Narrowminded Views #1 - Jesus Christ: Crucified, Drawn & Quartered, or Both? What happened to the body of Jesus Christ?

Though we know full well how subtle and cunning (Genesis 3:1) the opposition, (Satan and the demons), can be, I fear that for too long we have missed seeing the big picture.

As believers, we are confident that Jesus Christ was crucified, buried, and rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:3&4), yet few of us realize what occurred next. Indeed He did ascend into heaven (Acts 1:9), but what happened to His body after that?

“For by one Spirit are we all baptized 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. For the body is not one member, but many. 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” (1 Corinthians 12:13-14,12)

“So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another” (Romans 12:5)

“For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread” (1 Corinthians 10:17)

Indeed, His body was left behind.

Collectively, each individually blood-bought, born again believer makes up the body of Christ Jesus here on earth.

“But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. But now are they many members, yet but one body” (1 Corinthians 12:18 & 20)

God predestined (Romans 8:29) and adopted (Romans 8:15) each believer so that we could become children of God (Romans 8:16), jointly becoming the body of Jesus Christ. In like manner to that of our own physical bodies, each and every part has a specific role to fulfill.

“For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:” (Romans 12:4)

No part or member is insignificant in our human bodies, and no member of the body of Christ is without purpose either. In fact, just as God created every organ, system, and cell, so He delegated function and purpose to every believer by the Holy Spirit as well.

“Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will” (1 Corinthians 12:4-6, 11)

It is the will of God the Father that all members function individually to collectively form the body of the Son, so that He can accomplish His will. This unified body is also part of the focus of Jesus’ prayer in John 17.

“And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those who, thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one is us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me” (John 17:11, 21-23)

Indeed the aim of our Lord and Saviour was to form one united church, which is His body here.

“That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another” (1 Corinthians 12:25)

Since the aim of the Lord is to have one unified, functioning body here on earth to represent Him, then we can easily determine what the schemes of the opposition will entail. Unfortunately for the Lord and His purposes, the “church” over the ages has not properly discerned how this attack is launched, and therefore has allowed the body of Jesus Christ to be drawn and quartered. We know that the plans of any man will come to nothing the moment that he is dismembered. Thankfully, although an incredible dismemberment of His body has occurred, Jesus is still strong enough to accomplish His will, albeit hindered through schism and division.

On the day of Pentecost, which many understand to be the birth of the church, “they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls” (Acts 2:41). The referred to “unto them” to which these new believers were added was the body of Christ, the church.

“And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved” (Acts 2:47b)

“And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both men and women” (Acts 5:14)

This “church” unto which believers were added is same church as today. It is not a faction, sect, schism, or denomination. Since those gathered and added in Acts 2 were “Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians,” (Acts 2:9-11a), they could not have possibly been added as members to some local congregation based in Jerusalem.

They were added to the one worldwide church body of Christ.

Interestingly, the only division that we can find among true believers in the Bible is geographical, and this is the way that we must view things today if Jesus’ prayer is to be answered. When we read “Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:” (1 Corinthians 1:2), we understand that “all (people) that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord” are “the church of God,” and that this epistle is specifically addressed to those of the body who dwell in the location of Corinth, (though “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable” (2 Timothy 3:16a) for all believers, regardless of geography.)

Local church membership as we know it was non-existent.

You simply were a “church member” as a blood-bought believer and you fellowshipped locally. The membership was delegated by God through the blood of Jesus, not by doctrinal statements and approval of man. Anyone in the city or region was a member of the local church so long as they were true believers because the local church is the earthly expression of the body of Jesus in any given area. The membership was an upward association with God the Father through Jesus Christ and not a horizontal association with a sect or doctrine.

The horizontal association remained only geographical, since distance alone separated groups of believers. As pagan Rome became more and more Christian, the Christianity of Rome became more pagan as compromises were made. Eventually the Roman Catholic church was created as an attempt to monopolize Christianity and consolidate faith and government. They began to teach that you had to become of member of their specific church in order to be saved, and the uneducated masses took the bait.

