For the church life – the life of the Body of Christ – be realized, our entire being is needed: our body needs to be presented, our soul needs to be transformed, and our spirit needs to be burning.
As we enjoy Christ as grace, this grace brings with it the element of certain skills and abilities which, accompanying our growth in life, develop into the gifts in life that we may function in the Body of Christ for us to serve God.
God’s great will has three main aspects: first, it is for Christ to have a Body as His expression and enlargement on earth; second, it is for Christ to be everything to us as the replacement of all the sacrifices; and third, it is for us to live the Body life today for the corporate expression of the Triune God.
In a body there are many members, all members are needed, and all members are one in the body. Similarly, in the Body of Christ there are many members, and all the members of the Body, are one Body in Christ.
This is a great secret that all believers must know, apply, and experience today; we need to know and realize that we are one Body in Christ.
We have been cut off from the old man, the old person, and we have been grafted into Christ; now in Christ we are one Body, and as long as we remain in the organic union with the Lord, we are one Body.
These words, “in Christ” indicate that there’s an organic union between us and the Lord; in ourselves we are not the Body of Christ, but in Christ we are one Body.
The actuality of the Body is the remaining in the organic union with Christ; when we remain in Christ by abiding in Him, we are in the reality of the Body, but when we’re not in the organic union with Him, we are not in the Body in reality.
This is why the Lord told us to abide in Him and He will abide in us; when we abide in the Lord and He abides in us, we are in the Body in reality, and we live the Body life.
When we remain in the organic union with the Lord, we are in the Body, but when we don’t remain in the organic union, we are out of the Body.
So we need to check ourselves whether we are in the organic union or we are not abiding in the Lord; when we check this again and again, we will admit that we do not remain too much in the organic union. Oh Lord!
The Body of Christ is held together by the organic union of all the members of the Body with Christ as the Head; when we are in the organic union with the Lord, we are in the Body in reality.
Present your body, be Renewed in your mind, and be Burning in spirit for the Body Life
In order for the church life to be realized, our entire tripartite being is needed; the church life is not merely in our spirit or in our soul, but rather, our spirit, soul, and body are needed for the church life.
According to Rom. 12:1-2, 11, we need to have a presented body, a transformed soul, and a burning spirit for the proper church life.
First of all, as per Rom. 12:1, we need to present our bodies as a living sacrifice for the church life.
When we take Christ as our everything and enjoy Him in all things, as we remain in the organic union with Him, there is no problem for us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice.
The first aspect of the church life is that we need to present our bodies for the church life; our body may not want to be in the meeting for the flesh is weak and unwilling, but we need to be a living sacrifice.
The goal of presenting our bodies is not merely consecration, but to bring forth the living Body in reality.
In Rom. 12:1 the word bodies is plural, and sacrifice is singular; this indicates that, although many bodies are presented, they become one sacrifices.
Though we are many saints, our service in the Body should not be many individual services, separated and unrelated.
Rather, all our service should constitute one whole service, and this service must be unique because it is the service of the one Body of Christ. How marvelous this is!
We can present our bodies and serve as one corporate entity!
Through our union with the Lord, as we enjoy Him as our everything, we are joined to Him and to one another, and we present ourselves as a living sacrifice, and we are able to carry out a living service.
After presenting our body, we need to have our mind renewed (Rom. 12:2-3).
We shouldn’t be fashioned according to this age but be transformed by the renewing of the mind so that we may prove what the will of God is.
The renewing of the mind results from setting our mind on our spirit (Rom. 8:6), and is the base for the transformation of our soul.
Our mind is the leading part of our soul, so when our mind is renewed by our setting our mind on the spirit, our will and emotion will automatically follow to be renewed also.
For our mind to be renewed means that a new element is wrought into our being; God’s element is wrought into us, and this produces an inward metabolic transformation.
When we are transformed in our soul, we become suitable for the building up of the Body of Christ, which is the practice of the church life.
It’s easy, however, for us to fall into the opinions of the mind in our soul after we have presented our body for the church life; therefore, our mind in particular needs to be renewed for the transformation of our soul.
Once our mind is transformed, we need to continue to be burning in spirit, so that we may not fall into a negative or dormant state.
We need to be burning in spirit so that we may be stirred up and encouraged to go on in the church life in a positive way (Rom. 12:11).
If all we have is dead, vain knowledge and doctrinal forms, we can become degraded and lukewarm; therefore, we need to repent of our lukewarmness and be zealous, boiling, burning, so that we may regain the enjoyment of the reality of Christ (Rev. 3:16, 19-22).
We need to present our bodies, have our mind renewed by having it set on the spirit, and overcome every deadening factor by laying hold of Him and cleaving to Him in our spirit, being encouraged by Him, be besides ourselves for Him, to the point that we are burning in spirit, even boiling in spirit!
