As I was praying for the spiritual
protection of my church, a few Scriptures came together as in answer to my
prayer. First, I was drawn to the way Jesus prayed for his church in relation
to spiritual protection. He prayed,
15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep
them from the evil one. (John 17)
This shows that Jesus wanted his
church to be in the world (though not of the world[1]).
He has a purpose for us to be in the world, since he has commissioned the
church to “Go therefore and make disciples
of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”[2]
However, since our going into the world means going into Satan’s domain,[3] we
can expect to come under attack from all his forces. Their aim is to stop God
from receiving glory through the salvation of lost souls. Our aim is to give
God glory by bringing people into the salvation given to us in Jesus’ name.
With this in mind, that we are sent
out into the world with a mission of making disciples, we see that Jesus’
prayer is that the Father keep us from the evil one. We need protection from
the evil one. We need God’s protection, not something we need to do ourselves,
since we are like sheep who are so easily lost and distracted from the way of
our Master. Jesus’ prayer for this protection means that this is God’s will,
and that the prayer will be answered.
What God has given us, in answer to
this prayer, is “the whole armor of God.”[4] If
we “take up the whole armor of God,”
we will “be able to withstand in the evil
day.”[5] This
is a PROMISE!!!
An Answered Prayer
For the One New Man
This brings me back to this core
issue, that the whole armor of God is given to the “one new man”[6] that
is the church. This means that, when the church is told to put on the whole
armor of God, we must take the one suit of armor and put it on the one new man.
In other words, we cannot view this as a whole bunch of individual soldiers
putting on their own individual suit of armor, and each one taking their own
individual stand, no matter what their spiritual condition.
Rather, when we see ourselves as
members of this one new man, and it is this one new man who puts on the whole
armor of God, we can then come together as the church inside this suit of armor.
We can build up each other with the life and ministry of the church, so we are
all surrounding the church with the whole armor of God, helping the strong and
weak alike to experience protection from the evil one.
By the time we get to putting on the
whole armor of God, we must see ourselves as Paul has already described the
church as this one new man. He wrote,
11 And he gave the apostles,
the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the
saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until
we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14
so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and
carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in
deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in
every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body,
joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part
is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.[7]
Notice that the leaders equipping “the saints for the work of ministry,”
is to the end that we are “building up
the body of Christ.” We not seeking to have a whole bunch of individuals
who have “faith” and “knowledge of the Son of God,” but we
are working together to “attain the UNITY
of the faith,” and “the UNITY… of the
knowledge of the Son of God.”
When Paul adds that this cooperative
fellowship of ministry is so that “we all
attain… to mature manhood,” the “manhood”
he has in mind is not the manhood of the men in the church, but the corporate
manhood of the “one new man” he has
already identified.[8] The
same is true of the next phrase, “to the
measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” This is talking about
the church maturing in our one new manhood, growing according to the “measure” that is Jesus Christ himself,
satisfied with nothing except one day arriving at the “stature” of what God considers to be “the fullness” of Christ.
Continuing through this passage with
the aim of picturing whom it is that puts on the whole armor of God, Paul then
describes the church seeking to “grow up
in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.” Again, we are not to
see this as a whole bunch of individuals all seeking to be like Jesus (although
the “one new man” reality of the body
of Christ obviously requires the full participation of each member of the
body!). Rather, the unified body of Christ is growing up together “into him who is the head.”
Complete protection
for one body
Paul makes much of the “one body of Christ” imagery of the
church. In Romans he writes,
“For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all
have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and
individually members one of another.”[9]
When we think of
what is attached to our own heads, we have a body with many members that are
one body. When we think of how we are attached to Christ, it is as “one body in Christ.” This is why Paul
clarifies that “individually” we are “members one of another.” The way we
think of ourselves is as part of one another, uniting together to make the body
of Christ what it is.
In I Corinthians, Paul writes,
“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members
of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit
we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were
made to drink of one Spirit.”[10]
The church is to think of itself as
one body with many members, not many members working together in individual
pursuit of fulfillment in Christ. The reason we are to think of ourselves this
way, and to do everything “to maintain
the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,”[11]
is because “in one Spirit we were all
baptized into one body.” All over the world, when people come to faith in Jesus
Christ our Lord, and they confess that faith through baptism, they are “all baptized into one body.” Simple as
that.
