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A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

GOD'S ULTIMATE INTENTION: THE CHURCH

The Bible says that God has an "Ultimate Intention" which it calls "the mystery of His will" (Eph. 1:9) - and that is to "... gather together in one all things in Christ ..." (Eph. 1:10) And for what purpose? and to what end? - so "... that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by (through) the church the manifold wisdom of God." (Eph. 3:10) God's intention, then, is to manifest ("make known") His Glory (wisdom) to all creation (i.e., the "principalities and powers"). How? - "through the church!" Specifically, the Scriptures say,

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world ... Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will ... Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself ... That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him ... whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." (Eph. 3:3-21)

The church, then, is the vehicle through which God has chosen to "make known" His glory and wisdom in the universe.

THE CHURCH AS THE "BODY OF CHRIST"
AND THE "BUILDING OF CHRIST"

The Bible calls the church "... His (Christ's) body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all ..." and it goes on to say that -

"...we (as individual Christians) are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones ..." (Eph. 5:30)

It calls this "a great mystery." (Eph. 5:32). Peter puts it another way. He compares the church to a building (a "spiritual house") in which we are the stones (i.e., "living stones") that comprise that building - Christ Jesus being the chief corner stone (Eph. 2:20):

"Ye also, as lively (i.e., "living") stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." (1 Pet. 2:5)

God's purpose, then, in saving us (Mat. 20:28) was to "build us up (as) a spiritual house," and by doing so to establish the church - Christ's body "... which is the fullness of Him that filleth all in all." (Eph. 1:23) How unimaginably significant, therefore, is the church in God's eyes. Everything is for the church! - even Christ:

"Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself up for it." (Eph. 5:25)

Indeed, it's for this very reason that Christ even rose from the dead, and is now far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and has become the "head over all things to the church" (Eph. 1:22). In fact, the entire work of the Holy Spirit during these last two thousand years has been to establish the church. God saves sinners and gives them victory in their personal lives not necessarily to perfect them as individual stones but to "mold and shape" them so that they can at last be "fitted" into the building, and it's for this purpose of "building up" the church (i.e., of "molding and shaping" - "perfecting" - the individual saints) that He bestows apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers as "gifts" to the church.

It's to this end - the end of "building up" the church - that God is "calling out" for Himself a peculiar (i.e., "special") people from all the families, nations, and tongues of this world - to make them into "fitted" stones for His building (i.e., the church). The Bible says,

"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light ..." (1 Pet. 2:9)

THE WORLD:
THE ENEMY OF THE CHURCH

THE CHURCH IS COMPOSED
OF THE "CALLED OUT" ONES

Now it's important to note in this verse (I Pet. 2:9) that the people who have been chosen to be members of Christ's body (i.e., the "living stones" in His building) are a "called out" people! Called out from what? - out of darkness! The darkness of what? - the darkness of this world (again, please see 1 Pet. 2:9); that "darkness" and the "world" are equated in the Scriptures is substantiated by Ephesians 6:12:

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Eph. 6:12)

And that's not all! - the Bible goes on to say -

"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness (i.e., the world) rather than light, because their deeds were evil." (John 3:19)

Jesus elaborates -

"I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness (i.e., should not abide in the world)." (John 12:46)

And again -

"Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness (i.e., should not have his "living" and "being" in darkness), but shall have the light of life." (John 8:12)

And John writes,

"In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness (i.e., the world) comprehended it not." (John 1:4-5)

This is extremely important to note because you cannot be a "living stone" fit for the building if you are still "in the world." James 4:4 says:

"Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."

There is no middle ground here - either you're "in the world" or you're in "Christ's building" - and it's because there is no middle ground that we as American Christians are in so much trouble. Why? - because so many of us are trying to have it both ways - to be "in the world" and, at the same time, to be "in Christ." As a result, most of us do not have any real comprehension of what the church is really all about. The church is - in the very first instance - a "calling out" from the world! If we are still "in the world," how then can we be "in the church?" - except, perhaps, in the most ethereal and general sense - certainly not in any practical way.

