“Basic Christianity, Part 3” by Romans
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We are continuing in our Series, “Basic Christianity.” In our first two installments, we discussed the Nature and oneness of God, and then in Part 2, the oneness of the Church. With the existence of many hundreds of denominations and splinter groups that make up the Christian landscape, I am going to continue to speak on the unity that Christ intended, and the unity that we have failed to achieve.
Not only have we failed to achieve it, we have essentially accepted the unacceptable status quo of institutionally sanctioned division in the Church. This is a severe and unhealed black eye on the Body of Christ that somehow the average believer seems to be quite satisfied to not attend to. Last week, we read how Christ's words in His prayer the night before His crucifixion were focused on the unity He wanted His followers to achieve with Him and His Father and each other. How we can be so unconcerned and unmoved by anything less is a mystery I cannot resolve in my own mind.
There are so many denominations claiming to have the corner on the market of Salvation and recognition by God as THE Church, the one and only Church because their interpretations of prophecy are “exclusive,” or their translations of Hebrew and Greek are better, or their congregations are larger, or their founder was of the Line of David, or even was the returned Jesus Christ (as with David Koresch or Sun Myung Moon), and on and on. The one thing I have never heard any of them cite is Jesus' own mark for all to be able to identify who His true disciples are: Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35). While they're so busy disowning God's children and revoking the Salvation of every unaffiliated believer, love is what is most lacking in all of these “my way or the highway” conclaves.
There is one more thing that I think we need to realize. Personally, I agree with SOME ~ and I stress SOME ~ of the claims of some of the conclaves. But all of their claims are non-essential understandings of the Word of God that do not impact Salvation. I could fully support some unpopular doctrines like, for example, one denomination that believes we should not use musical instruments during worship services because none were used in the New Testament.
But here is where they go wrong: they circle the wagons, declare their exclusivity, and revoke Salvation of every one else, teaching that any Church members that do not worship exactly as they do is bound for Hell. The Apostle Paul addressed this situation: “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and AVOID THEM. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple” (Romans 16:17-18). We need to avoid like the plague those who may hit on some non-essential truism, but then rise up and invite you to withdraw with them into their own little exclusive conclaves.
If we are going to discuss “Basic Christianity,” we have to discuss more than doctrine. We have to discuss the subject not only from the perspective of what God's Word would have us believe, but also what God's Word would have us be, and do as well as not do. The Unity that Christ prayed for us to achieve can never be realized if we casually accept of our failures in meeting the Bible's clear and unmistakable goal of Unity that was set before us.
For those Christians who actually read God's Word with any regularity, talk of Christian Unity that is found there takes on many of the characteristics of a daydream. It's warm and fuzzy and makes you feel good, but it is not reality. What is worse is that there are no efforts that I am aware of to elevate our Unity at least from a daydream to a back-burner status, or a To-Do List, or even a proposed To-Do List among Christians.
Where Unity is concerned, the Church Engine is not sitting in “Neutral,” it has been shifted into “Park!” Worse, the engine is turned off, no one knows or cares where the keys are, and the gas tank has been empty for 19 or more centuries! Some may ask how I can say that. The Book of Acts presents a Church where land and properties were sold so that no member lacked anything. They had Unity, they had all things in common. And that is absolutely true... in Acts 4 where we read, “And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul” (Acts 4:32).
But disunity was creeping in, and getting a foothold. We only need read two chapters later to see that, “when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration” (Acts 6:1). Since the Gospel was not yet being preached to the Gentiles, these were Jews of Greek descent who had become Christian. And they were being singled out to receive less food than the widows who were born into Jewish families. The Office of Deacon came about to remedy these inequities that threatened the Unity of the Church.
After Gentiles were admitted, a new variation of disunity, a “Divide and Conquer” Ethic, began to seep into the Church in predominantly Gentile Corinth. The Apostle Paul addressed and condemned this disunity “that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” The members, there, were beginning to draw lines of separation between each other based on who baptized them, or whose preaching style they favored.
