1 Corinthians 12:27-28 says, "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And in the church, (the body of Christ,) God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles...etc..."

Christ said, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me (converted person in the Church) that bears not fruit he takes away: and every branch that bears fruit, he purges it, that it may bring forth more fruit."  John 15:1-2  Believe it or not, there is a connection between these two scriptures that help us understand what the body of Christ represents.

The Bible says in a clearer way in Colossians 1:24.

"Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church."  The point is that to be connected to the vine, or to Christ, or to "Christ's body," then we must be a part of the "true" Church, which is His body according to the scriptures.

We also see our connection to the "body of Christ" at Passover----because, when we partake of the bread and wine, we take Christ inside us.  We have "communion" with His blood and His body.  Communion, is from the Greek word Koinonos which literally means "participation...a sharer."  We share the body and blood of Christ with Him.  We are in His Body, the Church, and, He is in our body as well, that is, if the Holy Spirit dwells inside us.  Remember the communes of the 60s where everyone lived together and shared everything?  That may be a bad example, but it explains our relationship with Christ to a degree. When we eat the bread and drink the wine, we share Christ's body, and all that He has.

When we take the communion service, we "commune" with Christ.  All that is ours is now His and all that belongs to Him is now ours.  As I say the communes of the 60s are an example that people can relate to.  In reality, at Passover, we make a covenant with Christ that we both agree to.  This should tell us what a great man Jesus Christ was, in that he was willing to take all that He had, His eternal life, His possession of everything in the universe, and He laid it on the line, so that He could "commune" or share everything He has with us.  It is a cup of blessing for us that is indescribable.

"The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion (participation or sharing) of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion (participation or sharing) of the body of Christ?  For we, though many, are one bread and one body for we all partake of that one bread." (Christ) 1 Corinthians 10:16-17

The Holy Spirit is your living connection to the vine....to Christ.  It is the possibility of eternal life in you.  Look at it this way, going to the true church means nothing if you don't have the living Spirit of Christ in you.  Keeping the Passover means nothing if you don't have the true and living Spirit of Christ in you.  Romans 8:9 says,  "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." 

 

He is none of His?  ---In other words, this person is a spiritual "bastard." A bastard is simply"one whose father does not recognize as being his own."  If we do not have the Spirit of Christ, we are not recognized by God as His own children. 

What is the bottom-line?  We know that having the "Holy Spirit" is required for the First Resurrection.  Vs 11 says, "And if the (Holy) Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his (Holy) Spirit, who lives in you."

If you have God's living Holy Spirit in you, and if you go to God's true church, and if you keep the Passover, and if you keep God's commandments, which is the (marriage) covenant which joins us to Christ-----then stay with it.  Don't quit. This is what Christ was talking about when He said, "Abide in me, and I in you."  In fact, in one short passage, Christ used the word abide 9 times! The word abide is from the Greek word "meno" which means to "stay in a given place." 

 

If you abide in Christ by staying in His body, which is the true church, then you will learn more and more, and you will bear much fruit.  Don't wander off from the vine which is Christ and don't wander off from the true church, which is His body.  Remain in the body of Christ...which is a place of protection, for it is the very womb of the First Fruits of God... Stay in the womb until you are born into the God Family.