Basic Beliefs - May 2025

Last month we looked at the power of the love of God.  We saw how this belief is so important to our Christian walk.  Knowing the Father loves us is so liberating.  It allows us to be the person He has called us to be.  And when we really understand the love of God that is shed abroad in our heart we can truly be more like Him.

            But the next foundational belief I want to focus on is this - We, the Church, are the body of Christ on this earth today.  We have His Spirit within us.  We have been placed in His body.  We are the hands and feet of Christ here on earth today.

            Let’s start by looking at I Corinthians 3:16. “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”  Under the old covenant, the very presence of God was kept in the holy temple.  Today in the new covenant that we live in, His presence lives in us.  Wherever we go, His Spirit goes with us.  But we are more than just containers of His Spirit.  He wants to move and live through us.

            II Corinthians 6:16-17 gives us an indication of how He wants to live within us.  “Ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing ….”  I love the way the Spirit of God speaks this message through the writings of Paul.  The message is more than “God lives in us.”  He not only says He will dwell in us, but He will also walk in us.  That shows action or living through us.  Notice He calls Himself the “Living God.”  God is not dead. He is alive through us.  So, because He wants to live and move and be a part of our lives He tells us to separate ourselves from the things of the world.

            Next, let’s look at I Corinthians chapter twelve.  Verse thirteen says, “by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body … and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”  When we accepted Jesus as our personal Savior we were all baptized into the Body of Christ.  But as we shall see we were not just randomly put into His Body.  We were placed, with a purpose, into it.

            Chapter twelve goes on to point out that just like a body as different parts with different purposes, likewise, we have our own place in His body.  And we are all valuable and needed to make the body work effectively.  We are the hands and feet of Christ on this earth today.  If He wants to touch someone He will do it through us.  He wants to use you to build His kingdom.

            Notice verse eighteen.  “God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased Him.”  See, you weren’t just morphed into the body.  You were purposely set or placed within His body to please Him.

            There is one more verse I would like to look at to complete our thought.  It’s found in Ephesians 4:16.  “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.”  There is so much in this verse but I would like to point out just a few points.

            We as the body are “fitly joined together.” We fit nicely the way He places us.  That is, when every part is effectually working in their place.  (If the leg tries to be the arm we could have problems.)  But notice when every part is effectually working it “maketh increase of the body.”  We grow when we find and take our place.  The kingdom of God is increased.  Sinners are brought into the kingdom and God is pleased.

            So, walk out this truth in your life.  We are the Body of Christ on earth.  You are a part of that body.  Go about fulfilling your Kingdom business and watch the body continue to grow.