What does unity in Christ require? Paul tells us: “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were 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” (Ephesians 4:1-6). (1) A Worthy Walk: “walk worthy of the calling with which you were called”. If one brother is living as one raised to newness of life with Christ, seeking those things that are above, expecting to meet the coming King, making himself available to the control and power of the Holy Spirit, committed to the needs “of the least” of the Body of Christ and loving both lost and saved—but the other brother is half-hearted, lackadaisical in spiritual zeal, embarrassed to name the name of Christ, awash in the love of the world— then there will probably be disunity. For ships to sail together, they must be headed in the same direction. Even one degree’s difference will eventually be miles apart. (2) A Humble Heart: “…with all lowliness and gentleness”. Perhaps the clearest manifestation of humility is flexibility. As regards doctrine, every theological system has weaknesses and inconsistencies— just ask its opponents! No one, repeat, no one but God Himself, has understood all biblical truth in complete consistency with all other biblical truth, or as it relates to all of life. Our best minds are shattered by sin, and at their best, reflect the light of God’s truth like a broken mirror. That doesn’t mean we never stop looking for the clearest understanding of truth we can find. But it means we appreciate the strengths each system of doctrine brings to the common table without proudly declaring its inferiority to our own, and without ripping others to shreds over minor points of difference. “In the essentials, unity; in the non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity”. As regards practice, “all lowliness and gentleness” means we “let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than” ourselves. It means we “each… look out not only for (our) own interests, but also for the interests of others” (Phil.2:3-4). Simple, but clear enough. (3) A Longsuffering Love: “…with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love”. This is people-patience. Literally, it’s “long-tempered”. It means shutting our mouth and counting to ten to let the adrenaline subside when the other person says or does something so off-the-wall that our blood boils and eyes pop. It means loving them enough to put up with the craziness they absorb from popular culture or misguided influence. It means we gently persevere in our love toward them, and with patient yieldedness, quietly “teach our way out of every problem” (Warren). This is the kind of discipleship loving parents give children, loving pastors give flocks, and loving brothers and sisters give to those needing maturity in Christ’s Body. (4) An Earnest Effort: “…endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”. The original language speaks of an earnest seriousness that zealously pursues unity and eagerly works hard for its success. The person aiming at this unity sees just how important it is, and what is the awesome potential achievement of a united body of biblically orthodox believers willing to put up with differences and difficulties to let Christ win His goal. He or she sees the promise of a mature group locally and a united body internationally, and how a world can be won if we concentrate on what is TRULY important: namely, that “there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were 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”. THIS is what Jesus meant by, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matt.5:9).
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 16:05:29 +0000
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