Because Christ is our peace, we in the Body life need to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace by cooperating with the uniting Spirit to cross us and bind us.
In this world today where everyone boasts of their differences and place much emphasize on their background, education, culture, and upbringing, we as believers in Christ need to take Christ as our peace for the Body of Christ and in the Body of Christ.
On the cross a little over two thousand years ago Christ made peace by slaying the enmity and destroying all the differences between men. In His body on the cross both the Jews and the Gentile were reconciled to God for the Body of Christ and in the Body of Christ.
What Christ accomplished on the cross is not only reconciliation for each and every one of us individually with God, but a corporate reconciliation, a reconciliation that is collective, for all believers to God in the Body.
Everything that is contrary to God’s economy has been terminated through the death of Christ, and now peace is possible.
In our experience, whenever we allow the uniting Spirit to cross us, we keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace. Hallelujah!
On one hand we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, and on the other, we have been brought near to God and to one another in the Body of Christ through the blood of Christ shed on the cross.
Now we are no longer strangers and outsiders, but because of Christ’s death on the cross, we have come near to be members of the Body of Christ.
In resurrection Christ came as the Spirit to preach peace as the gospel. He as the peacemaker shed His blood in order to reconcile us to God and in His resurrection He came to us as the preaching Spirit to preach the gospel of peace.
We who believe into the Lord and take Him as the reality of all the offerings can experience Him as our peace offering, and we can be one spirit with Him to preach the gospel of peace to others, so that they may be reconciled to God and enter into the corporate peace which Christ made for us, the peace in the Body of Christ.
May the Lord recover our experience of Christ as the peace offering, and may we be those who cooperate with Him to live in peace, preach the gospel of peace, and keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace.
Lord Jesus, we are not for God, but You are our burnt offering. Lord, our humanity is fallen, but we have You as our meal offering. We are sin itself in our nature, but we have You Lord in our experience as our sin offering. We have trespasses and sins, but we have You as our trespass offering. Thank You Lord, You brought us back to God and made peace for us as the peace offering. We now have peace in the Body as a result of being reconciled with God and with man in Christ on the cross! Thank You Lord!
Keeping the Oneness of the Spirit in the Body Life by Allowing the Uniting Spirit to Cross us and Bind us
Now that Christ came to be our peace and we have the peace in the Body of Christ, we need to live in the Body life and keep the oneness of the Spirit by allowing the uniting Spirit to cross us and bind us together.
Christ is our Peacemaker, He made peace, and in resurrection He came as the life-giving Spirit to proclaim the gospel of peace. We have believed into Him, and now we are learning to take Christ as our peace offering in the church life to keep the oneness of the Spirit.
Christ as our peace offering is not just for us personally to be brought back to God and have peace, but for us to have corporate peace in the Body as a result of a corporate reconciliation made by Christ as the peace offering.
Christ abolished on the cross all the differences among mankind due to ordinances, and in so doing, He made peace for His body (Eph. 2:15; 4:3).
All the ordinances have been abolished in the sight of God, just as sin has been judged, the devil has been destroyed, and our sins have been sent back to the devil. In the sight of God all the ordinances, the divisive elements, have been abolished.
But today on earth we need to apply this to our experience and take Christ as our peace offering for the Body life. The Body is the goal, and God deals with all the negative things in us that hinders Christ from having the Body of Christ.
If we remain on the cross in our practice of the church life, the peace that Christ made on the cross will become the uniting bond in which we keep the oneness of the Spirit (Matt. 16:24; Rom. 6:6; Gal. 2:20).
The uniting bond of peace in Eph. 4:3 is actually the working of the cross, for when we remain on the cross, all the differences are crossed out and we have peace and oneness. When we get off the cross, whether in our family life or in the church life, our differences come out, and we don’t have peace.
Especially in the family life, whenever we are not in our spirit to have the application of the cross, our differences come out, and our love for our spouse is buried under these differences. The only way to get rid of differences is to go to the cross; as we remain on the cross, the peace Christ made for us in His Body becomes the uniting bond in which we keep the oneness of the Spirit.
When Paul speaks of keeping the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace, he speaks also of human virtues such as lowliness, meekness, and long suffering, showing that we need Christ as our meal offering for our humanity, and as the peace offering for the oneness.
In Exo. 26:26-29 we see the picture of the tabernacle as a type of the oneness; the uniting bars of the tabernacle signify the mingled spirit – the divine Spirit mingled with the regenerated human spirit – to become the uniting bond of peace.
In our experience, the uniting bond of peace is the cooperation of our spirit with the uniting Spirit, the crossing Spirit. The bars passing through the rings of the boards of the tabernacle kept them in oneness; these typify the crossing Spirit, the uniting Spirit.
