Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. - 1 Cor. 6:15
For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. - 1 Cor. 12:12
Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. - 1 Cor. 12:27
In our first text above, Paul declares that their PHYSICAL HUMAN BODIES are "members of Christ". The fact that the physical bodies are "members of Christ" demands that Paul is speaking "of Christ" metaphorically rather than literally as no literal plurality of physical human bodies could be literal physical members of the literal physical body of Christ - besides, his literal physical body is located in heaven not on earth.
So he is speaking of the metaphorical "body of Christ." The only possible kind of metaphorical body of Christ that has PHYSICAL BODIES as members is the kind that requires visiblity, because physical bodies are visible, and requires located space because physical bodies require actual geographical space. The kind that actually visibly assembles "in one place" because physical bodies can only be found "in one place." The only kind of baptism that can bring members into this metaphorical relationship as "the body of Christ" is water baptism as that is the only kind of baptism that the physical body can be subjected to (1 Cor. 3:5-16; 12:13).
The metaphorical body described in the book of Corinthians is not a universal invisible entity but a located assembly of human bodies consisting of those who had been saved and baptized and formed (1 Cor. 3:5-9) into a metaphorical "temple of the Holy Spirit" at Corinth (1 Cor. 3:10-16).
As I previously demonstrated in another thread, the unleavened bread used in the Lord's Supper represented THIS KIND of metaphorical body of Christ, that could have members removed from the "whole lump" so that it became a "new" lump.
This metaphorical body of Christ located at Corinth ("the whole lump") consisted of "ye" but not "we" and therefore did not include all true Christians on earth. Only as an institutional body does "we" come into this picture.
Now Gentleman, you must demonstrate how physical human bodies can be part of your universal invisible Reformed Catholic invented doctrine of the church. Good luck!
For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. - 1 Cor. 12:12
Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. - 1 Cor. 12:27
In our first text above, Paul declares that their PHYSICAL HUMAN BODIES are "members of Christ". The fact that the physical bodies are "members of Christ" demands that Paul is speaking "of Christ" metaphorically rather than literally as no literal plurality of physical human bodies could be literal physical members of the literal physical body of Christ - besides, his literal physical body is located in heaven not on earth.
So he is speaking of the metaphorical "body of Christ." The only possible kind of metaphorical body of Christ that has PHYSICAL BODIES as members is the kind that requires visiblity, because physical bodies are visible, and requires located space because physical bodies require actual geographical space. The kind that actually visibly assembles "in one place" because physical bodies can only be found "in one place." The only kind of baptism that can bring members into this metaphorical relationship as "the body of Christ" is water baptism as that is the only kind of baptism that the physical body can be subjected to (1 Cor. 3:5-16; 12:13).
The metaphorical body described in the book of Corinthians is not a universal invisible entity but a located assembly of human bodies consisting of those who had been saved and baptized and formed (1 Cor. 3:5-9) into a metaphorical "temple of the Holy Spirit" at Corinth (1 Cor. 3:10-16).
As I previously demonstrated in another thread, the unleavened bread used in the Lord's Supper represented THIS KIND of metaphorical body of Christ, that could have members removed from the "whole lump" so that it became a "new" lump.
This metaphorical body of Christ located at Corinth ("the whole lump") consisted of "ye" but not "we" and therefore did not include all true Christians on earth. Only as an institutional body does "we" come into this picture.
Now Gentleman, you must demonstrate how physical human bodies can be part of your universal invisible Reformed Catholic invented doctrine of the church. Good luck!
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