How can all the Christians on the earth be one? They should be one since they all believe into the same Lord Jesus, but somehow they “hold to different views”, treasuring specific doctrines, and they are all divided.
But the Lord desires to recover the oneness of the Body of Christ in practicality by our daily growth in life unto maturity! What we all should hold and be specific about is only The Faith, the common faith given to all the believers, and we should not insist on anything else.
Our focus is simply Christ Himself and nothing else – when we take Christ as our center and when we focus on Him, we can arrive at the oneness of the faith!
Baptism by immersion is NOT the center. The gifts of the Holy Spirit and the speaking in tongues are NOT the center, and neither are miracles, the presbytery, the head covering, the pre-tribulation or post-tribulation rapture, the local churches, praise and worship, Christian rock music, social gatherings, or anything else.
Christ is our center. We must focus on Him. When we take Christ as the center, when we hold Him as the Head, we grow in life unto maturity and we are spontaneously one with others.
Lord, grow in us more today. Keep us holding You as the Head that we may receive today’s growth in life from You. Lord Jesus, You are our center. We want to focus on nothing and no one else but You. May we grow in life until we arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God!
Christ is The Center
What is your center? What is the center of the church you are a part of? Is Christ the center?
We all need to know that the oneness of the faith depends altogether on the full knowledge of the Son of God. Paul wanted to know only Christ and Him crucified among the Corinthian believers, who were so divided because of their childishness and their flesh (see 1 Cor. 2:2).
When we take Christ as the center and we focus on Him, we can arrive at the oneness of the faith. In ourselves we cannot be one, but in the Son of God our faith can be one (John 20:31; Gal. 1:15-16; 2:20; 4:4, 6).
This is why we need to hold to Him as the Head by holding to truth in love that we may grow up into the Head, Christ (Eph. 4:15). Truth is Christ as the reality, and Love is the inner substance of God (see notes on Eph. 4:15).
As we focus on Christ and hold Him as the Head, we receive the growth in life from Him and we grow unto maturity to become a full-grown man with the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:13).
Growing in Life Unto Maturity
The oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God is a full-grown man – the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
In other words, today we all the believers in Christ are at different stages of growth in life, growing daily to arrive at a full-grown man in Christ.
Christ has a fullness, the fullness of Christ has a stature, and the stature has a measure – we need to arrive at the stature of the measure of the fullness of Christ by growing in life unto maturity (see Eph. 4:13, note 5).
How much we are practically one hinges on how much growth in the divine life we have. The more we grow in life, the more we are one with all the believers and we arrive at the oneness of the faith.
We have the oneness of the Spirit, which is ours organically by being born of God – now we need to keep it and grow in life unto maturity.
The children can never be one – they are always divided based on preferences, moods, desires, toys, and other outward things. But as we grow in the divine life, we learn to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace (Eph. 4:3-5).
We have not yet arrived – we are now on the way to maturity, and as we grow in life, we have the oneness in practicality.
Arriving at A Full-Grown Man
Where are the mature ones in the church life today? Where can we see maturity in life among the saints? We need to desperately pray to the Lord that we may grow in life.
The young people need to grow in life by eating the Lord and by fleeing youthful lusts together to pursue the Lord together with those who call on Him out of a pure heart (2 Tim. 2:22).
The young adults need to be desperate before the Lord that He may deal with their disposition and not allow them to be natural but rather reconstitute them with Himself, making them flexible and blendable, one with Him for what He desires to do today.
The older ones need to continue to grow unto maturity for the full manifestation of their function of the rich supply in the Body. We all need to grow in life until we arrive at a full-grown man, at the stature of the fullness of Christ!
Who is praying for this? Who cares for the growth in life of the saints? Who travails like Paul until Christ is formed in the saints (Gal. 4:19)?
Who is jealous over the saints with a jealousy of God because he labored to betroth them to Christ so that he might present them as a pure virgin to Christ (2 Cor. 11:2)?
Who works together with God to announce Christ, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that he might present every man full-grown in Christ (Col. 1:28)?
Lord, grow in us! Lord, grow in the saints! Lord Jesus, save us from not growing in life or from stopping in our growth in the divine life. Gain many more mature ones among us, Lord, that we all may be perfected and we may arrive at the practical oneness! Save us from remaining immature and childish. We give ourselves to You, Lord, at the stage of life we are in right now: grow in us unto maturity for the building up of the Body!
References and Further Reading
- Sharing inspired from brother Ron K’s sharing in this message and portions in, Life Messages (vol. 1, ch. 1), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Unique Work in the Lord’s Recovery, week 8 (entitled, The Work of the Ministry).
- Further Reading: Eph. 4:13-15 with the footnotes in the Recovery Version.
Tip: why the Recovery Version is my Go-To Study Bible (via, holdingtotruth.com). - Hymns on this topic:
# In daily walk and in our meetings too, / Christ is the center, Christ is everything; / ’Tis not for form nor doctrine good and true, / But ‘tis for Christ alone we’re gathering.
# Holding Christ, as members growing, / Each his function must observe; / Christ receiving, Christ partaking, / To His Body Christ we serve.
# Oh Lord, for this I pray: Make my heart the good earth / So that You may grow in me, grow and grow continually. / Oh Lord, may this living incorruptible seed / Within me enlivening, grow unto maturity.
About aGodMan
Only when we take Christ as the center and focus on Him can we arrive at the oneness of the faith. Only in the Son of God can our faith be one. Once we deviate from this center, the oneness is gone. The more we firmly hold to the center—Christ, the Son of God—the fewer problems we will have.
We must see the center and must focus on the center. When we are at the center, there is no need to talk about oneness; we are spontaneously one with others. (How to Administrate the Church, pp. 42-43, 45)