We need to ask the Lord what does this mean and how can this be applied in our experience. We need to be crossed by the uniting Spirit, that is, we need to allow the uniting Spirit to cross us and bind us.
Although we are standing one with the Lord in the divine nature and having the humanity of Jesus, we still need the uniting Spirit to cross us and bind us together.
When we come together with the saints, we need to exercise our spirit and allow the uniting Spirit to cross us, that is, allow the Spirit to pass through us and go with us to the spirit of the other saints. We need to be willing to be crossed by the Spirit so that we may be built together with the other saints.
It’s not just the Spirit alone that unites us; it is the Spirit with our spirit that binds us together. Our spirit needs to go along with the uniting Spirit which crosses us, and we will keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace. The bond of peace is the cooperation of our spirit with the uniting Spirit.
For example, when we come together in our small group to fellowship and we open to the saints, we should not be enclosed in the self but allow the uniting Spirit to cross us, allowing the Spirit to pass through us with the cross, so that anything in us that is contrary to the oneness would be crossed out and we would have the uniting bond of peace.
How beautiful, lovely, precious, and endearing it is when we are with the saints that are not like us in our natural being, but the joining element is the uniting Spirit which crosses us, and we are diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace!
Lord Jesus, we want to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace in the Body life by allowing the uniting Spirit to cross us and bind us together. Thank You Lord for making peace for us in the Body, and now this peace binds us together to become the uniting bond of peace. May we practice to remain on the cross in our practice of the church life so that the peace of Christ may become the uniting bond of peace in which we keep the oneness of the Spirit. Lord, make us willing to allow You as the Spirit to cross us and bind us together with the saints in peace and oneness!
Our Feet are Shod with the Firm Foundation of the Gospel of Peace for Spiritual Warfare
In order for us to engage in spiritual warfare, we need to have our feed shot with the gospel of peace; our feet need to be shod with the firm foundation, the establishing, of the gospel of peace (Eph. 6:11, 14-15).
Christ made peace for us on the cross; He made peace between us and God and between us and man, and this peace has become our gospel (Eph. 2:13-17). This peace, this gospel of peace, has been established as a firm foundation, as a readiness for our feet to be shod with for spiritual warfare.
The gospel of peace is our firm footing so that we may stand and fight the spiritual warfare. Today we are withstanding the devil by standing in the gospel of peace. As seen in Eph. 6, our capacity to stand is our faith in the victory of Christ, and the solidity of it is the gospel of peace.
We are standing in the oneness of the Body of Christ, the peace of the Body, and this makes us unshakable! No matter what the enemy throws at us, we are undaunted, unshaken, and unmoved because our feet are firmly shod with the gospel of peace.
When we experience Christ as our peace offering in the Body by allowing the uniting Spirit to cross us and bind us with the saints, we have a strong standing before the enemy – the foundation of the gospel of peace.
Thank You Lord for giving us such a firm foundation of the gospel of peace. Thank You for making peace for us – You made peace with both God and man on the cross, and this peace has become our gospel. Lord, we stand one with You and one with the saints in the Body, and we shod our feet with the firm foundation of the gospel of peace that we may have a firm footing and stand to fight the spiritual warfare. Hallelujah, we are standing in the oneness of the Body of Christ, in the peace of the Body, and this makes us unshakeable!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1978, vol. 3, “Truth Messages,” ch. 11, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Leviticus (1), week 11, Experiencing Christ as the Peace Offering for the Body of Christ.
- Hymns on this topic:
# I beseech you brothers as a pris’ner in the Lord, / To walk worthily of your calling, / The calling with which you were called, / With all lowliness and meekness, / With long-suffering, / Bearing one another in love, / Being diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit / In the uniting bond of peace. (Scripture song)
# Lord, teach us to discern the spirit / From soul that we Thyself may know; / Thou art the Spirit in our spirit, / In oneness mingled with us so. (Hymns #746)
# O what a peace it gives us / To see the sprinkled blood. / The blood of our peace offering / Has brought us peace with God. / With boldness we’re proclaiming— / Now hear this, enemy— / “Peace by the blood of Jesus!” / This is our victory. (Hymns #1104)
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Amen. Lord Jesus you are our peace.
amen Lord
Amen brother, I do enjoy this also; we must be willing to be cross by the uniting Spirit. He cannot unite us Himself; He needs the cooperation of our spirit; when our spirit goes along with Him, He can unite us. This is the meaning of keeping the oneness of the Spirit with all lowliness, Meekness, long-suffering, and bearing one another in love. Praise the Lord for the uniting bond of peace, the working of the cross!
Amen. Lord may our feet be shod in the firm foundation of the gospel of peace which enables us to stand to fight the spiritual warfare. May we also we willing to be crossed by the Crossing Spirit, gain our full cooperation dear Lord Jesus!
