Renewal Ministries Fellowship - Uniting and Mobilizing the Body of Christ
  
......................"..we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake" (2 Cor. 4:5)
line decor
 

   
  Jesus' life:

 

 


 
 

The Basis & Expression of Christian Unity

My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in Us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. I have given them the glory that You gave Me, that they may be one as We are One –  I in them and You in Me – so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me.”                           John 17:20-23

The basis of our unity is not anything that man can do or accomplish, think or feel.  Our unity is not based on our particular doctrines or on warm feelings towards each other. It is not based on our organisations or denominations.   It is not based on our efforts or preferences.   It is not based on who our human leaders are or whether they agree with one another.   Our unity is based instead on the very nature and character of God Himself.  “That they may be one as We are One” Jesus prayed.  The perfect unity between Father, Son and Holy Spirit – One God.   “I in them and You in Me” is how Jesus described the process of our being brought into complete unity.   This is a work of God, not of man.  It is a work accomplished by the cross and established in our lives through our acceptance of being crucified with Christ, dead to self and Christ now living in and through us.

Members of One Family

Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.                                                                          John 1:12-13

Being born again, born of God, involves being born into the family of God and becoming children of God. Every child in the family of God is related to every other child – we are one family with one Father over us all and caring for us all.

one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.                                                                                                       Ephesians 4:5-6

They say “you can chose your friends but you can’t choose your relatives” – the same is true in our spiritual family.  It is our heavenly Father who has chosen each one of us.  We don’t get to choose which people to accept or which to reject, which people will be our brothers and sisters – to reject one whom our Father has chosen is to reject Him who chose us.

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.                                      Galatians 3:26-29

Regardless of which nation or tribe we were born into or which ethnic group we belong to, we are now all children of God.  Tribe, ethnicity, social standing and sex are all now irrelevant to our relationship with one another for now we are all members of the same family with the same Father and same inheritance.  

But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?" And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, "Behold My mother and My brothers!  "For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother."                                                          Matthew 12:48-50

The bonds between us as members of God’s family are even stronger than the bonds between members of earthly families.

But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son … that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are His sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’ So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are His child, God has made you also an heir.                                         Galatians 4:4-7

See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are.                                                                                        1 John 3:1a

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ… In love He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will.                       Ephesians 1:3-5

 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.  … the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by Him we cry, ‘Abba,Father.’  The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. Romans 8:14-17

And, "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty." 2 Corinthians 6:18

A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families…                                                                                      Psalm 68:5-6a

When we are born again by the Spirit of God we are born into His family, we are no longer alone but one family with everyone else who has been adopted by the Father.  We do not just enter into relationship with God as our Father but also with everyone else in His family as our brothers and sisters, our closest relatives, our kin, our blood.  But the unity that God brings us into through Christ is even deeper than this.

Members of One Body

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism;  one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.                                                                                Ephesians 4:4-6  

We have been brought into one body through the work of one Spirit.  We are not just members of the one family, as close as that is, we are also members of the one body of Christ.  Each and every one of us who has responded in repentance and faith to Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Lord, regardless of what church, denomination, ministry group or movement we belong to, has been woven by the Spirit of God into the one body of Christ.  Jesus is not a single-headed monster with multiple bodies – a Jewish body and a gentile body, a Baptist body and a Presbyterian body, a Methodist body and a Salvation Army body, a Catholic body and an Orthodox body, a Churches of Christ body and an Assemblies of God body and thousands of other bodies for each of the thousands of denominations and then one more each for all those not affiliated with any denomination.  Scripture makes it very clear there is only one body of Christ and we are each members of that body – He has made us one.  

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.  For we were all baptised by one Spirit so as to form one body – whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free – and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.  And so the body is not made up of one part but of many. … God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one body.1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 18-20
   
 … nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church,  for we are members of His body.                                                                                                         Ephesians 5:29-30

 He put all things under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.                                      Ephesians 1:22-23

Think on that for a moment - Jesus is head over all things; powerfully sovereign over all and filling all in all. Can we grasp how awesome and wondrous Jesus is?  The One who nourishes and cherishes us.   Let that vision of our Saviour and King cause us walk in the love and fear of the Lord, that we may enjoy making much of Christ above all else.  This awesome Christ is the One to whom we belong, the One in whom we live and move and have our being.   We belong to Jesus.   We are in Jesus, and He in us.  All that we were was crucified with Christ and all the He is dwells in us.   As Paul wrote: “it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me”.   We experience all of this together in one body: “…now indeed there are many members, yet one body”.   Redeemed together.  Justified together.  Forgiven together.  Created anew together.  Every need met together.  Loved by God together.  Cherished and nourished by Christ together.  Perfected together. Living forever together—and all of this glorious unity created in Christ and for the glory of Christ.   What we share with one another in Christ is a life and an inheritance and a union so great and so profound that it surpasses the value of all other human relationships and all inheritances and can never end.

