Being Willing to Let Go of our Ordinances for the Sake of the Church as the New Man

On the cross, Christ created the new man in Himself by abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, the middle wall of partition; all our ways of living and worship – which create enmity and division – have been terminated on the cross, and now we only have Christ and the genuine oneness. Amen!

One of the main reasons the church today is not yet the new man in reality is that we all as believers in Christ hold on to our ordinances, that is, our ways of living and worship.

On His side, the Lord Jesus specifically abolished all these ordinances and nailed the handwriting in ordinances to the cross; on our side, we need to apply this today in our church life and in our Christian life.

The Lord wants to gain the new man today, but who is willing to take only Christ as their life and person for the one new man?

He wants to gain the church as the corporate man who expresses and represents God, the church in the aspect of the new man, but who is willing to give up their good ordinances, even self-made ordinances, so that they may go along with others in teh church life for the sake of the oneness?

God wants to obtain the church as a wise exhibition of all that Christ is, and He has given to us Christ as wisdom from God to us as righteousness, sanctification and redemption.

But who takes Christ and only Christ as his everything, and who takes Christ and only Christ as his person for the new man, so that Christ is all and in all?

The Lord on His side has done and is doing everything; we on our side need to cooperate with Him, even to allow Him to crucify and abolish all ordinances in our being and in our living so that we may be the church as the one new man.

As we grow up in a certain country and in a particular city, as we go to school and develop and grow in our job and in our family life, as we meet with the saints in a particular locality for a long time, we pick up a lot of habits, ways of living, and ways of worship.

These may not be wrong, but they divide us and separate us from others.

When we go to visit other saints, other families, other localities, and other churches in other countries, we realise how different they are from us.

It is their ordinances that may impress us the most, and we may realise they do this or that better than we do, or that we do this and that better than they do.

This should not be our focus. Wherever we go to visit and blend, we need to drop our ordinances, not insist on them, and simply go along with the way others do things so that we may be one with them in the Body.

Christ Abolished the Law of Commandments in Ordinances and Created the One New Man

Ephesians 2:14-15 emphatically tells us that, on the cross, Christ created the one new man in Himself by abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, the middle wall of partition.

The law spoken of in this verse is not the law of the moral commandments but the law of the ritual commandments, such as the ordinances of circumcision, keeping the Sabbath, and eating certain foods.

There is the law of moral commandments, which will never be abolished but will stand forever; however, there’s also the law of ordinances, the ways of living and worship, which have been abolished.

The law of moral commandments will not be abolished in this age, nor in the next or in eternity.

However, the ritual commandments related to things like eating certain foods, keeping a certain day above others, and meeting and worshipping God in a particular way have been abolished.

The three columns of Judaism are keeping the Sabbath, circumcision, and the diet; these came from God’s word, however, they were dispensational, that is, they were only for a certain dispensation of time.

When Christ came, all the rituals were finished. When Christ was on earth, He fulfilled the law of moral commandments, but He broke the law of ordinances.

Sometimes, He would heal someone sick on the Sabbath, even though He knew the others were watching Him to see if He would break the Sabbath. One time, He healed a sick woman on the Sabbath, and at another time He healed a paralytic on the Sabbath.

Later, Peter was shown a vision by God to take and eat from a sheet filled with unclean animals; he realised that the Lord wanted him to go to the Gentiles and speak the gospel to them, even though they were unclean to the Jews.

We need to realize that on the cross Christ created the new man in Himself by abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances.

Paul was also very strong when it came to the matter of ordinances, and he even rebuked Peter to his face when he drew back from eating with the Gentile saints as he saw the Jewish saints coming from James.

In chapter 3 of Philippians, Paul used a derogatory word, concision, even calling the Judaizers dogs, because he realised that they were trying to bring the Gentile believers back to the ordinances in Judaism.

Ordinances are forms or ways of living and worship, which create enmity and division. On the cross Christ abolished all the regulations regarding living and worship, all the regulations that have divided the nations (Eph. 2:15; Col. 2:14).

He wiped out the handwriting in ordinances, and now there are no more ordinances which are against us or contrary to us; He nailed them all to the cross.