THE GREAT DIFFICULTY FOR AMERICAN
CHRISTIANS: DIFFERENTIATING
BETWEEN WHAT'S "IN THE
WORLD" AND WHAT'S "IN CHRIST"

I believe, therefore, that the most difficult problem with which we as American Christians must grapple is the problem of the world - of differentiating between what is worldly and what is of God. The fact of the matter is, most of us have little idea of what the world is all about. We confuse worldliness with carnality [i.e., lust, lewdness, eroticism, sensuality, etc. - and even such mundane things as watching TV, going to the movies, listening to "rock and roll" music, etc.] - and, as a result, we naively think that if we avoid carnality everything will be okay.

We fail to recognize that the "world" (Gk. kosmos) which the Bible has in mind is much more than that - that it encompasses all that is of this life and of this present world - everything: both the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly, the sweet and the bitter - i.e., all those goods, endowments, riches, advantages, pleasures, etc. which, though hollow and fleeting, stir our desires and make us feel "at home" and "comfortable" in (with) this life. Moreover, the Bible's use of the word kosmos indicates that it has more than just the material world in view; that it's view of the "world" encompasses abstract things as well which have spiritual and moral (or immoral) values (e.g., I Cor 2:12, "the spirit of the world;" 3:19, "the wisdom of this world;" 7:31, "the fashion of this world;" Titus 2:12, "worldly lusts;" 2 Peter 1:14, "the corruption that is in the world;" 2:20, "the defilements of the world;" I John 2:16, 17, "all that is in the world, the lust ... the vainglory ... passeth away;" etc.).

There are no exceptions - and it is, therefore, futile for those who think that asceticism is a way out, a special means or path to holiness and purity, and that if they somehow or other avoid the material things of this life, they will escape the lusts thereof. Nothing could be further from the truth - asceticism is just another road to apostasy - and a very uncomfortable one at that. Why? - because when Adam sinned, he brought ALL the world - the material as well as the abstract - under the curse of sin. As a result, and regardless of the differing guises in which the world may from time to time present itself (and no matter how it tries to hide its real character), it is implacably hostile to God. The Bible is very clear on this matter: I Corinthians 1:21 says that the world "knows not God" - and more, John 14:17 says that it is not even capable of receiving (i.e., competent or able to comprehend) "the Spirit of Christ." Indeed, John 15:18 says that the world "hates" Him, and James says that this hatred extends so far that anyone who is even "friendly" with the world must of necessity be a hater of God (again, James 4:4). John puts it this way:

"If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." (John 2:15)

THERE CAN BE NO PEACE BETWEEN
THE WORLD AND THE CHURCH

Moreover - as we have already said (and we need to note this very carefully) - there is no room for a negotiated settlement (i.e., peace) between the world and Christ - one is either "of Christ," or "of the world." There is no middle ground, no "moderate" position. (John 8:23) Hence, Jesus says, "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36). In other words, no one who has his "living" or "being" in the world can be made a "living" stone in Christ's building (i.e., His church). The church has nothing to do with the world.

The truth of the matter is, the world is under a sentence of death - of destruction (John 12:31, 32) - and although that sentence has not yet been carried out, it will most assuredly be executed someday. And when it is, everything that is in the world will be judged with the world.

This, then, is the problem that we - as American Christians - face: all too many of us want to pretend that it is possible to have one foot in the world and the other in the church. We are comfortable with the world; we enjoy it; maybe not the "bad" things, but certainly the "good" things - the world of our green lawns, split level homes, two cars, good careers, fat bank accounts, etc. Of course the saints in Uganda, Kenya, Bolivia, Guatemala, etc. have no such trouble, you can be sure of that; but we do.

The fact is, more than any other people who have ever lived, we are surrounded by the world and infused with it. It reaches out and touches us in ways which people in other countries and in other times could never imagine. Indeed, the time has passed when we need to go out into the world in order to make contact with it. Today the world comes to us; it searches us out. It reaches into our homes via the television and the internet, into our cars via cell phones and the radio. There is no place to hide from it.

DO WE AS AMERICANS ENJOY
ANY SPECIAL LENIENCY?