For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.    Romans 12:4-5

Our unity as one body is in Christ.  In His love, in His perfection, in His holiness, in His grace, in His humility, in His tenderness, in His compassion, in His righteousness, in His truth, in His light, in His anointing, in His unity with the Father, in Christ

Then we discover just how integrate a unity our being one body in Christ creates: “…individually members of one another.”   Members (parts) of one another. I am part of you. You are part of me. I am like your eye or your foot.  And you are like my ear or my hand. Each of us is part of the other individuals in the body.  That’s who I am.  I am not only a member of Christ with you, I am also a member of you in Christ. This means that my identity, as God has created me to be, cannot be known except in serving you in Christ.  And yours cannot be known except in serving others in Christ.  That’s what hands and feet and eyes and ears do.  They serve.  That’s why we have gifts.   Our true individual selves can be known only by living in a relationship of serving others and being served by others in the body of Christ.  But it is even deeper than this, our service is not as someone separate to the other but as part of them, affected by what they are going through.  

Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.                                               Hebrews 13:3

God composed the body, having given greater honour to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.      1 Corinthians 12:24-27

If we are in Christ we are members of His one body.   This unity we have been brought into in Christ is so intricately woven together that we are now not just separate individuals but also members of one another, deeply invested in one another and as such participate in one another’s sufferings and joys.    Our unity is not an optional extra – it is part of our identity as members of the Christ’s body, it is part of who we are as Christians:

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.                                                                           Colossians 3:15

Under One Head

When we realise how intimately connected and greatly impacted we are by what other members of the body do we can be tempted to try to control them.  If your sin is going to bring pain and shame to me I want to stop you from sinning.  Yet God has not given any of us the position of head to exercise such control over other members of Christ’s body.   Likewise, while we are to honour and serve one another God has not called us to claim allegiance to or slavishly obey another in place of Christ.  Just as Jesus is not a multi-bodied monster, He is likewise not a multi-headed monster.  There is only one head of the church, of the body of Christ, and that is Jesus Christ Himself.  

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 4:15-16

Our growing up and becoming mature in Christ is dependent on every one of us ministering to (serving) one another.  We are not dependent on the pastor ministering to us alone, but on every member of the body of Christ ministering to us and us to them in order that we may all reach unity in the faith and attain to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ – this is what apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers are to equip us to do (Eph. 4:11-13).

Christ is the head of the church, His body, and is Himself its Saviour. Now as the church submits to Christ…                                                                                  Ephesians 5:23-24

And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. Colossians 1:18

All direction for what every member of the body does comes from the head.   The shoulder does not determine what the hand should do – both receive their instructions directly from the head and in obeying the head’s direction work together to perform their tasks.  So, what is the shoulder to do if it finds the hand ignoring or disobeying the head’s instructions, or the hand to do if it notices the shoulder failing to do its work?  Speaking the truth in love simply direct the other part back to Christ their head, for it is His instructions not ours that they need to heed.  

We are united because we all have the one head, the one mediator with God, the one Lord, leader and ruler over all, Christ Jesus.

For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.     
1 Timothy 2:5

Paul addressed the sectarian attitude of the Corinthians:

… For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?  For when one says, “I am of Paul”, and another, “I am of Apollos”, are you not carnal?  Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but servants through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one?”                                                                                                                  1 Corinthians 3:3-5

Notice that Paul thinks there is something wrong if we, who are now members of Christ, behave like mere men.  “I’m only human” is not an excuse he would accept for carnal behaviour.  We are a new creation in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 5:17), our “only human, mere man” was crucified with Christ so now we are called and empowered to live Christ (Gal.2:20).  Is Jesus fighting over whether He is “of Paul” or “of Apollos”, Lutheran or Wesleyan, Evangelical or Pentecostal?  No!  Then why would we who are in Christ? 

Paul, even as an apostle to the Corinthians, made no claim to be head of that church but merely a servant through whom they believed in Christ who is the head:  “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.  So then, neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.  Now he who plants and he who waters are one…”

Paul is challenging the Corinthians to lift their focus up off himself and Apollos, and back onto God where it belongs.  It is not about whose teaching we listen to, it is about God who has given us new life.   It is not about whose ministry we think we get the most out of, it is about Jesus who has purchased us with His blood.   “Why are you fighting over whether to follow Apollos or myself”, Paul is asking, “when we are one?”   Paul and Apollos had different functions and giftings but were one, members of each other in the body of Christ under the headship of Christ.   Likewise for any leaders in the body of Christ now – we are just servants through whom others came to believe in Jesus; we have many differences but none-the-less we are one, members of each other in the body of Christ under the headship of the only head – Christ Jesus.

