Hold to Truth to Grow into Christ, the Head, and Function out of the Head for the Body

The intrinsic building up of the organic Body of Christ is by the direct building by all the members – into the Head and out of the Head; we need to hold to truth in love and grow up into Him, and out of the Head we will be richly supplied to function in our measure.

The Body of Christ builds itself up in love; the Body builds itself by every member growing into the Head and functioning out of the Head to build up the Body in love.

We need to see the intrinsic building up of the Body of Christ; how is the Body of Christ built up intrinsically?

We may think that it is the gifted members of the Body that do the building up of the Body, while we all as normal members of the Body do not have to do much.

Actually, it is not the gifts that build up the Body directly but it is us, each and every one of us as members of the Body of Christ, who need to function in the Body and grow into the Head for the direct building up of the Body.

The Lord builds the Body by giving the gifts to the Body.

The gifts do their part to perfect the saints, and the saints who are growing in life and are perfected do the direct work of building up of the Body by their functioning in their measure.

The building up of the Body of Christ is into the Head (we all grow into the Head in all things) and out of the Head (we function out of the Head, being richly supplied and knit together) – see Eph. 4:16.

Sadly, however, if we look around us in Christianity, not many believers grow in life in a normal way, and not many believers function by being perfected to function in the Body for the building up of the Body.

What we see today is some who are more gifted taking the lead to do a lot of things, some who have organizational skills who take care of the business side and promoting the “ministry”, and the rest of the people don’t do much.

May the Lord recover the functioning of all the members of the Body of Christ by their growth into the Head and their functioning out of the Head, being richly supplied and knit together by the joints of rich supply.

First, we need to grow into the Head, and then we will function out of the Head, being in the divine dispensing and being perfected to function in our measure.

In this way, we build up the Body of Christ directly.

We must Hold to Truth in Love, Growing up into the Head, Christ, to be Built Up

According to Eph. 4:15, we need to hold to the truth in love so that we may grow up into the Head, Christ, in all things; this is the way to be built up and to build up the Body of Christ.

Truth here doesn’t refer merely to factual spiritual things as opposed to lies; this is not how the Bible speaks concerning the truth. Truth refers to what is real, that which is true; truth is reality.

We need to hold to the truth in love, in the incorruptible divine love, not the corruptible natural love of our natural man.

According to the wisdom given to him by God, Solomon said in Ecclesiastes that everything under the sun is vanity of vanities.

No matter how good, excellent, marvellous and wonderful a thing may be, as long as it is of the old creation, it is part of the vanity of vanities under the sun.

Only the new creation, which is in the heavens and is not under the sun, is not vanity, but is reality.

The new creation is reality, but the old creation is vanity; the new creation is reality because it has God in it and is constituted with God, but the old creation is vanity because it is devoid of God.

Because of Satan’s rebellion and man’s fall, all the created things were brought into the slavery of corruption and were made subject to vanity.

Now the entire universe is under the slavery of corruption and is subject to vanity.

The human life in the corrupted world has become vanity.

The entire human history from beginning to end is nothing but vanity of vanities because it is a corrupted human life in the corrupted world, so it is a life of corruption and vanity.

The real things are the things related to God Himself.

Eph. 5:15 is in contrast with v. 14, for it starts with the word “but”; instead of being little children who are tossed by the waves and carried about by every wind of teaching, we should hold to the truth in love.

When we hold to the truth in love, we will grow up into Christ, the Head, in all things. In both small and big things we need to grow up into the Head so that in everything we are persons who are in Christ.

The truth to which we must hold is the divine truth of God’s eternal economy, of the all-inclusive Christ, and of the church as the Body of Christ.

These are the real things because God is in them. God is the content of His economy, He is embodied in the all-inclusive Christ, and the church is the expression and manifestation of God.

We should reject any kind of teaching or speaking that carries us away from these three things, for they are winds of teaching trying to toss us about and deceive us.

If we hold to God’s eternal economy, to Christ as the all-inclusive One, and to the church as the Body of Christ, we will grow into the Head, Christ, in all things.

We must be subject to the Head, Christ (1 Cor. 11:3; Eph. 5:23; 1:22, 10), and allow His divine life to expand and increase into all our inward parts (Rom. 8:10, 6, 11; 2 Cor. 5:4).

Christ is the Head of every man; He is the head of every one of us, and we must hold Him as the Head.

Christ is also the Head of the church, and He is Head over all things to the church. In the fullness of the times, God will head up all things in Christ.

He is the universal Head, He is the Head of every man, the Head of the church, and the Head over all things.

We need to give Him the first place and recognize His authority in the church and in our own personal lives.

He has to be the Head and we need to be subject to the Head; when we are subject to Him, we allow His divine life to expand and increase into our inward parts.

He first came into our spirit, and from there He wants to grow and spread into our inward parts – our mind, emotion, and will.

Christ is always seeking an opportunity to spread in us and grow in us; He as the Spirit wants to increase in us.

For this to take place, we need to love Him and open to Him; we need to open to Him all the doors of our hearts and allow Him to spread into our mind, emotion, and will.

Our spirit is life (Rom. 8:10), and when our mind is set on our spirit, our mind becomes life (v. 6).

When the Lord spreads from our spirit into our mind, He makes our mind life.

May the inward parts of Christ become our inward parts (2 Cor. 10:1); may His meekness and gentleness become our meekness and gentleness.

May we allow Him to spread into our being every day by simply opening to Him. He wants to spread until even what is mortal will be swallowed up by Him as life.

Our growth in Christ should be the growth as members of the Body of Christ under the Head; our growth is not only in Christ but also in His Body (Eph. 4:15).

Paul didn’t write that we need to grow into the Savior, Master, or Lord, but into the Head.