What, then, are we to do? How do we get away from it? How do we keep ourselves from being affected by it? These are very important questions because the Bible - despite our particular vulnerability as Americans - seems to offer us no mitigation on this matter. The Bible stands as implacable and as immovable as ever with regard to its hostility to the world - both the "good" and the "bad." Again, the Bible says:

"... do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you (stupidly) think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose (here) ..." (James 4:4-5)

Where is there here any special leniency towards us because of our difficult and troublesome circumstances? There is none! And just exactly the kind of situation that this can lead us into is hinted at in the Scofield Reference Bible. Scofield writes:

"The messages to the seven churches (in Revelation 1-3) have a fourfold application: (1) Local, to the churches actually addressed; (2) admonitory, to all churches in all time as tests by which they may discern their true spiritual state in the sight of God; (3) personal, in the exhortations to him 'that hath an ear', and in the promises 'to him that overcometh'; (4) prophetic, as disclosing seven phases of the spiritual history of the church from, say, A.D. 96 to the end." (Scofield Reference Bible, Oxford University Press, 1945, pg. 1331)

If this is so, and historically most evangelicals have agreed with Scofield on this matter, then what does the Scripture say about our church age - the seventh, the last (and, ipso facto, us)?

The Bible says,

"And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans (i.e., the seventh church) write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue (vomit) thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am (materially) rich, and increased with (material) goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art (spiritually) wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to BUY of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent." (Rev 3:14-19)

God grant us eyesalve for our eyes so that we can see our real situation - for unless we do, we'll never be disposed to pay the price to buy the gold (remember, the gold in this case, must be bought) and the white raiment (which, again, in this case must be bought). [We're not talking here about "being born again," which is free; we're talking about the testimony of Christ in our daily lives - the kind of testimony which brings glory to God, and unbelievers to a "saving knowledge" of Him].

CONSIDERING OURSELVES
AS ALIENS IN THIS WORLD

This brings us to a very important point - one which cannot be stressed too much: and that is while we are now presently "in the world," we must never be "of the world." If we fail to see this, we will most assuredly "fall away." The fact is, when we as Christians get ourselves mixed up with the world - even for the best of reasons (such as, for example, stopping abortion, rescuing America from a liberalism gone amuck, etc.) what it invariably indicates is that we have failed to differentiate between the "kingdom of this world" and the "kingdom of heaven" (i.e., the church). It witnesses to the fact that we have failed to grasp the truth that we are no longer citizens of the kingdom of this world, but are instead citizens of a new kingdom which has NOTHING to do with this world. Finally, it indicates a certain comfort on our part with the world, and that rather than wanting to leave the world, we want to stay and try to save it. But the Bible says:

"I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." (John 17:14)

The fact is that after we are born again we are no longer to consider ourselves as citizens of this present world, but rather we are to think of ourselves simply as "sojourners" and "wayfarers" - "aliens" (1 Pet. 2:11) - in this world, having no permanent residence or abode in it. Our sole purpose while we are yet here is not to get a good career, a nice home, a BMW, and a fat bank account, but to get as many people as we can to join us as pilgrims in journeying to our "better world," our "better kingdom." This is called "preaching the Gospel" [i.e., the "Good News" - the good news that there is such a place, that there is such a kingdom - and the way to it is by renouncing our citizenship in this world through baptism and inviting Jesus into our heart by faith; and then, by degrees and "the growth of life," being fitted as "living stones" into the building (i.e., the church)]. It's only as we - as "living stones" - are built increasingly into the church that we can begin to appreciate God's ultimate intention:

"... that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by (through) the church [which is "... his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all (Eph. 1:23)] the manifold wisdom of God." (Eph. 3:10)

How then do we make the transition from the one kingdom to the other? from the kingdom of this world to Christ's kingdom? Do we do it by struggling against our desires? by giving away our BMWs, our money, our split level homes, etc.? No! That will never work! The more we struggle against these things, the more we will stimulate our desire for them. The Bible says:

"But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead." (Rom. 7:8)

No! - struggling against these things will never free us from their hold on us.

God has a much more sublime and effortless answer: we are to turn our eyes onto Jesus, and as we gaze upon Him in our spirit, the world will fall away from us, just as that old Baptist hymn of long ago says:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth
Will grow strangely dim
In the light of His wonder and grace.

More than just that, as we turn our eyes upon Him, we will find ourselves quite effortlessly being built up with others as "living stones" for His building. More about this in a few pages. For now, let's return to the matter of God's ultimate intention: to gather into one all things in Christ. Specifically, let's turn to the actual condition of today's church and examine what the Bible says God intends to do about it.