Paul wrote, “Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Corinthians 1:12-13). Within the very lifetimes of the original Apostles, the currently held many-members-in-many-bodies had its start. Today, we say essentially the same thing that they did in Corinth, but instead of saying I am of Apollos or Cephas, we proudly declare which Denomination we are member of. And of those exclusive Denominations I mentioned earlier with memberships in the millions, who teach that they are the only true Church, the only one that God recognizes, and the only one that is saved, I ask along with Paul, Is Christ divided?
No! Christ is not divided. But are we divided? Can we say, “No, we are not divided”? Not if we are honest. We are divided! At least the Christians who were of Apollos or of Cephas were still meeting together as one Church in Corinth, in spite of their division. Today, there are millions of Christians who will not worship the same God, from the same Book, under the same roof with others who have also accepted Christ as Savior and Lord, and have been adopted into the Family of God. Brothers and sisters in Christ have been disowned, judged and condemned by other believers based on non-essential teachings.
Tonight, using Commentaries I don't usually quote, I am going to speak on Christian Unity as it was intended by Jesus Christ, and the inspired writers of the New Testament. First, “Unity,” from The Word In Life Study Bible: God’s Rainbow: Romans 5:7–12 Societies and their systems tend to encourage people to divide along racial, ethnic, and cultural lines, or else to abandon their distinctives by assimilating into the dominant power group. Paul called for a different approach. He didn’t ask Jews to give up their Jewish heritage and become Gentiles, nor did he ask Gentiles to become Jews. Instead, he affirmed the rich ethnic backgrounds of both groups while challenging them to live together in unity (Rom. 15:7).
That kind of unity is costly, and the attempt to practice it is always under attack. Yet that is the church that God calls us to— a diverse body of people who are unified around Christ. Our backgrounds—whether Japanese, Anglo-Saxon, African, Middle Eastern, Puerto Rican, Chinese, Italian, or whatever—are God’s gifts to each of us and to the church. He has placed us in our families as He has seen fit. We can rejoice in the background He has given us and be enriched by the background He has given others.
Romans 9-11:
Paul challenged believers to pursue unity in the body of Christ and charity among the peoples of the world. Are we as believers today carrying out that exhortation? Unfortunately, the legacy that we’ve inherited is not encouraging. Had the church wholeheartedly embraced Paul’s teaching, it would not have kept its tragic silence or participated in some of the great evils of the past 2,000 years. In fact, many of them probably could have been avoided, or at least resisted, had Christians paid careful attention to Rom. 9–11.
We need to ask: What are the current challenges to the ethnic, racial, and cultural attitudes of believers? What tragic evils are currently operating that we need to be aware of and actively resisting? God’s desire is clear—to have mercy on all (11:32). Does that describe our heart?”
The Complete Book of Everyday Christianity:
“God’s goal—growth and unity. God desires a fully equipped church as the centerpiece of a renewed creation. To this end the church must grow and be united. According to Ephesians 4:1-16, church growth has the following characteristics: unity in Christ. Unity and love are not mere means to an end to get the job done; they are the goal.
Community is com-unity. The word is made up of two parts. Com means “with” or “together.” With unity, it means “unity alongside another.” It is not the oneness of a drop of water returning to the sea: God is the ultimate mystery of covenant unity. And every family in heaven and on earth is named (or derives its origin and meaning) from the Father (see Ephesians 3:14-15).
As believers we approach groups differently from those in the world.
First, the Christian knows he or she is called to community. It is not an optional choice for those who make up the body of Christ. Each person is valuable. The composite of the many together makes possible the body. One alone cannot represent Christ effectively or adequately. As believers we have been designed for community, not solo sufficiency. We reflect the Godhead, each of whom carried out the ministry of the other and magnified the person of the other.
Ephesians 4:15 (“We will in all things grow up into . . . Christ”) are understood as descriptions of individual growth; in reality they are statements about the growth of people together. Christian growth is growth in corporate, interdependent life through membership in the body of Christ. Passages such as Ephesians 5:18 (“Be filled with the Spirit”) refer to the glorious gift of God’s continuous Spirit-inundation to our life together, but they get reduced by Western readers to the cultivation of individual ecstasy.
