fact that we are each gifted differently. There is no universal gift which every Christian receives. Just as your body is so much more than an eye, so the Body of Christ is so much more than a mouth. Can you imagine giving birth to a beautiful … eye? As the little eye grows it could not hear a warning, being able only to see; and that eye would only be able to get around by rolling, which would ensure dirt—you guessed it—in the eye. It is a rather grotesque image, I admit. However, Paul uses just such outlandish imagery to startle us into thinking. We are not all alike.
What is important for us as Christians to realise is that in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body [verses 18-20]. God chose what we would each one be, which forever alters our perception of importance. What is important is to be what God chooses me to be and to accomplish the task God assigned to me. Whatever my gift in the church it is a noble and valuable gift because God Himself entrusted that gift to me and in turn He gave me as a gift to the church.
Despite our differences in gifts and appointments within the Body, we are nevertheless united as the Body of Christ. In the verses following [verses 21 through 26], Paul stresses the importance of our unity. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honourable we treat with special honour. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honour to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it.
Those unfortunate people who live with an arm which does not want to co-operate with the body suffer a terrible malady. A leg which is spastic creates grave problems for the individual suffering such a condition. The eye cannot go on strike because it doesn’t need the hand. The head cannot decide that it will be independent of the feet. This is the message of the Body of Christ: only together are we the Body of Christ! What an apt picture of the Church is the Body!
Entering the Church — I am well aware that some dear friends whom we count one with us and who without doubt share our love for Christ, nevertheless resist uniting with this church because of the question of baptism. Some take refuge in the thought that since they are part of the “church universal,” membership in the local congregation is unnecessary or redundant. Others did confess Christ as adults and though the mode differs they consider their baptism to be biblical. Yet others are offended at our insistence on what they consider “rebaptism” since they were baptised as infants! For them such an act is betrayal of their parentage. Baptism really is the water which divides. Your baptism is important and we must understand what we declare in that act.
Paul addressed this issue more pointedly than we might expect in verses 12 and 13. The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptised by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Verse 13 in particular seems often to serve as a refuge for those seeking justification for refusal to unite with a local congregation. The argument goes that since we were all baptised by one Spirit into one body, this verse must exclusively refer to the spiritual experience of all believers at salvation. Therefore, according to the argument there is no need to openly unite with a local congregation since we are part of a universal church.
Hold one vital truth in mind: Paul was writing to one congregation. The epistle is addressed to a specific congregation—it is not a catholic epistle. Neither is the letter an encyclical. The primary intent is to correct doctrinal, moral and ethical errors then being tolerated in one congregation. I do not question that the letter is Scripture and inspired of God. The letter is thus profitable for all believers in all ages. Bear in mind, however, that the letter is written to one congregation in the first place and incidentally is the verse applicable to every congregation.
Consider the words that Paul wrote in light of this reminder. He begins by emphasising the unity shared by the members of that ancient congregation. Imagine yourself as a Corinthian believer. Imagine that you are reading this letter for the first time. How would you understand the clause: we were all baptised by one spirit into one body? Our English translation could lead one to think that the Holy Spirit is the medium into which we are baptised and that Christ is the baptiser. Others have concluded that the church is the medium into which we are baptised and that the Holy Spirit is the agent of baptism. Many fine commentators have overlooked the obvious because it does not fit their preconception. In other words, their bias has blinded them to the message that Paul delivered in this instance.
There is an old adage which states that any text out of context is pretext. This saying cautions that an interpreter is responsible to discover the context of a given text. Otherwise, we are liable to make Scripture say what we believe instead of believing what Scripture says. Such a distortion has frequently occurred for this text. We must not impose our beliefs on Scripture, but we must believe what Scripture says. Let me state that in another way. We must not sit in judgement of Scripture, making it fit our cultural view, but we must rather permit Scripture to judge our cultural view.
Ejn eJni; pneuvmati hJmei`" pavnte" eij" e}n sw`ma ejbaptivsqhmen. This is the Greek sentence. Rather literally and somewhat woodenly the English translation of that sentence reads: In one spirit we all into one body were immersed. If you were a Corinthian reading this sentence for the first time, would you not rather turn your mind automatically to the expression of your faith? Would you not rather turn your mind to the common experience of baptism on your confession of faith in Christ as Lord? Would you not think of your identification with Christ in believer’s baptism? Would you not think of the one body as that of the church of which you were a member?
Unless there exists an obvious emphasis upon the church universal (a rare occurrence, as we have seen), we must be cautious in assigning a universal application. Moreover, the congregation would have submitted to one universal experience in confessing their faith and they would each acknowledge that one truth of baptism. The sentence has meaning only in that context.
According to the New Testament there are four vital aspects which constitute valid baptism. There must be a proper candidate, a proper motive, a proper authority, and a proper mode. None of us have the right to change any aspect of that ordinance without calling into question every aspect of that ordinance.
There must be a proper authority—the Word of God. The ordinance was given to the church as Jesus ascended into the glory. It was first practised by the church united on that glorious Pentecost following the Saviour’s ascension. The instruction received is through letters to the churches. The churches of Lord are entrusted with this ordinance as recorded in the Word and as bounded by the precepts of the Word.