I enjoy the same thing, but also realising that it is not about unity in our grouping, that unity comes from our individuality which is vanity.
Thank the Lord it is the Spirit in us, the many son’s who are one in Spirit. Hallelujah for the oneness, the one new man.
Amen, yes there had to be a willingness in our spirit. We have to be open to the saints and allow the Spirit to cross us. We have to be proactive here, yet passive. Proactive in turning to the spirit, passive in being led by the Spirit.
Amin ! Fiind sârguincioși sa pastram unitatea Duhului .
[Amen! Being diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit]
I’m still enjoying Peace is a Person. Hes not bothered by anything or anyone. Turn to Him. Let’s talk to him.
Brother, I enjoyed that the more we remain on the cross, the more our differences are dealt with so that we can have peace with God and of course our wives.
I enjoyed willingness, brother. Unless we are willing to go alone with Him and let Him cross over us, He cannot unite us to other saints around us. Lord! Grant us more willingness from our heart!
I’ve not seen before that the uniting bond of peace is the subjective work of the cross in the believers for the Body! On the cross Christ made peace and in resurrection He announced peace as the gospel. This peace is in His Body and for His Body. Peace is not just for ourselves. The genuine peace is for the Body by our diligence to keep the oneness of the Spirit!
Amen brother! I never saw peace being such a significant element in the book of Ephesians! It’s peace all around us: peace with God, peace inside of us and peace (harmony and oneness) with one another in one Body. Like you said, this peace crosses and binds us! What an absolute peace, far surpassing each man’s understanding (Phil. 4:7) Hallelujah! Actually, what I enjoyed the most is this phrase: “FOR HE HIMSELF IS OUR PEACE” (2:14). Peace is not a feeling but peace is being brought into Christ and having Christ wrought into us. And guess what: this Person slain another person: the enmity. I’m so happy to finally be at peace in the Body. This is something that I have experienced at lot since I met the Lord’s recovery and something that I feel I’m growing in. On the other side, looking in my inward situation, I noticed that anxieties and miscellaneous other complexities have started to creep in. O, this peace must be proven. Lord Jesus, may we gain the reality of all that You are and all that you have gained for us. Do it today Lord, because we don’t have tomorrow!
Amen brother, I enjoyed the same thing plus this point in the outline:
If we remain on the cross in our practice of the church life, the peace that Christ made on the cross will become the uniting bond in which we keep the oneness of the Spirit.
主に感謝します! アーメン
[Thank you Lord! Amen.]
There are several steps to the oneness portrayed in the tabernacle. First, we have the initial Spirit, who is the regenerating and sealing Spirit. Then we have the process of transformation by which we are transformed into acacia wood. Along with transformation there is the overlaying of the wood with the divine nature. Furthermore, the Spirit is continually endeavoring to cross us, to pass through us. In order for this to take place, our spirit, with our mind, will, and emotion, must go along with Him. Only then do we have the uniting bars, the five bars in three rows to unite the believers into one. When we have all these aspects, we have the oneness in the Triune God revealed in John 17. This means that we have the building in the overlaying and uniting gold.
We need to emphasize the importance of being crossed by the uniting Spirit. The uniting Spirit not only strengthens us in standing; it also crosses us. Something passes through us not vertically but horizontally. Although we are standing, we still need to be crossed. The standing Spirit must also be the crossing Spirit. If we are willing to be crossed, it means that our spirit goes along with the crossing Spirit. The Spirit will never join us to others without this willingness. The uniting Spirit cannot unite me to you unless your spirit is willing to cooperate with the Spirit. When the uniting Spirit comes to me, it comes with the spirit of another brother, and when it goes from me to still another, it goes with my spirit. The uniting Spirit cannot unite us Himself. He must have the cooperation of our spirit. This means that we must be willing to be crossed by Him.
Many times the Spirit cannot pass through us because we are not willing to be crossed by Him. Is your spirit willing to go with the Spirit to another saint? Please do not think that the Spirit of God Himself alone can unite us. No, He needs our spirit to go along with Him. This is the meaning of keeping the oneness of the Spirit with all lowliness, meekness, long-suffering, and with bearing one another in love.
This bond of peace is the cooperation of our spirit with the uniting Spirit….I can testify assuredly from my experience that we have the uniting bond of peace only when our spirit goes along with the Spirit. (Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1978, vol. 3, “Truth Messages,” pp. 382-383)
I also enjoyed that the Lord is the only true means to peace. Everything else that man tries to do to attain peace is superficial and temporary. Only in Christ, as the true peace offering, can we really have peace. Peace which provides a firm foundation, peace which is lasting, and Isaac’s which endures in spite of the outward trials.