Lord Jesus, we present our entire being to You for the church life, for the life of the Body of Christ! We present our bodies as a living sacrifice for the church life; may our service be in the Body and for the Body, for the bringing forth of the Body in life! We set our mind on our spirit, Lord, so that we may be renewed in our mind for the transformation of our soul. May our mind, emotion, and will be transformed for the church life! Amen, Lord Jesus, we want to be burning in spirit so that we may be encouraged to go on in the church life in a positive way! Yes, Lord Jesus, we present our body, we want to be renewed in our mind, and we want to be burning in spirit for the church life, the Body life!
Living the Normal Christian Life with the Highest Virtues for the Body Life
On one hand we need to present our entire tripartite being to the Lord for the church life, and on the other, we need to enjoy Christ as grace so that we may function in the Body.
When Christ as grace comes to us, this grace brings with it the element of certain skills and abilities which, accompanying our growth in life, develop the gifts in life that we may function in the Body of Christ to serve God (Rom. 12:4-8).
The more we enjoy Christ as grace, the more we enjoy the gifts of grace; we are then made able to prophesy and serve faithfully, we are able to teach and exhort, we can give with simplicity, we can lead diligently, and we can show mercy cheerfully.
All these are the result of our being a person taking Christ as our enjoyment and as our everything in the context of the church life.
In Rom. 12:9-21 we see the normal Christian life as the necessary base for the practice of the church life and matching the church life. Such a life is a life of the highest virtues for the Body life (Rom. 5:17).
We can have such a living for the Body life only by reigning in life.
According to Rom. 5:10, we are saved in the Lord’s life much more, and as we contact Him and enjoy Him as grace, we reign in life through that enjoyed grace.
As we do this in the church life, we have a Christian life that brings forth a genuine church life, one that is fulfilling to the saints, expresses the Lord, and is attractive to others.
We need to live a normal Christian life for the church life, the Body life; such a living is in the organic union with the Lord, and it has many wonderful and even highest virtues for the church life.
The various virtues brought forth by our remaining in the organic union with the Lord are that we love the brothers warmly, take the lead in honoring one another, we rejoice in hope, we endure in tribulation, we persevere in prayer, we help the saints, we pursue hospitality, we bless others, we weep with those who weep, we rejoice with those who rejoice, we feed our hungry enemy, and we don’t repay evil for evil but conquer evil with good.
As we reign in life by enjoying Christ as our everything, we enjoy Him in every instance and abide in the organic union with Him; this is the basis for the church life, for progressing and thriving in the God-ordained way, and we have a glorious testimony, having the spontaneous living out and speaking forth of the gospel! Amen!
God’s complete salvation is for us to reign in life by the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness; when we’re all reigning in life, living under the ruling of the divine life, the issue is the real and practical Body life.
It is this real and practical Body life that the Lord is looking for; it is this life that satisfies God’s will, for it is according to God’s heart and God’s will.
As we enjoy Christ as grace, which is the divine life for our enjoyment, something happens; we labor more than others – yet not us, but the grace of God which is with us (1 Cor. 15:10).
When we allow Christ as grace to rule and reign in us, we not only reign in life through this One we enjoy and live by, but we also labor faithfully, yet it is not us but the grace of God which is with us. Amen!
Lord Jesus, we want to enjoy You as grace so that we may grow in life and have the gifts in life for our function in the Body of Christ and our service to God. Keep us enjoying You as grace so that we may prophesy and serve faithfully, be able to teach and exhort, give in simplicity, lead diligently, and show mercy cheerfully. May we have a normal Christian life that is the necessary base for the practice of the church life and that matches the church life! Amen, may we have a normal Christian life, a life of the highest virtues for the Body life! May we have such a living for the Body life by reigning in life!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Rick Scatterday for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Romans, pp. 303-306 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Will of God (2020 spring ITERO), week 4, Living a Life according to God’s Heart and Will.
- Hymns on this topic:
– And do not be fashioned according to this age, / But be transformed by the renewing of the mind / That you may prove what the will of God is, / That which is good and well pleasing and perfect. (Scripture song)
– By Thy life and by its flowing / I can grow and be transformed, / With the saints coordinated, / Builded up, to Thee conformed; / Keep the order in the Body, / There to function in Thy will, / Ever serving, helping others, / All Thy purpose to fulfill. (Hymns #840)
– God’s complete salvation / Is based upon His righteousness and through our faith. / By the two divine transfers: / Out of Adam into Christ / And out of the flesh into the Spirit. / In the one spiritual union of the / Spirit of Life with our spirit / Forming a mingled spirit. / For us to reign in life by the abundance of grace / and of the gift of righteousness. (Song on, God’s complete salvation)
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