Ⅱ
In the Body there can be no independence or individualism, for we are members, and members cannot live in detachment from the Body—1 Cor. 12:27; Rom. 12:5; Eph. 5:30:
Ａ
Every believer is a member of the Body of Christ, and every member is indispensable—1 Cor. 12:15, 21; Rom. 12:3.
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“If we truly see our position in the Body, it will be as though we were saved a second time” (W. Nee, The Mystery of Christ, p. 16)—John 1:50-51; 1 Tim. 3:15.
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Those who see that they are members of the Body will surely treasure the Body and honor the other members—1 Cor. 12:23-24; Phil. 2:29; 1 Cor. 16:18; Judg. 9:9.
Ｄ
Wherever there is Body-revelation, there is Body-consciousness, and wherever there is Body-consciousness, individualistic thought and action are ruled out:
１
If we want to know the Body, we need deliverance not only from our sinful life and our natural life but also from our individualistic life.
２
Just as the Father is versus the world, the Spirit is versus the flesh, and the Lord is versus the devil, so also the Body is versus the individual.
３
Just as we cannot be independent from the Head, we cannot be independent from the Body.
４
Individualism is hateful in the sight of God:
ａ
The enemy of the Body is the self, the independent “I,” the independent “me”—Matt. 16:21-26.
ｂ
If we would be built up in the Body, the self must be condemned, denied, rejected, and renounced.
ｃ
We should be dependent not only on God but also on the Body, on the brothers and sisters—Exo. 17:11-13; Acts 9:25; 2 Cor. 11:33.
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What I do not know, another member of the Body will know; what I cannot see, another member of the Body will see; what I cannot do, another member of the Body will do.
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If we refuse the help of our fellow members, we are refusing the help of Christ—1 Cor. 12:12.
７
Sooner or later all individualistic Christians will dry up.
Ⅲ
As members of the Body, we must allow ourselves to be limited by the other members, not going beyond our measure:
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A basic requirement for the growth and development of the Body is that we recognize our measure and not go beyond it—Eph. 4:7, 16.
Morning Nourishment
1 Cor. 12:12 "For even as the body is one and has many members, yet all the members of the body, being many, are one body, so also is the Christ."Rom. 12:5 "So we who are many are one Body in Christ, and individually members one of another."
In the New Testament there are two ways to look at Christ. On the one hand, He is Jesus Christ the Nazarene—this is the individual Christ. On the other hand, He is Christ plus the church—the corporate Christ. First Corinthians 12:12 refers to the second aspect when it says, “All the members of the body, being many, are one body, so also is the Christ.” Anything apart from Christ is not the church. There is only one thing in a Christian that forms a part of the church—Christ. The church is the corporate Christ. In the church there is only Christ. During the bread-breaking meeting, the portion that we break off from the whole still signifies the Body of Christ, the church. The church is not what is added to Christ but what issues out from Christ.…The church is the composition of all the believers with Christ. The church is the corporate Christ. (CWWN, vol. 44, “The Mystery of Christ, “p. 787)
Today's Reading
Being a Christian is something individualistic, whereas being a member is something corporate. Being a Christian is something one does for himself, whereas being a member is something for the Body. In the Bible there are many terms with opposite meanings, such as purity and uncleanness, holiness and commonness, victory and defeat, the Spirit and the flesh, Christ and Satan, the kingdom and the world, and glory and shame. All these are opposites. In the same way, the Body is in opposition to the individual. Just as the Father is versus the world, the Spirit is versus the flesh, and the Lord is versus the devil, so also is the Body versus the individual. Once a man sees the Body of Christ, he is free from individualism. He will no longer live for himself but for the Body. Once I am delivered from individualism, I am spontaneously in the Body.The Body of Christ is not a doctrine; it is a realm. It is not a teaching, but a life. Many Christians seek to teach the truth of the Body, but few know the life of the Body. The Body of Christ is an experience in a totally different realm. A man can know the book of Romans without being justified. Similarly, a man can know the book of Ephesians without seeing the Body of Christ. We do not need knowledge; rather, we need revelation to know the reality of the Body of Christ and to enter the realm of the Body. Only a revelation from God will usher us into the realm of the Body, and only then will the Body of Christ become our experience.
If we realize that a Christian is nothing more than a member, we will no longer be proud. Everything depends on our seeing. Those who see that they are members will surely treasure the Body and honor the other members. They will not see just their own virtues; they will readily see others as being better than themselves.
Consider our human body. No member of our body can act independently. It is impossible for a body to depend on one hand or one leg. However, if the body loses a member, it will not be complete. The Body of Christ is composed of all the believers. Every believer is a member in the Body of Christ, and every believer is indispensable.
The Body of Christ is a reality. The church life is also a reality. The Word of God does not say the church is like the Body of Christ; it says the church is the Body of Christ. Nothing external can become part of our physical bodies. We may clothe our bodies, but the clothes do not become part of our bodies. Nothing that is of us can ever become part of the Body of Christ, because “Christ is all and in all” in the Body (Col. 3:11). Anything in us that is not a part of Christ frustrates our inward knowledge of the Body of Christ. Sin hinders us from seeing Christ, and the natural life hinders us from seeing the Body. (CWWN, vol. 44, “The Mystery of Christ, “pp. 794-795, 794)
Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 44, “The Mystery of Christ, ” ch. 98