Unity In The Church!

 

Unity in the Church!

This is a study of unity in the New Testament, but it has to be established on unity from the beginning!

“In the beginning, GOD created the heavens and the earth. Then GOD said, ‘Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…” Genesis 1:1 & 26a The name of GOD used in the introduction of GOD is the plural form Elohim. So GOD establishes His plurality; Father, Son, Spirit; and the theme of unity. We see throughout the Old Testament that there is no conflict or division in the Godhead. “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for the brethren to dwell together in unity!...For there the LORD  commanded the blessing – life forevermore.” Psalm 133:1 & 3b This is the only time in the Old Testament that the word unity is used. It is to those who believe in the Living GOD and comes with a commanded blessing from GOD. If we are in unity in His Kingdom on the earth which at that time was Israel, He will bless us!

Now the bridge between the Old Testament and the New Testament is the life of Jesus, the only begotten Son of GOD, who was the full embodiment of the Godhead! (Colossians 2:8-10) What does Jesus say about unity? “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them” John 17:20-26 Jesus does not use the word unity but His teaching on being one is the same. He and the Father are one, and He wants us to be one with Himself so that we will also be one with the Father. Here is the blessing of unity that the love that the Father loved Jesus with will be in us and Jesus will be in us! This is eternal life!

The word unity is only used two times in the New Testament, Ephesians 4:3 & 13, “…endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace…till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of GOD, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Wow! The first six verses of this chapter are about oneness, the same prayer Jesus prayed over the disciples and the future Church in John 17; “…bearing with one another in love…keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace…one body and one Spirit…one hope of your calling…one LORD, one faith, one baptism…one GOD and one Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Verses 7 thru 10 speak of Christ’s Lordship, power and authority, verse 11 is about the gifts He gave the Church, and verses 12-16 are the purpose of the gifts and the results He expects to see in the Church. 4:16, “from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”

Paul teaches unity in his teachings on the Church as a body of believers likened to the human body and to a building built on Jesus Christ the chief corner stone and foundation. Peter refers to us as being living stones built on Christ The Living Stone. (Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12:12-31; Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 2:18-19; Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Corinthians 3; 1 Peter 2:1-10) Paul has a lot to say about love which also is a sign of unity, but John says it best emphasizing what he heard Jesus teach and pray for the Church. In First John he talks about love and abiding saying if we say we love GOD but hate (do not love) our brothers we are a liar, that is a strong statement. He says we need to abide in Christ, His love needs to abide in us, if it does His Spirit abides in us and we are the children of GOD. “If someone says, ‘I love GOD,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love GOD whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves GOD must love his brother also.” 1 John 4:20-21 Study the whole book of First John and 1 Corinthians 13.

Here is the scripture that started this diatribe, 1 Corinthians 1:10-31, as I was reading this passage I started thinking about unity and the Cross, the thought I wrote down was, “Out of unity comes the message of the Cross, or unity is the message of the Cross – Salvation for all! Otherwise we are like the Jews of Jesus’ day.” Study Matthew 23

I have been a Christian since Dec. 8, 1974 and I have never seen unity like Jesus and Paul pray and teach about. I have heard songs and teachings about unity and I have seen attempts at localized unity and some small successes. But for the most part the Church is divided and seems to want to stay that way. Catholics and Protestants rarely join together in prayer, fasting, worship, fellowship, and ministry to the lost and needy. Within these two groups are many divisions, expressions, and ministries that do not often work together themselves.

1500 years ago the Church lost the Middle East and Asia because of its sectarian and political divisions. In the 19^th century the Church lost Southeast Asia while it was expanding its political, economic and religious base in those regions, in the 20^th century the Church lost Europe during the two greatest wars the world had ever seen, now the Church is in the process of losing the Americas while we are electronically taking the Gospel to the world. The good news is that the Church is slowly gaining in parts of Africa, South America and Southeast Asia. As the Body of Christ we have failed to fulfill the commission He gave us, the works of which are to preach the gospel in all the world, lay hands on the sick and see them recover, cast out demons, and raise the dead. This will result in making disciples of the nations and making His enemies His footstool.

What will it take to bring us, the Church, to repentance and unity? I do not know – GOD did not tell me. I have a thought, what if it is the arrival of the anti-christ and the great tribulation? It is only a thought I am not forming a new doctrine (actually I think this is a very old doctrine). In my 47 years of being a Christian I have been all over the map on the end times, the rapture and tribulation. I have heard many teachings and read a few books on the subject, but mostly I have read the Bible and I have come to no clear conclusion of the timing of the events, I do believe that everything the Prophets, Jesus, and the Apostles have written is true and will happen. I’m not worried about the order or timing of the events because one of the main themes of Jesus and the Apostles teachings is to know the signs of the times and be prepared so as not to be taken by surprise. I am trying to live my life after the motto of the Boy Scouts, “Be prepared!”