It seems to me we Christians often have a struggle to understand the unity of the Body of Christ. We struggle because we immediately gravitate to “organizational” unity. We think in terms of local assemblies; maybe we have guilt feelings over our denominational divisions; and we always want to conclude with a call to all get together some time for a worship service.
The unity the NT calls us to is impossible if
you think it can only be manifested in a single organization. We are called to oneness of spirit and soul
(Phil. 1:27); speaking the same thing, no divisions (schisms), and oneness of
mind (Grk. nous, the broadest term for the “mind” including thought,
feeling, purpose and desire; 1 Cor. 1:10); oneness of mind (Grk. phroneo,
knowledge, wisdom, opinions; Rom. 15:5); oneness of mind (Grk. homodumadon,
one passion) and one mouth (Rom. 15:6).
How could a group of human beings ever have such unity? They can’t!
Yet, in Pilgrim Psalm 133, unity is described
as involving such deep oneness. It’s
like the anointing oil running down on the priest, sneaking its way through the
hairs of his beard, running through every crease of his robe, all the way to
the hem. It’s like the dew of Hermon saturating
the hill country, hills which God promised to bless with abundance. That is not organizational unity; it’s
organic unity.
Jesus prayed for this kind of unity. He prayed 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 (John 17:21). To facilitate this union, Jesus added, And
the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We
are one (v22).
In my reading the other day I was reminded of
this from Galatians. You have to pay
attention to the words. Paul says that
the promise to Abraham, that in you all the nations shall be blessed
(Gen. 12:3; also 18:18; 22:18), was a promise made to his “Seed” (Gen. 12:7,
also in 13:15; 24:7; the NKJV translates descendants but the Hebrew is singular,
the word being literally “seed, sowing, offspring”). Paul’s point is that the promise to Abraham
is fulfilled in one Seed, Jesus Christ.
His further point is that the fulfillment involves the salvation of
Gentiles. Yet it is not “seeds.” The Nations are blessed, for you are all
sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:26); being baptized
into Christ (3:27), joined with Him in His death and resurrection
(Rom. 6:1-5); thus being all one in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:28). Bottom line: If you are Christ’s, then you
are Abraham’s seed (3:29).
True unity for Christians is greater and deeper
than the oneness of any organization. We
share together (fellowship) one life, the life of the Bread of Life, the life
of Christ. That is unity that permeates
the Body of Christ like the oil running down on the beard of Aaron and the dew
of Hermon.
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