Chapter VI
Wrong
On How The Church Is Constituted
How does a person become a member of the church? The answer
is, just like those converts on the day of Pentecost got into - were added - to
the Jerusalem church, by being baptized, by being immersed in WATER. A church
service is in progress today, and a person walks forward at the close, when the
invitation is given, and publicly confesses Christ as Savior. Is he a member of
that church? No. Suppose now that he is immersed at the evening service. Is he
now a member? Certainly he is. At the pastor's request he stands down front at
the close of the service, and the church members go forward and extend to him
the hand of church fellowship.
But the Universal
Churchite, including some Baptists, claim that a person doesn't become a member
of the church in this way. They claim that one becomes a member of the Church
by "being baptized into the Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit." This
is some kind of a mystical (really "mythical") baptism, into a
mystical (really "mythical") Body. Really, this is conglomerate
nonsense! I must confess to a feeling of theological nausea every time I heard
some one rattle off that expression about a person being "baptized into
the Body of Christ." What sort of an experience is that? Nobody can see it
happen. No body attempts to explain what sort of feeling accompanies this
mythical experience. Nobody can show anything to prove that it takes place.
Where do people get that stuff? The answer is, they in their dire need of
something to back up a wicked theory, go to I Corinthians 12:13. Without regard
to the context, and throwing aside all right standards of theological
interpretation, they latch onto that passage - that lone, greatly beloved
passage, and they make it to mean something that it was never intended to mean.
Let us go a bit into
detail, and note some things that go against such an interpretation as I have
just indicated.
1 - It is always
dangerous to build a big theory on one passage of Scripture, especially if it
does not harmonize with the general teachings of the Scriptures on the same
subject. No where else do we find any intimation that one gets into the church
by some strange mystical (mythical!) Spirit baptism. If that theory is true,
then there are millions of baptisms of the Holy Spirit. But the Scriptures
restrict the baptism of the Holy Spirit to a very few instances. In fact, I can
recall only three. (1) The Holy Spirit baptized the disciples on Pentecost to
empower them, and to give supernatural signs such as would cause people to turn
to Christ. (2) When the gospel spread to Gentiles, there was need of proof that
Gentiles could be saved, so there we have a second instance of the baptism of
the Holy Spirit, such that it became unmistakably plain that Gentiles could be
saved on the same terms as the Jews. Thus, in Acts 10:44 we read, "While
Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell upon all of them that heard
the word." Verse 46 says, "They heard them speak with TONGUES,
and magnify God. Then answered Peter, can any man forbid water that these
should not be baptized which HAVE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST AS WELL AS WE?"
(3) We have the instance of some men at Ephesus who had been very imperfectly
instructed. They had been baptized "unto Johns baptism" which related
to the Messiah to come, but evidently they didn't know that the Savior had
appeared. Paul enlightened them, and evidently they received the Christ about
whom he told them, for we read, (Acts 19:5), "When they heard
this they were baptized in the name of Jesus." They needed some
supernatural evidence as they came out of their befuddlement and that
supernatural evidence was given them, for we further read, "And when
Paul laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came upon them, AND THEY SPAKE
WITH TONGUES AND PROPHESIED."
Note that we have
three instances of Holy Spirit baptism. In EACH CASE IT WAS UPON GROUPS - never
upon one individual. No mention is made that these persons had been baptized into
the Body of Christ. In each instance of Holy Spirit baptism THE GIFT OF TONGUES
WAS BESTOWED. Do those who claim Holy Spirit baptism into the Body of Christ,
receive the gift of tongues? No. Why? The answer is, they simply do not receive
the baptism of the Holy Spirit, else they would show the manifestation of it
that we read about in the New Testament.
Note also, the
Scriptures never counsels believers to be baptized by the Holy Spirit. They are
counseled to "be filled with the Spirit."
BUT WHAT OF I CORINTHIANS 12:13?
Remember as you read this passage that originally there
were no chapter divisions. These are entirely man-made. Look back into the
context and you will see that Paul has been writing to the Corinthians about
their church observance of the Lord's Supper. He is plainly speaking about the
local church. In chapter 11:18 he says, "When ye come together in the
church." They couldn't come together in an invisible church. Paul
comes right on down to the last verse of chapter 11 speaking of the local
church. Indisputably this is true. Now why should he without any warning
whatsoever, begin to write about some sort of a Universal Invisible Church? Of
course he doesn't! He continues to write about the church - the assembly to
which they belonged, but he changes the subject and begins to write about God's
bestowal of spiritual gifts. These gifts relate to those members of the local
church. In 12:11 he says, "But all these worketh that one and selfsame
Spirit, dividing to EVERY MAN severally as he will." He is not writing
about invisible members of an invisible church, but ordinary visible men. Then
he makes a comparison between the visible human body and the visible local
church. He shows that various organs of the body have different functions, and
that one organ should not look down upon another more lowly organ just because
that organ is adapted to a less important task. "The eye," he
says, "cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee." All
of the various organs are necessary to the proper functioning of the human
body. Then he teaches that the church like the human body needs persons with
the various gifts that God has bestowed upon them, such that there should be no
jealousy - no looking down upon those adapted to the more lowly tasks. Throughout
the entire chapter Paul is writing to local church members about the gifts that
God bestows and the use of those gifts. He shows that not all members can enjoy
the highest places. In verse 29 he says, "Are all apostles? Are all
prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? ... But covet
earnestly the best gifts ..."
