The Holy Spirit In The Church Of
Laodicea
[Introduction] [Part
I] [Part II] [Part
III] [Footnotes]
Footnote #2. What this means is that the church body exists for the sake of the individual members, not vice versa. The individual believer's relationship to the Father does not exist for the sake of building up an anointed corporate machine. The supreme importance of the individual relative to the body is seen in Paul's burden to "present every man perfect in Christ Jesus" (Col. 1:28). This is also echoed in Jesus' parables about the lost sheep and the lost coin (Lk. 15:3-10). According to Jesus, it is our attention (or lack thereof) to the individual that proves whether we are sheep or goats (Mt 25:40,45. See also Mt. 18:5). Later we will see how extremely important it is to rightly discern this relationship between the individual and the body.
[Introduction] [Part I] [Part II] [Part III] [Footnotes]