«　WEEK 2　DAY 5　»

　　Rom. 12:5 "So we who are many are one Body in Christ, and individually members one of another."

　　Col. 3:10-11 "And have put on the new man, which is being renewed unto full knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all and in all."

　　The purpose of us believers being members one of another in the Body of Christ is that we would live Christ and express Him together (Rom. 12:5). According to the New Testament, none of us believers can live and work alone apart from the Body. Our living and work must all be in the Body of Christ. As members of the Body of Christ, we are not separate and complete individual units. Rather, we should coordinate together to become the many parts of the one whole. What the Lord wants is not individual members but a whole Body. However, most Christians… think that it is all right as long as they love and fear the Lord and preach the gospel to bring others to salvation. But as far as the expression of the Lord's Body is concerned, this is not good at all. We have to see that in the Lord's recovery, one great item is the recovery of the Lord's Body. All our living and work must be in the Body of Christ. We do not live Christ alone. Rather, we live Christ with all the members. In this way we will express Christ in a corporate way. (CWWL, 1990, vol. 2, “The Oneness and the One Accord according to the Lord's Aspiration and the Body Life and Service according to His Pleasure, “p. 84)

　　We must realize that [our] body is always one with the head in life and in nature. Our body is one life and one nature with our head. This tells us that the church is one with Christ in life and nature. In other words, according to life and nature, Christ is the church. Christ is not only the Head, but He is also the Body, because the Body's life is Christ and the Body's nature is Christ. The Body is Christ, and Christ is the Body.

　　We are told in 1 Corinthians 12:12 that the Body is Christ. Christ is the Body. The church is not composed of Americans, Japanese, Chinese, French, Germans, or British. The Body, which is the new man, has no Greek, no Jew, no circumcision, no uncircumcision, no barbarian, no Scythian, no civilized people, and no uncivilized people, but Christ is all and in all (Col.3:11).

　　In the church there is only Christ. Christ is all in all. We all must be swallowed up by Christ. If there is only Christ, how can we have any opinions? If there is only Christ, how can we have any self-exalting factors? The divisions come from the different peoples, not from Christ.

　　In the Body, the expression of the church, there is only one person—Christ. We must enjoy Him and let Him swallow up all the different peoples. This is why in the church there is no Greek and no Jew, no cultured, and no barbarians. All are swallowed up by Christ, not by being taught but by being nourished with the riches of Christ.

　　We all need to see this clearly. When we go to any place, we must never try to correct or adjust others but only feed them with Christ. It is so easy to correct others, because we are so religious and trust so much in the teachings. But this will never work. We must guard ourselves from any temptation to correct others and simply show them how to enjoy Christ. We must only minister Christ to feed them. If Christ is the quicker One, Christ will do a quick job. If Christ is not so quick, then we must leave the matter to Christ. We should not adjust or correct but feed and nourish them with Christ. People do not need correction but the nourishment and the enjoyment of Christ. (CWWL, 1968, vol. 1, “The Practical Expression of the Church, “pp. 347, 351-352)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1990, vol. 2, “The Oneness and the One Accord according to the Lord's Aspiration and the Body Life and Service according to His Pleasure, “ch. 2; CWWL, 1968, vol. 1, “The Practical Expression of the Church, “ch. 2