The Functioning Body of Christ

Romans 12:4-8 ESV

“For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.”

So much of what this speaks of, and which is also spoken of in parallel passages of Scripture, is being lost today. For so much of what is being called “church” these days is not the body of Christ functioning as God intended, but they are businesses of men being run like any other businesses, created in the minds of humans, and which are being marketed to the people of the world, and which are appealing to the likes and the interests of the people of the world.

So many gatherings of what are called “church” are appealing more to the desires of the world and to attracting the world to their gatherings than they are operating as the biblical body of Christ. And usually one man (maybe more than one) does all the preaching (prophesying), i.e. proclaiming the word of God, making it applicable to our lives today. And so many of them have replaced the role of “teacher” with “facilitator” who is just regurgitating what another human has decided is the truth.

And so many preachers are getting their sermons online or from books and they are following and teaching the teachings of other humans and they are not getting their messages directly from God as being led of the Holy Spirit in what specifically to say to the people that day in their present circumstances. For if you listen to many of them, you will begin to see a pattern among many of them in what they are teaching as truth which is often twisted truth and misimpressions (deceptions, lies).

And so many pastors are now acting more like cult leaders than they are behaving like true shepherds of Jesus’ true biblical sheep. And they are behaving more like businessmen running businesses than they are leading the sheep to follow the true shepherd of the sheep, who is Jesus Christ. And so many are acting as though they are the only “minister” when we are all called to be ministers of Christ in doing what he has called and assigned and gifted us to do and to be as our body parts within the body of Christ.

For, as the body of Christ, His church, we are all gifted and assigned by God specific roles (parts) within the body of Christ which God intends for us to use and to do for the encouragement, strengthening and spiritual maturity of the body of Christ, as a whole. We all have a part in this, if truth be told. And so there needs to be a place within some of the gatherings of the church where we can function as the body of Christ in using our spiritual gifts for the instruction, encouragement and spiritual growth of the body of Christ.

And not one of us is to feel as though we are not important because our body part is not the same as someone else’s. However, we must be those of genuine God-given faith in Jesus Christ who, by the Spirit, were crucified with Christ in death to sin, and who were raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves of sin but now as slaves of God and of his righteousness. And we are to be those who are walking in righteousness and in obedience to our Lord and no longer in sin.

For those who are still walking in (practicing) sin are not of God for they are not listening to God and they are not obeying the Lord, in practice, but they are continuing to live for themselves and for the desires of the flesh, and so they have no part in the body of Christ for they have no relationship with Jesus Christ, for they are not in fellowship with Christ. So I am not saying we should include and use everyone who says he is of God and says he is gifted of God, for we are to test the spirits to see which ones are of God.

[Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 John 1,2&3; Matthew 7:21-23]

But for those who are walking (in conduct, in practice) according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh, and who are being led by the Spirit of God and not by the flesh, we are all to have a part in the body of Christ and in ministering to one another according to the will of God and according to the word of God. And we are all to be speaking the truth in love, one to the other, so that we are not taken captive by those who scheme and trick and who tell lies, and so we all come to maturity in Jesus Christ, our Lord.

And we are to instruct and teach and admonish one another, and we are to address and speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. And we are all to exhort one another, according to the Scriptures, so that none of us are hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, and in order to stir up one another to love and good works, which are the works that God has called us to do, by his Spirit, by genuine God-given faith in Jesus Christ (see Titus 2:11-14; Ephesians 2:10; Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 4:17-32; etc.).

The body of Christ: [Romans 12:1-8; Romans 15:14; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 4:1-16; Ephesians 5:15-21; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians 3:16; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; James 5:19-20]

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg 

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