We ARE the one body of Christ because
we were baptized INTO this one body of Christ at our conversion. There are no
exceptions to this. There is no going off into the forest and having our own “church”
experience with Christ, since the word “church” means an assembly of people.
Everything about this, speaking of us as the church, as the body of Christ, as
the one new man, all call us to see ourselves as one cohesive whole, not a
whole bunch of individuals.
Paul adds that, “all were made to drink of one Spirit,” to indicate that this one
body of Christ is united in the Spirit. It is “the unity of the Spirit,” because our baptism into the body of
Christ brings us all into the same life of the Holy Spirit. This is why we do
not pursue private, customized, experiences of the Holy Spirit that are for our
own personal benefit. Instead, we come together to be filled with the Spirit as
the one body of Christ.[12]
Returning to Ephesians 4, Paul
continues weaving the body-of-Christ imagery through all his instructions. When
we see the church as growing up “in every
way into him who is the head, into Christ,” it will look like “the whole body, joined and held together by
every join with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes
the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” The “whole body” is working together as one
body, with all the members of the body doing their part, as they are gifted to
do. This makes the “body” grow up.
This means that all the work of ministry in the body “builds itself up in love.” It does not describe it as though we
all build up our own selves, but that the body builds up “itself,” the one body of Christ, the one new man. We build up the
body as the one new man growing to mature manhood.
By the time we get to Paul’s
exhortation, “Finally, be strong in the
Lord and in the strength of his might,”[13]we
are to see only one picture: the one new man, with everyone working together in
ministry that builds up this one new man to mature manhood, all being strong in
the Lord as his one body. The one body of Christ finds strength in “the strength of his might.” We do this
as we all work together, each part doing their part for the whole body.
God’s Answer to Jesus’
Prayer
How, then, will God answer Jesus’
prayer, “I do not ask that you take them
out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one”?[14] By
drawing “them” into the fullness of
his life in the one body of Christ,[15]
where this “one new man” puts on “the whole armor of God,” so that this
one new man “may be able to stand against
the schemes of the devil.” When we, as this one new man, “take up the whole armor of God” around our
united fellowship as the one body of Christ, we will be “able to withstand in the evil day.”
Often when I hear brothers or sisters
lamenting the struggles in their walk with God, it sounds to me like the
problem is that they see their walk with God as primarily them and Jesus. It
always makes me wonder what would happen if they saw their walk with God as
participation in this one new man who walks with God. If they would give
themselves, including whatever is their true soul-condition, to the life of the
body of Christ, joining with others to put the whole armor of God around the
one body of Christ, I believe they would see God’s help and protection in the
fellowship of the church that they would not experience when trying to do
things independent of the body of Christ.
While there is no such thing as a
perfect assembly of believers, we can put this into practice by starting with
our church family as we are, joining whatever prayer meetings are available, sharing
how we are doing in our relationship with God personally, and praying about how
our relationship with the church can grow into one-new-man status. As we make
every effort to pursue the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, and to
unite in putting on the whole armor of God, it will not take long to see how
God is protecting us from the evil one as this one new man abides inside the
whole armor of God.
© 2015 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517,
Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted,
Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good
News Publishers.)
[1]
John 17:14 ~ “they are not of the world, just as I am not of
the world.”
[2]
Matthew 28:19-20
[3]
Ephesians 2:1-3 describes Satan’s influence on unbelievers.
[4]
Ephesians 6:11, Ephesians 6:10-20 as the context.
[5]
Ephesians 6:13
[6]
Ephesians 2:15
[7]
Ephesians 4:11-16
[8]
Ephesians 2:15
[9]
Romans 12:4-5
[10]
I Corinthians 12:12-13
[11]
Ephesians 4:3
[12]
Ephesians 5:18
[13]
Ephesians 6:10
[14]
John 17:15
[15]
I should clarify that, when I speak of the one body of Christ, I in no way
limit our thoughts to what so many of us know as the life of the institutional
church under some banner of denominational or independent distinction. While we
all will fellowship primarily with a local assembly of believers, the one new
man does not live within the bounds of buildings, or denominations, or institutions,
or society’s acts, or any other manmade methods of trying to be the church. No
matter what else we do to fellowship with God’s people, we must think of
ourselves as members of one body of Christ, open to relating to every believer we
meet with the same earnestness to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond
of peace. Yes, there is much more that could be said about this. However, for
the moment, I encourage us all to be diligent to put no trust in our manmade
boundaries, but to seek the fullness, and the freedom, of church life in the
Holy Spirit.
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