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Unity
of Believers
The true
born again experience, which brings us into a relationship
with Christ, also brings us into a vital relationship
through the Spirit with all others who have received a
like experience. For when we are born again we are born
into the family of God and become a child of God or a son
of God. The other members of God's family are our brothers
and sisters. We may differ in age, sex, intelligence,
nationality or social background, yet if we are truly
saved....we are members one of another. (Eph 4:25)
PAUL
TEACHES UNITY
Speaking
to the saved, those who.....have put on Christ, Paul says
in Gal 3:28--There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is
neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female;
for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. He tells the
Philippians in Phil 1:27 to....stand fast in one that ye
be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord,
of one mind. In Rom 15:5-6 he says--Now the God of
patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one
toward another according to Christ Jesus: That ye may with
one mind and one mouth glorify God....He admonished the
Ephesians to endeavor...to keep the unity of the Spirit in
the bond of peace.. (Eph 4:3) He goes on to say in Eph
4:4-6--There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are
called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith,
one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all
and through all, and in you all.
UNITY
ENJOINED, DIVISION CONDEMNED
So
complete and perfect is the Bible standard of unity among
all the saved, that they are declared to constitute
"one body in Christ". Every principle of truth
in the Bible on the subject of unity enjoins that God's
people be united; and division is everywhere condemned. In
Rom 16:17 Paul says--Now I beseech you, brethren, mark
them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the
doctrine (of unity) which ye have learned: and avoid them.
In 1 Cor 1:10, he says Now I beseech you, brethren by the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye speak the same
thing, and that there be no division among you; but that
ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in
the same judgment.
UNITY
IN PROPHECY
Jeremiah
32:40 tells us the Lord....will make an everlasting
covenant.. with His people (The book of Hebrews teaches
that Christ is the mediator of this new covenant.) The
Lord says in Jer 32:38-39--And they shall be my people And
I will be their God, And I will give them one heart, and
one way.....David says in Psa 133:1--Behold, how good and
how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell in unity..!
CHRIST
DIED FOR UNITY
Unity is
so important that Christ taught, prayed for and died for
the unity of His believers...One purpose of Christ's death
was that....He should gather together in one the children
of God that were scattered abroad. (John 11:52) Jesus, in
Jn 10:15-16 said...I lay down my life for the sheep. And
other sheep (Gentiles) I have, which are not of this
(Jewish) fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear
my voice, and there shall be one fold, and one shepperd.
We read how these two classes were made "one new
man" in Eph 2:11-22. The Gentiles were "made
nigh by the blood of Christ".(V13)Both Jew and
Gentile were reconciled unto God in one body by the
cross(V16)....Both have access by one Spirit unto the
Father.(v18) Paul tells the Gentiles in V19--Now therefore
ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but
fellow-citizens with the saints, and of whom ye also are
builded together for a habitation of God through the
Spirit.
CHRIST
PRAYED FOR UNITY
The
seventeenth chapter of John records the great prayer Jesus
prayed to the Father. In verse 20 and 21 He says--Neither
pray I for these alone (His apostles), but for them also
which shall believe on me through their word (believers
today); That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in
me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that
the world may believe that thou hast sent me. He goes on
to pray in Verse 23....They they may be made perfect in
one...
CONDITIONS
FOR BIBLE UNITY
It could
be said that Jesus' great prayer in the seventeenth
chapter of John contains the outline for Bible unity.
First of all, we see that Christ prayed....not for the
world but for them thou hast given me; for they are thine.
WE
MUST BELONG TO GOD
So then,
the first condition of Bible unity is that it is for
believers, those that are "in Christ". This
means those who have been saved from sin and are "not
of the world".
WE
MUST RECEIVE AND KEEP GOD'S WORD
In Verse
6 Christ said....they have kept thy word.. This signifies
continued obedience to the entire word of God.
WE
MUST BE KEPT IN FATHER'S NAME
In verse
11 Jesus prayed....Holy Father, keep through thy own name
those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we
are....He said in the next verse He....kept them in thy
name....The Father's name is God. The New Testament church
obeyed this, hence were called the church of God.
WE
MUST BE SANCTIFIED
In verse
17 Christ prays "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy
word is truth." This is that second experience of
power and heart cleansing. The baptism of the Holy Spirit.
All who meet the above Bible condition will be....made
perfect in one. We also learn from this chapter the reason
for unity.
REASON
FOR VISIBLE UNITY
John
17:21--That they all may be one; as thou Father, art in
me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: THAT
THE WORLD MAY BELIEVE that thou hast sent me.. vs 23 I in
them, and thou in me, that they may be perfect in one: and
THAT THE WORLD MAY KNOW that thou hast sent me, and hast
loved them, as thou hast loved me.
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