The spiritual union that exists between Christ and the believer is the central concept of all of Paul’s doctrine. Paul teaches that each believer is in Christ, and that Christ is in each believer. In I Corinthians and Romans, Paul introduced the idea that believers are members of Christ’s body.

Rom 12:5
5 so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. (NKJ)

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

Paul penned Romans and the letters to the Corinthians around 58 A.D., and Paul’s description of believers as the body of Christ in these epistles is very informal. In fact, it appears to be a simple analogy to illustrate the unity of believers. At this point, Paul never called the body of Christ the Church, and he never said that Christ is the Head of the body.

Paul was imprisoned in Rome about 62 A.D. It was there that Paul wrote Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians. In these epistles, Paul declared that Christ now serves as the Head of a new, heavenly institution called the Church which is the Body of Christ.

Eph 1:22-23
22 And (God the Father) put all things under (Christ’s) feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,
23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (NKJ)

Col 1:24
24 I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, (NKJ)

Paul said that this truth regarding the Church which is the Body of Christ was given only to him and that God had kept it a secret from all previous generations.

Col 1:25-26
25 of (the Church which is the Body of Christ) I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God,
26 the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. (NKJ)

In the prison epistles, there is no hint of those things which were associated with the Old Covenant, such as circumcision, animal sacrifices or the Passover. Neither is there any mention of Israel’s New Covenant or the things which were associated with the New Covenant, such as water baptism, speaking in tongues, interpreting tongues, prophesying, casting out demons, and healing.

God had taken Israel as His wife in the Old Covenant, and during the period of time covered by the book of Acts, God offered Israel a spiritual reconciliation of that marriage in the New Covenant. Before the cross, Israel was the estranged wife of God, but after the cross she became the Bride of Christ. However, Israel rejected God’s Acts-period marriage proposal by rejecting Christ. At that point, God set aside the program that He had planned for His bride and revealed, through the Apostle Paul, His program for the Church which is the Body of Christ.

With the revelation of the Church which is the Body of Christ came also the revelation of the fulness of Christ. That Christ is not only the Messiah. That Christ is not only the Savior. But that Christ is God. Jesus Christ is fully God, and believers find their fulness in Him.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

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