Paul's Metaphor of Jesus Christ as the Head of the Body, DOES NOT TEACH The Saving Union in Christ .

“The Bible is filled with similes, metaphors, parables, and it even has its place for allegories. A real possibility exists of wrongfully associating one of these literary devices uniquely developed within a particular context with a teaching foreign to that context.

"In which case, neither the metaphor nor the incorrectly associated truth is given due regard, and improper deductions can be drawn from the carelessly associated metaphor that color that particular doctrine with shades of confusion.

"The elucidation the metaphor should have added is also lost.

"The teaching of an organic and Vital Union to Jesus Christ in Eternal Salvation is a truly Biblical teaching that is glorious and is demonstrated in Jesus’ metaphor of the vine and the branches,

"but the Pauline metaphor of Jesus Christ as the Head of each of Jesus' local governing church bodies does not teach that organic and Vital Saving Union to Jesus Christ, that takes place in the New Birth.

"The purpose of this thread is to present the nature and meaning of the metaphor of Jesus Christ as Head of each of His local governing bodies, which are Jesus' New Testament churches, while consistently honoring the grammatical historical method of interpretation.”

"Let it be clear to every reader: the great truth that every true believer has a Vital Saving Union to the Lord Jesus Christ, as the result of their Eternal Salvation in The New Birth is not in question.

"The Bible clearly teaches this great doctrine and we believe it.

"However, the metaphor of Christ as Head of each of Jesus' local governing church bodies is not designed to teach the truth of Eternal Salvation and the Vital Saving Union to Jesus Christ in the New Birth,

"and to view this word picture as if it relates to Salvation can be greatly misleading, bringing with it misconceptions as to the nature and importance of the Lord's churches that is being taught, concerning each of Jesus' individual church bodies being Placed Under The Headship of Jesus Christ by God the Father, to be their Head.

"If we were to only view Jesus Christ as being the organic Head, of each of His local church bodies, as just a head out there in space, and then with each of those individual local church congratulations only being pictured as being just the truck of that church body, then neither Jesus' Head, nor the church trunk are complete, in themselves.

"Neither picture symbolized by the metaphor would be complete, because Jesus would only be a head by itself and the local church body would not be complete because it would only be a trunk and not a complete body.

"But this view is absolutely contrary to Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 12:21, which says: “And the eye cannot say unto the hand,
I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.”

That church body already is complete as having its own head, because that head has an ""eye" in it.

"Such a body as Paul uses to portray the Lord's churches definitely has a head! He writes of “the eye” in contrast to “the hand” and “the head” in contrast to “the feet.”

"Paul’s metaphor does not allow us to view Jesus Christ as if His Physical Head is sitting on top of "a truck" of a local church "body".

"No picture is being symbolized of Jesus' Physical Head being on top of a truck of a "body" in that manner and Paul's use of that metaphor will just not allow such an absurdity!

“If one interprets the head-body metaphor in Ephesians 1:22-23 as a physical symbol there is a mixing of metaphors. Ephesians 1:22-23 states, ‘And hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the Head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all.’

"Here we have a strange picture indeed if Christ metaphorically is the Head of the physical body, for all things are also placed under His feet. Jesus would then be at one and the same time a Head which also has Feet… However, when this passage is exegeted properly a glorious truth emerges.

"Just as the fullness of the Spiritual Gifts, with all their diversity, dwelled in Jesus Christ in the Unity of His Being, then those Spiritual Gifts also exist in their Fullness and Unity as they have been distributed into each assembly (metaphorically a body) over which Jesus Sovereignty Reigns and to which He chooses to Fill and Nourish as His body just as a man chooses to nourish his wife.”

“Not only does this head-body metaphor as one body (the physically organic idea) weaken the doctrine of our Union to Jesus Christ, but interpreting it in this way causes one to miss the beauty of what is meant to be portrayed when viewed correctly…

"Consider Ephesians 5:22-23. Verse 22 states that ‘the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the Head over each of His churches: and He is the Savior of the body.’

"Here a comparison is set up.

"If you want to know how this metaphor is meant when it speaks of Jesus Christ as Head of His bodies (Jesus' churches) meditate on this analogy (set forth in Eph. 5:22 – ed.).

"The untenableness of the composite head-body metaphor” (the physically organic view) “is quickly revealed. Is the wife supposed to be thought to be an headless trunk or a non-person? The Union depicted is not a Salvational Union, but a sanctifying, maturing, developing oneness, a functional type of union”.