Loving One Another

Our unity as members of the body of Christ is expressed in love for one another.

 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.  This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him.  This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.   Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us. … God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.  This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: in this world we are like Jesus. … We love because He first loved us.  Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.   And He has given us this command: anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.                                  1 John 4:7-21

Our demonstrating a functional unity with one another is not about establishing anything new but simply coming into agreement with, and living the reality of, what the Holy Spirit has done in bringing each one of us into the family of God and body of Christ through salvation.  This unity that we have as members of the one family and one body is evidenced by our love for one another, without which we do not know God.   Our loving one another, that is loving every member of the body of Christ, is again not an optional extra but simply evidence that we know God, live in Christ and have the Holy Spirit in us.   Christ, our head and Lord, loves and cares for every one of us as members of His body.  He expresses much of that love through our actions toward one another.   We cannot be properly joined to the head and fail to love each and every member of His body.

Love in Action
This love for one another is not about a warm fuzzy feeling but a real, practical caring for one another as we care for ourselves.   Our being one in Christ involves having the same concern for your needs as for my own.   We see this answer to Jesus’ John 17 prayer in the early church.

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.  With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there was no needy person among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.                         Acts 4:32-35

The apostle John made it clear that God’s love lived through us is an action love that involves laying down our lives for one another in very practical ways just as the early church in Acts did.

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.   If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.                                             1 John 3:16-18

Such love in action is humble, gentle, compassionate, kind, patient, truthful and forgiving:

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.  Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. …  Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbour, for we are all members of one body. Ephesians 4:1-3, 25

 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself. ’ If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. … Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. Galatians 5:13-15, 26

 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.  Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.  Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.                                                              Colossians 3:8-14

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.                                            1 Corinthians 13:4-7

The unity that we have in Christ as members of His body is to express itself in such humble, giving, forgiving love.  It is for this that Jesus has given us the glory He received from the Father (John 17:22).  And it is through this that the world will know that God has sent His Son and loves us (John 17:23).

Celebrating Difference

For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith;  if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.                                                                 Romans 12:4-8

There is diversity in our unity.  We are all members of the one body of Christ but different members of a body have different shapes, sizes, textures, colours and functions.   Having a different emphasis, worship style, focus of ministry, gifting or calling is all part of being members of the one body.   Paul addressed this very clearly in his first letter to the Corinthians:

 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.  … … Now if the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be.  If they were all one part, where would the body be?  As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’  On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honourable we treat with special honour. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honour to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.  1 Corinthians 12:12-26

We tend to gravitate towards those in the body who are most like us, and that can be good – the fingers sit next to each other, joined to the hand.   But in doing so we need to recognise that the body also consists of people who are not at all like us and we need them because they are not like us.   “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ ” Not one person nor one church nor one movement can fulfil all the work of Christ in our world, or even in a local area.   None of us is gifted to do everything or to impact everyone.   We need the whole body of Christ, working together under His direction, each with their different giftings and callings, ‘that the world may know God has sent His Son’.

While we may fellowship and work more closely with some members of Christ’s body than others we are to ‘have equal concern’ for each and every member.  We are to demonstrate the same love in action towards every member of Christ’s body, whether they are someone like us or someone very different to us; whether they are a group of people like us (eg of the same ethnicity or denomination) or a group of people very different to us who do not speak the same way we do or do things the same way that we do.  Often our witness has been hampered by trying to make people more like us, not in the ways in which we imitate Christ but in our cultural practices. God loves diversity – look around, He didn’t even make two snowflakes the same.

How Do We Deal With The Things That Can Cause Division?

What About Doctrine?
1319 didaskalía (a feminine noun derived from 1321/didáskō, "teach") – properly applied-teaching; Christian doctrine (teaching) which extends to necessary lifestyle-applications.

Doctrine in the Scriptures never just refers to an intellectual belief system, it’s not about giving mental assent to a doctrinal statement but about truly living the scriptures in every area of our lives. 

Different churches and denominations have developed in different cultures different ways of expressing in words what they believe and these differences in the use of language can lead to misunderstandings and apparent conflicts in belief. Paul exhorted Timothy: “Remind them of these things, and solemnly chargethem in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers.” (2 Tim. 2:14) 

It is not our word choice or sentence structure that defines our doctrine, but our actions.

