“And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are one.”
This is one of Jesus’ prayers for His disciples in His prayer in John 17. He says that we should be one as He and the Father are one. I believe that He meant that. I do not want to give the impression that I think we need one big super church. I don’t have a problem with denominations. I realize that some people do, but I don’t see any way out of it. I would definitely not want to be the pastor of the super church. But there are some ways that we can be one and cooperate together as a witness for Christ to the world. First, I think that we can be one in Christ. We can disagree about a lot of things, but we cannot disagree about Christ. The New Testament plainly teaches that the coming of Christ was prophesied throughout the Old Testament. The New Testament plainly teaches the virgin birth of Christ, as well as the fact that He never sinned. The New Testament plainly teaches that Christ was crucified on a Roman cross, buried in a Jewish tomb and arose on the third day. The way that we are saved is as Ephesians 2:8-9 explains: “For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: 9. Not of works, lest any man should boast.” According to James, saving faith includes works. We are not saved by works but to work. When people try to change the witness and ministry of Christ, which some have tried to do, they are leading people astray. A lot of the New Testament was written because people were trying to change who and what Christ is. We are one in Christ, we just need to remember that. Second, I think that we can be one in love. In John 13:35 Jesus said: “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another.” In John 15:12-13 Jesus said: “This is my commandment, That you love one another, as I have loved you. 13. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” In 1 John 4:10-11 we read this: “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11.Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” Just as we can’t put denominational lines around Christ, we can’t put denominational lines around the command to love one another. It is not a suggestion but a command, and we need to work on it. Third, I think that we can be one in prayer. All who are believers in the finished work of Jesus Christ, should be willing to pray for each other and to pray with each other. I think that Billy Graham’s ministry proved that when Christian people want to serve the interests of Christ, we can come together and pray and see God do remarkable work among us. We need to pray for each other. I have found that I cannot fight with a person that I constantly pray for. The Christians who pray together do not spend as much time fussing as they do witnessing and ministering in the name of Jesus. If we are all busy doing that, we will not have time to fuss with each other. All that I have written above does not just apply to Christian denominations, they apply to individual Christians as well. They apply to all Christian churches. If we will see ourselves as one in Christ, love each other as Jesus commanded, and pray together, we will find that we can reach the world for Christ. People want to be with people who love each other and pray together. In these ways, we should all be one. I was saved a Baptist, live as a Baptist, and will die a Baptist, but that doesn’t mean that I am not one with all true believers in Jesus Christ. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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