On Perfection (Part 2): The Body of Christ (by D.P. Williams)

 

The Perfection of the Body of Christ - 'That they may be made perfect in one' (John 17:23).

'Till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ' (Eph. 4:13).

Still [what we have already written of in part one] would only be personal perfection. We need to remember that God has much more than our personal perfection as individuals in mind. The perfection of the Body of Christ and the universal growth of its members should be the vision of the saints. There's a possibility, if we're only thinking of our own perfection, for us to lose sight of God's great purpose to bring the Body to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ in which every part does its share. God wants to lift the attention of the saints from the personal to the universal, and there to see our constant need to support one-another as fellow members of the Body in our growth in perfection; for the eye needs the ear and the hand needs the foot. 'For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.' (Romans 12:4-5; it would also be good to read 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4).

In this way, the spirit of sacrifice, submission, sympathy, and affinity will be kindled in each member, one toward the other. The Body must be precisely coordinated together so that all the members are in harmony with one another, having been tempered together in the grace of the gospel. 

Translated from D.P. Williams, 'Y Tri Perffeithiad', Cyfoeth Gras, 2.4 (July 1923).