The Error of Calling Christ Our Messiah or King

Understanding the Distinction Between Israel’s Promised Messiah and the Head of the Body

One of the most common and dangerous confusions in Christianity today is the claim that Jesus Christ is the “Messiah” or “King” of the Body of Christ. While this may sound spiritual or reverent, it is doctrinally false and rooted in ignorance of God’s dispensational change revealed through the apostle Paul. The King James Bible draws a clear line between prophecy and mystery, between Christ’s relationship to Israel and His relationship to the Body of Christ. Failing to recognize this difference causes believers to misapply Scripture, adopt Israel’s promises, and live under expectations God never gave to us. Christ is indeed Israel’s Messiah and will one day reign over them as their King in the promised earthly kingdom, but He is not the Messiah or King of the Body of Christ. To us, He is the risen Head of a new creature, a heavenly Body formed by grace through faith alone apart from Israel, law, or kingdom covenants.

The word Messiah is found only twice in the King James Bible, both times in Daniel chapter 9, verses 25 and 26. Daniel prophesied that the Messiah would come to Israel and be cut off, meaning crucified. Messiah means “anointed one,” a title belonging to the King promised to David who would rule Israel in righteousness upon the throne in Jerusalem (2 Samuel 7:12–16; Isaiah 9:6–7). Every mention of the Messiah in prophecy refers to God’s covenant people, the nation of Israel, and their earthly kingdom hope. Even in the New Testament gospels, when Peter confessed, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16), he was confessing Jesus as Israel’s promised Messiah, the one sent to fulfill prophecy and restore their kingdom. Christ came to confirm the promises made unto the fathers, not to reveal the mystery kept secret since the world began (Romans 15:8; Ephesians 3:9). The title Messiah is entirely prophetic, and prophecy concerns Israel, not the Body of Christ.

When believers today call Jesus their “King” or “Messiah,” they are unknowingly placing themselves under Israel’s covenant program. A king rules over subjects under a law and a nation with earthly promises. The Body of Christ is not a nation, not under law, and not awaiting an earthly kingdom. We are a heavenly people blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). We are not servants in a kingdom but members of a Body joined to our risen Head in glory (Colossians 1:18). Paul never once calls Christ our King or our Messiah. He calls Him our Lord, our Savior, and our Head. The difference is not small. It changes everything about how we see our relationship with Him. A king reigns over his subjects with authority and judgment, but a head shares life and identity with His Body. The Body is not ruled by a throne but directed by the mind and life of its Head. To call Him King is to look for a crown on earth; to see Him as Head is to rest in our position in heaven.

Christ’s kingship will be fulfilled when He returns to Israel to sit on the throne of David and rule the world in righteousness during the millennial kingdom. That reign is called “the regeneration” (Matthew 19:28), when the twelve apostles will sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. That is not happening today, and it has nothing to do with the Body of Christ. Paul says in 2 Timothy 2:12 that we shall reign with Him, not under Him as Israel will. Our position is joint-heirship, not servanthood. The Body of Christ is seated together with Him in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). We are not awaiting His coronation on earth; we are awaiting our catching up to meet Him in the air. The confusion between the kingdom and the Body has produced endless doctrinal error. It leads people to pray “Thy kingdom come,” to call Him “King Jesus,” to think they are spiritual Israel, and to read the red letters as their marching orders instead of Paul’s epistles, which are Christ’s words to us today (1 Corinthians 14:37).

Christ as our Head reveals a deeper relationship than any earthly title could describe. The Body draws its life, direction, and nourishment from the Head. Colossians 2:19 warns against those who are “not holding the Head,” meaning they fail to cling to the doctrine and position of Christ revealed through Paul. Holding the Head means recognizing Him as the center of our identity and the source of our standing in grace. We are bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh (Ephesians 5:30). We are complete in Him (Colossians 2:10). None of this language belongs to a king-subject relationship. It belongs to the mystery revealed to Paul—the unsearchable riches of Christ, which no prophet ever saw and no kingdom covenant ever promised.

Those who insist on calling Christ their “Messiah” or “King” are repeating the same error Paul confronted in Galatians, where believers were trying to live under Israel’s program instead of under grace. Galatians 4:9–10 says, “But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements?” To return to Israel’s program is to fall from grace. You cannot mix prophecy and mystery, law and grace, Israel and the Body of Christ. Christ is not sitting on a throne today; He is seated at the right hand of God as Head over all things to the Body (Ephesians 1:20–23). When believers understand that, they stop looking for a king and start resting in a Savior who has already made them one with Himself in heaven.

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Conclusion:

To call Jesus Christ your Messiah or your King today is to ignore the mystery and replace the heavenly calling of the Body with Israel’s earthly hope. The King belongs to Israel, but the Head belongs to the Body. The Messiah will reign on earth, but the Head has already seated us in heaven. Our relationship to Christ is not that of subjects under rule but members joined to Him in one new man, the Body of Christ. Let the prophets speak of the King to come; we will speak of the Head who has already made us complete in Him.

Key Verses:

1 Corinthians 3:11; Ephesians 1:3; Ephesians 1:20–23; Ephesians 2:6; Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:18; Colossians 2:10; Colossians 2:19; 1 Timothy 1:16; Romans 15:8; Matthew 19:28.