There must be a proper candidate—a saved individual. We have no command to baptise unsaved people. Perhaps some who were unsaved were wet in a rite which was called baptism, but baptism is for sheep and not for goats. It was only after the Ethiopian eunuch had heard of Jesus and confessed his faith that Jesus Christ is the Son of God that he was baptised [cf. Acts 8:37]. It was only after the Lord opened Lydia’s heart that she was baptised [cf. Acts 16:14, 15]. Baptism is for believers
There must be a proper motive—obedience to Christ’s command. Baptism is the pledge of a good conscience toward God [see 1 Peter 3:21]. It is that first step of obedience for those who will be disciples [Matthew 28:19, 20]. Some have thought that since baptism does not save it is an unimportant act. They consider it a lingering vestige from days when the church was struggling against infiltration by Judaisers. Thus it is no longer important and perhaps it is even unnecessary among modern saints.
We are not baptised in order to be saved, but because we are saved we are baptised. Underscore this vital truth: we are not baptised in order to be saved, but because we are saved we are baptised. There is not one example of an unbaptised believer found in the pages of the New Testament. Immediately, those who believed were baptised; and their baptism was the means by which they entered the church. Coincidentally, there is not one example of an unchurched believer found in the entirety of the New Testament.
On Pentecost, after the one hundred twenty had testified and Peter had preached we discover that those who accepted his message were baptised, and about three thousand were added [Acts 2:41]. Those who believed Philip as he preached the good news of the Kingdom of God and the Name of Jesus Christ… were baptised, both men and women [Acts 8:12]. The Ethiopian official from the court of Candace was baptised only after confessing Jesus as the Son of God [Acts 8:36-38]. In Corinth, those who believed who were baptised by the missionaries [Acts 18:8]. When those who had been disciples of John heard the message of grace, although baptised into John’s baptism, were baptised into the Name of the Lord Jesus [Acts 19:5]. It is on solid biblical ground that we can neither baptise our infants nor receive as baptised those who were as infants subjected to a rite called baptism.
There must be a proper mode—immersion. Baptism is a picture of death and burial and resurrection. Romans 6:1-12 reveals that in baptism we confess our faith that Christ died and was buried. Simultaneously we confess that we count our old self dead with Christ and confess that in Him we are made new. Looking forward we confess that even should we die we believe with a perfect faith that we will be raised to a glorified body just as Christ was raised to a glorified body. Neither sprinkling nor pouring can picture such a burial and resurrection.
In Hebrews 8:3-5 we are taught to maintain divine patterns in all things. Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already men who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” Just as Moses could not alter the plans for the tabernacle, so we dare not alter the requirement that baptism must picture a burial and a resurrection. We rejoice in the salvation of dear friends who disagree with this position, but we are not at liberty to rewrite Scripture. If we change the mode, why could we not change the motive? If we accept adult baptism by pouring, what would keep us from changing as well the motive so that we could accept dear friends who were baptised in order to become Christians but who later realised that faith was the sole criterion for salvation? In a spirit of gentle candour we must confess that we cannot change what Christ has taught on this subject.
In one Spirit we all into one body were immersed. The basis for membership in an apostolic church was the confession that Jesus is Lord. Upon that confession believers were baptised—identified with Christ. In one beautiful description of First Century baptism, the candidate is pictured laying aside his old clothes as a symbol of the putting off of the old nature; then he was immersed and raised as a sign of his belief in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Afterwards, he was wrapped in a white garment as a reminder of the forgiveness of sin, and then received into the body of believers as one of them. As that particular member functioned within the life of the church, he would become increasingly aware of the diversity within the church and might even be tempted to forget the basis of the unity. In this letter Paul reminded readers of the essential unity built into the very beginning of Christian life, a unity which had as its foundation a common faith in the One True Lord and a common allegiance to Him through public commitment to Christ and to His church.
It is an altogether too easy step in this day far removed from the days of the New Testament to relegate baptism to a position of relative unimportance. Even fellow pastors advance the argument that if we will grow we must lower the standards. If the standards are of my making, then perhaps they are negotiable. If, however, those standards were set by our God, I have no right to alter them.
The tendency among many evangelical preachers in this late day is to depreciate baptism, to downplay the significance of this act of obedience and identification. Was your right to think for yourself, to personally obey Christ’s command, stolen from you when you were an infant? Did some other individual, a well-meaning godparent or a concerned parent, mouth words in your place as a sacerdotalist priest administered some mysterious rite? Was the ordinance you received administered in a manner other than that which is taught in Scripture? Were you taught that you were picturing a cleansing instead of a resurrection from the dead? In the view of far too many contemporary preachers, and in order to keep peace among those who wish to avoid giving offence to well-intentioned parents and family members, such an act is sufficient—you are baptised. If that suffices as baptism, then it is but a short step to the position that the rite is of no great consequence.
In every culture and in every age, baptism has been the distinguishing mark of the Christian. The pagan world does not take note of the believer until that believer identifies with His Lord. Even worship with the local church is not terribly objectionable to the unregenerate. But identification with Christ as Lord of life and union with His congregation are a threat which the inhabitants of this world cannot long ignore. This is the point which must be seized upon and trumpeted across the land: Without biblical baptism, there can be no membership in the New Testament church.
