We claim that this is the exclusive body of Christ? What makes “us” that? It’s a bold claim. Are we the body because of our doctrine? Or is it our order? It is our music? Is it “the spirit of the body?”
No, those things can help us identify the body, but they are not what makes this group of churches “the” body of Christ. We are the body of Christ because Jesus has called us to be the only body that is directly connected to, and directed by, the Head of that body.
Identifying characteristics like order and a particular “spirit” may help us find the body, but they aren’t what makes it the body of Christ.
Only a divine call can make any group the Lord’s personal representative for a specific mission.
What Is the Body?
Maybe we emphasize the term too much, but the term is biblical. E.g. Romans 12:5; I Corinthians 12:12; Ephesians 4:12. Jesus “is the head of the body, the church.” Colossians 1:18. We believe we “are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.” Romans 12:5.
The body of Christ, as we understand it, is a group of speciallycalled people with a unique mission. They are a group within broader Christianity that has been “sanctified” for a special work. In the Bible, “sanctified” (from the Greek “hagiasmos” and Hebrew “qadosh”) simply means “to be set apart” for God’s special use.
What is our calling? What is our special, unique mission? It has multiple aspects, but essentially, it is threefold.
First, we have been called to build a garner to receive those who come out of Babylon when the Lord separates the wheat from the chaff. Revelation 18:4.
Second, we have been called to prepare the remaining members of the bride of Christ, the 144,000 who stand on the Mount Sion. Revelation 14. While there are other good people who live good lives in other movements, they aren’t called to “go on to perfection,” Hebrews 6:1, or achieve what the Lord meant when He said, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:48.
Thirdly, our mission is to proclaim a witness to the world at large at the end of Gentile times. Throughout history, God has always given a witness before destructive judgment. The three angel ministries of Revelation 14, I believe, are aspects of this mission. Importantly, the body is to have the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people. Verse 6. To do that, we have to restore the truth – and restoration is a primary part of our mission.
The Lord can call a group, within a group, for a special work. Our body has been called, from within Christianity to this mission. It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t evangelize, feed the poor, help the weak, and live the life of a witness. Those are important, and we should be doing them. But we cannot neglect our unique mission, or else the Lord will raise up another people to do it.
The Call and Not the Identifiers
I return to the question, “What makes the body, the body?” It isn’t our doctrine, because you can find people in “Babylon” who have some of the same truths. There are some who see the godhead as we do, and hell, and others. We say we are seeking restoration and others aren’t. But there are other groups who have also sought to restore the message and order of the early church.
It isn’t our order. Yes, we strive to restore true biblical order, but so do some others outside of our movement. It certainly isn’t our “body music,” for we use many songs in praise and worship that were not written by saints in our body.
Is it the “spirit of the body?” That is, is it a feeling (maybe a witness of the Holy Ghost?) Indeed, there is a particular “feeling” that characterizes this body. Moses and Joshua knew something didn’t “feel right” when they heard the sound of worship of the golden calf. There was something “not right” about the “strange fire” Nadab and Abihu offered to the Lord.
That “feeling” of true worship may help identify the body of Christ, but none of these things are what makes it the body. Brother Sowders’ articulate call from heaven is what gave this body its particular mission.
It wasn’t Abraham’s doctrine, or order, or songs, that made him the sole representative of the Lord on the earth – it was God’s calling. There were hundreds of thousands of Hebrews, but the Lord separated Moses to be His exclusive representative.
We believe this group of ministers and saints have been called to be the exclusive personal, representative of Jesus to this world at the end of Gentile times. That is, some group will be His official spokesperson before judgment falls. To identify that group, we have used the biblical phrase: the body of Christ. We have not trademarked, registered, or incorporated a church denominational name. We’ve just applied that biblical identifier.
Brother William Sowders often preached about his calling to an exclusive body. It is possible that Brother Sowders greatly mistook the meaning of his calling; it is possible that every minister we’ve had for the last 100 years was wrong about our calling; it is possible that we are all fools. But I don’t believe we’ve failed to understand what the Spirit has said to this body.
This is the only body of saints in the world with our unique calling and mission.