Unfortunately for us, the reformers started with the Roman Catholic church and attempted to turn it back to the Bible rather than scrapping all that was manmade and starting afresh based solely on the Word of God. Many presuppositions were never eliminated, and therefore “church membership” as we know it today continued, despite it standing in direct opposition to what we find in the Bible. You will not find it in the Scriptures, only in the tradition of men.

The Roman Catholic church was indeed most likely the first denomination, but it was by no means the last.

With fierce persistence from that time forward, the body of Christ has ceased to exist as it should, due to manmade schisms and divisions that have dismembered and dissected the body. A more appropriate name for denominations would be demoninations, since that title actually points to the source of such division.

Though this will sound offensive to many, denominations come not from God, since they work in direct opposition to His plan and purposes. Though cleverly disguised and most subtle, it is an attack of the enemy, and many with good intentions fell into the trap. These walls that the opposition has cunningly convinced us to raise up cannot simply be reached over; they must cease to exist if Jesus’ prayer is to be answered.

Just look at how bluntly the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers.

“Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and am of Apollos; and I am of Cephas; and I am of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?” (1 Corinthians 1:12-13, 3:1-4)

Has our modern church mentality persisted in the error of the early Corinthian believers?

Are we carnal, babes in Christ who walk as men and are not yet able to bear this truth?

If we are, I pray that we repent.

If God wrote to us now by Paul, would he write “When you say, I am a Lutheran, and another I am a Baptist, and still others I am a Pentecostal, are ye not carnal?”

Please remember that Martin Luther, for instance, sought to make followers of Christ and not followers of himself. To choose as our identity the association with any mere man, doctrine, or belief is not spiritually minded. Any and every man can and will lead you astray, present company included. It is simply a matter of how far they lead you astray and how often you let them.

Only Christ will never lead you astray for He alone lacks that capability, and thus we must follow Him over all.

Our new identity comes to us through our Creator and Redeemer! He alone provided the atonement and He alone makes us a new creation. He must be the focus of our lives. The opposition may have convinced us otherwise, but the truth remains.

If every denomination and sect each met with the Lord in turn and asked, “Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?” (Joshua 5:13b), I believe His answer would remain the same for all, “Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord I am now come” (Joshua 5:14a). His identifying association would remain with God and God alone, and so should ours.

To push this issue a little farther, two other points must be made here. The first is that various religions and cults that reject and distort Jesus are indeed not our brethren, and since they remain of their father, the Devil, they view us as their enemies. However, our response to them must be one of love, for so we are commanded and thus it is appropriate to show such love to the enslaved. However, when it comes to the various denominations among the born again, I believe that He would be quick to point out that these are our brethren, and should be treated as such. Though I prefer to only use bold print for the Word of God, I now choose to do so to add emphasis to this truth.

IF SOMEONE HAS BEEN MADE ACCEPTABLE TO GOD BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST, WHO ARE YOU TO CLAIM THAT THEY ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE TO YOU?!?

Such is proud and carnal, and such is sin. Even Balaam had the sense to ask, “How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? Or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied” (Numbers 23:9). We must remember that believers are a family, and let us not forget the Civil War. Do we not recall what effect warring brothers has on a family?

As the C.E.O. (Christ’s Earthly Organizer) of NARROWMINDEDMEDIA, I am extremely narrow-minded and passionate, and I seek no compromise of the Word of God ever, for any reason. Were it not for what the Bible teaches, I would be adamantly against this unity view which I am now proposing, yet, I must yield to my Redeemer and let Him have His way over mine, for so the Bible does teach.

Though we must acknowledge that those who are outside of the faith are indeed deceived and not our brethren, we have no right to exclude fellowship with any of the saints based on doctrine or belief, so long as they are indeed saved and hold to the unchangeable truth of Who Jesus is and what He has done.

Please remember what Jesus has clearly told us. He prayed “that they may be one, as we are. That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one is us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.”

Though reasons for such love are many, we cannot overlook the repeated, recorded purpose of this oneness mentioned here, “that the world may believe that thou hast sent me… and that the world may know that thou hast sent me.”

