Unity

from

by

F.G. Smith

In the previous chapters we have considered the plan of redemption merely from the standpoint of the relationship of the individual with God. In this chapter we purpose to show by the Word of God that the same experience of salvation which brings the person into living touch with Christ also brings him into vital relationship, through the Spirit, with all others who have received a like experience.

As we have already shown, the definite and instantaneous experience that makes us living members of Christ is the new birth; and as we thus become members of the family of God, we also by the same act and experience become members of all those who are members of the divine family. "We are members one of another" (Eph. 4:25). "One is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren" (Matt. 23: 8). "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" (Psa. 133:1). "Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph. 4: 3).

So complete and perfect is this Bible standard of divine relationship, of unity among all the saved, that they are declared to constitute one body in Christ. We are reconciled "unto God in one body by the cross" (Eph. 2: 16). "Ye are called in one body" (Col. 3: 15). "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit" (1 Cor. 12: 13). Christ "is the head of the body" (Col. 1: 18) ; while "we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones" (Eph. 5:30). This represents the closest possible union, both with Christ and with one another.

In different scriptures the apostle Paul uses the natural body to illustrate the spiritual body, composed of all the truly saved. "For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: so we [Christians], being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another" (Rom. 12:4, 5).

There is perfect harmony in a normal body, for its unity is not effected by external means, but is organic. Many and diverse though the members be, still they are all necessary for the completeness and harmony of the whole. So it is with the body of Christ. We are many members, differing in age, in sex, in intellectual attainments, in social advantages, in nationality; still it can truthfully be said, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for Se are all one IN CHRIST JESUS" (Gal. 3:28).

The body of Christ is "subject unto Christ," its head (Eph. 5: 24) ; therefore we all have "one mind" (2 Cor. 13: 11), "the mind of Christ" (1 Cor. 2:16); hence are able "to be likeminded one to another," and "with one mind and one mouth [toy glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 15:6). We "stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel" (Phil. 1:27).

The person who contends for division or seeks to justify division among the people of God, is opposing every principle of truth on this subject revealed in the New Testament. Everywhere we find this same glorious standard of unity. One purpose of Christ's death was that "he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad" (John 11: 52). Jesus himself said, "Other sheep I have [Gentiles] which are not of this [Jewish] fold: them also 1 must bring, and they shall hear my voice; AND THERE SHALL BE ONE FOLD [flock], AND ONE SHEPHERD" (John 10: 16).

In the second chapter of Ephesians we read how these two classes of people were made one. Although "in times past" the Gentiles were "strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world," in Christ they were "made nigh by the blood." "For he is our peace, who hath made both [Jews and Gentiles] ONE, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us . . . . that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby." Since this glorious reunion through Christ, the Gentiles "are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built [together with the Jews and all other believers] upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone"; and this "holy temple in the Lord" is the "habitation of God through the Spirit" (verses 11-22). This unification of peoples so diverse was not effected by Jews becoming Gentiles, or by the Gentiles becoming Jews, but was brought about by both accepting Christ as "the way, the truth and the life," and by rejecting all that was antagonistic to Christ and his truth.

The prayer of Christ recorded in John 17 shows the sacredness of this doctrine of unity. In the most solemn hours that the Savior spent during his personal ministry his heart was burdened for the unification of his disciples. He acknowledged that they had believed on him, received his word, and been kept in his name; also that they were not of the world even as he was not of the world; still he prayed, "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth . . . . 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 . . . . I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one" (verses 17-23).

While salvation itself brings us into a divine relationship with each other, the indwelling carnal nature prevents that perfect unity which Christ so much desired. The apostle Paul, writing to the church at Corinth, mentions the strife and division over preachers manifested among certain brethren there and attributes it to the fact that they were "yet carnal" (I Cor. 3: 1-5). But sanctification purifies the heart, destroying carnality, and therefore makes the people of God "perfect in one," as Jesus prayed, "Both he that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified, are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren" (Heb. 2:11). And while Jesus prayed for the sanctification of his disciples, that they might be made perfect in one, in order that the world might believe, we find that this result was reached in the apostolic church. "And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart anal o f one soul . . . . and great grace was upon them all" (Acts 4:31-33). "And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women" (chap. 5:14).

