The Body of Christ

[Sue J Love]

1 Corinthians 12:18-25 NASB1995

But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. If they were all one member, where would the body be? But now there are many members, but one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.

The church is not a place we go to once or twice a week where we sit in rows in chairs or in pews, and then we sing songs picked out by one person, and then we listen to a sermon taught by one person, and then we go home until the next week. We, the people of God, are The Church, the Body of Christ. And all of us who have died with Christ to sin and who are walking in obedience to our Lord are the ministers to the rest of the body of Christ. And we are to be encouraging one another daily so we won’t be deceived by sin.

And all of us who are walking by faith, in obedience to our Lord, letting him guide and direct our lives, are necessary to the proper working of the body of Christ. We are all necessary! And not one of us should consider ourselves not necessary. And we should not treat one another as though we are not necessary to the proper working of the body of Christ. For God has gifted us all with spiritual gifts, and he has assigned all of us our body parts within the universal body of Christ, and we are to be doing what God has assigned.

For me, my body part is to write down what the Lord teaches me each day from his word and to post these writings on the internet. And the Lord brought me here, for there was no room for me in these institutional market-driven “churches” of today where a few select people do all the ministering while the rest of us sit as spectators. I was not wanted because I spoke the truth of the gospel in places where so many have diluted the gospel to appease human flesh. So God placed me where he could use me.

So, all of us who claim Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, who are walking in obedience to his commands in holy living and no longer as slaves to sin, should pray and ask the Lord to show us our body parts so that we can function in those necessary body parts for the encouragement and strengthening of the rest of the body of Christ. And we won’t all be the same, and we won’t all have the same gifts or functions, but we are all still necessary. And so we should make room for one another, shouldn’t we?

[Matthew 5:13-16; Matthew 28:18-20; John 4:31-38; John 13:13-17; John 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18,42-47; Acts 26:18; Romans 10:14-15; Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 1 Corinthians 14:1-5; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Ephesians 5:11-21; Ephesians 6:10-20; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians 3:12-16; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; James 5:19-20; 1 Peter 2:9,21; 1 John 2:6]

As the Deer

By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

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The Body of Christ
An Original Work / April 19, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

[Curtis]

2Ti 1:9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,

Didn't the "body of Christ begin before the time began

 

[Sue J Love]

2Ti 1:9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,

Didn't the "body of Christ begin before the time began

Curtis, how are you relating 2Ti 1:9 to this teaching on the body of Christ? And Christ has always existed but the church, his body, only came into being through faith in Jesus Christ.

 

[Curtis]

Curtis, how are you relating 2Ti 1:9 to this teaching on the body of Christ? And Christ has always existed but the church, his body, only came into being through faith in Jesus Christ.

It says that we were saved before the foundation of the world. You can not be saved and not be a part of the body of Christ.

Jesus called us and saved us before the foundation of the world.

 

[Sue J Love]

It says that we were saved before the foundation of the world. You can not be saved and not be a part of the body of Christ.

Jesus called us and saved us before the foundation of the world.

Romans 8:29: "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers."

2 Timothy 1:8-9: “Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.”

Ephesians 1:3-4: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.”

When we are born into this world, we are born with sin natures, separate from God, unable within ourselves to be acceptable and approved by God. So we are not saved when we enter into this world. And the way for us to be saved, by faith in Jesus Christ, was not accomplished until Jesus put our sins to death with him on that cross, and was resurrected from the dead, so that by faith in him we will now die to sin and obey God in practice. So we do not have salvation from sin and eternal life with God until, by faith in Jesus, we die to sin and in his power and by his grace we now obey him and his commands, in practice. But before any of us were even born, and before we believed in Jesus, the ones God foreknew would receive Christ and have salvation from sin, were predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ. He chose us before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him. But we are not saved, sanctified, and on our way to heaven until, by faith in Christ, we deny self, die to sin, and walk in obedience to our Lord as a matter of life practice, by his grace. For God's own purpose and grace for us were given us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, i.e. God already had it all planned out before the ages began that we who believe in Jesus should be called to a holy calling and conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. But it doesn't happen in our lives until we surrender to Christ.