As we meet in the church life today, we should not insist on any particular practice; if we insist on any way of living, worship, or meeting, this becomes an ordinance which separates and creates enmity.

Christians throughout the world have been divided by ordinances, such as different ways to do the baptism, using musical instruments, practising the church life, and meeting with one another.

If we insist on any particular practice, no matter how good it is and how much spiritual benefit we get by practising it, we make it an ordinance, and we separate ourselves from others.

Christ abolished all ordinances on the cross. We need to allow Him to deal with all ordinances in us so that we may be the church as the one new man.

If we see that ordinances create enmity and division, we will deal with them very seriously. May the Lord shine on us and enlighten us concerning our ordinances.

May we not look at others’ ordinances but go along with the way they do things, unless it is sinful, immoral, or idolatrous. We may not approve of certain practices, when we’re with others, we should just go along with them in order not to give ground for ordinances.

Lord Jesus, thank You for creating the new man in Yourself on the cross by abolishing in Your flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances! Hallelujah, all the ordinances have been slain on the cross! Amen, Lord, enlighten us to see what ordinances we have in us and how we should repudiate them! Shine on us and expose any form or way of living that we have and separates us from others. Oh Lord, save us from being separated or divided from others by the way we eat, drink, or by our keeping certain days, doing certain practices, and performing certain rituals in the church life! May we see that Christ abolished all regulations regarding living and worship so that He may create the one new man in Himself! Praise the Lord, the middle wall of partition, the different ways of living and worship, has been torn down, and now we are one new man! Amen, Lord, we take You as our life and person. We take You as our unique way of living and worship, and we are willing to go along with others in their way of meeting or practicing something for the sake of the one new man!

Being Willing to Let Go of our Ordinances for the Sake of the Church as the New Man

From the time of Babel, mankind has been divided by ordinances concerning the ways of living and worship (Gen. 11:1-9).

However, Christ on the cross abolished all the ordinances and tore down the middle wall of partition, and now we need to overcome Babel in our daily Christian life and church life.

We may think that we in the church life have left Christianity and have no ordinances, for we come together to enjoy the Lord, eat Him in the word, call on His name, pray-read His word, and sing to Him, even share of our enjoyment in the meetings.

However, we may go to visit the church in another locality and we may notice some differences in the way they meet, the way they conduct their meetings, and even in the way they arrange the chairs in the meeting.

These may hardly be ordinances, but they are differences; we need to be willing to go along with others as we meet with them, being willing to let go of our ordinances for the sake of the church as the new man.

We may compare the way we practice the church life with the ways another locality or another country practices the church life, and we may be exposed of the ordinances that are in us.

Even our way of calling on the Lord and pray-reading His word can be an ordinance, for it may separate us from some saints who want to fellowship with us.

We should not insist on anything related to our way or form of living and worship but we should be willing to drop our ordinances for the sake of the oneness.

Our only source should be Christ; we should not allow anything of our background, culture, or nationality to be our source (see Col. 3:10-11).

The greatest obstacle in the church being the one new man is ordinances.

The way we exercise our spirit in the meeting, our own unique way of releasing our spirit, can be an ordinance; we need to learn to enter into the way others exercise their spirit and be one with them, not standing out in any way.

Every ordinance creates differences, divisions, and even enmity. May we not insist on anything but go along with others.

Especially today, when the world seems to become smaller and, when something happens in one locality, all the other localities find out about it by means of the modern ways of communication, may we learn to drop our ordinances.

The Lord may bless a certain locality in a particular way, and we may want to copy the way they do things; copying or picking up others’ ordinances will not work.

We should not insist on our way or form of living and worship when we meet together, nor should we criticise or expose others’ way of living and worship.

We need to simply let Christ crucify all ordinances in us as we go along with others in practising the church life today, so that the Lord may gain the one new man.

As long as a practice is not immoral, sinful, or idolatrous, even though we may not like it or agree with it, we should be flexible and drop our differences to be the same as others.

We do this not in an ecumenical way or in an outward way, for the sake of others, but in an organic way, but allowing the Lord to put to death any ordinance in us for the sake of the one new man.

Some believers may come among us in the church life and may be quite surprised or shocked of the way we practice the church life.

