Chapter 3, the whole of which is parenthetic, unfolds this mystery, hid through all ages, but now revealed; of which the apostle was the minister; viz., that the Gentiles should be of the same body with all saints. But I will reserve my remarks on this passage, till we come to the second part of our subject—the place which the church holds in the ways of God.
Chapter 4 is the application of the doctrine of the second; and the apostle beseeches the saints to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith they are called; which vocation is, to be the habitation of God through the Spirit. The sense of the presence of God always produces humility; and the apostle, in pressing this point, exhorts them to keep the unity of the Spirit (that which has been set forth, chap. 2) in the bond of peace. For, the doctrine in question is this— “There is one body and one Spirit.” This leads the apostle to the subject of gifts in connection with the body. Christ, had gained a victory over. Satan, and could confer on the church He had redeemed the power which would be the testimony of that victory; for it was rescued from the slavery of the enemy, and could be the vessel of this power and this testimony. Christ, by means of these gifts, was nourishing and ministering to the growth of this body. The exercise of them was for the edification of the body of Christ.
It is worth while quoting the verses which follow what we have just examined “He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head—even Christ—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.” Thus the unsearchable riches of Christ, by which He fills all things in the power of the redemption which He has accomplished—these riches, I say, form the basis of the edification of the church of Christ, who is no longer looked at as a mere Messiah fulfilling the prophecies and the promises, but in a greatness of which no prophet had any idea, and of which no prophecy had foretold the extent—each part supplying, according to the grace given, these riches of Christ to the body. The body itself, developed in its members, grows thereby into that fullness of which Christ is the measure (the truth which reveals this fullness being the means of making the body grow up into Him, whose fullness is revealed). Thus perfect stature of the fullness of Christ is always the ultimate point of attainment proposed.
What infinite grace! Yet it could not be otherwise; since the revelation of Christ—and of Christ as filling all things—is the means by which the church must grow; and Christ is such, filling all things, as descended from the Father to the lower parts of the earth, and ascended from the place of death up to the throne of God—having come down in love, and gone up in righteousness; expelling, for faith, from the universe which He has made His by redemption as well as by creation, the conquered enemy; as, in fact, He will expel him from it, when He accomplishes all the effects of His power. And where is this body found? Where are these gifts exercised? Where does this growth take place? Blessed be God! down here.
It is that which Christ does after the accomplishment of His work of redemption, and yet whilst He is seated on the right hand of God. It is through the Holy Ghost. It is the body—the church—that one body which is the vessel of this ministry, and of the Spirit which accomplishes it through the members of the body; and which causes the body to grow according to the mind of God in Christ, who is the Head of it; a body, the members of which are the members of Christ. Moreover the apostle has before him the whole body; and “the whole body” viewed upon earth. Charity necessarily embraces all the members of it, as being the members of Christ. The connection between all this and the church, seen in the whole extent of her privileges and of the thoughts of God, is shown in a striking manner at the end of the third chapter; where the apostle exclaims, “Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus, throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”
I will not go over the infinitely precious teaching of the fifth chapter again, because I have already called the attention of the reader to this portion in beginning our thesis. But it is clear that the Epistle to the Ephesians treats the subject of a church which is one body, whose head is Christ—a body formed and developed upon earth, since the ascension of Jesus, by the Holy Ghost sent from above; and who makes it His habitation—a body in which the glory of God will be reflected throughout all ages—a body which is the vessel upon earth of the Spirit, which He who, having gained the victory over Satan, and established the glory of His redemption everywhere, from death up to God, has sent to be the testimony of the power through which He has overcome; and who associates the church with its Head in the heavens, giving it a heavenly calling, as being seated there in Him. This body, formed in perfectness at the beginning, was to grow by the energy of the Holy Spirit, which dwelt in it, just as a child, perfect in all its parts, grows through the power of the life which is in him, in order to attain to the state of manhood.
The Epistle to the Colossians brings before us some precious instructions on the subject we are considering. The Epistle to the Ephesians has taught us that God would gather together all things in Christ, and that the church was united to Him, as His body; associated with Him in His dominion over all things. The Epistle to the Colossians teaches us the same truth under another aspect. We shall also find, that the idea of Christ which is presented in the first chapter, contrasts with all that He was as the hope of the Jews, according to the testimony of the prophets, as much as that which is found in the Epistle to the Ephesians; but in a different manner.
