ONE BODY
The first feature we meet in the unity of the Spirit is that of the One Body.
This is a reference to the”Church,
which is His Body”. This
does not liken the Church to the human body. Many mistakenly think the One Body, which is
the Church of this dispensation, is likened to the human body because Ephesians and
Colossians speaks of Christ as being the Head of the body. They derive the idea from 1
Corinthians 12 where the Apostle Paul likens the Church of God to a human body.
In fact, 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12 do liken the Church of God to a figure
of a "body". The figure is that of human anatomy.
These truths belong to the Pentecostal dispensation which ended at Acts 28:28.
The One Body of the present dispensation is a reference to a body of believers.
The word "body" carries with it the thought of "a number of individuals united”(Webster's 1828). We would refer to the students in a high school as -
The student body
furthermore, we would refer to the main part of an army as -
The main body of the army
It is in this sense that the Church is referred to as the Body. It is these
individuals who make up the company which is the Church of this dispensation. The Church
is a body of believers who have embraced the truth of the Mystery.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ONE BODY AT THE TIME OF THE REVELATION
Keep in mind that the truth of the One Body was not revealed until the hope of
Israel was placed in abeyance. After the Apostle Paul pronounced official and judicial
blindness upon Israel (Acts 28:25-28), he subsequently received a special revelation of
the Mystery. The revelation of the Mystery given to Paul completely altered a situation
which had existed between believers during the Acts period.
During the Acts period the Jewish believer had many dispensational advantages
over the Gentile believer. There were great distinctions between the Jewish Christian and
the Gentile Christian.
The Jew had the advantage - "much in every way: chiefly, because unto them were committed the oracles of
God”(Rom. 3:1-2). Paul
enumerates other advantages the Jew had during the Acts of the Apostles. To the Israelites
pertained:
a. The adoption
b. The glory
c. The covenants
d. The law
e. The service of God
f. The promises
g. The fathers
h. Concerning the flesh Christ came (Rom. 9:4-5)
Gentiles during the Acts period were dispensationally disadvantaged. In fact,
they were being saved for the express purpose of provoking Israel to jealousy (Rom.
11:11). There was a difference between the Jew and the Gentile.
Galatians 2 even informs the student the distinction was so pronounced that the
Gentiles had one gospel and the Jews had another.
The Gospel of the Circumcision � The Jew
The Gospel of the Uncircumcision � The Gentile
There were churches of the Jews as well as churches of the Gentiles.
Churches of God in Judea -Jewish- 1 Thess. 2:14
Churches of the Gentiles- Rom. 16:4
The Gentile Christians were said to have been without a Christ of their own,
aliens from Israel’s commonwealth, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no
hope of their own, and having no God of their own (Eph. 2:12).
These distinctions which existed during the Acts economy certainly indicates
there were two companies of believers. That is to say, there were two bodies of believers,
the Jew and the Gentile.
However, with the ushering in of the
Mystery, all the Jewish privilege and advantage was done away with. Prior to Acts 28:28,
the Gentile believer positionally was far off”. After Acts 28:28, there was a radical change, for Paul announces that
they were made "nigh by the
blood of Christ” (Eph.
2:13).
The "middle wall of partition" stood between the two parties of believers during the Acts period. The middle
wall was a wall of separation. In fact, it was an enmity"
between the Jews and Gentiles. As long as the middle wall
stood, the Jew had a place of privilege which was superior to that of the Gentile.
The announcement from prison that Christ was now among the
Gentiles and was there hope of glory (Col. 1:27) was indeed a "hard saying”for the Jewish saints to receive. For many of them who had lived under the
Old Testament economy had to leave behind much when the New Testament truth was
superimposed over the Old. Christ was the end of the Law for righteousness (Rom.10:3 0:3).
It was hard for them to accept the fact that Gentiles, from Acts 10 to 28:28 could be
saved and be made a partaker of the gifts of the Spirit without observing the Law or being
circumcised (see Acts 15). The Jewish Christians believed that Paul taught contrary to the
Law of Moses, it was even believed that Paul taught the Jews, "which are among the Gentiles to forsake
Moses, saying that they ought not circumcise their children, neither to walk after their
customs" (Acts 21 :21). This
of course was untrue. What was true was that the Gentile had no obligation to Moses or to
circumcision.
The Jewish saint was still to observe the Law but not for
righteousness sake.
After the announcement of Acts 28:28 the Jewish saint was told
that everything he had held near and dear concerning covenant truth was done away with.
Every barrier which had separated the two parties during the Acts period had been done
away with. There was now no privilege or advantage in being Jewish. This, naturally, would
have been a "bitter pill" to swallow. However, Paul rejoiced that the twain were
now one. For the Lord has made “in Himself of twain one
new man, so making peace" (Eph. 2:15).
The One New Man was a new creation. It was made of the twain
(i.e. both Jew and Gentile) coming out of the Acts period. As such, the two were "fellowheirs, and (members) of the
same body” (Eph. 3:6). The
"same body" is in reference to the Body of
believers over which Christ Jesus is the Head. The two factions which existed during the
Acts period were reconciled to God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity
thereby (Eph. 2:16).
The One New Man, the One Body, did not exist during the Acts of
the Apostles. It was imperative for the saints coming out of the Acts period to see there
was now one body of believers. Within this new calling every believer stood on equal
ground with others. Absolute equality exists within the One Body. Whereas previously there
had been inequality between the twain, hence two bodies of believers--the Jewish body with
its ascendancy— the Gentile body with its dispensational disadvantage.
The overwhelming truth for the twain coming out from the
Pentecostal Dispensation was that there now existed ONE BODY. The bond of peace for the
saints was to recognize the unity created by the Spirit in the Dispensation of the Mystery
,no longer two, but One Body with the Lord Jesus Christ as Its Head.