Young Adults' Group

Oneness In The Body Of Christ

by Pastor Mark
February 01, 2018

A wonderful analogy of the oneness of the church

As the Apostle Paul sought to teach the Corinthian church about the concept of oneness, he used a wonderful analogy…the body. He wrote, “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body,” (1 Cor 12:12)

The body is made up of different members such as the eye, the nose, the mouth, the hands, the legs and many more. Even though there are many diverse members, they all meant to be one body. They are meant to function as one body. This is a most fitting analogy of the oneness of the church.

Understanding the oneness in the body of Christ

“For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.” (1 Cor 12:12)

The church is called the body of Christ. Christ is the head of the church. (Eph 4:15) He leads the body. We as believers are all part of the body of Christ. Paul wrote a description of this body of Christ to the Ephesian church, “from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” (Eph 4:16) Every sinew and every muscle are joined together and supplies to each other our share so that the body of Christ can work effectively. We can edify each other and bring about growth of the body of Christ. Let us be challenged to grow together in oneness.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit

“For by one Spirit we were all baptised into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.” (1 Cor 12:13)

But who is part of the body of Christ? It is all who have been baptised by the Holy Spirit. It is by one Spirit that we are baptised and it does not matter what our social standing is or what ethnicity is. All of us can be part of the body of Christ.

There is the spiritual baptism of the Holy Spirit that is experienced when we receive Christ into our life through faith, we become part of the body of Christ. There is also a physical baptism in which we identify ourselves with the Lord Jesus and declare publicly our faith in Him. In describing the word “baptised”, Paul used the Greek aorist tense. Once we have been baptised, we are already part of the body of the Christ. It cannot be undone.

What does it mean to drink into one Spirit?  It means to partake and be filled with the life of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit can make us come alive and give us life to live. If we are drinking from one Spirit, let us seek to have a life that is one with each other.

God’s design in creating the body of Christ

“But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.” (1 Cor 12:18)

We are part of God’s grand design. Each one of us is a member of the body that has been specially designed by Him. Everyone has been given a special role to carry out. God did not randomly fit us in. He designed each role for us…that we may fulfil our part in God’s plan and design for the church. Let us seek to do our part…something that the Lord would be pleased with. Let us be challenged to have fulfil our part as a member of the body of Christ with a greater sense of oneness with each other.

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