We have seen that Paul taught that each believer is in Christ and that the Spirit of Christ is in each believer. He also taught that this union resulted in believers becoming part of the body of Christ in a spiritual sense. Paul’s description of the body of Christ in his early epistles was very informal. Paul’s later epistles include Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, and in these epistles, Paul formally presents the institution of the Church which is the Body of Christ.

Eph 1:22-23
22 (God) put all things under (Christ’s) feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. (KJV)

Not only does this verse show the Body as an institution, it shows an institutional structure in which Christ is the Head of the Body. This is emphasized again in Colossians.

Col 1:18
18 And (Christ) is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. (KJV)

In I Corinthians 11:3, Paul said that Christ is the head of every man but made no mention of Christ being the head of the body. In I Corinthians 12:21, Paul made a general reference to the head of the body of Christ, but he said nothing about Christ being the head of that body. During the Acts period, when the Corinthian letters were written, God was working within the framework of His covenants with Israel, and it is only logical that God would not reveal his dispensation regarding the institution of the Church which is the Body of Christ until after His institutional relationship with Israel was set aside.

After Israel’s covenant program was set aside at the end of the book of Acts, God called Paul to tell the world about the institution of the Church which required a new dispensation from God. In II Corinthians 3:6, Paul said that he was a minister of the new covenant which was given to Israel, but in the later epistles Paul was emphatic about the fact that he was the minister of a new dispensation in which God was calling believers into a spiritual, institutional Church in the heavenlies. It was a Church whose members were chosen by God based on His knowledge of their faith in Christ. God revealed to Paul the details of this new dispensation which Paul called “the mystery” because it had never been revealed to any other prophet. Paul sensed the urgency of letting people know about the changes that had taken place.

Eph 3:8-9
8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: (KJV)

As magnificent as this new institution is, Paul never lost sight of the fact that the whole thing hinges on the faith of the individual believer and upon the spiritual union that exists between Christ and the believer. The following passage in Colossians reveals the continuing significance of this doctrine in Paul’s life and ministry.

Col 1:24-27
24 (I) now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and . . . the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church:
25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: (KJV)

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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