“For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother to be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” Eph. 5:30-32. So, we are not to be just one spirit but also one flesh with Him. Christ is in heaven at the Father’s right hand. How then can the church be one flesh with Him? God condemned sin in the flesh. He did not condemn our body. He uses it to serve Him. Our body becomes an instrument of righteousness for God. Rom. 6:12-13. That the body which previously served sin can now serve God is a tremendous glory. Vv. 18-19. When Christ uses our body, it must be as it is written: when Christ is in us, the body is dead because of sin. Rom. 8:10. In other words, I must keep my body in death when it concerns sin. To the extent that God uses our earthly body, to that same extent you and I have a habitation in heaven, a habitation from God, and to that same extent, you have victory over everything that is sinful. Likewise, to that same extent, Christ receives a body here on earth in which He can work to will and to do His work for people. Phil. 2:12-13. Here it is vital to be humble. Here I must give account to God so that I do not go beyond my measure of faith but rather work within the measure that God has given me. This applies to each one of us. When we are placed in a body, what happens to our own will then? It disappears completely; the only thing that counts now is doing the will of the Head. We were baptized with one Spirit to be one body. 1 Cor. 12:13. You have been placed in the body, and the only thing that matters is what the Head decides. What about your own opinions then, your obstinacy and high-mindedness, if you believe in this revelation? All of it will disappear, it will end. What becomes of conceit and the desire to rule over others, then? Such things are excluded from God’s active and powerful Spirit of unity. You sense that the Spirit that is active in the body works powerfully toward oneness. The body cannot be divided. There is therefore only one thing that matters, which is to fill one’s place in all faithfulness. Everything else will be like kicking against the goads, kicking against the laws of the Spirit of life! We cannot do anything greater and better than fulfill our place in the body. “For we are members of His body . . . .” Eph. 5:30. Believing that we are one another’s members is a sanctifying and preserving power in our life! I belong to the body that was raised with Christ and seated in heaven. Col. 3:1. Today, I belong to this body on earth! Living faith in this has a powerfully sanctifying effect and is a preserving power against sin. In this faith, our progress is evident to all. We perform our ministry in the body of Christ with our body. Therefore we have no honor either and nothing to boast of; we are obedient as members of His body because Christ is working. We are also submissive to each other with our body. 1 Pet. 5:5. Everything happens in one body. Also, our good order; everything happens in the body. If you break this order that is in our midst according to the laws of the Spirit of life, you will be swept away; God does not allow it. You have to be on guard against all arrogance, pride, and conceit. He does not regard such people; He does not want these things in His body. We are also edified in our bodies, such as at our conferences and gatherings. The entire body is built up together. The treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in the body of Christ. May God mightily strengthen us to live and work as each other’s members, and not as independent individuals but rather as being “joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share . . . .” Eph. 4:16. This is what God has said! And as God wants it, that is how it will be when we obediently work out our salvation with fear and trembling in those areas where God works in our life! Phil. 2:12-13.Kåre J. Smith