"There is one Body" (Eph. 4:4). That of course excludes the thought of two or more Bodies, just as it assures us that all believers (for such only could form part of that Body) belong to it. The means, as well as the manner of its creation and the composition of its membership, are described with equal clearness:"By one Spirit are we all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether bond or free" (1 Cor. 12:13). When therefore on the day of Pentecost, while the disciples ''were all with one accord in one place," the Holy Spirit at His coming baptized individual believers into one Body, He thereby inaugurated that dispensation which, in marked contrast with preceding dispensations, is characterized by the Spirit's personal presence with, dwelling in, and operation through, those who compose that Body.
By this baptism of the Spirit believers were not only joined to one another in an entirely new, divine, and therefore perfect and permanent manner, but (precious mystery!) also to the Lord, the divine Head of that Body. It was not therefore merely the forming of a union of like-minded men, but the creation of an organic unity, its glorious Head in heaven and its members upon the earth. To this organic, Spirit-made unity its divine Head has given His name-"the Christ" (1 Cor. 12:13, Gk.).
Of this "mystery" we are told in Eph. 3 that in other ages it had not been known to the sons of men, though now revealed by the Spirit, and in the chapter following we are exhorted to display certain moral characteristics in keeping with this divine unity into which we have been admitted, such as lowliness, meekness, forbearance, etc. (Eph. 4:2,3). The baptism of the Spirit-the initiatory act by which this unity was created-is, we must assume, never repeated, individual believers being "added" by the Lord, as in the beginning (Acts 2:47).
This company, so wondrously blessed and privileged, is variously designated in Scripture. When its source and general nature are in view, it is called "the Church (or assembly) of God" (1 Cor. 10:32). When regarded in connection with its activities on earth, it is spoken of as the "Body of Christ" (Eph. 4:12). When the divine Instrument of its creation and the power by which it is energized are to be expressed, it is denominated "the unity of the Spirit" (Eph. 4:3).
Simplicity and attention to the language of Scripture will keep us from certain errors of thought and expression sometimes found in connection with these closely associated subjects, resulting in distortion of the truth and in no little confusion.
Not infrequently one hears the expression, "the ground of the one Body," and learns that a distinction is being made between some who are on this ground and others who are not. Some, we are told, never were on this ground; others, who formerly were, have left it. A difference of judgment in a certain case may have produced two camps, each of which claiming for itself, but denying to the other, occupancy of the coveted "ground," though mutually admitting each other's place in the one Body. Accordingly, we have the anomaly of a person being in the Body but not on the ground of that Body.
Strange confusion this! Might one not without either irreverence or impertinence ask:If a member of the Body of Christ is not on the ground of that Body, on what ground is he? Is there another ground, or is he just without any ground? Who will tell us? For Scripture, let it be noted, is silent on the subject. It knows nothing, as far as one can discover, about a "ground" of the one Body other than the one Body itself.
Plainly enough, all who are of the one Body occupy the ground of that Body. To argue otherwise is to argue without Scripture. Timothy might have to be told how to "behave himself" in the house of God, but even should he in some particular instance have failed to act in harmony with the truth of that relationship, no one, we think, would on that account have accused him of leaving the "ground" of the house of God! The expression lacks justification both in Scripture and in reason.
But although a child of God can neither of his own accord nor by the pronouncement ojf others be dispossessed of any ground that may rightly belong to the one Body, he may, and (if one may speak for others) frequently does, act inconsistently with the truth of that Body. Who would wish to assert that he had consistently carried out in practice what is enjoined upon every member by the Spirit of God through the apostle:"That the members should have the same care one (or another," so that "whether one member suffers, all the members suffer with it, or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it?" (1 Cor. 12:26). Nay, if acting inconsistently with the truth of the one Body involves leaving the ground of that Body, how many of us are still on the ground?
Just as the truth of the one Body has thus on more than one occasion been warped and narrowed to serve personal or partisan ends-often enough, one would fain believe, in good faith-so also has the allied truth of the Spirit's unity been misunderstood and misapplied. It has been made to describe a human condition instead of a divine institution; unanimity of judgment rather than a creation of God the Spirit; something that may be kept or lost, depending upon our conduct, and not the perfect and immutable thing that it is, with the establishment and maintenance of which we have had nothing- and could have had nothing-to do. What would have happened to this unity of the Spirit, one may ask, had its maintenance depended upon the wisdom, faithfulness, humility, etc., of man, even though renewed and indwelt by the Spirit? Would it not long since have shared the fate of whatever else has been committed to his hand? As well talk of "keeping" the one Body as of keeping the unity of the Spirit, if by the latter expression is meant to preserve it intact or maintain its operation!
But we shall be reminded that to keep the unity of the Spirit is precisely what we are exhorted to do in that well-known Scripture in Eph. 4. Careful attention to the exhortation there given will show that it refers to the manner in which this truth is to be held-namely "in the uniting bond of peace"-and not at all to the preservation of the unity. Failure to note the place of sentence emphasis has led to widespread misunderstanding of the passage, as already pointed out.
By way of illustration, note the similar construction of the admonition given the Corinthians in the fifth chapter of the first epistle:"Even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast…. with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." Here, plainly, enough, the emphasis is not upon our keeping the passover feast, for that, as is well known, is an expression describing the continuous portion of those who have been redeemed, but upon the observation of certain becoming accompaniments of this continuous feast, namely, "sincerity and truth." Similarly, though it is not in our power either to destroy or mar this Spirit-made unity, we may sadly fail to display in every-day life the things that properly belong to such holy association, namely, "lowliness, meekness, longsuffering and forbearance." And to such failure we must all plead guilty. Alas, how little have we displayed toward one another and before the world the characteristics of that unity of the Spirit into which grace has put all who believe! How often spiritual pride and blind intolerance have usurped their place!
If, as some do, we take the "unity of the Spirit" to mean accord or one-mindedness in divine things, then, alas, we are forced to admit that such unity is largely academic or theoretical. To make such an admission is merely to record what experience everywhere teaches, namely, man's failure in whatever has been committed to his hands. We are indeed exhorted to be "of the same mind one toward the other," to "mind the same thing," etc., but such and similar exhortations merely indicate that the tendency is the other way. A "unity" committed to our keeping could not be expected to be long-lived. Happily, the unity of which we speak is in better hands.
It must moreover be apparent to anyone who carefully considers this passage that if the expression "the unity of the Spirit" describes an attitude of mind or heart, it could not be other than "in the bond of peace." Unity in the sense of accord could not, obviously, exist in the presence of discord. It would render the admonition superfluous if not actually meaningless.
Let it be seen then (1) that the one Body is the unity of the Spirit, and (2) that we can neither leave the ground of the one Body nor disturb the unity of the Spirit, though we may, and, alas, often do, act inconsistently with the former truth and unbecomingly with regard to the latter. Above all, do not let us constrict or misapply the truth as to either of these expressions in such manner as to exclude from them in our thoughts and affections any of the Lord's beloved people, whatever their ignorance, failure or sin. P. P. Wahlstad