Scripture Reading: Rom. 8:3; 1:3-4; 8:14; 12:2, 4-5, 9a, 10a, 12b, 14-15, 18; 15:29
Ⅰ
In Romans we can see the high peak of the divine revelation: God became man (8:3) so that man may become God (1:3-4) for the producing of the Body of Christ (12:4-5) as the organism of the Triune God.
Ⅱ
The deep thought in Romans is that God became man so that, in God's complete salvation, sinners may be redeemed, regenerated, sanctified, renewed, transformed, conformed, and glorified to become the sons of God, who are the same as God in life and nature, to be the members of the Body of Christ—8:3; 1:3-4; 3:24; 5:10; 8:14, 29-30; 12:2, 4-5.
Ⅲ
The focal point of the book of Romans is the Body of Christ; if we neglect the Body of Christ, we do not have the focus of the Christian life, and we do not have the proper goal, aim, and direction in the Christian life—v. 5.
Ⅳ
The will of God is to obtain a Body for Christ to be His fullness, His expression—Rev. 4:11; Eph. 1:5, 9; Rom. 12:2, 4-5:
A
To live the Body life is to "prove what the will of God is"—vv. 2, 5.
B
The will of God is for us mutually to be members one of another in the Body, coordinating to be the Body of Christ and living the Body life—vv. 2, 5; 1 Cor. 1:1-2; 12:12, 27.
C
If we are proper members of the Body, acting and functioning in the church life, we will be persons in the will of God—vv. 14-27; Rom. 12:2, 5; Eph. 1:1; 5:17.
Ⅴ
Consecration is for the Body of Christ; the purpose of consecration is for us to realize the Body and to live the Body life—Rom. 12:1-2.
Ⅵ
The Body of Christ is an organism composed of a group of people who live, walk, and have their being according to the mingled spirit—1:9; 7:6; 8:4, 16; 12:11.
Ⅶ
Romans 12:5 indicates that Christ is the element and the sphere of the members in the Body of Christ:
A
In the Body of Christ, Christ Himself is the element and the sphere of all the members because it is in Christ that we are members one of another—v. 5.
B
We are one Body in the organic union with Christ—vv. 4-5:
１
Romans 12 speaks of the Body from the angle of the organic union, from a life that unites us together not only with Christ but also with all the other members of Christ—vv. 4-5; 6:4-5.
２
The organic union with Christ makes us one in life with Christ and with all the other members of His Body—12:5:
ａ
The Body is not an organization or a society but is altogether an organism produced by the union in life that we have in Christ—John 15:1.
ｂ
The Body is held together in the organic union with Christ, and the actuality of the Body is the remaining in the organic union with Christ— vv. 4-5.
ｃ
To be organic in the Body means that we are organically united with Christ and thereby planted into His Body; now we have an organic union with the Body of Christ and are a part of the Body—Rom. 12:5.
ｄ
The Body is not merely a group of Christians coming together; the Body is held together in the organic union with Christ.
３
The Body of Christ is altogether a matter of life and a matter of remaining in the organic union with Christ—8:2, 6, 10-11; 12:5:
ａ
The actuality of the Body is to remain in this organic union with Christ—John 15:4-5.
ｂ
In order to realize the Body of Christ, we need to fully experience the organic union with Christ, having a thorough realization that we are organically one with Christ—1 Cor. 6:17.
ｃ
If we do not realize the organic union with Christ, in practicality we are outside of the Body and apart from the Body.
４
We are members one of another in Christ, not in ourselves, for Christ is both the element that makes us members one of another and the sphere in which we are members one of another—Rom. 12:5:
ａ
In ourselves we are not the members of the Body of Christ; if we are in ourselves, in practicality we are not members of the Body.
ｂ
We need to learn to experience and enjoy Christ as the element and the sphere of the members in the Body.
Ⅷ
In Romans 12 we see the issue of the experience and enjoyment of Christ as the element and sphere of the members in the Body:
A
We have the consciousness of the Body—"rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep"—v. 15.
B
In and for the Body life, we live a life of the highest virtues:
１
"Let love be without hypocrisy"; "love one another warmly in brotherly love"—vv. 9a, 10a; 5:5; 8:35-39; 15:30.
２
"Endure in tribulation"—12:12b.
３
"If possible, as far as it depends on you, live in peace with all men"—v. 18.
４
"Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse"—v. 14; 15:29.