 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. James 1:21-22

But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.   You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!   But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?   Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?  Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?   And the Scripture was fulfilled which says,“Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. James 2:18-23

Differences in doctrine do not preclude those who are in Christ from being one body under one head.  Our unity in Christ is not dependent on all holding to exactly the same doctrines on every point.  It is dependent on our believing in Jesus (John 3:14-18, 17:20; Acts 16:30-31, Rom. 10:9-13). Our being born into Christ is a gift of God’s grace not an achievement of our works or doctrinal purity (Eph. 2:8-9).   This does not mean that doctrine is unimportant, it is vital for maturing in Christ (Eph. 4:11-15), it is just not the basis of our unity in Christ – Jesus Himself is that basis.   We are not one body because we all hold to the exact same system of beliefs or because we all live out those beliefs in exactly the same way, as we continue walking with Christ we will be heading towards that point but we come from very different places and in some areas may still have a long way to go. 

For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.                            Corinthians 13:12

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2

Some who are born again and part of the body of Christ, therefor one with us, may not yet have renewed their minds with the washing of the word in many areas and still be thinking and living in the futility of their thinking in the ways (doctrines) of the world:

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.  That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbour, for we are all members of one body.                         Ephesians 4:17-25

Paul’s insistence that the Ephesians no longer live in the futility of their thinking was not so that they could come into unity with him but because they were in unity with him “for we are all members of one body”.

Since sound doctrine is about properly applying the scriptures to how we live our lives false doctrine manifests itself in sinful actions or improper applications.  We are exhorted:   'Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. 'But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. 'Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ' (Gal. 6:1-2).

God has united us in Christ to help us on the journey of coming into agreement with Him in our thoughts, words and actions (right doctrine):

So Christ Himself gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, 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 ChristThen 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.                                                          Ephesians 4:11-15

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.  Colossians 3:16

But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today”,so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.                                Hebrews 3:13

This same word which is translated ‘encourage’ in Hebrews is also translated as ‘appeal’ in 1 Timothy when Paul is instructing on correcting different groups of people within the church.

3870 parakaléō (from 3844/pará, "from close-beside" and 2564/kaléō, "to call") – properly, "make a call" when "close-up and personal."  parakaléō ("personally make a call") refers to believers offering up evidence that stands up in God's court.  (Greek Present Imperative commands ongoing action that calls for an ongoing lifestyle – a regular, long-term way of acting. This process can happen again and again over multiple situations, or repeat (progressively) in the same scenario./ conveys: "Keep on doing this!," i.e. what must happen habitually, continuously, progressively as a lifestyle (modus operandi).)

Do not sharply rebuke1969 ("Never do this,  not even once!"  "It is ruled out at every point!"  "It is out-of-the-question, so don't even think about it!") an older man, but rather appeal 3870 to him as a father, to the younger men as brothers, the older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters, in allpurity.                                                          1 Timothy 5:1-2

1969 epiplēssō (from 1909/epí, "upon" intensifying 4141/plēssō, "hit") – properly, to strike in a vulnerable place; (figuratively) striking someone with sharp, insensitive (brutal) words.

In everything and in every way we are exhorted to treat other members of the body of Christ with respect, as honoured members of our own family, when we disagree with their doctrine.  We are not encouraged to shout our disagreement through a megaphone or post it all over facebook but to quietly come alongside the one we think is in error and respectfully discuss it with them.

There is a time for open rebuke before all who can be influenced by the one exhibiting false doctrine, and that is with elders (those in church governance) who do not repent when privately confronted with their sin:  “Elders…who continue in sin, rebuke1651 in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning.”  (1 Timothy 5:19-20) 

Note that the word translated “rebuke” in this verse (elégxō 1651-convince) is very different in meaning to that used in Vs 1 (epiplēssō1969 - strike).

1651 elégxō – properly, to convince by solid, compelling evidence which especially exposes what is wrong or right.  It is pre-eminently used of the Holy Spirit producing conviction in the heart.

We see an example of this as Paul recounts his confrontation with Peter in Galatians 2:11-21:

Now when Peter[a] had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed;  for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.

 But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, “If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews? We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles,  knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

 “But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not!  For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.  For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God.  I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the  life  which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.  I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”

The apostle Peter had started living unsound doctrine – his actions of ceasing to eat with the Gentiles proclaimed that Jews and Gentiles are not one in Christ and that Gentiles needed to first become Jews obeying the law in order to be fully accepted into the body of Christ.  This affected the whole church with every Jewish believer now following Peter’s example and setting themselves apart from the Gentile believers.   Because Peter’s actions were affecting the doctrine (applied teaching) of the whole church in Antioch Paul brought his doctrinal correction to Peter in front of the whole church in Antioch so all could learn and be brought back into sound doctrine. 