Our growth into the Head is a growth as members of the Body, not as individuals or isolated believers.

We need to pray not only to grow in Christ but grow for the Body and in the Body.

And we need to minister Christ to others so that they grow in the Head to be built up in the Body until we can present every man full-grown in Christ.

Lord Jesus, we want to hold to truth in love so that we may grow up into Christ in all things! Amen, Lord, we hold to the divine truth of God’s eternal economy, the all-inclusive Christ, and to the church as the Body of Christ. We subject ourselves to You, Lord, and we take You as our Head. You are the Head of the Body, the Head of the church, the Head of every man, and the Head over all things to the church. We take You as our Head. We allow Your divine life to grow in us. Spread in our being, Lord. May Your element increase in us. Spread from our spirit into all the parts of our mind, emotion, and will. We open the door of our hearts to You. Increase in us. Amen, Lord, grow in us for the Body! Grow in us and in all the saints for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ. May our growth be in the Body and for the Body under Christ as the Head!

Out from the Head, the Body is Joined and Knit together through the Operation in the Measure of each one Part

As a continuation of v. 15, Eph. 4:16 says that out of Christ as the Head all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.

Joined together is being joined closely, just as the frame of a building is joined together. Once the frame of a building is joined together, you can add the other parts and do the knitting and interweaving.

Our from the Head, in the divine dispensing, all the Body is joined closely together through every joint of the rich supply and knit together, interwoven, through the operation in the measure of each one part.

As we, the members of the Body, hold to the truth in love and grow up into Christ, the Head, in all things, the Body of Christ is joined closely together through the joints of the rich supply.

These are the specially gifted members who have the rich supply for the Body.

The Body is also built by the knitting together of the members of the Body, the interweaving through the operation in the measure of each one part.

When we grow into the Head, Christ, we can produce out from the Head many functions for the building up of His Body.

As human beings, we start from a small person, an immature and small body, and we grow.

At our birth, we have all the organs and everything that we need, but it is all very small – we need to grow.

Similarly in the Body of Christ, we need to grow up into Christ in all things, who is the head.

We need to grow up into the Head in small things and in big things, and spontaneously we will function out from the Head to build up the Body of Christ.

Every member of the Body of Christ has a measure through the growth in life and can function for the growth and building up of the Body of Christ.

On one hand, we need to hold to the Head, Christ, and grow up into Him in all things. on the other hand, out from Christ as the Head, there’s a divine dispensing that heads us up and supplies us, and we can function out from the Head to build up the Body.

Each one of us has a measure in which we can function; as the many parts of the Body operate and function in their measure, the Body builds itself up in love.

When we grow up into the Head, we will produce out from the Head many functions for the building up of the Body of Christ.

Out from the Head, the whole Body is joined together and knit together.

The Body is joined together through every joint of the rich supply and is being knit together through the operation in the measure of each one part.

Every one of us believers in Christ is a member of the Body of Christ, and everyone has a certain measure through our growth in life to function in the Body.

Our measure of functioning in the Body is determined by our growth in life into the Head, Christ, in all things.

The more we grow into Christ in all things, the more we can receive our function from the Head, Christ, for the growth and building up of the Body of Christ.

Our need and obligation are simply to grow into Christ, the Head, in all things, and there will be the function, the measure of function, in which we will operate or function for the building up of the Body of Christ.

Lord Jesus, keep us growing up into You in all things, holding You as the Head, so that we may receive our function out from You. Amen, Lord, we hold the Head, Christ, and we want to function in the divine dispensing according to our measure for the building up of the Body of Christ. May we grow into the Head a little more today. May all the saints grow up into Christ, the Head, in all things, so that many functions may be produced out from the Head for the building up of the Body. Increase our measure of life. Grow in us, Lord, and expand in our being, so that we may grow in life and function for the growth and building up of the Body of Christ. Amen, Lord, may all the Body hold to the Head and, out of the Head, be joined through every joint of the rich supply and knit together through the operation in the measure of each one part!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers in the message, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 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, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Loving the Lord and loving one another for the organic building up of the church as the Body of Christ (2022 fall ITERO), week 4, entitled, The Organic Body of Christ Building itself up in Love.
• Further reading on this topic:
  – The need to see the Body, a portion from The Oneness and the One Accord according to the Lord’s Aspiration and the Body Life and Service according to His Pleasure, by W. Lee;
  – Growing into the Head, Christ, in all things, portion via, The Vision of the Divine Dispensing and Guidelines for the Practice of the New Way, by W. Lee;
  – Growing up into the head, Christ, in all things, portion via, The Organic Union in God’s Relationship with Man, by W. Lee;
  – Prayer for the saints to labor and endeavor consistently and persistently, not expecting quick results, via Beseeching;
  – The perfecting of the saints, a portion from, Elders’ Training, Book 09: The Eldership and the God-Ordained Way (1), by Witness Lee.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – But holding to truth in love / We may grow up in all things / Into Him who is the Head / Christ is the Head / Out from Whom all the Body / Being joined together and / Being knit together through / Ev’ry joint of the rich supply / And through the operation / In the measure of each one part. (Scripture song)
  – In my knowledge and experience / I would not exalted be, / But submitting and accepting / Let the Body balance me; / Holding fast the Head, and growing / With His increase, in His way, / By the joints and bands supplying, / Knit together day by day. (Hymns #840 stanza 3)
  – Truth we must be holding, which is Christ Himself, / That we be delivered from the sects of self, / That in all things growing into Christ the Head, / Built will be the Body and to fulness led. / To the “unity of faith” we must attain, / All the “winds of doctrine” evermore disdain; / Holding Christ the Spirit, our reality, / For the Body’s growing in its unity. (Hymns #832 stanzas 4-5)