Ideas about the Kingdom of the Heavens around us and the unity of believers in Christ within it
The place and function of angels is not often mentioned in Scripture, because they exist as messengers and ministering spirits, serving us on God’s behalf, not themselves, bringing God’s message not their own. They are never the dominant subject of any scripture.
Titus 3:10 instructs whenever a divisive person approaches ME and tries to start an argument, I am to warn them twice about their behavior and then excuse myself. Thereafter I should ignore them, until they repent of their argumentativeness. It is a simple instruction by which I can avoid being influenced by divisiveness. It is not an instruction to the Church or the State to burn heretics.
This post is the first in a series of six outlining a broad view of how things in the Church and the world got to be as they are now, including contributions early Christianity and Islam made to each other. This post attempts to outline the basic positions of early Christianity. Comments are invited!
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Our disunity also leaves us vulnerable to exploitation by false teachers and their distorted religious teachings, with which they seek to win a personal following for their own gratification or profit. proper recognition of the oneness of the Body, and of the importance of living in oneness, protects against divisive people.
God’s pattern shown in the Early Church was to provide for the needs of its members through its unity. In unity, we regard ourselves and everything we own as God’s, and give unselfishly to the needs of others, as he directs us. This gives the world a picture of God himself.
The promises of victory, of spiritual gifts, and of works greater than those Jesus did, were not made to us individually, but as members of a functioning Body. They are given for the express purpose of building us up together, in unity, and so revealing Christ to the world. They only function properly in that context.
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Our peace, joy and effectiveness are dependent on our unity as shown by forgiveness and the resolution of offenses between us, God takes division and unforgiveness so seriously because it damages all parties to the offense and limits the Body of Christ. When we neglect this, we are given over to the tormentors–guilt, fear, anxiety and mental illness.
The ultimate solution to our national racisms lies in the Church, in who we are in Christ. We are not called to uncritically support the current social order, no matter how unjust. We are called to show how social divisions are overcome by the Holy Spirit among us.
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Many of God’s promises to us are given to the Church together, collectively. They become effective for us individually only as we are living in love, as a functioning part of the Body of Christ.
What happens to you affects me. If we choose to work together, the Body of Christ is healthy and effective. If we choose not to recognize each other, we are still one, but the Body of Christ os diseased.