Let the Peace of Christ Arbitrate in our Hearts and Keep the Oneness for the New Man

For and in the one new man, we believers in Christ need to allow the peace of Christ to arbitrate in our hearts and keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace, allowing the peace of Christ to settle all disputes and keep us in peace with God and with man. Amen!

Thank the Lord for showing us that the church is the one new man, for Christ created the one new man in Himself on the cross! Hallelujah! On the one hand, we all know that the church is the household of God, even the gathering of the called-out ones and the Body of Christ.

But there’s a higher aspect of the church which has not yet come into being due to our lack of a particular experience of Christ. The church as the one new man needs to come into being today; for this, we all need to cooperate with the Lord.

He wants to gain the corporate new man who fulfils God’s intention in creating man, that is, to express and represent God.

What is the one new man? What aspect of the church is referred to in the one new man? We need to look at the verses in the New Testament that speak of the one new man, and Eph. 2:14-15 in particular tells us that the new man was created in Christ on the cross.

On the negative side, Christ crucified and terminated all the negative things in the universe, for through the cross He died an all-inclusive and all-terminating death to finish every negative thing in the universe.

On the positive side, Christ created the new man in Himself on the cross; this happened with His resurrection life, for in His resurrection, we all became a new creation in Christ to be part of the church as the one new man. Praise the Lord!

In particular, Christ abolished in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, the middle wall of partition.

Even though we are believers in Christ, there are still many differences among us; due to our background, upbringing, education and living, we are so different from one another in the way we live, dress, eat, and behave.

Even more, in the church life, we may have differences between one local church and another in the way we meet, arrange things, and carry out our church life. All these differences have been crucified by Christ on the cross, and we need to allow the cross to terminate them.

We should not insist on our differences but rather let them go and be flexible, going along with others for the sake of the oneness of the Body of Christ.

As long as a particular practice or thing is not evil, immoral, heretical, or idolatrous, we simply need to go along with others, even though we may not agree or like the way they take; this is to take the cross and be one with others in the Body.

This is something we all are learning, and we are encouraged and supplied to do so when we see the vision of the church as the new man created by Christ on the cross by abolishing all the ordinances in His flesh.

Allow the Peace of Christ to Arbitrate in Our Hearts for and in the One New Man

Christ made peace on the cross, for He abolished in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances and created the new man in Himself. Now He is our peace, and He comes to be peace to us from God.

One of the practical ways for us to have the new man in reality among us is to allow the peace of Christ to arbitrate in our hearts in and for the one new man (Eph. 2:14a, 15b; Col. 3:12-15; 2:14-18; Rom. 5:1; Matt. 18:21-35).

We may hear about putting on the new man (Eph. 4:24) and may wonder how we can do this; in Colossians 3:15, we have a practical way to put on the new man in our daily experience.

We need to allow the peace of Christ to arbitrate in our hearts. In Greek, the word for “arbitrate” can also be rendered “umpire, preside, or be enthroned as a ruler and a decider of everything.”

In other words, the arbitrating peace of Christ should be enthroned in all things to settle and dissolve any disputes, and this peace will dissolve our complaint against anyone (Col. 3:13-15).

If we read this portion in Colossians three in context, we see that, if anyone should have a complaint against anyone, even as the Lord forgave us, so we should forgive others.

And over all these things, may we put on love, which is the uniting bond of perfectness, and let the peace of Christ arbitrate in our hearts.

In the church life, we need to learn to forgive one another even as Christ has forgiven us, and we need to let the peace of Christ dissolve all our problems, complaints, and disputes.

Many times we as believers in Christ realise that we have two or three parties in us.

Before we were saved, we could do many things without any problem, for we were under the control of the satanic party, and we didn’t have an inward sense of stopping what we were doing. We could indulge in things such as worldly entertainments and amusements without having any sense of controversy within.

But now that we’re saved, there’s another party in us, the Lord Himself in our spirit, who always bothers us and stops us from doing certain things.

There’s a need for inward arbitration to settle the dispute within us. Often, we are conscious of three parties within us: a positive party, a negative party, and a neutral party; hence, there’s a need for the peace of Christ to arbitrate and settle the dispute within us.