Let us first look at what is said of the double glory of Christ—Head over all things, and Head of the church. In verses 15 and 16, He is presented as the first-born of every creature; and the reason of it is given He has created all things; He who had created all things, having taken His place as a man in the midst of the creation, must, at all events, be the Head of it. This thought is confirmed in verse 17. The second part of the glory of Christ is declared in verse 18. He is the Head of the body—the church; who is the beginning, the first-born from the dead. These are the two truths presented in Eph. 1:22, 2322And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. (Ephesians 1:22‑23); only the two things are considered separately here, as two diverse glories of Christ, in whom it has pleased all the fullness to dwell. The reconciliation of all things, and of the church, follows. Having made peace through the blood of His cross, the thought of God is to reconcile all things through Him, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. This answers to verse 16. Then the apostle, addressing the Christians called at Colosse, says to them, “And you, that were some time alienated, hath He now reconciled.” This answers to verse 18. They were part of the church of which Christ was the Head, and of which the reconciliation takes place now. Verses 24 and 25 present, as following this distinction as to this double glory of Christ and this double reconciliation, a double ministry; the ministry of the gospel to every creature under heaven, and the ministry of the church, which is the body of Christ! This ministry, completed the teaching of the word of God (verses 24-26).
The church was a mystery which had been hidden from ages and from generations; a mystery which admitted the Gentiles into all the privileges which it revealed, and spoke of a Christ, not the crown and the accomplishment of the glory of the Jews, but who, in the Gentiles, or in the midst of the Gentiles, in Spirit, was the hope of glory. The presence of the Messiah amongst the Jews was to have been, and will be, the accomplishment of the glory which had been promised to them. But the presence of Christ, in Spirit, among the Gentiles, was the hope of glory—of a more excellent glory—a heavenly glory. In Ephesians, Christ is considered as exalted at the right hand of God, whence He sent the Spirit to confer upon the church the gifts which were the testimony of His victory and the manifestation of His power, as man victorious over the enemy—a glorious Head of the church which was upon earth. In Colossians, He is considered as present in the church, securing to the Gentiles the possession of the heavenly glory into which He has Himself entered. This chapter, then, brings the church into prominence in a very interesting manner.
Christ raised is the Head—the church is His body; its practical reconciliation takes effect now, being founded on the peace made through the blood of the cross. Gentiles belong to it quite as much as Jews; and Christ, in Spirit, dwells in it, the hope of glory. This last expression teaches us, without controversy, that the church is contemplated as exclusively upon earth, though having the sure hope of a heavenly glory. Its unity is not declared, as in the Epistle to the Ephesians; but it is self-evident that the body of Christ can be only one.
I confine myself to the doctrine; adding that the Epistle, as a whole, shows that the Colossians were in danger of losing sight of their close union with the Head of the body—Christ—in whom everything was accomplished, and they complete in Him; and of seeking, by forgetting this truth, to add something else, which was nothing but the setting aside of Him. Consequently, the Epistle brings into prominence the riches and the perfection of Christ, to remind the Colossians of them; whilst the Ephesians, who held fast the faith of their union with Him, were able to profit by the teaching which revealed to them the whole extent of their own privileges. The faithfulness of the one, and the unfaithfulness of the other, have both turned, in the hand of our God, to the blessing of the church in all ages.
The First Epistle to Timothy furnishes us with some precious thoughts in a short sentence: “The house,” it is said (3:15) “of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” Here we stand on ground more connected with the practical character of the church upon earth. It is the house of God: it is there that truth is found, and nowhere else; there alone is it maintained in the world. Let us understand this declaration. The church does not create the truth, but has been created by it. It adds to it neither authority nor weight. The truth is of God, before it is received by the church; but the latter possesses it. It exists, because it possesses the truth, and it alone possesses it. Where, besides in the church, is the truth found? Nowhere.
The supposition that the truth is anywhere else would be the denial of the truthfulness and ways of God. The truth can be nothing but what God has said; it is the truth, independently of all church authority; of any but that of God, who is the source of it.
But where the truth is, there is the church; and the church, which possesses it, and subsists by possessing it, thereby manifests it to the world. The authority of the church cannot make that which it teaches to be truth. Truth alone does not constitute the church; that is, the meaning of the word church embraces other ideas. A single man holding the truth, is not the church; but the assembly of God is distinguished by the possession of the truth. An assembly which has not the truth, as the condition of its existence, is not the assembly of God. The passage under consideration, and the importance of this point, must be my excuse for this little digression, which is but indirectly connected with the subject of the church.
(To be continued)