Paul writes: “I opposed436(436 anthístēmi (from 473/antí, "opposite/against" and 2476/hístēmi, "to stand") – properly, take a stand against completely, i.e. a "180 degree, contrary position"; (figuratively) to establish one's position publicly and conspicuously – "holding one's ground," refusing to be moved ("pushed back") him to his face”.  Paul’s public stand against Peter’s unsound doctrine was done “to his face”, not behind his back.  He did not vilify Peter nor accuse him of being a false apostle or heretic but clearly declared to Peter and to all how Peter’s actions in this matter were not in accordance with sound doctrine which declares that: “a man is not justified by the works of the Law but faith in Christ Jesus… For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh Ilive by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”

Paul recounts this episode to the Galatians only because they had fallen prey to the same false doctrine of trying to add keeping all the works of the law to faith in Christ for right standing before God.  Paul wants to let them know that the doctrine is false regardless of who espouses it, even when someone as great and honoured as Peter started living part of this doctrine Paul had to correct him.  Even though Paul was bringing correction to major doctrinal error in the churches in Galatia he still considered himself one with them, united in the body of Christ.  In Ch1 Vs 2 he had referred to them as the churches (ekklēsía(from 1537/ek, "out from and to" and 2564/kaléō, "to call") – properly, people called out from the world and with the outcome of the Church (the mystical body of Christ) in Galatia, not the heretics in Galatia.  In verse 11 he refers to them as brethren (ἀδελφός adelphós; from 1 (as a cop. pref.) and δελφύς delphus (womb); a brother:― those who came out of the same womb).  In 3:5 Paul talks about God having given these Galatians who are getting caught up in false doctrine the Holy Spirit and working miracles among them, which he saw as evidence of God’s Spirit in them.  In 4:19 Paul refers to them lovingly as “my children”. 

While we are to respectfully and lovingly take a stand against doctrinal errors that undermine the basics of the gospel not everyone who believes something different to what we believe needs us to try to conform them to our opinion and certainly such variance of opinion is no excuse for being unloving or acting like they are not a part of us and united with us in Christ.  Paul spent all of Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8 exhorting us to be careful not to cause our brother to stumble if his opinion on some things is different to ours.

Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.                                              Romans 14:4
Why, then, do you judge your brother? Or why do you belittle your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.                                                                    Romans 14:10
Therefore let us stop judging one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way…. If your brother is distressed by what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother, for whom Christ died.     Romans 14:13,15
So then, let us pursue what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Keep your belief about such matters between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But the one who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that is not from faith is sin.    Romans 14:19,22-23

Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. But whoever loves God is known by God.   1 Cor. 8:1-3
So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.        1 Cor. 8:11-12

Sometimes we need to lay down our right to “know everything” and tell everyone else what we “know”, proving ourselves so “strong, spiritual and knowledgeable” and instead lower ourselves to just love and walk with our weaker brother or sister in whatever ways will help build their relationship with Christ.
Doctrine is very important, sound doctrine is essential to our walk in Christ, but differences in doctrine are never an excuse to act in unloving ways towards our brother or sister or to pretend that we have not been united into the same body of Christ as they – we are one even with those in the body of Christ who believe some things differently to us.

What about Denominations and Other Groupings?
Quite simply the number or variety of denominations, movements, networks, para-church organisations, fellowships, organised churches and the like is irrelevant to our unity in the body of Christ.  None of these are members of the body of Christ, they are simply human institutions.  Only people born of the Spirit of God are members of the body of Christ.  So it is people, not institutions, who are united in Christ and members of one another.  This is not a criticism of Christian institutions nor a denial of all the great work that God does through them and it is certainly not suggesting that those involved in the institutions are not members of the body of Christ.  It is just a fact that even when everyone involved in an institution (denomination, movement, network, para-church organisation, legally recognised church, etc) is a member of the body of Christ and that institution was birthed out of their love for Christ and in obedience to His leading it still does not make that institution a member of His body – the privilege of being a child of God and a member of Christ’s body belongs to individuals, not institutions or organisations.  
Therefor in being separate from other Christian institutions they are not bringing disunity to the body and their merging with other Christian institutions does not bring unity.    To merge different denominations into one denomination is not an act of unifying the body of Christ because denominations are not members of the body of Christ.   To have members of different denominations act in Christ-like ways towards one another, demonstrating His love for one another, is an act of unifying the body of Christ.

We can see this in Jesus’s prayer in John 17:20-23:

I am not asking on behalf of them alone, but also on behalf of those who will believe in Me through their message, that all 3956of them may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I am in You. May they also be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.  I have given them the glory You gave Me, so that they may be one as We are one— I in them and You in Me—that they may be perfectly united, so that the world may know that You sent Me and have loved them just as You have loved Me.