Whenever we sense that different parties within our being are arguing or quarrelling, we need to give place to the presiding peace of Christ and allow this peace to rule within us and have the final word. The peace of Christ is the oneness of the one new man.

When we allow the peace of Christ to arbitrate in our hearts, we are in the oneness of the one new man, and we live in the reality of the new man.

May we learn to set aside our opinion, our concept, and listen to the word of the indwelling Referee.

In order for us to be in the proper Body life as the reality of the one new man, we need to let the peace of Christ arbitrate in us, adjust things in us, and decide all things in our heart both between us and God, between us and the enemy, and between us and the other members of the Body.

We have been called to the peace of Christ; this should motivate us to let this peace arbitrate in our hearts in and for the one new man.

Thank the Lord that we have an arbiter, a referee, in our being, who is ready to settle any disputes in our being. We need to let the peace of Christ have the final word and settle all the disputes in us and all disputes between us and other saints.

May we remain under the ruling of the enthroned peace of Christ day by day, even moment by moment.

If we do this, we will not offend others nor damage them; rather, we will enjoy the Lord’s grace and have His peace, and we will minister life to others.

In different professional sports, there is a system in place where the umpire, the referee, has to come in and decide the dispute. He has to take a look at the instant replay (or VAR as it is called in some places), and see the play-by-play, then decide what the solution is.

We shouldn’t do an instant replay of what happened with others – rather, we need to enthrone Christ’s peace in us and let this peace arbitrate in our hearts.

If we do this, if we allow the peace of Christ to arbitrate in our hearts, this peace will settle all the disputes among us, and we will have peace with God vertically and peace with all the saints horizontally.

If we all have the inward arbitration of the peace of Christ, our problems are solved, and any friction between the saints disappears.

Then, the church life is preserved in sweetness, and the new man is maintained in a practical way.

Oh, may we allow the peace of Christ to arbitrate in us and settle all the disputes in us and among us, and may we allow this peace to speak the last word and make the final decision (Isa. 9:6-7)!

Lord Jesus, we want to put on the inward parts of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and long-suffering. May we bear one another and forgive one another, if anyone should have a complaint against anyone. Amen, Lord, even as You forgave us, so we want to forgive others. We let the peace of Christ arbitrate in our hearts, for we were called to peace in one Body! Amen, Lord, for and in the one new man, we want to allow the peace of Christ to arbitrate in our hearts! May Your peace preside, umpire, and be enthroned in our being as a ruler and decider of everything! We open to You, dear Lord, and we allow Your peace to arbitrate in our hearts and dissolve our complaint against anyone. We set aside our opinion, our feeling, and our concept, and we listen to the word of the indwelling Referee! Oh Lord, may Your peace be enthroned in us and settle all the disputes among us so that we may have peace with God vertically and with the saints horizontally! Hallelujah for the peace of Christ, the oneness of the one new man!

In and for the New Man we Keep the Oneness of the Spirit in the Uniting Bond of Peace

The matter of peace is vital for the one new man to come into being in reality among us today.

First of all, Christ made peace between the Jews and the Gentiles on the cross, abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances.

He created the one new man in peace, for He tore down the middle wall of partition and wiped out the handwriting of ordinances which was against us, which was contrary to us.

Christ made peace, He gives us His peace, and He Himself is our peace. Right now, Christ is the peace in our being, and we need to let the peace of Christ arbitrate in our heart in and for the one new man.

Ephesians 4:3 further speaks of this peace; in this verse Paul exhorts us to be diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace.

Here, Paul links the peace to the oneness of the Body of Christ as the one new man.

When Christ abolished in His flesh the separating ordinances on the cross, He made peace; now this peace is the peace in the Body and of the Body, and we need to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace.

Praise the Lord, peace was made between all believers of all races and backgrounds, and we can keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of the Spirit!

There’s now peace toward God (Rom. 5:1) and we have peace with all men (Rom. 12:18).

The peace of Christ arbitrates in our hearts and settles all the disputes in us and among us, and we enthrone this peace.

The peace of Christ should bind all the believers together and become the uniting bond.

We have oneness with all the saints, not because we agree on all the doctrinal and practical matters; we have oneness in the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace.