How long will we let our testimony be blown?

The damned are perishing, and I think we play no small role in representing Christ here!

“But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth. If Satan is divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand?” (Luke 11:17-18a)

Though the Lord’s kingdom will still be established despite our division, and though His will continues to be done even though His body is being drawn and quartered, this is only because of Who He is and the power that He has, (though the fullness of that will always be hindered here so long as we remain a dissected, divided body and kingdom.)

Therefore, “Let brotherly love continue” (Hebrews 13:1), or perhaps more properly now, let brotherly love begin. We are commanded to let this love exist, and not to prevent it from continuing or restarting.

“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:34-35)

Do all know that we are His disciples, or is it only a select few who ever get to actually view this love due to our disobedience? This love is supposed to be a required part of our witness and testimony; please notice that Christ commanded it. This is the same Jesus who stated “If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15).

Can His love for us inspire our love for Him without including a love for our brothers? Apparently not according to Him.

Despite the fact that so much is said about this love for His body here, for the most part we have missed it. Even the so-called love chapter is almost never preached in context, (prior to my personal revelation last week, I never understood this concept because I was never exposed to such teaching). Perhaps the biggest hindrance to understanding the “love chapter” in context is the fact that it has become an isolated chapter.

The chapter and verse breaks have been added to aid in reference, but they nonchalantly affect our understanding by “separating” chapters and verses from one another, so the original flow of the book or epistle is somewhat lost in our mental framework. Please examine these excerpts from the chapters “book-ending” 1 Corinthians 13, with select verses from chapter 13 inserted between. (For a fuller view of this truth, please pause and read 1 Corinthians 12-15.)

“Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. 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. That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care for one another” (1 Corinthians 12:1, 4, 11, 12, & 25)

“Charity (love) suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7, 11, & 13)

“Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy… he that prophesieth edifieth the church. Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church” (1 Corinthians 14:1, 4b, 12)

Chapter 14 also has several other mentions of the church, perhaps the most intriguing being, “If therefore the whole church be come together into one place” (1 Corinthians 14:23a).

This “whole church” means all believers in that particular geographical area.

All the blood-bought, born again of the area are already members of the “church” through Christ’s blood. To paraphrase my understanding of the previous passages: Chapter 12 speaks on all believers being one body though we vary in spiritual gifting; Chapter 13 reminds us of that proper love that we must have towards one another in the entire body, regardless of which member of the body we be, that our spiritual gifting amounts to nothing if this love is not first and foremost, and any thoughts contrary to this are infantile and foolish, necessitating that we put them away and grow up in the faith; Chapter 14 then echoes that love is to be pursued first, followed the application of our spiritual gifts to bless one another within the body (church), so that the earthly body of Christ can properly function and operate down here.

The gospel message so clearly recorded in chapter 15 takes on a much different view for us then, once we evaluate the stage that has already been set for it.

To me, it is as if Paul is proclaiming the gospel once more to these young believers for two reasons. First, since he has already referred to them in this book as being carnal babes who walk as men (3:1&3), he wanted to make sure that they were actually, properly hearing the gospel once again to make sure that they knew how to be saved, (thus prompting the “unless ye have believed in vain” to the end of 15:2); and secondly, to remind them what bond unites them, the sacrificial death and resurrection of our common Lord. Each individual member has become part of the everlasting church, Jesus’ body, and they are now family forever through the gospel. If we are to love our enemies, how much more must this love be poured out upon those who have obtained like salvation as we have?

“As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10)

This passage does not say “especially unto them who are of your denomination or local fellowship.” It applies to all “who are of the household of faith.”

Also, every “one another” passage in the New Testament reveals to us our appropriate attitudes and actions towards all believers, not just those in some disconnected local faction.

“Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;” (Romans 12:10)

“But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. Use hospitality one to another without grudging. As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:7-10)

We are indeed closing in on the end, and must sincerely unite with our true brethren, minister one to another, and be a collective witness to the world that they may believe the Father has sent Jesus.