3956 /pás ("each, every") means "all" in the sense of "each (every) part that applies." The emphasis of the total picture then is on "one piece at a time." 365 (ananeóō) then focuses on the part(s) making up the whole – viewing the whole in terms of the individual parts - each and every individual, one by one.

So the number and variety of Christian institutions, whether named as denominations, movements, networks, para-church organisations, fellowships, organised churches or any other name, is neither an indication of our unity nor of disunity.  Such institutions joining together to form one institution in itself brings us no closer to living our unity in Christ and their remaining as separate institutions takes us no further away from such lived unity.   Our unity in Christ is not an institutional unity it is a spiritual unity.  It is not lived out through adopting a common vision or system of governance or set of religious practices or statement of beliefs or statement of purpose – such things are what give cohesion to institutions but not what makes us one in Christ.   Jesus is what (Who) makes us one – He has given us His glory, which He received from the Father, so that we may be one as He and the Father are one.  Each and every individual, one by one, coming into unity in Christ as we believe in Him.

Now our lived unity in Christ can be impacted by our membership of, or attitude towards, any Christian institution or authority.   When such institutions are fulfilling their God-given mandate they facilitate our fellowshipping and working together for the sake of His kingdom.   When they become corrupted they hinder our working and fellowshipping together by putting up false barriers between us who are one in Christ, they may even persecute, abhor and falsely accuse members of the body of Christ.   When we start putting people into boxes and define as “them” or “us” according to their membership or non-membership of any of the organised churches or other earthly institutions we create in our minds and actions divisions in the body of Christ.  Some leaders refuse to allow their members to fellowship with those of other churches or groups.   Corrupt rules can be made within institutions which prohibit or hinder expressions of unity with members of the body of Christ who are not part of that institution/ church/ group/ denomination.  Leaders can become possessive of people in destructive ways that seek to control rather than encouraging following the leading of the Good Shepherd.   Some Christians have developed negative attitudes towards certain churches, types of churches or denominations and refuse to have anything to do with people involved in such.   Some have that response over which political party people belong to or vote for.  While much good can be done through Christian and other institutions, when we allow our membership of such, or which leader we follow, to have greater importance than our membership of the family of God and body of Christ we dishonour the very one who has purchased us with His precious blood.  

Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly – mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.  You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?   For when one says, ‘I follow Paul,’ and another, ‘I follow Apollos,’ are you not mere human beings?  What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe – as the Lord has assigned to each his task… So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future – all are yours,  and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.                                                                                1 Cor. 3:1-5, 21-23

We need to place obedience to Christ above obedience to any earthly authority (whether church or secular), obeying them in all things except where they demand disobedience to God’s word.  Our unity is in Christ, we are members of one another as we are members of His body by the Spirit of God, not by our belonging to any organised group.  This unity which we have been birthed into in Christ demands that we demonstrate love for one another in all things, regardless of whether the other is part of our organised group (institution) or not.   Everything that is not an expression of love in recognition that we are members of one another in Christ is sin, flesh and worldliness.  Merging different churches, denominations or other Christian institutions will not bring Christian unity – dealing with our sin and worldliness will.

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.                                         Galatians 3:26-27

Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.   Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Colossians 3:11-15

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.  You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us?  But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: ‘God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble.’ … … Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it.  There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you – who are you to judge your neighbour?
James 4:1-6, 11-12

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.  There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;  one Lord, one faith, one baptism;  one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.                                                         Ephesians 4: 1-6

For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function,  so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. … … Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves.                                                                    Romans 12:4-5, 9-10

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’                              Galatians 5:13-14

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. So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.                                                                   Ephesians 4:15-27

… Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Saviour. …Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her  to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.  In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.  After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church – for we are members of His body.     Eph. 5:23b, 25b-30

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.  If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.                                             1 John 3:16-18

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.   But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.   1 John 2:9-11

True & False Unity – a Case Study from Israel & JudahKings of Israel & Judah

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After Solomon’s death the Kingdom of Israel was divided with ten tribes revolting against Solomon’s son Rehoboam and only Judah and Benjamin remaining with the house of David (1 Kings 11-12).  By the time Rehoboam’s son Abijah reigned over Judah, Israel had cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron and the Levites fled to Judah, made for themselves priests like the nations around them and rose in war against  Judah (2 Chron. 13).  God’s hand was upon Judah, and Israel was defeated but the waring between the two kingdoms continued through the reign of Asa and down to Jehoshaphat’s reign (2 Chron. 14, 16).

