The spiritual union that exists between Christ and the believer is the central concept of all of Paul’s doctrine. Paul teaches that believers are in Christ, and that Christ is in every believer.

Rom 8:1
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus . . . (KJV)

Rom 8:9
9 . . . Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. (KJV)

Furthermore, Paul says that as believers become part of Christ, they become part of his body.

1 Cor 12:12-14
12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
13 For by one Spirit are we all (immersed) into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
14 For the body is not one member, but many. (KJV)

1 Cor 12:27
27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. (KJV)

Rom 12:4-6
4 For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:
5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us . . . (KJV)

Paul penned these thoughts around 58 A.D., and Paul’s description of believers as the body of Christ in very informal. In fact, it is so informal that it almost appears to be just an analogy. What it was in Paul’s mind at this time we do not know, but what it would become as a result of further revelation we do know because of what Paul wrote in Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians.

Paul was imprisoned in Rome about 62 A.D. It was there that Paul made the final pronouncement that God had set aside His wife, the nation of Israel, for her infidelity. God had taken Israel as His wife as a part of the Old Covenant. Christ and the apostles had offered Israel the restoration of the marriage through the New Covenant. Israel rejected Christ and the message of the apostles even though they came with miracles, wonders, and signs.

The letters Paul wrote after 62 A.D. include Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, and in these epistles we find no mention of the New Covenant hope. In fact, in Ephesians, Paul said that God had revealed to him a mystery concerning a new administration of God in which Israel had no place of prominence and that this mystery had been kept secret since before the creation. Paul wrote:

Eph 3:3-7
3 . . . by revelation (God) made known unto me the mystery . . .
5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men . . .
6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
7 Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. (KJV)

This new revelation had a profound effect on Paul’s understanding of the body of Christ, which is readily seen throughout Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians. We will look at that tomorrow.

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Other church links:
http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/
http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/
http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

James III’s link: http://www.jeditime.blogspot.com