You're not going to find a company filled with CEOs, or a baseball team with only pitchers, or an orchestra consisting only of cymbals. You need people filling different roles. And it's a principle related to you and your church, as you'll see next on Grace to You. They say that variety is the spice of life. Well, we know that Jesus is building his church with a variety of people from different backgrounds with all sorts of personalities and gifts. But is that simply to add spice, to keep things interesting, or is there more to it than that? John MacArthur works through those questions on Today's Grace to You as he's continuing a series that's covering foundational aspects of the Christian life. It's titled, Spiritual Boot Camp. And today's lesson focuses on things that you ought to do, how God made it possible for you to be an effective member of your local church. And now, here's John MacArthur. How to function in the body of Christ. Now, there's a very important verse in the Bible that would be the place to start, and that would be 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 13. For by one Spirit were we all baptized into one body. The moment you received Jesus Christ as Savior, you were placed into the body of Christ. Whether we be Jews or Greeks, bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one Spirit." When you became a Christian, you were placed, and that's what the baptizing of the Holy Spirit means, you were baptized or placed into the body of Christ. It's like baptism means dipping somebody under or putting somebody into. You were put into the body of Christ. became a member of the body of Christ. That's synonymous with the concept of the church. You became a member of the church of Christ. You may not join a local church yet, you may not have an official membership in a local church, but the moment you were saved you became a member of the church, of Christ's body, and that's one of the terms used for the church. The Bible uses several terms for the church. It calls us a flock, Christ is the shepherd. It calls us branches, and He is the vine. It calls us subjects of a kingdom, and He is the king. It calls us children in a family, and He is the father. There are many metaphors for the church, but one of them, and a very unique one, is the concept of the body, that we are members of the body of Christ. Now when we came into the family, we came into that body. And 1 Corinthians 12, 14 says, the body is not one member but many. So we're all part of the body of Christ. Now this occurs at your salvation. So point number one is to understand your salvation. It's very important that we understand what took place when we were saved. Maybe a simple way to approach this would be to have you turn to Ephesians and look with me at chapter 2. Chapter 2 verse 11 says, "'Wherefore, remember that you in time past were heathen in the flesh.'" Now that's specifically directed to the Christians who were Gentile Christians. Verse 12 says, "'That at that time you were without Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Now that is a picture of an unbeliever, without Christ, without God, without hope, without promise, empty. But, verse 13, now in Christ Jesus, ye who once were far off are made near by the blood of Christ. You once were far off from God, without God, without Christ, without hope, without promise. But in Christ you have been made near, for He is our peace who has made both one and broken down the middle wall of partition between us." It's as if you and God were rebels and Christ took the hand of God and your hand and brought them together. And often, you know, someone who is mutually loved by two people can succeed in doing that. Sometimes you have a mother and a father who become estranged, and a child who is loved by both of them can be the catalyst to bring them back together. was a great story that came out of World War II. The French and the Germans were fighting. The Germans occupied a farmhouse, and the French were trying to take the farmhouse, and they were shooting across a field at each other. And all of a sudden, one of the soldiers screamed out, hold your fire, because there was a little baby crawling across the field. Somehow it had gotten out of the farmhouse. And, of course, the Germans saw the little baby and had the same response. And the interesting result of the story was that all the firing ceased, and some newspaper reporter, when he wrote down the interesting article in relation to that incident, said that a babe had brought peace. In a real sense, that's precisely what happened with Jesus Christ. He came into the world to bring peace between those who were enemies, God and man. And the reason we are enemies with God is because He is holy and we are sinful, and that estranges us. And Christ comes and takes the two parties and brings them together. He is our peace. And the metaphor here is it's like breaking down a wall that was between us. And it's not just talking about between us and God, but between Jew and Gentile. Now further on, it says in verse 16, He desires to reconcile both Jew and Gentile unto God in one body by the cross. So Jew and Gentile are brought together and then both of them in the church are brought together with God. And the cross accomplishes this. The cross is the thing, the act which took away sin, and sin was the wall, sin was the barrier between us and God. And so when the cross is accomplished and we put our faith in Christ, the barrier is removed, we are brought to God in one body. And so the church is all one. If you love the Lord Jesus Christ and you've been born again, you're one in the body of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 6, 17, it says, he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit. So all those who are joined to Christ are one in Christ. Now over in chapter 4 of Ephesians, verse 17 tells a little bit about our life before we were Christians. This I say therefore and testify in the Lord that you henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk. How do other Gentiles walk? How do unsaved people act in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart? They are past feeling. In other words, their consciences no longer really control them. They have seared their