Jehoshaphat spent the first years of his reign fortifying Judah against the kingdom of Israel (2 Chron. 17:1-2).  In the third year of his reign Jehoshaphat sent out priests and Levites over the land to instruct the people in the Law, as was commanded for a Sabbatical year in Deuteronomy 31:10–13. He was a man who loved God and wanted to lead his nation in righteousness.   Obviously it was not good for Israel and Judah to be at war.  It weakened both nations and made them more susceptible to their heathen neighbours.  Israel had been one nation since the time of Moses and this division into two waring nations – sons of Jacob fighting against and killing one another – was not good and clearly not what God had established them to do.

Jehoshaphat had surely heard about God moving in Israel.  There was Elijah’s great revival on Mt Carmel where the very fire of God came down (1 Kings 18).  There were the flourishing schools of the prophets throughout Israel. He would also have heard how God fought for Ahab twice to miraculously defeat the Syrian army (1 Kings 20).   He may even have heard about Ahab’s humble repentance after Elijah confronted him over Naboth’s murder (1 Kings 21:27-29) and thought it akin to David’s repentance after Nathan confronted him (2 Sam. 12).   What if peace could be established with Israel?  Why should Judah continually be at war with their brothers?   Was it possible to establish an alliance and restore their joint peoples to the peace and prosperity they enjoyed under Solomon?   Surely such would honour God in whom he delighted.

Jehoshaphat’s desire for peace with Israel seemed so godly.  To have the thousands in Israel who had not bowed the knee to Baal (1 Kings 19:18), free to come and worship in the temple in Jerusalem was surely God’s will.   It seemed obvious that an alliance with Ahab was needed.  Such would provide greater protection in a hostile world and improve trade, thus increasing the prosperity of the nation.  So Jehoshaphat, who had so passionately pursued God and taken delight in His ways (2 Chron. 17:3-6), now turned his passion towards forming an alliance with the house of Israel.  In about the ninth year of his reign Jehoshaphat accomplished his goal and established an alliance with Ahab, sealing it with the marriage of his eldest son Jehoram to Ahab and Jezebel’s daughter Athaliah (1 Kings 22:41-44; 2 Kings 8:16-18; 2 Chron. 18:1-19:3).  

That Jehoshaphat had been the one to reach out and actively seek this alliance is made clear in the Hebrew text of 2 Chron. 18:1. The hithpael in the Hebrew וַיִּתְחַתֵּ֖ן which is translated as aligning himself with Ahab by marriage conveys full-hearted action done for oneself.  It reveals the doer is highly motivated by the personal end-benefits of acting.  These perceived personal end benefits that motivated Jehoshaphat to pursue this alliance with Ahab are the same as those which entice many a godly man to pursue a course that sounds good and righteous, even noble and just, but is not the will of the Father and unwittingly sets the stage for the destruction of the very promises of God.

Although it was good to be at peace with their neighbours and there was a good basis for unity between all those in Judah and all those in Israel who worshipped God and delighted in His ways, there was no sound bases for unity between the institution of the nation of Judah who worshipped God and the institution of the nation of Israel which had been corrupted from the top down and only gave lip service to God while worshipping Baal and the golden calves set up by their first king, Jeroboam.  There was no basis for unity between the godly house of Jehoshaphat and the wicked house of Ahab.  Yet, despite his heart for God and all the good he did for his nation in teaching and leading all his people to follow God and expelling that which was perverse and ungodly (1 Kings 22:45-46; 2 Chron. 17:7-11) Jehoshaphat made that fatal decision.  He not only received great blessings, riches and honour from God but concluded that anything he could do to increase such must also be of God and so fervently sought union with the house of Ahab.

Nine years after Jehoshaphat first accomplished an alliance with Ahab he was still working hard to maintain that alliance (I Kings 22 & 2 Chron. 18).  Jehoshaphat went down to visit Ahab in Samaria.   Ahab appeared equally committed to their union as he sacrificed sheep and oxen in abundance for Jehoshaphat and his entourage.   There is suggestion in the Hebrew word here וַיִּֽזְבַּֽח־  that this sacrifice was done as an act of worship, possibly as part of Ahab’s scheme to convince Jehoshaphat that they were one in worshipping God and so should go as one into battle.  2 Chron. 18:2b states that Ahab ‘persuaded’ or ‘induced’ Jehoshaphat to join him in attacking Ramoth Gilead.  The Hebrew וַיְסִיתֵ֕הוּ carries in it the meaning of instigating people to violate conscience or turn against sound counsel, "duped" by a cunning person.   And so it was. 