Whether we realise this or not, in our local church we have a particular way of practising the church life, which is not bad or evil, but it can become our ways and forms of worship God, our ordinances. May the Lord be merciful to us and shine on us in this matter.

The worldly people regard cultural differences as a source of prestige; they even boast of their background, their practices, and their achievements.

But in Christ, we believers in Christ have put off this prestige.

Now our only prestige is Christ and the genuine oneness. May we all be willing to let go of our ordinances and of our cultural pride so that the Lord may have a way to have the proper church life among us today (Eph. 4:22-24).

May we learn to go along with others in their way of meeting and practising the church life in the local churches, letting go of our ordinances and exercising our spirit to be one with others for the one new man.

We should not talk about our own church life, how we practice things, how we do this and that; we should simply go along with others and practice things the way they do it in their local church.

We should not talk about our own history nor try to dig up what is the source or history of the way they do things; rather, we should let Christ cross out all ordinances.

We shouldn’t touch negative situations nor ask about why others do this in that way; we should simply exercise to enjoy the Lord with the saints.

We shouldn’t argue about any doctrine, nor should we vindicate a particular helpful spiritual practice; we should simply enjoy the Lord and put aside our ordinances.

May the Lord save us from any attitude of superiority when we are with others, and may we be saved from having our own circle of friends or buddies, the ones we hang out with.

May we be blendable and buildable with all the saints in all the local churches.

Instead of insisting on any ordinance, we should simply minister Christ to others in a spirit of love and care.

As long as there’s no idolatry, fornication, division, or heresy, we should simply drop our ordinances and simply be one with the Lord and with others to practice the church life.

If we are all willing to let go of our ordinances and our cultural pride, it will be possible for the Lord to have the proper church life, and the one new man will come into being.

Lord Jesus, we love You and we want to be one with You as we practice the church life for You to gain the reality of the one new man! We take You as our only source; we don’t want to allow anything of our background or culture to be our source. Amen, Lord, may nothing of our culture or our nationality be our source. We put off any natural or cultural prestige and we simply take Christ as our prestige and as our oneness! Amen, Lord Jesus, have mercy on us as we visit other localities or see the way others practice the church life. Expose our ordinances and grant us the grace to drop our own ways or forms of living and worship as we meet with others. May we learn to go along with them, being flexible in the way we practice the church life, so that You may gain the genuine oneness among us and the one new man may come into being! Amen, Lord Jesus, may You gain the proper church life among us today! May You gain the reality of the one new man in all the local churches!

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 Ephesians, msg. 23, 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:
  – The new man, a portion from, The Basic Revelation in the Holy Scriptures, Chapter 5, by Witness Lee.
  – The Sweetness of Taking Christ as our Person for the One New Man, via, Living to Him.
  – What is the new man? More via, Hearing of Faith.
  – The breaking down of the middle wall of partition, via, The Church in Regina.
  – No ordinances in the church, a portion from, The Life for the Preaching of the High Gospel, Chapter 5, by Witness Lee.
  – The Creation and Bringing Forth of the One New Man, outline via, The Church in Markham.
  – Ordinances and Doctrine, life-study of Ephesians on the radio broadcast.
  – New Jerusalem: No Natural Distinctions, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – The new man, article via, Affirmation and Critique.
  – Renewed in the Spirit of Your Mind – What does it mean and how do you experience it? More via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – The abolishing of the ordinances, a portion from, The Spirit and the Body, Chapter 12, by Witness Lee
• Hymns on this topic:
  – On the cross ordinances slain, / That He might form just one of twain. / Reconciling us to God, / Thus on the serpent’s head He trod. / He breaks down the middle wall / As upon His name we call; / On the cross ordinances slain, / That He might form just one of twain. (Hymns #1230 stanza 2)
  – Oh, what a fact! Oh, what a bliss! / That I of Christ a member am. / With all the saints I blend as one / And share the life of the new man. / Joined to our great ascended Head, / We’ll be the Church of His own plan. (Hymns #500 stanza 2)
  – So, Lord, I give my heart to Thee today, / That it may be Thy home in every way, / A place for Thee to come and settle down, / And all Thy grand recovery work to crown / In one new man. (Hymns #1179 stanza 5)