In the early church, purity and unity went hand in hand; in fact, they can not be separated; for wherever perfect holiness is, there is unity of believers. In other words, there is no true and perfect unity without heart-purity, and there is no true heart-purity without Bible unity: there is no true Bible holiness without both.

Even the idea of division among Christians was foreign to the pure apostolic church. Paul says to the Roman brethren, "Mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine [of unity] which ye have learned, arid avoid them" (Rom. 16: 17). To the Corinthians he says, "I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be PERFECTLY JOINED TOGETHER in the same mind and in the same judgment" (1 Cor. 1: 10). Can we entertain the idea of disunion and inharmony among the members of our natural body, when it is in a normal state? Impossible! So the body of Christ, represented by this figure, is a perfect organism, and in its normal state exhibits the most perfect unity among all its members-the truly saved in Christ Jesus.

But I must say something more concerning the basis of Christian unity. The underlying foundation of true unity is relationship, not development or attainments. This we might illustrate by a human family. There may be many children in the family, differing in sea, age, and intellectual development; still there exists a real standard of unity. The son in college never thinks of judging his relationship with his brother in the primary school or with his sister in the cradle by an intellectual standard. The tie that binds them together is invisible; it is in no sense proportioned by their respective degrees of development, but has its basis in blood-relationship. But while this is the primary basis of union still development is the law of normal humanity; therefore as all the members of the family develop in intellectual capacity and learn the great facts of truth surrounding them, they will also become one in this respect, so far as the ability of each one will allow.

So also in the spiritual relationship. We are "all one in Christ Jesus." But what does it mean to be in Christ? First of all, it means to be "born again," for without this experience we are not Christians at all and "can not see the kingdom of God" (John 3: 3). "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8: 1). Why? Because they have been "made free from the law of sin and death" (verse 2). To be in Christ, then, signifies to be born of God and to have our sins removed by his grace. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, HE IS A NEW CREATURE: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him neither known him" (1 John 3:6). By this spiritual birth we enter the spiritual family, where we possess the divine life which flows in all its members, and are thus "all one in Christ Jesus" by virtue of a spiritual blood-relationship.

But we must also develop along spiritual lines in such a practical, visible manner "that the world may believe." We must "dwell together in unity"; we must "all speak the same thing." Now, how is this possible? How can those who are one in spirit, by virtue of spiritual birth, be made "perfect in one" before the world, so as to convince unbelievers of the truth of Christianity? The conditions for this perfect unity are:

1. We must be "in Christ," which signifies salvation from sin: "not of the world."

2. We must be kept in his name, which means to reject all other spiritual names.

3. We must receive the Word of God and keep it, which means to reject all the doctrines and commandments of men.

4. We must be sanctified fled wholly, which removes from the heart the cause of carnal divisions.

All these conditions are expressly stated in the seventeenth chapter of St. John, where Christ prayed for the unification of his people.

There is a false standard of so-called unity made prominent throughout Christendom, which is simply an attempt to bring together by external organization the professed followers of Christ. But such can never be more than a miserable counterfeit. True unity can be effected only by meeting the Bible conditions already mentioned. Mere external organization-bringing together multitudes of people the majority of whom know nothing about a saved experience and sinless life, who never have been born again-such, I assert, is not in any sense Bible unity. Reader, do not be deceived by such a combination of diverse elements. Bible unity is based on spiritual life and is in perfect accordance with the Word of God. The truly saved have spiritual fellowship with each other, and know each other, and have no spiritual affinity with those who are not of God. They "have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them" (Eph. 5: 11). They are instructed to "stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel" (Phil. 1: 27).

Not one text in the New Testament teaches that division among God's people is right; but everywhere unity is enjoined and division denounced. We read of one Lord, one salvation, one God, one faith, one Spirit, one mind, one mouth, one body, one baptism, one new and living way, one Bible, and one heaven. And in order to serve this one God aright, follow this one Lord according to his one new and living way, obey his one revealed Word, and go home to this one heaven, we must be "ALL ONE IN CHRIST JESUS."

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