“And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (Hebrews 10:24-25)

Though many pastors will use this verse to encourage attendance to their specific church services, that is not what this verse is saying. In fact, by doing so, they fall into the category of those who do forsake, since their denominational walls have blocked the intended assembling from occurring. Instead we should consider all our brethren to stir up love towards them and for them, assemble together, and exhort one another.

To accomplish this unity desired by our Creator, we must humble ourselves before Him. He alone can do such a work, but we must allow Him to. Our minds must once again be renewed by Scripture (Romans 12:2) and we must repent of our error. Though we may pride ourselves in the accuracy of our denomination over others, we must forsake our pride and choose God over denomination, removing the schism.

God can revive the church, and He will, if we let Him.

Just as creation was once pure and has since become cursed, so the church was soundly founded at its birth, but the traditions of men have replaced God’s plan, and due to the mental cages that our church tradition presuppositions have restrained our minds with, we can no longer see what the Scripture teaches about the body of Jesus Christ. Though few would be so proud as to claim their denomination alone has obtained salvation, we still refuse to love those outside of our man-made denominational walls, even if they are members of the church as described by God.

Let such no longer be the case.

A new birth must occur, or the body will continue in dismemberment, waxing old and decaying. The body of Christ has been reduced to dry bones, just like Israel once was. God desires one living, undivided, united true church body upon earth separated only by distance, yet, when we looked “behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry” (Ezekiel 37:2b).

Dry indeed!

What has happened to the living water?

If we allow Him to, He will take the dry bones of our divided, remnant “church” factions and “will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: And (He) will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that (He) is the LORD” (Ezekiel 37:5b-6). He can join together the dry bones of the dismembered body of Jesus and knit it back together, into a fully functioning, undivided body, with all members present.

In times past we know that the Lord raised the dead to life again. Can He not raise the still living to restored life as well?

If He has healed the sick and taken away their infirmities, can He not heal this current illness of ours? I say His body has suffered too long for us to resist any longer. If God will grant them entrance into His paradise, then I can allow them entrance into my arms, home, fellowship, and heart.

To close, I seek to encourage, and give some small advice. If you move forward seeking true fellowship and oneness with all the born again believers in your area, you will find differences among them, (as well as finding attacks launched by the opposition). Though the essentials of our faith are indeed essential for salvation, much exists outside of that realm of necessities. Paul’s petition to the Corinthians should, (and can), be heeded.

“Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of out Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10)

For too long the cry of “Impossible!” has been raised at the end of such verses.

However, “with God nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1:37).

The only thing that can make such impossible is you, if you refuse to submit to God. If you will not believe that something can occur, then “According to your faith be it unto you” (Matthew 9:29b).

However, “Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth” (Mark 9:23).

We can all be of the same mind, but not if we never fellowship and remain divided. Pride and the traditions of men can prevent it, but we do not have to let them. Make no mistake, this will not be easy and will require much prayer, sacrifice, and time. To become one-minded, we must spend time in the Bible together.

For example, how can some say that if you are saved you will speak in tongues while others say that no one should speak in tongues? Cannot the Bible solve this dilemma?

When we read “do all speak in tongues?” (1 Corinthians 12:30b), we must conclude that not all do. Likewise, when we read “forbid not to speak with tongues” (1 Corinthians 14:39b), we must conclude that we should not forbid it. We must not look down on those who do not speak in tongues, and we must let those who believe that they can speak in tongues operate biblically.

“If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at most three, and that by course; and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God” (1 Corinthians 14:27-28)

Let us sort through every disagreement biblically, testing all things (1 Thessalonians 5:21), and searching the Scriptures together, so that we can know what is true (Acts 17:11). Even “if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother” (2 Thessalonians 3:14-15).

The Lord has so much in store for us in eternity, but He also has more for us here.

Let us obey and live as He desires in all things, including the unity of true believers. Should we allow Jesus’ prayer to be answered, or is our allegiance to another?

“From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:16)

A united body using its individual gifts collectively will grow in the love of the saints. This is the desire of our Creator. And for the record, whether you agree or not, I love you!

2+2=4

Thanks, @narrowminded