The Underlying Truth: The Church is One, Invisible Body – What is Missing is Visible Unity

All of our questions about the oneness of the Church, as a present reality, are answered if we truly recognize Christ as its Head... However, our choice for or against the truth does not affect the reality that Christ died to make us one with Himself and with each other. His work is done, and our oneness is a present, completed truth that should influence all of our conduct.

The underlying truth is the the Church, the body of all followers of Jesus Christ for all time, is already one Body. But our unity is now mostly invisible. On the night before his death, Jesus prayed first that his Father would make his disciples at that time, who were all about to desert him, one–supernaturally one–with each other because they are one with Jesus and his Father:

I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them.  I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.

John 17:9-11

He then made the same prayer for all of us who would later follow him because of the words of the first disciples:

I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one;  I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

John 17:20-24

But our unity is, at present, mostly invisible. Recall from a previous post that the invisible things of God are more real than the things we see.

Years after Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension, and Pentecost, Paul confirmed that we are, in fact, one–even when we do not act like it:

For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.  For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.  For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. If they were all one member, where would the body be? But now there are many members, but one body.

1 Corinthians 12:12-20

Paul wrote this to the church at Corinth, which certainly appeared to be divided. It was a church that had competing factions who claimed allegiance to different leaders, tolerated gross immorality, had lawsuits between its members who were defrauding each other, made proud use of their freedom in Christ to the injury of others, had expressions of blatant selfishness even during the Lord’s Supper, and had quarrels over who was most gifted and whose gifts were the most important. In other words, it was a church that sounded a great deal like the modern church. Yet Paul reminded them that they were, in fact, all members of one Body in Christ, and should act like it. But how can that be?

            The key to all questions about the oneness of the Body is this: Christ is the Head of the Body. Ephesians 1:22. By the Father’s choice, Christ alone has the preeminence in all things—as the One in whom all the fullness of deity dwells, as the One who created all things, as the One who holds everything in the universe together, and as the Head and Savior of His Body, the Church. Colossians 1:15-19. Further, as our individual oneness with Christ implies that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, our collective oneness with Christ in God’s household also implies that the Church is also the temple of the Spirit. Ephesians 2:19-22. Jesus Christ is the chief corner stone of that temple, who sets the lines upon which the entire building is built. Ephesians 2:19-22. It is Christ who loved the Church and gave His life for her, to set her apart, cleanse her, and present her to Himself spotless. Ephesians 5:25-28. It is Christ who, through His Spirit, places all of the members in the Body and gives them such functions as he chooses. Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:28-31. It is Christ who died to break down all of the barriers between the members of His Body and to reconcile them to God and to each other. Ephesians 2:13-16 & 3:6. It is in Christ that the whole Body is framed and from Christ that the whole Body grows. Ephesians 4:15-16. It is Christ who holds the Body together and provides it nourishment. Colossians 2:19; Ephesians 5:29-30. We have life and growth and power only as we remain in Christ, and apart from Him we can do nothing. Ephesians 3:14-21; John 15:4-5. All of our questions about the oneness of the Church, as a present reality, are answered if we truly recognize Christ as its Head.

Thus, all of us who have been saved through the knowledge of Christ are already one with Him: one with Him in His death, burial and resurrection; one with Him in the Spirit; and one with Him in His new life. Romans 6:3-11. Because we are each individually united with Christ in this way, we are one with each other. “We, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another,” as Paul says. Romans 12:5. Logically, it cannot be otherwise—we cannot each be one with Christ, yet not be one with each other. Moreover, we are united with Christ and with each other in a single Body of which He is the Head. Our oneness with Christ and with each other is a present reality from which we cannot escape.

To be sure, we are also involved, individually and corporately, in a growth process in which we are learning to live out the truth of our oneness with God and with each other. We must continually choose to conform to the truth for it to have its full, intended effect in our experience. But the fact that we can decide how the truth of our oneness will affect our present experience does not make its truth depend on us. As will be explained in other posts, when we choose to deny or neglect our oneness, it does not cease to exist. Rather, our sinful choice to deny our present oneness has real, negative consequences. So, in this sense, the choice is ours—we can either willingly conform to the truth and be blessed with growth or reject the truth and suffer the consequences. However, our choice for or against the truth does not affect the reality that Christ died to make us one with Himself and with each other. His work is done, and our oneness is a present, completed truth that should influence all of our conduct.