How many of you understand what the body of Christ is? It is the church, but the body of Christ is spiritual, not fleshly. If you have been baptized, you are baptized into Christ. “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body––whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free––and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.” We, as the body of Christ are to be unified in the spirit. “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Do you see the body of Christ united? There is a remnant of people who understand how to operate in the spirit. The real church, the body of Christ will soon emerge.
The early church understood the price they were willing to pay to be in the body of Christ. Persecutions were a way of life for them. They were willing to die in the Name of Jesus. How many do you know today that are willing to die for Jesus? Without the spirit, Peter denied Jesus three times. With the spirit, he went through persecution and died in the Name of Jesus. Even Stephan, who wasn’t an apostle was willing to die for Jesus. “When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.” The early church understood that they were created in Christ, and their life is hidden in Him. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” We as the body today have to understand that the flesh means nothing. “So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” You can’t cater to the flesh and expect to live in the spirit. “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” “But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.” We must have our minds renewed to the spiritual way of thinking. “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.”
I pray that you understand how important it is to be in the spirit. To conform to the image of God is to conform to the image of Christ. “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom HE PREDESTINED, these He also called; whom HE CALLED, these He also justified; and whom HE JUSTIFIED, these HE ALSO GLORIFIED.” Be blessed, my friends.