conscience. They've disobeyed it so long it has a little effect. So, that's a picture of an unsaved person. He walks like the heathen in the vanity of his mind. He's guided by his own thoughts. His understanding is darkened. He can't really know the truth. He is alienated from the life of God, spiritually dead. His heart is blind. He has no feeling toward God, etc. He gives himself over to evil things, to wild kind of living, uncleanness, greediness, and all that. But you have not so learned Christ. When you receive Christ, a whole new life begins, and all of that ceases to exist in the newness of life in Christ. So there's a tremendous transformation. One other passage in Ephesians 2 to look at it, chapter 2 verse 1. Ephesians 2 verse 1 says, And you hath He made alive who are dead in trespasses and sins, Before you were a Christian, you were dead, not physically dead, but spiritually dead. And when we talk about spiritual death, we mean an inability to respond to God. I remember one day when I was sitting over in my office, a little boy came running in and said, please come down the street. My mother needs help. Our baby sister just died. And down here on Roscoe Boulevard, about half a dozen houses or so, I hurried down the street and went in and there was a little baby, beautiful little baby, I guess maybe about four months old, lying on the bed, just as blue as it could be, stone cold dead. And the mother was just sobbing and sobbing and sobbing and there was no explanation as far as she knew as to how the baby died. And she would kiss the baby and hold the baby and nothing she could do would make that baby live. because physical death is an inability to respond. And it served to me as a good illustration because probably the strongest of all affections in human terms would be the affection of a mother for a child. That's the most basic kind of affection, the strongest kind of tie, that mother tied to that very life that came out of her own womb. But all the love she had and all of that energy that she was giving to that little child was totally unreceived because death is an inability to respond. It doesn't matter what the stimulus is, it can't respond. Spiritual death is the same thing. It is to be unable to respond to God. It is to have God doing things and God moving and totally be indifferent, unresponsive to what God is doing. That's spiritual death, the inability to respond to God. And that's precisely what Paul is saying. Before you were a Christian, you were dead in trespasses and sins. Your life was characterized by the flesh, by the desires of the flesh, the desires of the mind, verse 3 says. You walked according to the course of the world, whatever the world said you did. You followed the prince of the power of the air, Satan, and you were totally tuned out to God, as if you were physically dead and couldn't feel the stimulus of a physical Factor, so spiritually dead you can't feel the stimulus of a spiritual reality. That all changed. Ephesians chapter 2 says in verse 4, but God who is rich in mercy for His great love with which He loved us, and of course the whole change was begun with God. It was His love and His mercy. Even when we were dead in sins has what? Made us alive. What's the one thing a dead man needs most? Life. And that's precisely what God gives. And what does He mean by life? It simply means that He turned on your spiritual sensitivities, and you became aware of God. You were able to sense God. You now walk in the presence of God. The scripture starts to mean something to you. Prayer means something to you. A whole new dimension opens up of existence, and that's because you became alive spiritually. That is, you opened up to be able to sense God. So your salvation then is an awakening into the realm of the presence of God. When you were saved, you came alive. Now part of that new life includes you being incorporated in the body of Christ, a very important concept. So your salvation then was a great transformation. You belong to the world. You were insensitive to God. All of a sudden, by the transformation of salvation, you've been placed in the body of Christ. You've been saved from deadness unto life. And you can sense God. You can feel God. You know God. You walk in eternal life. And incidentally, eternal life isn't the length of time. Eternal life is a kind of living. And that is the new life that comes in Christ. So you understand your salvation and what it did. Now secondly, I want you to look a little bit at this idea of understanding your position. Now that you are in the body of Christ, now that you are a Christian, what does that mean? Now listen to me. What it means is that you are in Christ in the truest sense of the word. Your position to begin with, A, is you are in Christ. Now, I mean that in the most realistic sense. When God looks at you, He sees you as it were incorporated in Christ. Everything about you is in Christ, and that's why God can impute righteousness to you, because He sees you in Christ. That's why God can forgive your sin, because He sees you in Christ. That's why Romans 8 says you are a joint heir, because everything that comes to Christ comes to you, because you are in Christ. So when you became a Christian, you were made to be identified uniquely in the person of Jesus Christ. That's a tremendous concept. In 2 Timothy 1.9 it says, who has saved us, God who has saved us, called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ." God even had you in Christ before the world began. He saw you that way even then, now manifest since Christ has come. In Ephesians chapter 1, I think it's verse 6, it says this. God has predestinated us, verse 5, to the adoption of sons by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace," listen, "...through which He has made us accepted." How? How has God made us accepted? In the Beloved One. The only way God can accept you is in Christ. And when you become a Christian and you receive Christ, you literally become in Christ. You literally move into Him, as it were, and His personality shelters you so that God sees you in Christ. Ephesians 117 is really a prayer that you would understand this. He says, I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of Him, that the eyes of your understanding