Unity Among the Redeemed

We know that there exist in our world, many walls that tend to separate and divide. Walls, as a blockade seem to be an intimate part of our society. Almost from the inception of man's pilgrimage here on earth, there have been walls that have bound and imprisoned. Down through the centuries mankind have deliberately and voluntarily erected walls to shut out certain segments of society.

If we take a moment to review our history, we will see how China built their great walls in order to protect themselves from invaders. We see the walls of the ancient city of Greece that were built to protect inhabitants from plunderers and hostile nations. We see the great castles of medieval Europe with their high and almost insurmountable walls, which served as a refuge for the local people in times of peace and as a shield in times of war.

Man has been engaged in not only the building of physical walls, but when we think in terms of the ills of our society, we realize that there are many who have built psychological walls. Walls of the mind; when a man has built a wall in his mind, it is much more difficult to penetrate than walls of iron, steel or stone. There exist divisions between the races, classes, genders, economic status, and political parties. The divisions today seem deeper than the ties are strong.

Yet, I hear this ancient voice calling to us from the corridors of history. I hear this old voice speaking to us from the holiest of books declaring in the words of the Apostle Paul, "For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility." Ephesians 2:14 (NIV). These words were spoken about the Jew and the Gentile. There had been a line of separation, cutting humanity into two segments. Under the law, the Jews were the chosen people of God. Their advantages were of the most divine and distinguished kind. They had the oracles, covenants, the tabernacle, the priesthood, and the greatest of blessings, Jesus Christ, the root of Jesse and the seed of Abraham.

Christianity however, was designated to destroy that separating line between Jew and Greek, between Israel and the other nations of the earth. Thus, Paul declares, "there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all." Colossians 3:11.

We also note that Paul's argument is even more comprehensive than we at first thought for we read in Galatians 3:28, There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Christianity repudiates all inferiority of gender. Unlike some religions that seemed to diminish women, Christianity knows no distinction. It elevates woman on the scale of moral dignity, places her side by side with man, and boldly affirms that: There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Now, when I talk about oneness, or unity of saints, I am not talking about oneness of creed, or oneness of forms, or in denominational distinctions. I do not mean oneness of religious knowledge or experience because in these there is certainly great diversity and variety. One man sees Jesus in purple, another in a mantle of camel hair. To one generation He is the Judge; to another, a kind and compassionate Friend. Some people perceive Jesus as harsh and inexorable; others consider Him good and full of love. To some, He is the Good Shepherd; to others, the Mystery of the ages. Christ is like a portent moving through the centuries touching lives in different ways. No two minds form the same impression of Him. Each person's experience of Him is personal. Every era expresses Him in its own way and in its own words. Yet, this diversity neither destroys nor impairs the oneness among the true saints of God, for we "are all one in Christ Jesus."

We are all one in faith – not in opinions, not in methods of illustration, but in the act and exercise of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is but one faith that justifies and brings the soul into a state of acceptance with God. Just as there are no two Saviors, or two Gospels, so there is only one faith shared by all of God's children.

Not only are we all one in faith, but we are also one in spirit. All Christians have one renewed holy nature. All saints have been born again from above – born of God, born of incorruptible seed and we are thereby partakers of God's own divine nature. All saints have a new heart and the right spirit. Just as all men have one human nature, so all saints have one divine and spiritual nature, for we "are all one in Christ Jesus."

The problem with some of us however, is that we try to monopolize God. We try to wrap Him up in our own neat packages of ritualism and make Him the God of our viewpoint only. But this cannot be because God is the Father of all - Jesus, the Savior and oldest brother of all - the Spirit, the Sanctifier and Comforter of all – the Church, the Mother of all. Therefore, it naturally follows that each Christian is brother and sister to all. There is only one family of God - one household of faith, and all spiritual persons; male and female, black and white, Protestants and Catholics, Jew and Gentile, belong to it. We are all of one fold. There is no partiality or respect of persons for all of us in Christ are essentially and declaratively ONE.

You will note that Paul makes it quite clear that this oneness is realized only among those of us who are in Christ Jesus. It is a unity of saints. All Christians are one in Christ as the common meeting place between God and man. In other words, all saints come to God through Jesus Christ. It is here, in Christ, where we meet – and it is here, in Christ, where we become one. The amazing grace of God unites our soul to Christ and binds all believers together. So all believers – as living stones – are united by Christ – the Chief cornerstone.

Understand that we can not be one in… the early church fathers, not in the Protestant Reformers, not in Wickliffe, or Luther, or Calvin. We cannot unite in any of the martyrs, or puritans, or founders of religious sects. We can never be one in Baxter, or Whitfield or John Wesley or Richard Allen. Christians can never be connected and become truly one in Episcopalianism – however reformed, Presbyterianism – however strict, Congregationalism – however liberal, Methodism – however practical. We can only become one in Christ Jesus. Diversity will always characterize God's people but Jesus will be the center of attraction. He is the One and only Captain of our salvation and in no other can we be truly one. So Paul adamantly asserts, There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

The Psalmist exclaimed, "How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!" Psalm 133:1.

Jesus prayed: "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me." John 17:20-21.

We are all one in Christ Jesus. We are all called to God's eternal kingdom and glory. We are all born again to a hope of the resurrection. All saints have their names written in the Lamb's book of life, all shall finally sit down together with the whole company of the redeemed in the New Jerusalem. We are all one, in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Therefore, we should acknowledge and esteem one another in Christ. Instead of excluding one another and erecting walls to separate us from disagreeing saints, we should receive each other in the bond of Christian love. Instead of suspicion, there should be quiet confidence, instead of pride – humility, instead of coldness and indifference; there should be a warm spirit of fellowship.

I realize that there may sometimes be a need for controversy, for expressing difference of views, for taking different actions in ecclesiastical matters, but these must always occur in the spirit of Christian dignity and love and not in bitterness and resentment. The differences of the Church today can never be adjusted until Christians learn to approach each other in kindness and in the spirit of brotherly love.

Finally, there must be Christian cooperation. All God’s redeemed must join in a united effort to glorify God and to reach out to lost souls. Christianity has too much to address to allow itself to fall prey to the evil and satanic work of creating and maintaining divisions and separations. One of the great functions of Christianity is to combat ignorance, depravity, wickedness, principalities and ungodliness in all its forms and phases. The aggressive energies of the Church must embrace the unified power of every saint.

We cannot and must not allow petty differences to divide the army of Christ or hinder God's spiritual Church from living, loving, and laboring together. I believe that if all saints, males and females, young and old, rich and poor, educated and uneducated, cooperated to exalt Jesus and save the lost, it would do more in any one year for religious progress than sectarian zeal could effect in a whole decade.

It is Christian love that makes the difference. We are joined together in our hearts in Christian love. As Paul states:

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3.

You are also encouraged to consider reading Christian Unity