{"id":90654,"date":"2021-03-10T17:25:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-10T22:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/unity-of-the-faithful\/"},"modified":"2023-10-06T22:18:48","modified_gmt":"2023-10-07T02:18:48","slug":"unity-of-the-faithful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/unity-of-the-faithful\/","title":{"rendered":"Unity of the Faithful"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Passions,\nwhich are good things, can often lead to discord. Scripture calls for God\u2019s church\nto be like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose in\nunity of faith (Ephesians 4:13). How?  By being passionately sure of the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. To Be Unified, Christians Must Focus on the Right\n Resources<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    If\nyou have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from\nhis love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion (Phil. 2:1)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. God\nhas given us encouragement in Christ.  The\nword \u201cencouragement\u201d means to come alongside,\ngive assistance by offering comfort, counsel, or help.  We are unified because we have in common the\nsame friend, the same comforter, the same encourager. For each of us, Christ\ncomes alongside to walk us through the pains and the struggles of life, \u201cAnd surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age\u201d\n(Matt 28:19). \n<\/li>
    2. God\nhas given us comfort from Christ\u2019s love.  Each believer became a recipient of Christ\u2019s\nlove at spiritual birth (John 3:16; Romans 5:8).  We\nare not only comforted in forgiveness, but freed of fear: \u201cThere is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear,\nbecause fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect\nin love\u201d (1 John 4:18) ranging from the\nmaterial to the spiritual aspects of life. <\/li>
    3. God\nhas given us fellowship with the Spirit: \u201cFor we were\nall baptized by one Spirit into one body\u2014whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free\u2014and\nwe were all given the one Spirit to drink\u201d (1\nCor. 12:13).  Christ used a\nsimilar word to \u201cencouragement\u201d in referring to the Holy Spirit and His\nministry to us: \u201cparaclete\u201d\u2014our counselor, our advocate, our helper (John 15:26<\/strong>).  As the Spirit works with us personally, we\nmust also employ Him socially (Ephesians 4:3)\nall for the same end: \u201cBut the fruit of the Spirit is\nlove, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and\nself-control. Against such things there is no law\u201d (Galatians 5:22-23).<\/li>
    4. God\nhas given us tenderness and compassion: the ability to feel somebody\u2019s pain or\nhurt with them through trials (1 John 3:17).<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
      1. To Be Unified, Christians Must Develop the Right\n Attitudes<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        Disunity\nbegins in the heart, progressing to the mind, will, emotions and acted out in\nour actions and reactions, therefore: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \u2026then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the\nsame love, being one in spirit and purpose (Philippians\n2:2)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        1. Believers\nmust have the same thoughts.  Paul says\nthat believers must be \u201clike-minded.\u201d It\nliterally means \u201cto think the same thing\u201d (Phil. 2:5).  The mind of Christ is further clarified in Philippians 2:7 where it says that Christ took the\nvery nature of a \u201cservant.\u201d He didn\u2019t come to earth to be served, he came to\nserve. That is the type of mindset each believer must develop in order to be\nunified in the church.<\/li>
        2. Believers\nmust have the same loving attitude.  Agape\nlove is an act of the will (Romans 5:8, 10); a sacrificial love (1\nJohn 2:16); a practical love (Romans 10:12,\n13).<\/li>
        3. Believers\nmust be united in spirit.  The word\n\u201cunited\u201d means \u201cone-souled\u201d literally to care for one another as though we were\ncaring for ourselves (Mark 12:31: \u201c\u2026Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself…)   <\/li>
        4. Believers\nmust have the same purpose which is the Gospel: \u201cWhatever\nhappens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then,\nwhether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know\nthat you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the\ngospel\u201d (Philippians 1:27).<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
          1. To Be Unified, Christians Must Develop the Right\n Practices<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

            Do\nnothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider\nothers better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own\ninterests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:3-4)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            1. Believers\nmust practice forsaking selfish ambition and vain conceit.  \u201cFor where you have\nenvy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice\u201d\n(James 3:16) which prompts to: <\/li>
            2. Survey\nand question our motives (Matthew 6:1-4);<\/li>
            3. Ask\nGod to test our motives (Psalm 139:23-24);<\/li>
            4. Believers\nmust practice the humility of a servant. \nThe word \u201chumility\u201d in Greek was used exclusively in a derisive way,\ndescribing what was considered base, common, unfit, and having little value. This\nis very countercultural given we live in a culture of \u201cself-esteem\u201d yet we\nhumble ourselves to advance Christ (1 Cor. 9:19);<\/li>
            5. Believers\nmust take care of their own personal interests in order to have unity.  There is a proper balance of taking care of\nourselves in order to better serve God and others (Mark\n1:35).  Paul does not teach us to\neliminate our interests all together. He says that we should not only<\/em><\/strong>\nlook to our own interests.<\/li>
            6. Believers\nmust look out for the interests of others in order to have unity.  Consider what Hebrews says about how the\nchurch should function: \u201cAnd let us consider how we may\nspur one another on toward love and good deeds\u201d (Hebrews 10:24).<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

              \n\nIf believers are going to be unified, they must have\nthe right resources, attitudes and practice. They must forsake selfish ambition\nand vain glory. They must practice the humility of a servant. They must take\ncare of their own interests in obedience to God, and finally they must look out\nfor the interests of others. These are essentials for unity.\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              Passions, which are good things, can often lead to discord. Scripture calls for God\u2019s church to be like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose in unity of faith (Ephesians 4:13). How?  By being passionately sure of the following: To Be Unified, Christians Must Focus on the Right Resources If you have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[530],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nUnity of the Faithful - Grace Evangelical Free Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Unity of the Faithful - Grace Evangelical Free Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Passions, which are good things, can often lead to discord. Scripture calls for God\u2019s church to be like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose in unity of faith (Ephesians 4:13). 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