I N D E X
all are united together in Him, all receive their fulness from Him.  Severed
from Him they are worthless.  What hope have we outside of Christ?  In whom can
we have faith apart from Christ?
Let us now, having seen the essential position of Christ in this unity,
look at the seven items in detail.
One Body.  It is true that the figure of the body is used in 1 Corinthians
12, but the context reveals that it is used in illustration of the distribution
and diversity, yet unity, of spiritual gifts.  The church of the One Body is a
new creation, connected with the ascended Christ as its Head, in a sphere of
glory that transcends all others, `far above all', and is directly related to
the revelation of the Mystery, where it is given its peculiarly distinctive
character, `a joint-Body' (Eph. 3:6), a standing unknown before the Mystery was
made known.  Such in brief is the first item in this sevenfold unity.  This we
have to guard.
Some will deny that the one Body is peculiar to the dispensation of the
Mystery.  Some will teach that the Body of 1 Corinthians 12 is `all one and the
same'.  Some even go so far as to teach that the One Body comprises every saved
one from Adam onwards.  All such attempts to destroy the testimony of the Lord's
prisoner must be resisted.  We must not, however, miss the emphasis on the one
Body.  We can have no connection with `bodies'; such cannot be recognized for
one minute.  All other unities, bodies, leagues, societies, may serve their
turn, but are outside this sacred circle.
One Spirit.  The body, without the spirit, is dead, being alone, says
James.  What is the animating spirit of the One Body?  Referring to the mortal
body, the apostle says:
`But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you,
He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal
bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you' (Rom. 8:11).
The analogy holds good.  The Spirit of the risen Christ likewise is the
one Spirit of the One Body.  In Ephesians 1 and 2, two mighty energies are
opposed.  One is that of the spirit that now energizes the children of
disobedience, the other, though not called by the name `spirit', is the Spirit
of Him Who wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead.  Another facet of
this truth is revealed in Ephesians 2:18.  It is the Spirit of sonship:
`For through Him we both have access by One Spirit unto the Father'.
This is the Spirit in Whom we, `the both', cry, `Abba' (Hebrew), `Father'
(Greek).  The one Body and the one Spirit anticipate the one God and Father of
all.  It has been suggested that Paul's meaning here is that the Gentiles share
in the work and witness of `one and the selfsame Spirit' of 1 Corinthians 12.
When the apostle desired to express that truth he used the phrase to hen kai to
auto pneuma, whereas in Ephesians 4 to auto `the selfsame' is omitted.  Had he
intended to emphasize `the selfsame', what a weight the sevenfold expression
would have!  The fact that we have the sevenfold `one' instead, is sufficient to
decide his intention.
One Hope.
This item is extended:
`Even as ye are called in one hope of your calling'.
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