THAT THEY ALL MAY BE ONE

The Bible says:

"They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me." (John 17:16-23)

This passage of Scripture is one of the most significant passages in the Bible. It reminds us of the fact that we must no longer consider ourselves a part of the world ("They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world"); and it indicates that it is our oneness as believers (i.e., as the church) that the world will know that God has sent Christ ("... that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me").

It is our oneness that is our testimony - our oneness not only with regard to Christ (as our head), but with each other (as the body).

OUR "INNER ONENESS;" IT IS
ALREADY AN ESTABLISHED FACT

All those who have ever been saved are a part of the church. It doesn't matter whether you are a Presbyterian, a Baptist, a Pentecostal, etc. - if you have been born again, you are a part of the one true church. The particular denomination to which you belong has nothing to do with your standing in the true church; being a member of the one true church has nothing to do with your submission to a particular denomination, to a particular hierarchy or any other such thing. It has to do with the fact that you share the same life with all those others who - like you - have been born again; that is to say, who possess the life of Christ. The fact that you share Christ with them automatically makes you one with them.

Again we say, it's not our oneness as a denomination that brings this unity, but our oneness that we have naturally (and effortlessly) because we all share the life of Christ.

And doesn't our experience bear this out? How often have we all as Christians met someone in a different denomination with whom we instantly felt akin? Why? - because the life that was in him was also in us, and life recognizes life; kind recognizes kind (Genesis 1:11, 12, 21, etc.); the Holy Spirit in us recognizes the Holy Spirit which is in our brother or sister - and this transcends all denominational barriers. I have often had this experience in my life - even with brothers and sisters who were involved in denominations which I felt had little or nothing to do with the Lord Jesus Christ; even denominations which I felt were apostate or even - in some cases - heretical. How they got there, I could not tell; why they stayed, I could not tell. Was it naivet� cowardliness? - or maybe even because God had told them to stay for reasons known only to Him? I don't know. I only knew that the same life that was in me was also in them. This does not excuse that denomination's false doctrine and apostate condition; nor does it necessarily excuse their involvement in it; it only means that life answers to life; and kind calleth to kind. This is a sublime inward reality that all Christians are aware of - a kind of secret they share, but which is hid from the world.

OUR "OUTWARD ONENESS:" A FACT WHICH
STILL NEEDS TO BE ESTABLISHED

Now while it is a marvelous thing that we share this wonderful secret and joyous inward reality with one another as Christians, it's a terrible tragedy that we are unable to manifest this inward reality to the world which surrounds us - a lost and dying world that longs to see such a manifestation. What a testimony that would be!

To those lost and dying souls who have their "being" and "living" outside the "inner reality" of oneness that we enjoy in the church, love and oneness are the rarest of all commodities; at best it's a wispy, ethereal apparition which they grasp at only to have it again and again slip ghostlike out of their hands. Real love is absent in their world - the kind of love that is long-lasting, full of compassion and selfless.

Sadly, the love the world experiences is "short-lived," self-centered, and one which quickly turns to hate when challenged on the slightest of pretexts - leaving those who have experienced it more lonely and cynical than ever. All too often the only thing those who are in the world can look back at over the track of their lives is a series of ruined relationships and lost loves.

They long to see something more. Indeed, there is a deep longing in the soul of every man and woman to escape this tragedy and to experience the kind of relationships that can only come from Christ and that can only be sustained within the church (the assembly of the called-out ones). It is this longing that Satan fears most. It is the Achilles heel of his kingdom - and he is committed to doing anything and everything to prevent the church from making known to the world its secret. If once this secret is ever manifested, he is finished. To date, however, this has not really occurred. Sadly, only on the rarest of occasions (usually when the church is suffering deep and sustained persecution such as occurred in the early church or that exists today in China) has the outward expression of the church's unity and oneness matched the inward reality it has in Christ - and to that extent, the church's testimony has been a tainted one.

The fact is, we as Americans live today in a church that is divided by denominational boundaries, nuances of doctrine, life-styles, races and ethnicities, nationalities, etc. - and these divisions are a great hindrance to the church's testimony. And not only this, today's church is a church characterized by mixture - the good seed with the bad seed, the wheat with the tares, people who are Christian as a result of Christ's life abiding in them, and people who call themselves Christian because of the worldly advantages which accrue to them as a result - who, to put it plainly, are Christian on the outside, but not on the inside. All this clouds the church's testimony and, as a result, obscures God's glory; it testifies against the inward reality of the church's unity of life and spirit.

