Unibody

Unibody is a word very familiar in automotive circles. It came into existence as cars went from bodies on frames to bodies welded together with as the frame. Its advantages or disadvantages are still a subject of dispute. In Christian life, unibody is not an option. We are one body in Christ. But, what does that mean?

At salvation, we enter the spiritual body of Christ. In Romans 12:3 and 4, Paul speaks of this phenomenon, and in 1 Corinthians 12, he goes into more detail. In 1 Corinthians 12:13, Paul says that "... we were all baptized by one Spirit to form one body...".

My baptism came when I was nine. Pastor C. Frank Mills did the honors in an old galvanized tank that was part of the First Baptist Church of Lake Orion, Michigan. I wore a white gown and was baptized along with Gary Bartley. I had participated in at least a couple of "baptism classes." However, what happened that day in 1962 was not my unibody experience. That experience took place on October 30, 1960, at least according to the registry in my Father's Bible. I know because I read it there.

At seven, I "accepted" Jesus as my Savior. My mother's handwriting attested to the fact on the flyleaf of Dad's Bible. How much surer could one be than that? It was as if it had been written with a pen of iron on stone, as Job might have put it.

Years later, I would doubt that handwritten notation several times. I did remember Mrs. Florida Gilmore's Junior church lesson on Hell. I did remember raising my hand for salvation after that terrifying study. I did remember going to see her after the prayer. And I did remember that she never talked to me! I also remember that she and mom chatted briefly before mom and I left for home.

I vaguely remember the following Sunday. Mom and I stayed home because I was sick. I remember being on the couch in our living room at 66 East Burdick street. And I remember mom talking to me about Jesus.

What mom said or what I said that day are mysteries to me to this very day. However, I believe that it was that day that I became a part of the body of Christ. I think that it was that day that I put my seven-year-old trust in Jesus as my Savior.

As mentioned several times since then, I have "re-trusted" Christ as Savior. I have my reasons. I doubt that you, too, have not done the same. But, be that as it may, at that moment, on that morning, in 1960, I entered the unibody called the "body of Christ".

What happened at that moment was beyond my seven-year-old comprehension. What am I talking about? It was beyond my sixty-nearly-sixty-one-year-old comprehension! At that moment, I was baptized by the Holy Spirit of God into the spiritual body of Christ. I became a part of that sacred corpus.

Paul tells me that God sealed the "before the foundation of the world" (Eph 1:4). How that all works together, I do not know. I am so glad that I don't have to know all of the details of that welding process. I am in the unibody construction that was meant to be eternally strong. It is Christ's body. Whether a seven-year-old or an aged theologian is thinking about this event and process doesn't matter. Both sit and scratch their heads. Because it is one of the mysteries of Scripture, and it is a beautiful construction!

What do you think about this process? How were you welded into this body?