Christ made peace between us and God and between us and the other saints. The middle wall of partition has been torn down, for Christ abolished in His flesh any ordinances that separate us (Col. 2:14-18).

Now we are one in the Lord, and the peace of Christ is a uniting bond among us; this peace is also the oneness in the Body of Christ, the oneness of the one new man.

Without this oneness, there cannot be the Body of Christ as the one new man. May we keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace today.

May we realise that all the differences between us have been abolished on the cross, and may we simply keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace.

In a practical way, we keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace by allowing the cross to work in us.

We cannot have peace with others unless we allow the cross to operate and work in us. Whenever we go to the cross, when we take up our own cross and are crossed out, there are no differences between us and others, and we have the one new man.

The cross of Christ is not merely something that happened many years ago, nor is the cross of Christ an experience we have initially when we believe in Christ.

The cross of Christ operates in us in and for the Body, that is, it operates in us for the keeping of the oneness of the Body as the one new man.

When we exercise our spirit, the cross of Christ is applied to us, and our old man is crossed out; then, we spontaneously keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace.

The result of allowing the cross to operate in us and the peace of Christ to arbitrate in our heart is that all frictions between the saints disappear, we will not offend or damage others, and we minister life to one another in peace.

Lord Jesus, we exercise our spirit to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace for the one new man! Hallelujah, we have the oneness of the Spirit in our spirit, and we simply need to keep it in the uniting bond of peace! Thank You, dear Lord Jesus, for abolishing the ordinances in Your flesh on the cross to make peace for us. Thank You for being the Peacemaker. Thank You for giving us Your peace. Thank You for being our peace. We want to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace. Hallelujah, all the differences between us have been abolished on the cross, and now we enjoy the peace in and for the one new man! Amen, Lord, we want to remain under the ruling of the enthroned peace of Christ today and every day. May we allow the cross to operate in us and cross us out so that we would have peace. May we all, by the Lord’s grace and with His peace, minister life to others and let the peace of Christ solve all our problems and cause all frictions between the saints to disappear!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ricky Acosta in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Colossians, msgs. 29, 63, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (2) (2024 December Training), week 22 (msg. 10), The Creator of the One New Man as the Masterpiece of God.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – Keeping the oneness of the Body – Keeping the Oneness of the Spirit, a portion from, Further Consideration of the Eldership, the Region of Work, and the Care for the Body of Christ, Chapter 2, by Witness Lee.
  – Colossians (Program #46) – The Peace of Christ Arbitrating in our Heart, via, Bible study radio.
  – The uniting spirit, a portion from, The Spirit in the Epistles, Chapter 6, by Witness Lee.
  – The Key to True Inner Peace During Times of Distress, via, Bibles for America blog.
  – The Church—Her Unity in Life and Practice, via, Affirmation and Critique.
  – Choosing Christ // Choosing Peace Over Anxiety // Fall 2024 // CSOC TX, via, CSOC UT Austin: Christian Students on Campus.
  – Assailing the Ground of Oneness (2): Diligently Keeping the Oneness Requiring a Local Ground, via, Shepherding Words.
  – The vision and realization of the one new man, article by Ed Marks via, Affirmation and Critique.
  – Fellowship Concerning Keeping the Oneness with Fellow Believers, via, Contending for the faith.
  – The Peace of Christ in our Hearts, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – Have You Found the Way of Peace? More via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – The Peace of Christ Arbitrating in Our Heart, via, Church in San Jose.
  – Living Christ as the Constituent of the New Man, via, Living to Him.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – And let the peace of Christ / Arbitrate in your hearts, / To which also / You were called / In one Body; / And be thankful. (Scripture song)
  – With Thee in God we’re hidden, / Thou art in us our life; / Thy peace in us presiding, / We rest from all our strife. / In the new man, Thy Body, / Thou art the all in all; / Our all-inclusive Savior, / Thyself we’ll ever call. (Hymns #189 stanza 6)
  – For this cause Your Person, Lord, / We take and stand in one accord; / All the members self forsake, / And of the Body-Christ partake. / We in Christ as one new man / Now come forth to take this land. / For this cause Your Person, Lord, / We take and stand in one accord. (Hymns #1230 stanza 3)