Barnes Notes of the New Testament:
“Though Christians are separated by many definitive factors, allegiance to our Head causes believers to find togetherness. That oneness comes from focused priority on God. It is sin that causes us to withdraw from relatedness. Dietrich Bonhoeffer states: “Sin demands to have a man by himself. It withdraws him from the community. The more isolated a person is the more destructive will be the power of sin over him and the more deeply he becomes involved in it, the more disastrous is his isolation” (p. 112).
Second, the Christian knows that fulfillment comes from both giving to and receiving from others. A characteristic of groups from a worldly point of view is that people come to get something and leave when they get what they need. Our self-centeredness tempts us to believe that groups exist for us, and our consumerism leads us to believe that if a group does not give us what we want, we will go to another group:
“In general, Americans do not join groups for what they can contribute, but for what they can get out of them” (Dyrness, pp. 98-99). In contrast, Scripture calls disciples to ministry. There is no discipleship fulfillment without spending what is yours on the body for building it up. Persons are not to be used and then discarded. We are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. We do not mature alone. The apostle Paul states that we are to build up the body “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God . . . attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:12-13).
The mysterious social unity of the people of God is like the unity of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It includes Jews and Gentiles (as well as others) in a new international, multicultural community characterized by unity and peace (Eph. 2:14-18). This complex social unity is the mystery of God’s secret redemptive purpose now revealed in Christ (Eph. 3:4). So God, the ultimate equipper, is at work growing the people in unity.”
The unity of the Spirit. A united spirit, or oneness of spirit. This does not refer to the fact that there is one Holy Spirit; but it refers to unity of affection, of confidence, of love. It means that Christians should be united in temper and affection, and not be split up in factions and parties. It may be implied here, as is undoubtedly true, that such a unity would be produced only by the Holy Spirit;
and that, as there was but one Spirit which had acted on their hearts to renew them, they ought to evince the same feelings and views. There was occasion among the Ephesians for this exhortation; for they were composed of Jews and Gentiles, and there might be danger of divisions and strifes, as there had been in other churches. There is always occasion for such an exhortation; for (1.) unity of feeling is eminently desirable to honour the gospel;”
John 17:20-21 is cross-referenced, here, in the Commentary. It is an excerpt from Jesus' prayer the night before His crucifixion, and I believe it bears repeating: "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us.”
(2.) there is always danger of discord where men are brought together in one society. There are so many different tastes and habits; there is such a variety of intellect and feeling; the modes of education have been so various, and the temperament may be so different, that there is constant danger of division. Hence the subject is so often dwelt on in the scriptures, 1 Corinthians 2:1, seq. and hence there is so much need of caution and of care in the churches.
Ephesians 4:3: “Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” This was to be by the cultivation of that peaceful temper which binds all together. The meaning, here, is that they should be bound or united together in the sentiments and affections of peace. It is not mere external unity; it is not a mere unity of creed; it is not a mere unity in the forms of public worship; it is such as the Holy Spirit produces in the hearts of Christians, when he fills them all with the same love, and joy, and peace in believing. The following verses contain the reasons for this.
Ephesians 4:4. There is one body. One church-for so the word body meats here-denoting the body of Christ. Romans 12:5. Comp. Ephesians 1:23. The meaning here is, that as there is really but one church on earth, there ought to be unity. The church is, at present, divided into many denominations. It has different forms of worship, and different rites and ceremonies. It embraces those of different complexions and ranks in life, and it cannot be denied that there are often unhappy contentions and jealousies in different parts of that church.
He did not come to save merely the black man, or the red, or the white man; nor did he leave the world to set up for them separate mansions in the skies. He came that he might collect into one community a multitude of every complexion, and from every land, and unite them in one great brotherhood on earth, and ultimately assemble them in the same heaven. The church is one.
Every sincere Christian is a brother in that church, and has an equal right with all others to its privileges. Being one by the design of the Saviour, they should be one in feeling; and every Christian, no matter what his rank, should be ready to hail every other Christian as a fellow-heft of heaven.
One Spirit. The Holy Spirit. There is one and the self-same Spirit that dwells in the church. The same Spirit has awakened all; enlightened all; convicted all; converted all. Wherever they may be, and whoever, yet there has been substantially the same work of the Spirit on the heart of every Christian. There are circumstantial differences arising from diversities of temperament, disposition, and education; there may be a difference in the depth and power of his operations on the soul;
there may be a difference in the degree of conviction for sin and in the evidence of conversion, but still there are the same operations on the heart essentially, produced by the same Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:6-11. All the gifts of prayer, and of preaching; all the zeal, the ardour, the love, the self-denial in the church, are produced by the same Spirit. There should be, therefore, unity. The church is united in the agency by which it is saved; it should be united in the feelings which influence its members.
Even as ye are called. Ephesians 4:1 The sense is, "There is one body and one spirit, in like manner as there is one hope resulting from your calling." The same notion of oneness is found in relation to each of these things.
In one hope of your calling. In one hope resulting from your being called into his kingdom. On the meaning of the word hope, (see Ephesians 2:12). The meaning here is, that Christians have the same hope, and they should therefore be one. They are looking forward to the same heaven; they hope for the same happiness beyond the grave. It is not as on earth among the people of the world, where there is a variety of hopes-where one hopes for pleasure, and another for honour, and another for gain; but there is the prospect of the same inexhaustible joy.
This hope is fitted to promote union. There is no rivalry-for there is enough for all. Hope on earth does not always produce union and harmony. Two men hope to obtain the same office; two students hope to obtain the same honour in college; two rivals hope to obtain the same hand in marriage-and the consequence is jealousy, contention, and strife.
The reason is, that but one can obtain the object. Not so with the crown of life-with the rewards of heaven. All may obtain that crown; all may share those rewards. How can Christians contend in an angry manner with each other, when the hope of dwelling in the same heaven swells their bosoms and animates their hearts?
Ephesians 4:6: One God. The same God; therefore there should be unity. Were there many gods to be worshipped, there could be no more hope of unity than there is among the worshippers of Mammon and Bacchus, and the various other idols that men set up. Men who have different pursuits, and different objects of supreme affection, can be expected to have no union.
Men who worship many gods, cannot hope to be united. Their affections are directed to different objects, and there is no harmony or sympathy of feeling. But where there is one supreme object of attachment, there may be expected to be unity. The children of a family that are devoted to a parent will be united among themselves; and the fact, that all Christians have the same great object of worship, should constitute a strong bond of union among themselves-a chain always kept bright.
The Father of all. One God who is the Father of all; that is, who is a common Father to all who believe. That this refers to the Father, in contradistinction from the Son and the Holy Spirit, seems evident. The Spirit and the Son are mentioned in the previous verses. But the fact, that the "Father of all" is mentioned as "God," does not prove that the Spirit and the Son are not also endowed with Divine attributes. That question is to be determined by the attributes ascribed to the Son and the Holy Spirit in other places.
All sincere Christians worship one God, and but one. But they suppose that this one God subsists as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, united in a mysterious manner, and constituting THE one God, and that there is no other God. That the Father is Divine they all hold, as Paul affirms here; that the Son and the Holy Spirit are also Divine they also hold. The meaning here is, that God is the common Father of all his people-of the rich and the poor; the bond and the free; the learned and the unlearned. He is no respecter of persons. Nothing would tend more to overcome the prejudices of colour, rank, and wealth, than to feel that we all have one Father; and that we are all equally the objects of his favour.”
The Apostle Paul wrote of the division in Corinth, “For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? (1 Corinthians 3:3-4). It is no less carnal and divisive to say, “I am of Luther, or I am of Calvin or I am of Wesley, or I am of this or that Denomination.
We have to come together as one Body of believers, declaring to the world in our Unity that there is a God, Who sent His Son to die for our sins that we might have forgiveness, that we might receive the Gift of Eternal Life, that we might become members of His Family, and be given a priesthood now, and a crown when the Kingdom of God comes to this earth to rule all nations. As believers, let us unite in word, in thought, in deed, in purpose and in Message and in Truth.
This concludes this evening's Discussion, “Basic Christianity, Part 3.”
This Discussion was originally presented “live” on August 26th, 2020.
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