“Unity”
“Unity”
Blessings folk!
I just finished responding to an exhortation I received this morning.
The exhortation was good.
A portion of it related to “unity in the church”.
My response:
Yes!
By definition, True Believers are unified. By the Spirit. The fulness of the Godhead within us.
We need not pray to “attain” unity.
We already have it.
We are told to not quench unity/spirit.
We are told to preserve the unity of the Spirit…unity that is already there in True Believers
1Th 5:19
Do not quench the Spirit;
Eph 4:1-3
Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,
with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love,
being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Jesus speaks of true unity in His prayer to Father…
Jhn 17:23
I am in them and you are in me.
May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.
We are one mind in the Lord...
Phl 1:27
Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
True Believers are “OneAnother” through/in the Lord…
1 Cor 6
1 Cor 12
Eph 2
Eph 4
Etc.
Of course, the problem arises with the creepers…
Jude 1
And with the tares…
Matt 13
True Believers can not/will not, by definition, be one/unified with tares/unbelievers.
Thus the stress in many local bodies.
We think all are in correct relationship with the Most High.
They are not.
Therefore, the need for proclamation of the Word and the power of the gospel.
Therefore, the need for discerning of spirits and the functioning of all that that Spirit desires to release.
Therefore, the need to “examine ourselves”…
Therefore, the need to “do it the way the Bible says”.
2 Co 13:5
Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith.
What is needed is not “revival” in the colloquial sense of the word in our culture.
What is needed is the Presence of God.
Jas 4:10
Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
Jde 1:24
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,
What is needed is the Power of God.
Rom 1:16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Rom 15:17-19
Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God.
For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed,
in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.
1 Cor 1-6
Eph 1, 3
Col 1:29
For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.
2Ti 1:7
For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.
What is needed is the Body of Christ to simply live as God is calling each of us.
What is needed is for True Believers to know who they are in Christ.
Rom 3, 6, 8, 12, 15
What is needed is for “false professors”/unbelievers to know that they are not saved…then repent, confess, call upon the name of the Lord and be baptized for remission of sin…
Act 2:38-29
Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
Act 3:19-21
“Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;
and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you,
whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.
What is needed is Him glorified above all things.
1Pe 4:11
Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
In this, will many be drawn into the Kingdom.
Selah!