Need I remind you
that no one could use the gift of a teacher in the Universal Invisible Church.
No, these are gifts that could only be used in a local visible church. The teachings
of the entire chapter are applicable to a local church and that church alone.
WHY, THEN SHOULD VERSE 13 SIGNIFY SOME KIND OF A CHURCH THAT PAUL HAS NOT BEEN
WRITING ABOUT, AND TO WHOM HIS ILLUSTRATION HERE COULD NOT APPLY? But, if there
is any question about Paul meaning some other kind of church than the local
assembly in verse 13, that question can be easily resolved by any fair minded
person. Suppose that Paul could be called before us such that we are enabled to
ask him the question, "Paul what did you mean by your use of the word
church in I Corinthians 12:13? Did you mean the Universal Invisible Church,
composed of all believers, or were you speaking to the local church at
Corinth?" If Paul should then reply and say that he meant the church at Corinth
would that be sufficient to settle the questions? Would you throw away your
Universal theory?
PAUL HAS ANSWERED
THAT QUESTION! HE HAS SAID THAT HE WAS SPEAKING TO THE CHURCH AT CORINTH!
"Where you say. The answer is in verse 27. Paul, speaking to that
Corinthian church, says, "NOW YE ARE THE BODY OF CHRIST, AND MEMBERS IN
PARTICULAR."
Does that settle the
question for you? It should.
I must make a
confession here. For several years I babbled that stuff about the Church being
formed by people being baptized by the Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ.
This babble was based on verse 13, but I had never carefully read or studied
the context. Then one day I read the rest of the chapter, and when my eyes lit
upon verse 27 and the words. "Now ye are the body of Christ and members
in particular," my eye balls must have nearly fallen out. I realized
that I had been teaching something that was simply not in the Bible, and that I
could have known better by reading just a few more verses. But I can say one thing:
I threw that Universal theory on the junk heap! I hope that some of you who
read this will do the same.
Now let us look a
little more closely at verse 13. "By one Spirit are we all baptized
into one body." What kind of baptism is Paul writing about here? In
answering this I think we ought to consider something that Paul - this same
Paul, wrote to the Ephesians. In Ephesians 4:4 he writes, "There is ONE
BODY, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling: one
Lord, one faith, ONE BAPTISM."
"ONE BODY."
He is referring to the church. The Universalite usually believes that there is
the local church and beyond this the big Universal Church, but Paul says that there
is only ONE BODY, so since there are not two, one should be thrown away. That
one body is the local assembly - the kind that Paul wrote his epistles to, and
to believe that there is another kind of body or church is to take issue with
Paul.
Then in verse 5 Paul
says, "ONE BAPTISM." What kind of baptism? Immersion in water,
of course. That is the kind of baptism that characterized the New Testament
church - the kind that Paul taught and practiced. Now did Paul teach one kind
of baptism in Ephesians 4 and another kind in I Corinthians 12? Of course not.
In I Corinthians 12:13 he is writing about plain old immersion in water, in the
name of the Holy Spirit. This is bound to be true, if it is true that
"there is ONE baptism" and only one for a church.
This is quite
sufficient for me, but there is yet another explanation far preferable to the
Spirit baptism theory. I recall an article written by the noted Bible scholar
and writer, Arthur Pink. He told of how he had originally been taken in by the
Universal Church theory, until he began to study the question, whereupon he
threw it away as one of the worst of heresies. He mentioned the fact that in
the Greek language they do not capitalize as do we who write English. That
being true, the word spirit in I Corinthians 12:13 is not capitalized, and
there is no proof that the Holy Spirit is meant at all. We may meet together in
a group for some purpose and in sincerity we consider the matter before us. The
chairman says, "I am sure that we have all met here in the same spirit of
fairness to consider this matter." Dr. Pink was inclined to think that
such a meaning is indicated here. Besides, the correct translation is "For
IN one spirit are we all baptized." Of one thing Dr. Pink, the
thoughtful Bible scholar was sure about - a Holy Spirit baptism into an
Invisible Church is not taught by this verse.