would be enlightened, that you would know what is the hope of His calling and the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. And what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe according to the working of His mighty power which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and set Him on His own right hand in the heavenly places? Now what he's saying there is, I pray that you will understand what it means to be in Christ. It is to inherit all that is His of the riches and the glory. It is to inherit all of His, verse 19, of the power, the mighty power which raised Him from the dead. Every possession of Christ and every empowering of Christ becomes ours because we're in Christ. It's a tremendous concept. And, of course, this is why we say a believer, for one reason, cannot lose his salvation. There is security there, you see. Your identification is in Him. In Ecclesiastes, there is an interesting verse. There's a lot of interesting ones, but one for our thoughts. Ecclesiastes 3.14. I just point this out because I want you to understand how complete you are in Christ. I know that whatsoever God does, it shall be forever." Now that's a good principle. If God does anything, it's a forever thing. Nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it. And God doeth it that men should fear before Him. Now when God does something, there is nothing that can be added to it and there is nothing that can be taken away from it. That's true of anything, and it's even true of your salvation. If God saved you, that settles it. It's total. It's complete. You're not half saved, three-quarters saved, or saved to a point and you've got to add a few little items along the way. If you're saved, God did it. You can't add anything to it. You can't take anything away from it. You became a total Christian the moment you believed. You know, when a baby is born into the world, it isn't born like a pollywog. Doesn't come in and all of a sudden at three months, sprouts a right arm and then all of a sudden at six months, a leg pops out and pretty soon you got a little toad type thing. No, babies come into the world from the time they're the teeniest little thing, they have all the parts, right? They have all the parts. The parts just get bigger. That's all. When you become a Christian, you're not a spiritual pollywog with just a squiggly little tail, and as you mature, you pop out the new parts. You're a total Christian. The only question is the process of growing. Do you see what I mean? It's only a process of developing what you already are because you are complete in Him. Colossians 2.10 says, for you are complete in Him. 2 Peter 1.3 says, you have all things pertaining to life and godliness. You lack absolutely nothing. There are no ingredients you don't have. There is nothing missing. You are a totally perfectly formed baby in Christ. Now, you need to grow and you need to mature those parts to bring them to a place where they can really operate for maximum effect, but no parts are missing. You are totally complete. That's a very, very important concept. Now because we are in Christ, God sees us then in fulfillment of all of His requirements. Christ came and fulfilled the whole law. Since you're in Christ in the eyes of God, you also fulfill the whole law. You are spiritually alive to God, you're dead to sin, you're forgiven. How much forgiven are you? He's forgiven you all your trespasses. You're righteous, you're a child of God, you're God's possession, heirs of God, blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies, you're heavenly citizens, you're servants of God, you have new life, you're free from the law, crucified to the world, you're a light to the world, victorious over Satan, you're cleansed, you're holy without blame, you're free, you're in Christ, you're secure in Christ, you're possessors of peace, you're one, you're in grace, you're in fellowship, you're joyful, you're spirit indwelt and led, you're spirit gifted, you're empowered for service, and you have love. Now, that's pretty exciting, isn't it? That's who you are. In the eyes of God, that is your position. Since you're spiritually alive to God, live the life. Since you're dead to sin, don't give sin any place. You see, what you are positionally before God, how God sees you may be different than how you behave. I remember when I was a little kid, some neighborhood kid, he got me in some bad influence. He got me to think it was kind of a neat deal to smoke a cigar. So I smoked a cigar and I thought, boy, this is really living, big time deal. So then he decided he'd show me how I could steal things from the dime store. I was really a great kid, I just got in bad company. But anyway, so we wound up stealing some stuff from Sears. As we were leaving the store, we got caught by the store detective. And they put us in jail, in the city jail, while they called my father, who was playing golf with some deacons. And poor guy, he didn't know what was going on. Anyway, he came to the jail, he thought it was a mistake. And he had the deacons with him, they were coming back. Couldn't be my son, so anyway, he comes and I'm in the cell there, sitting there. So my dad arrives and he bails me out of there. And you know, I remember going to church, and my dad was a preacher, so everybody knew who I was. The word got around about me being in jail. Didn't do a whole lot for my family's image. But anyway, people used to say to me, oh, how could you do that? Don't you know who your father is? My mother would say, don't you realize, don't you realize how you've dishonored our family? How could you, a pastor's son, do that, people would say. Well, you see, the point was I wasn't living up to my position, you understand? Because of who I was, there was a certain level demanded of me, and I wasn't living up to it. Now the Scriptures give us both sides. There are many Scriptures on our position, and there are many on our experience or our practice. And we need to have both. You need to be consistent. There is a certain position that we have as Christians that we are to live up to. And the tragic thing that occurs in a Christian's life is often your practice doesn't match your position. You know, and what the Holy Spirit is saying to you