As a branch abides in the vine.

GOD'S PLAN

But God has a plan to change all this - to bring the outward appearance of the church into conformity with the church's inward reality so that the spiritual oneness which we today enjoy with all Christians everywhere is plain for everyone to see. The key to understanding what God's plan is, is wrapped up in understanding what Jesus meant when He said:

"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." (John 15:5)

As we abide in Christ, and as He abides in us, oneness results automatically as a result. This is God's answer to all those who today hunger and thirst to see the unity of the church manifested to the world, to see the church finally as she is depicted in the Revelation:

"... as a bride adorned for her husband." (Rev. 21:2)

- whole and complete, without spot or wrinkle, without the stain of division. And while this is not the case today - at least in any practical sense - still, it is the hope of all true Christians. Indeed, the Bible says that this hope purifies us:

"... and it doth not yet appear what we shall be [that is to say, we as yet do not appear (i.e., look like) what we shall look like as the completed, "built-up," "perfected" body of Christ] : but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

"And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he (i.e., Christ) is pure." (1 John 3:2-3)

ABIDING IN CHRIST -
THAT'S THE ANSWER

Now in this connection, it's important to remember that the unity which Christ has in mind is not something for which we - as individual Christians - must strive; it is not something for which we must compromise the Word of God. To say so is to imply that we can have either unity or "sound doctrine," but not both. But that's an absurdity - an absurdity which, nonetheless, many well-meaning evangelicals (evangelicals like Chuck Colson, J.I. Packer, Chuck Swindall, Pat Robertson, Tim LaHaye and Glen Cole (of Capital Christian Center in Sacramento, California) - seem willing to embrace by reaching out to unrepentant Roman Catholics, and by doing so to imply that the differences which divide Roman Catholics from evangelicals are relatively inconsequential. But the whole thing is preposterous - about as preposterous as saying that God can be either loving or righteous, but not both.

Unity - real unity, the unity which Christ gives - has nothing to do with compromising the Word of God. To think so is to exhibit a superficiality and shallowness of faith that is shocking. The unity which Christ gives is ours as a natural by-product of our "abiding in Christ." Is this not what the Bible says? Indeed, it is! - look at the verses which proceed 1 John 3:2-3 ("... it doth not yet appear what we shall be like ..."):

"And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not." (I John 1:28;3:1)

What is the Bible saying here? - that by abiding in Him we can have confidence because we will appear as He appears when He comes again (I John 3:2-3).

And there is more: if we appear as Christ appears (i.e., if we look like Christ when He comes in His perfection), then we will be perfect (i.e., perfect through Him). Why? - because if Christ is perfect, we shall be perfect too (though this perfection is never a part of us intrinsically, but only because we are abiding in Him and He is abiding in us). Moreover, we will be one. Why? - because disunity and division imply imperfection, and there can be no imperfection where there is perfection. The one cannot exist in the presence of the other.

Now in all of this, of course, it goes without saying that our perfection (and, as a result, our unity) comes only as we abide in Christ. If we once cease abiding in Him, then we lose that perfection (and hence we lose our unity with our brothers and sisters in Christ). Again, perfection (i.e., our unity with our brothers and sisters in Christ) is not ours intrinsically - it is only ours as we abide in Christ. The Bible says:

"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass (mirror) the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Cor. 3:18)

That is to say, as we behold the Lord while we are abiding in His presence, we are changed into the image of Christ; in other words, "we appear as He appears" (1 John 3:2-3) - and because of this, unity with our brothers and sisters in Christ follows as surely as the morning follows the night.

Abiding in Christ is what produces unity! There is no effort required! There is no need to force unity on the saints as if unity with other believers is something foreign and unnatural to the Christian life - something which must be imposed on the saints "from outside" and as the result of bureaucratic and hierarchical control.

Abiding in Christ! - that's the answer! And as we abide in Christ, we follow Him; and as we follow Him we are led into that kind of unity which will produce an outward manifestation of God through the church.

©Copyright - Antipas Ministries