Why should this be surprising or objectionable? Without an oath of allegiance, there is no political office. Without an oath of allegiance, there is no membership in the armed forces of a nation. Without a vow, there is no marriage. Baptism is the Christian’s oath of allegiance, the believer’s vow of fealty to Christ, the saint’s pledge of identification with the Son of God. If there were no objections from the world or from family members and friends who seek to dissuade perhaps it could be argued that membership in the church was of no great moment. If there were no divinely mandated ordinance for entrance into the church perhaps it could be argued that membership in the church was unimportant. If there were no probability of pressures as result of identification with Christ as we entered into the church perhaps it could be argued that membership in the church was optional. However, the fact that we are given a universal identifying mark and the fact that the identification is divinely mandated points to the importance of our membership in the local church.
Indulge me a moment longer. I have spoken openly and pointedly of the faith delivered to the saints. I have spoken, not with intent to hurt anyone, but with the intent to strengthen this church and in a spirit of love to call each person to submit to Christ. Union with the church reveals a submissive spirit to Christ. Will you obey Christ or surrender to your fears and prejudice? Does the prospect of disappointing friends and family through obedience to Christ cause you to hesitate? I empathise. My grandfather baptised me when I was a six-year-old boy. When I became a Christian and embraced Christ my grandmother cried and insisted that my beloved granddad would be crushed. Dear grandma now knows (since she has passed into the presence of the Saviour) that granddad wasn’t disappointed, but rather he rejoiced with the angels at my obedience to the Saviour. Neither family ties nor social pressure will matter in eternity. What will matter is whether you were born into the Family of God. Whether you were obedient to Christ will determine the praise you receive from Him at His appearing.
Union with the church demonstrates willingness to work with God’s leadership. If I refuse to obey Christ why should I imagine that I would be submissive to the church when it speaks? The spirit of a servant is not quiet for the sake of quietness, but neither does the servant’s heart lead him to resist what is right. Leadership may on occasion direct us in a hard direction. If I have refused to accept their direction in first things why should I think that I would follow or co-operate in the hard situation?
Union with the church expresses confidence in Christ’s call. If your former congregation was right, why did you leave? If they were ungodly and you left in conscientious determination to follow Christ, why would you insist on holding to what was associated with the dead and dying? We invite you to submit, not to that which is dying, but to Christ who is alive. We invite you to express your confidence in Christ’s call through lending your strength to your fellow worshippers and through investing your life in the congregation wherein Christ has set you.
Our invitation is a call for Christians to unite with the people of God in open commitment to serve Christ the Lord. The call is a call to membership in this church. Even as the Baptist exhorted the people and urged them to identify with the coming Messiah, so we urge you to openly confess your faith in the Living Son of God who though buried conquered death and has been raised from the dead. We call each believer to confess their faith that they have counted the old self dead and through faith in the Son of God are now alive. To all who have yet to believe we urge you to receive the life which is real life and found only in Christ the Lord. Amen.
Ejn eJni; pneuvmati hJmei`" pavnte" eij" e}n sw`ma ejbaptivsqhmen. This is the Greek sentence. Rather literally and somewhat woodenly the English translation of that sentence reads: In one spirit we all into one body were immersed. If you were a Corinthian reading this sentence for the first time, would you not rather turn your mind automatically to the expression of your faith? Would you not rather turn your mind to the common experience of baptism on your confession of faith in Christ as Lord? Would you not think of your identification with Christ in believer’s baptism? Would you not think of the one body as that of the church of which you were a member?
Kaqavper ga;r to; sw`ma e{n ejstin kai; mevlh polla; e[cei, pavnta de; ta; mevlh tou` swvmato" polla; o[nta e{n ejstin sw`ma, ou{tw" kai; oJ Cristov": kai; ga;r ejn eJni; pneuvmati hJmei`" pavnte" eij" e}n sw`ma ejbaptivsqhmen, ei[te jIoudai`oi ei[te {Ellhne" ei[te dou`loi ei[te ejleuvqeroi, kai; pavnte" e}n pneu`ma ejpotivsqhmen. Kai; ga;r to; sw`ma oujk e[stin e}n mevlo" ajlla; pollav.
In one Spirit we all into one body were immersed. The basis for membership in an apostolic church was the confession that Jesus is Lord. Upon that confession believers were baptised—identified with Christ. In one beautiful description of First Century baptism, the candidate is pictured laying aside his old clothes as a symbol of the putting off of the old nature; then he was immersed and raised as a sign of his belief in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Afterwards, he was wrapped in a white garment as a reminder of the forgiveness of sin, and then received into the body of believers as one of them. As that particular member functioned within the life of the church, he would become increasingly aware of the diversity within the church and might even be tempted to forget the basis of the unity. In this letter Paul reminded readers of the essential unity built into the very beginning of Christian life, a unity which had as its foundation a common faith in the One True Lord and a common allegiance to Him through public commitment to Christ and to His church.