is, what are you doing acting like that? Don't you know who you are? Don't you know who your Father is? So your practice needs to match your position, but your position is perfect. You are in Christ, and your position secures you forever. Spiritual growth has nothing to do with your position. Your position is already perfect. Spiritual growth occurs in the area of your practice to match your position. So that's a very important thing. All right, then, understanding your position. Your position, first of all, is in Christ. Secondly, since you are in Christ, you are also in the body of Christ, the church. You have a very important position there. At the center of the church is Christ, the Spirit of Christ. Christ rules in the church. through evangelists and pastor-teachers." And this is giving you the organization of the church in a circle fashion. The Spirit of Christ rules through evangelists and pastor-teachers. Their ministry is to equip the saints. The saints then are equipped by the leaders of the church to minister. When the saints minister, the body of Christ is edified or built up And the result of that is that the elect are added. People are saved. Now, this is basically a simple look at the structure of the church. The heart or the head of the church, Christ, the Spirit of Christ. Through the evangelists and pastor-teachers or the elders of the church, the saints are equipped. Once the saints are equipped, they begin to minister. Once they begin to minister, the body gets built up. And when the bodies build up, the elect are added. People are saved. Now, that's the structure of the church. Your task is to be equipped. so that you can minister. For when you minister, the body will be built up and other people will be saved." Now that's a simple look at the organization of the church. Our part then is to submit to teaching and leadership. That's John MacArthur with a reminder about how God desires you to function in your local church. Along with being the Bible teacher on the broadcast, John is president of the Master's College and Seminary, and today's lesson is a part of his current series on Grace To You titled, Spiritual Boot Camp. John, I know you're committed to studies like Spiritual Boot Camp, to verse-by-verse teaching from God's Word, in part because it changes lives, it gives people eternal hope. That's certainly true for two listeners who wrote to Grace to you recently and whose letters I know you have there right in front of you. I do, Carl, and they're very encouraging. First one from Renee. Dear Pastor MacArthur, I'm not much of a radio listener while driving, but I came across the radio station 105.1 back in February, and your study on winning the private war against temptation was on. I had been struggling with alcohol since about 2001, and the struggle had gotten progressively worse. I was calling in sick two or three times a month. It's only by the grace of God that my employer had not fired me. Your teaching prompted me to get on my knees before God and cry out for help and deliverance. And He has answered in a tremendous way. Our God is an awesome God. Your message could not have come at a better time. I was in a very dark place and even had thoughts that death was the only answer to end my chains of bondage. I praise God and thank Him every day for breaking that bondage. Your sister in Christ, Renee. Renee, bless your heart. Thank you so much. What an encouraging letter. And that is the power of the Spirit of God and the power of the truth to break that bondage. Another letter comes from David. Mr. MacArthur, I became a Christian at 12 years old and was raised in a Christian home. Until age 35, I attended a very Arminian church and didn't know of the doctrines of grace even though I had taught from the Word of God since I was 18 years old. Several years ago, while I was preparing to teach at my church, I was introduced to Grace to You, and I began listening with amazement. The more I listened to your sermons, the more I realized all that I had missed in Scripture. I relied heavily on your teaching as I prepared the teacher's packets for our nine coordinated adult Sunday school classes. Years later, I learned that those lessons helped hundreds of people understand the truth of grace. I continue to thank God for your preaching ministry. Your obedience to the faithful preaching of the Word has been a great example to me in my work as an elder of our church and a lay minister of the Word. signed a servant of God, David. You are a servant of God, David, and it is my greatest joy to give the truth to someone who will spread it like you have. Thanks, John. Now, Fran, let me remind you, when you give in support of Grace To You, you help minister to people like Renee and David all across the world. To become a partner with us, call our toll-free number or visit the website gty.org and make your tax-deductible donation today. You can also mail a gift to Grace To You, Post Office Box 4000, Panorama City, California, 91412. Or express your support when you call 1-800-55-GRACE. And again, you can donate online. It's quick and easy at gty.org. And even if you're not able to give today, you can still support Grace To You and help encourage believers worldwide with the verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word for decades to come. And now that happens when you make Grace To You a part of your life insurance policy or estate planning, helping unleash God's truth to your children, grandchildren, even great-grandchildren. For more information on legacy giving, call 1-800-55-GRACE or go to the donate page at our website, gty.org. Now, when you're online, gty.org, make sure you take advantage of the thousands of free resources there, including blog articles by John, daily devotionals, and more than 3,000 of John's sermons, all free to download in the mp3 or transcript format. That website again, gty.org. And now for John McArthur and the staff, thanks for joining us today. Please invite a friend to join you right here tomorrow for another half hour of Unleashing God's Truth, one verse at a time, on Grace To You. Spiritual gifts are crucial to the life and health of a church, so how do you know what your gifts are and how to use them? Find out on tomorrow's Grace To You.