Jehoshaphat affirmed his commitment to Ahab in a powerful statement of unity “I am as you are, and my people as your people; we will be with you in the war.”   Despite discerning that none of the four hundred prophets that Ahab called on were of God and seeing Ahab order the only true prophet be imprisoned after he gave God’s word of warning, Jehoshaphat still went along with Ahab’s plan to act as the decoy going into the battle dressed in his royal robes while Ahab was disguised.  Just as Ahab had planned all the Syrian army went after Jehoshaphat and surrounded him to kill him, thinking that he was Ahab.    What form of deception would cause a king to think that this was a good idea and the sort of unity that his kingdom needed?

God was merciful to Jehoshaphat, rescued him and ensured that His word against Ahab was fulfilled despite Ahab’s scheming to redirect the attack onto Jehoshaphat.  When Jehoshaphat was safely back in Jerusalem God sent the prophet Jehu to tell him exactly what He thought of this unholy union: “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD?  Therefore the wrath of the LORD is upon you”.  Jehoshaphat turned back to seeking God, relying on Him and leading Judah in His ways for the rest of his 25 year reign.  But it was in his descendants that the full consequences of aligning Judah with the house of Israel were manifest.   This uniting together of the kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah through the last 16 years of Jehoshaphat's reign brought disaster.

Jehoshaphat’s eldest son Jehoram, having been united by his father to the house of Ahab by marriage to Jezebel’s daughter Athaliah, walked in Israel’s idolatrous ways and in his lust for power murdered all his own brothers (2 Kings 8:16-24 & 2 Chron. 21).  A temple of Baal was built in Jerusalem and the people led in worshipping there while the house of God was neglected.   Jehoram died painfully after an eight year reign of horror then his son Ahaziah reigned for one year in close alliance with Israel and in the evil ways of his father and mother.  Then, in fulfilment of the word of the Lord, Jehu rose up and killed Jezebel and the whole house of Ahab including Ahaziah and all his brothers (2 Kings 10 & 2 Chron 22).   When Athaliah saw that her son Ahaziah was dead she acted to fulfil the demonic plan to eliminate all David’s descendants to the throne and so destroy God’s promise.  Athaliah killed all the royal heirs of Davidic descent, murdering her own grandchildren, so she could reign over the land of Judah (2 Kings 11:1-3 & 2 Chron. 22:10-12).   Such was the price of Jehoshaphat’s attempt to bring unity between Israel and Judah by aligning his house with that of Ahab.

God, however, is not so easily defeated nor can His promises be thwarted.  Even in the midst of such a house He had a woman with a heart after His own.  Jehosheba, the daughter of king Jehoram and granddaughter of Jehoshaphat, took Joash and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were being murdered and kept him hidden in the house of the LORD for six years, training him up in the ways of the LORD, until her husband Jehoiada the priest was able to organise for seven year old Joash to be crowned king and Athaliah removed. 

At last, after 16 years, the temple of Baal was destroyed from God’s holy city of Jerusalem.  The kingdom of Judah returned to worshipping the LORD and work could now begin on repairing the house of God. 

Summary:

Our unity in Christ is intertwined with the unity between Father, Son and Holy Spirit and is demonstrated through loving one another as Christ loves us and gave Himself for us.  It enables the world to see that God has sent His Son and empowers the discipling of the nations.  All who are united to the risen and ascended Son of God are members of the church which is the body and bride of Christ.  Its members are constituted as such regardless of membership or non-membership in the organized churches of earth. By one Spirit all believers in this age are baptized into, and thus become, one body that is Christ’s, whether Jews or Gentiles, and having become members one of another, are under solemn duty to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, rising above all sectarian differences, loving one another with a pure heart fervently and demonstrating such love in all we do and say.

Our faith demands that we demonstrate Christ’s love to all, even our enemies.  But forming an alliance or trying to unite with corrupted institutions or with those who hate the LORD is disastrous, it is not and cannot be true unity for what fellowship does light have with darkness?   Like the kingdom of Israel some institutions can be comprised of the people of God but corrupted with idolatry from the top down and thereby dangerous for us to form any alliance with despite the faithful members of the body of Christ therein.  This does not stop us being one with those members of Christ and honouring that God may have placed them in that institution just as He placed Elijah and Elisha in the corrupted nation of Israel.  The body of Christ is not a kingdom of this world so it is not restricted or defined by the institutions and boundaries of this world.

 
 Renewal -Rebirth, Regeneration, Restoration, Rekindling, Revitalisation, Replenishment & Revival. Exalting Jesus - Restoring, Equipping, Releasing & Supporting People...
line decor
© 2016 Renewal Ministries Fellowship
"...May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me and have loved them..." (John 17:23)