“The Head is portrayed as a complete Body or Person, just as a husband would be viewed, lovingly exercising headship over a complete body or person, just as a wife would be viewed. The husband nourishes and cherishes his wife, just as a complete Christ nourishes and cherishes His churches (His bodies).

"Jesus Christ is the Savior of His local church bodies just as it is first depicted in 1 Corinthians chapter twelve. This local church bodies over which Christ is their Head, also have "their own head" no different in significance than "their feet", both being necessary to constitute the local church body of Christ at Corinth.”

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"Perhaps here we should interject this important biblical fact. All, we repeat, all the metaphors used to help us understand the nature and function of the Lord's churches are local in nature. A bride is local, a building is local, a temple is local and a body is necessarily local in nature.

"Ten, or a thousand, or a million body parts scattered throughout time and throughout the world does not, indeed cannot in any sense constitute a body!

"This is consistent with the fact that the Lord's churches are a local bride, building, temple and body.

"If you desire to learn how the Greek word ecclesia (church) is consistently used in the New Testament and as well in the Septuagint, the Apocrypha and also in classical Greek usage, contact us for a free copy of B.H. Carroll’s ECCLESIA – THE CHURCH.

"Except for a few places where ecclesia is used of a concept or idea, used in an Institutional sense (generic use) the word ecclesia always is used of a real, organized, official gathering of people in a place.

"To mystically "make within the mind" Christ the Head of a Universal, Invisible, mystical “body” in an organic sense is to miss the real and very practical teaching of the New Testament.

"Jesus Christ is the real, functioning Head over each of His churches = that is the truth taught by the New Testament.

“First Corinthians 12:18 helps us understand this truth, ”But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.” This action of God placing every one of the members into the local church body is by the Work of the Holy Spirit as verse 13 explains, “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body.” The Holy Spirit leads those particular saved soils to a particular assembly to be baptized in water and become a functioning member of that body of Christ. "Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular."
I Corinthians 12:27.

"Just as in Salvation we are Regenerated, Gifted, and Designed to be a particular member of a specific local body as fashioned by God’s design, but we do not fulfill that purpose until we leave the world and join a local church body of Christ, by water baptism”

"(To teach that there is more than one kind church entered by more than one kind of baptism – eg. “water baptism” and “spirit baptism” – is not only a misinterpretation of 1 Corinthians 12:13, but a violation of Ephesians 4:5 which says there is only one kind of baptism!)

“There is certainly never any Universal, Invisible oxymoronic "body" that we instantly become a member of at the moment of Salvation. This whole false doctrine finds its strength in a misunderstanding of the head-body metaphor, as if it is a Spiritual Salvation relationship.

"The properly understood metaphor depicts a Union that is not organic and Spiritually Vital relationship in the Salvation experience of the New Birth, but is a relational and functional Union as the believers in one of Jesus' local church bodies Worship and serve Him.

"Paul's metaphorical picture is not depicting our relationship of Salvational Union upon being placed in Christ, Spiritually, but it is depicting a corporate functional union of believers set by God in a metaphorical body which is an organized assembly of believers, one of the Lord's churches.

"There is as much difference between being in Christ, Spiritually, in the New Birth, and being baptized into a local body of Christ as there is between the Eternal Son of God and the Son of God incarnate in His Personal Ministry, Who upon earth was local and visible and still is as the Lord in Heaven.

"Being in Christ, Spiritually by the New Birth, refers to Salvation, and being baptized into a local church body of Christ refers to a work of sanctification; wherein a Divinely organized assembly of believers corporately exercises and displays their diverse Gifts of Christ in their assembled unity together as one local church body created by the Holy Spirit.”

“The composite head-body metaphor is the myth that needs to be separated from the real metaphor of Jesus' complete local bodies (each of Jesus' individual churches) over which the complete Jesus Christ presides in His Lordship and Headship. Each true New Testament church is a body of baptized believers which is Jesus' by possession and relationship and to which He is their Leader, and Lord, and their Head, to Guild them through His Word and Prayer.”

Adapted from: LANDMARKISM vs. INTERDENOMINATIONALISM:

An Analysis of Some of the Doctrinal Errors of George Zeller
and the Middletown Bible Church.

A CRITIQUE Of And A REPLY To George Zeller’s
“An Analysis of the Doctrinal Errors of Landmarkism”

As found at:
www.middletownbiblechurch.org/lochurch/Landmark.htm,

By Curtis Pugh.