ROMANS 12:4-5 MANY, BUT ONE I noticed in my journey through Romans, the believers in Rome would have been made conscious of something that had not been understood before - all believers in Christ no matter where they are or of what background or culture they may be - are members of the Body of Christ.
This great multitude of believers from the day of Pentecost until the Rapture of the Church, compose one corporate body. This is not like a body, but it is the Body of Christ in its character. Every saved person is part of this Body like the members of our physical bodies are part of a unity that makes our body. Body parts scattered around would not be a body. They have to be unified - joined together - and each part is guided and controlled by the head. Each one in the Body of Christ has a work to do and a role to fulfill under the direction of the Head, who is Christ.
In this plea for cooperation, the unity of the Body is in contrast with one who has estimated himself way above what he ought to. Each member has a different work, and yet each is a member of all other members. We are "members of one another." The Church which is the Body of Christ is illustrated by the marriage of a man and a woman. Christ and the Church form a unified entity, the same as a husband and wife form a marriage. Each believer is a member of Christ and of one another, so when as a unified group of individual parts, they make up the Body of Christ - the Church.
The local fellowship of believers is not called "the Body of Christ" but is composed of those who are in the Body. The local assembly is called "the house of God," so when we read those words as they relate to the people of God, it has the fellowship of the saints in a local area as the focus of the teaching. Each one in the "house of God" is already in the "Body of Christ" when they have been "baptized by one Spirit into one Body."
The members in the Body have been placed there by the Holy Spirit. When one comes into the fellowship of an assembly, it is supposed that person is a believer. In the "house of God" there is failure and departure. In the "Body of Christ" there is genuine life and each member of that Body is there permanently. The fellowship of believers may be broken; therefore, we are not called "members" in the house of God. Some are vessels of honor and others of dishonor in the "house of God," the assembly of believers.
Perhaps the saints in the assembly at Rome were able to see their link with both Jews and Gentiles all over the world and would be able to understand what their own gathered company was a part of. A small assembly may feel themselves of little value until they can understand that each one is part of a great corporate body. The local gatherings are to strengthen and nurture those faithful believers.
It is hard to imagine in these days marked by schism - That there is a great corporate unity of saints because Christ who is risen Has made each member to be part of the Body of which He is the Head - And each one is indwelt by the Spirit, and by the Spirit is led.
This Body was small when it was formed nearly 2000 years ago.
But since that time, this Body has continued daily to grow. As the Gospel of truth was preached and by the hearers believed - Into that Body was placed each new member who has Christ received.
Instead of thousands that composed the Body at the beginning - There are now billions in the Body, most of whom are already in heaven. We who live now are members of each other - and of them - All of us together in the Body are members of Him.
This is not some secret society that is designed by the will of man - This is a work of God's doing, a miracle done as only He can. He alone knows who are His and who has believed on the Son. He alone gives life to each member and maintains them as one.
Occasionally I have been able to catch a glimpse of what it means. I have met Body members in distant places I had never before seen. There is a linkage there, a bond, which to unbelievers is hard to describe. It is a closer unity than those have who are part of a cultural tribe.
It is the unity of the Spirit that helps members recognize one another. Before many words are spoken, I sense this person is a sister or brother. Each one has the same kind of love for the One who is the Head of the Church - And we can discern love for each other without making a great search.
"Father of every one who knows Thee, I thank Thee for making me to hear Thy Word, then to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and for placing me by the baptism of the Spirit into the One Body. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen."