The unification of the church-the body of Christ, has been the earnest plea of Jesus Christ and the apostle Paul from the very inception. Jesus Christ in His prayer to the Father on behalf of His disciples prayed saying; “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.”
And on behalf of all believers Jesus prayed saying; “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one. I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me” (John 17:9-11; 20-23).
The apostle Paul also made an earnest plea to all believers saying; “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment”.
He also accused the church of sectarianism, which he considered to be sinful and carnal, for he said; “Now I say this, that each of you says, "I am of Paul," or "I am of Apollos," or "I am of Cephas," or "I am of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” ...”And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. 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?” (1Corinthians 1:10, 12-13; 3:1-4).
Therefore, for the church-the body of Christ to be divided into so many different sects, denominations and fragments is not in accordance to the will of God, for this is sinful and carnal. So what is the solution! What is the key to the unification of the church?
Will the reconciliation of the two legs of the great image of Daniel's prophecy, one in the East, and the other in the West, bring about such a unification? Will the reconciliation of the Catholic Church with the protestant churches which was signed in 1999 bring about this unity? Or will a reconciliation between Christians and Muslims bring about such a unification?
The irony of truth is, none of the above holds the key to the unification of the church-the body of Christ. The key to the unification of the body of Christ – the church, is for both believing Jews and Gentiles to believe in the heart and core message of the cross, and apply the priestly service of Jesus Christ, as their one and only gateway to the Father. For this is what to the Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are being saved, it is the power of God.
Because in the true sense of the word, there are only three categories of people, which are; The Jews, those to whom God gave His oracles or sacred writings; the Gentiles/Greeks, all other nations outside the commonwealth of Israel, who do not now God; and the church of God, which consists of both believing Jews and Gentiles, of whom it is said; “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:26-29).
Therefore, in order to be able to resolve the issue of the divisions that exist in the body of Christ (the church), one has to first and foremost find the root cause of the problem in order to be able to resolve it, otherwise, we will only be dealing with the effects and not the problem itself.
And on behalf of all believers Jesus prayed saying; “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one. I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me” (John 17:9-11; 20-23).
The apostle Paul also made an earnest plea to all believers saying; “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment”.
He also accused the church of sectarianism, which he considered to be sinful and carnal, for he said; “Now I say this, that each of you says, "I am of Paul," or "I am of Apollos," or "I am of Cephas," or "I am of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” ...”And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. 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?” (1Corinthians 1:10, 12-13; 3:1-4).
Therefore, for the church-the body of Christ to be divided into so many different sects, denominations and fragments is not in accordance to the will of God, for this is sinful and carnal. So what is the solution! What is the key to the unification of the church?
Will the reconciliation of the two legs of the great image of Daniel's prophecy, one in the East, and the other in the West, bring about such a unification? Will the reconciliation of the Catholic Church with the protestant churches which was signed in 1999 bring about this unity? Or will a reconciliation between Christians and Muslims bring about such a unification?
The irony of truth is, none of the above holds the key to the unification of the church-the body of Christ. The key to the unification of the body of Christ – the church, is for both believing Jews and Gentiles to believe in the heart and core message of the cross, and apply the priestly service of Jesus Christ, as their one and only gateway to the Father. For this is what to the Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are being saved, it is the power of God.
Because in the true sense of the word, there are only three categories of people, which are; The Jews, those to whom God gave His oracles or sacred writings; the Gentiles/Greeks, all other nations outside the commonwealth of Israel, who do not now God; and the church of God, which consists of both believing Jews and Gentiles, of whom it is said; “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:26-29).
Therefore, in order to be able to resolve the issue of the divisions that exist in the body of Christ (the church), one has to first and foremost find the root cause of the problem in order to be able to resolve it, otherwise, we will only be dealing with the effects and not the problem itself.
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To be continued
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