One Body of the Secret Administration

[Editor:] The “One Body” of Ephesians and Colossians (Ephesians 2:16; 4:4; Colossians 3:15) is the Post-Acts “church,’ to which Christ alone is Head (Ephesians 1:22-23; 4:15; 5:23; Colossians 1:24; 2:19). This is the only Ecclesia of the Secret Administration.

“The doctrine of the One Body is never referred to by any other apostle than Paul. He calls it ‘the Dispensation of the Mystery’ with which he had especially been entrusted [Ephesians 3:9]. … Jew and Gentile being formed by the Spirit into One Body … was a truth never before made known. The Old Testament will be searched in vain for it. It is not there, because it was ‘hid in God’ [3:9]. The recognition of but One Body and One Head … leaves one outside of all human systems, and apart from all recognition of human heads. ‘The Church must have a head!’ was the Romanist’s challenge to Luther, as he began to set forth the claims of the Papacy. ‘Yes,’ replied the mighty champion of the reformation, ‘and that Head is Christ!’” — H.A. Ironside (1876-1951) Sailing with Paul (1913), chapter 10

In the Pentecost Administration, during the Acts period, there were many ecclesias, in the plural – “all the ecclesias” (Romans 16:4, 16; I Corinthians 7:17; 14:33; II Corinthians 8:18; 11:28, CV). Each of these ecclesias were, in and of themselves “the body of Christ” - an integrated “one body,” while today in the Secret Administration there is but one single ecclesia, in the singular – “the Ecclesia which is His Body” (Ephesians 2:22-23, CV). This ecclesia is universal and not local. This ecclesia of the Secret Administration has no bearing whatsoever on locality, and is of necessity, the only “One Body” universal (Ephesians 4:4).

“There were local bodies of Christ in the Pentecostal Church, but Christ was not the head of these bodies, as He is of this church of the mystery. Members of that church were its head (I Corinthians 12:12-22). Note the difference in the church which is His Body, where only Christ is the Head (Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 1:22-23).” - Dr. Arthur Charles Lambourne (1898-1993), The Dispensation of the Mystery (The Post-Acts Church)

“Ephesians and Colossians … It is in these two epistles, and only in these two epistles, that we learn about the calling of The Lord Jesus Christ as Head to the Church Which Is His Body (Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 1:24).” - Nevin Meyer Wetzel (1915-2002), The Superlative Language of Ephesians and Colossians

The many bodies of the Acts period, which were what we would appropriately call “synagogues.” S. Van Mierlo (1888-1962) reminds us that:

“The ‘church,’ or, better, the ‘Christian synagogue’ of Jerusalem could be considered as the first nucleus of the assembly that the Lord had promised to build (Matthew 16:18). … The ‘Christian synagogues” were naturally organized more or less on the same pattern as the Jewish ones. …

“We know from the New Testament that each assembly had its ‘elders’ (presbuteros) and one ‘bishop’ (episkopos), chosen from among the elders and corresponding probably to the ἀρχισυνάγωγος (archisunagōgos [‘ruler of the synagogue’ – e.g. Mark 5:36]. All these functions had thus been known by Israel for a long time (see e.g. Exodus 3:16, 18; 12:21; Deuteronomy 1:15; I Chronicles 23:4). Similarly, the ‘presbytery’ of I Timothy 4:14 was a council of elders which was already in existence in the organization of the synagogue (Luke 22:66; Acts 22:5).” – The Development of Christendom

[Van Mierlo, was a student of E.W. Bullinger (1837-1913), an associate of A.E. Knoch (1874-1965) and Charles H. Welch (1880-1967), and co-editor along with G.J. Pauptit (1889-1962) of the Dutch monthly periodical Uit de Schriften (Out of the Scriptures, 1920-1960), as well the author of several books, including The Divine Plan and its Realization, and co-author of About the Mystery: Some Brief Explanations of the Great Mystery Revealed to the Apostle Paul.]

Observing the contrast, A.E. Knoch wrote that the figurative “body” of Christ,

“… had been made known years before to the Corinthians (I Corinthians 12) and to the Romans (Romans 12:5). These earlier uses of the figure of a ‘body’ were by no means intended to bring out the heavenly equality of the nations. The figure was confined to the spiritual relations of individual saints to one another in their behavior down here on Earth. That ‘body’ is not a joint body. Christ is not seen as its Head. …

“The members of the human body are variously esteemed. Some are far more honorable than others. So a new figure must be invented to adequately set forth this most glorious grace. It is called a joint body, in which each member is equally and preeminently exalted, in order to display the transcendent riches of God’s grace.” – A.E. Knoch (1874-1965), Rooted and Ground in Love, A commentary on Ephesians, chapter 23 (See order form under “Knoch.”)

For a greater clarity on this theme, see the outstanding study,

-          “The ‘Body’ of Corinthians and the ‘Body’ of Ephesians, G.J. Pauptit, Bible Student’s Notebook #908;

-          “The ‘Body of Christ’ Is Not the Same as ‘The Church Which Is His Body,’” Tom Ballinger, Bible Student’s Notebook #925.

- Clyde L. Pilkington, Jr.

Bible Student's Notebook