: I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? 1 Corinthians 1:10-13 This was a dangerous moment for the Corinthian believers. They had misunderstood the foundational element of the gospel by grouping themselves around the ancient version of celebrity pastors. Paul recognized the danger, and his solution was not to commend the group that had elevated him as supreme mugwump -- but rather for each of the four groups to unify themselves under Christ. Certainly Paul took pains to correct their doctrine, but the emphasis of his instructions were for the Corinthians to seek unity in their relationships with one another. (See also 1 Corinthians 3:1-8.) Similarly, when Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus, he urged them to accept one another in love and diligently keep the unity of the Spirit (4:2-3). Indeed, he emphasized that such unity requires a high priority because all disciples of Jesus are bound together in “one body and one Spirit” through the reality of “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all” (4:4-6). Additionally, Paul’s references to the church as “the body of Christ” are a direct appeal for relational and functional unity among Jesus’ disciples: So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Ephesians 4:11-16 Paul wasn’t the only New Testament figure who advocated for unity among follower of Jesus. In fact, Jesus Himself proclaimed the high priority of relational unity expressed through love. When Jesus spoke to His disciples during the last supper, He did not say that future generations would identify members of the church by their doctrinal purity, nor by their ability to win arguments against cultural figures. Instead, He said this: By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13:35 The message of the Bible is clear: unity should be a major priority for the church in any age. Ads Topics More From The Bible More From About TOP ©2014 About. All rights reserved. Switch to Desktop Site Menu The Bible 2 3 4 5 6 78 19 20 21 10 11 12 13
Posted on: Wed, 09 Jul 2014 04:49:48 +0000