Laser on Nostr: I am confessionally reformed baptist. I learned that the church is Christ's body by ...

I am confessionally reformed baptist.

I learned that the church is Christ's body by union, not by extending the Incarnation through the 4th ecumenical council (Chalcedon), which is affirmed by the Orthodox, by Rome, and even us Reformed Christians.

Chalcedon defined the hypostatic union as one person, the Son, in two natures, fully God and fully man, without confusion, change, division, or separation. That union belongs to the Son alone. The church never shares it.

The church's union is different in kind. It's a union of persons in one body, joined by the Spirit. Ephesians 5:32 calls it a great mystery, and 1 Corinthians 6:17 says the believer is one spirit with the Lord. The Head and the body remain distinct: Christ is ascended and seated at the Father's right hand, the church is still on earth, and the Spirit is the bond that joins them without merging them.

That's why I can say the church is Christ's body without saying the church is Christ.

The Orthodox and Catholic claim collapses that distinction; if the church extends the Incarnation, then the church's acts are Christ's acts, and the church's authority is Christ's authority.

Chalcedon rules that out