The Body of Christ - You're a Part

Jude, Nathanael and I were recently in a small group, discussing the reality that when you become a Christian you are baptized into a corporate identity - the body of Christ (using 1 Cor 12 as the scriptural basis). In his recent post, Glorious Body Radiant Bride, on the Reformation 21 blog, Mark Johnston captures the vital content of that group discussion and it's well worth reading.

I especially like this ...

"It can hardly slip our notice that in the prayer he offered on the eve of his arrest and crucifixion, Jesus prayed at length and repeatedly that his followers 'may be one...so that the world might believe that you [the Father] have sent me' (Jn 17.20-24). There is no greater visible proof that the gospel really is good news than the fact that it really does rescue and transform relationships - cutting across barriers of race, class, culture in a way that shocks the watching world. Jesus only ever identified one mark of a true church: 'By this all men will know that you are my disciples: if you love one another' (Jn 13.35). The earthly communion of saints is God's great billboard that advertises the power and glory of the gospel."