Christ prayed for unity among His followers (John 17:20-21); however, as with many other requests made to the Father, there is a part each Christian must play in order to make this unity a reality.  Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:3 that all Christians are to be “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”  Disunity has always been a problem to mankind since the very beginning.  Discord exists among individuals, couples, families, organizations, nations, and even churches.  This is because each man has his own opinions.  In the church we must be willing to sacrifice opinions and stick with matters of faith taught in God’s word to have unity.

The unity Paul told the Ephesians to endeavor to maintain is the unity of the Spirit.  Christians are led by teachings of the Holy Spirit, captured for us in the writings that comprise the New Testament, which serve as a basis for unity.  Consider how the seven ones of Ephesians 4:4-6 illustrate this singularity.  Christians would be just as willing to accept more than one God as to accept more than one faith or more than one baptism.  The charge to give effort to have and maintain unity among the called in Christ in the letter of Ephesians comes after Paul had mentioned the wall of partition that had existed between Jews and Gentiles, a barrier that had been broken down by the blood of Christ (Eph. 2:11-19).  This uniting of Jews and Gentiles into one body was part of God’s plan from the foundation of the world (Eph. 2:16; 3:6, 11).  It is hard for us today to comprehend how different Jews and Gentiles were in the first century and the enmity that had festered among them for centuries.  Isaiah prophesied that bringing these two groups together to have peace in the church would be like getting wolves and sheep, leopards and goats, or lions and cows to dwell peacefully together (Isa. 11:6).  While this seemed impossible, God did this in the first-century church.  Jews and Gentiles were reconciled together to Him in the body of Christ (Eph. 2:16).

But this partnership did not just happen easily.  The endeavor for unity in Ephesians 4:3 follows the instruction of Ephesians 4:2; that Christians are to be characterized, “with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love.”  Pride is an enemy of unity.  Contrariwise, patience is so essential to peace.  When I recognize that others have to put up with me, then I can more easily put up with others.  The bottom line is that Christians must love each other.  This is not always easy, but the results are worth it.

Partiality based on how much money a person possesses is a temptation that must be avoided in the church (James 2:1-8).  The church, instead of being divided into different cliques, ought to be one harmonious community (Acts 2:46).  Even good men like Peter and Barnabas had trouble with showing partiality because of social pressures (Gal. 2:11-13).  Paul loved them enough to speak up before everyone, and they loved their brethren enough to repent and not hold a grudge against Paul (Gal. 2:14).  Individuals in the church cannot remain at odds if unity is to exist.  Even in private cases, unlike that of Peter’s partiality, confrontation is necessary to deal with a sin between two brothers or it will affect the entire church (Mt. 18:15-20; cf. Phil. 4:2).

Based on God’s word, the more unity exists in the Flatwoods church, the more blessings will follow.  Are you willing to work and pray to make it a reality?

-Mark Day

Solomon asked in Proverbs 20:6, “Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?”  The overwhelming majority of people who believe in an afterlife believe they are going to heaven.  Research polls show this year after year.  When a person is asked if heaven will be their home, a common response is, “Yeah, I think I’m a pretty good person.  I think God will let me in.” Is there any recognition in this answer of the power of Christ’s blood to remove sins and enable one to stand justified before God? No.

God’s Word, while encouraging us to be better people, does not convey the concept that one goes to heaven simply on being a pretty good person.  Rather the recognition that one is guilty before God and worthy of death is the Biblical starting point to salvation (Mk. 2:17; Jn. 9:39-41; Rom. 3:19-26).  The great need for the gift of salvation because of man’s utter inability to be right before God on his own merits is a common theme in the Scriptures (Rom. 3; Eph. 2; et. al.).  If a man does not see the heinousness of his own sins and his guilt before God, he will not appreciate his need for a Savior and the importance of Christ’s death on the cross for him.

The last few generations have generally held the prevailing opinion that we are not responsible for our own destructive actions.  We are masters of self-deception, easily dismissing any notion that we are culpable.  Whether it is our genes, our upbringing, the government, or a whole host of other entities, we are often found implying that someone else is ultimately responsible for our poor decisions.

Humanity, it seems, has always had this tendency.  The first sin was followed by questioning from God (Gen. 3:11), to which Adam tried to pass the buck to the woman God gave him (Gen. 3:12).  Eve then tried to pass the buck to the serpent (Gen. 3:13).  God gave each of them punishment for their actions (Gen. 3:14-19).  Cain grew angry with everyone else, when it was his decision to offer the improper sacrifice to God (Gen. 4:5-6).  This anger festered until he murdered his brother (Gen. 4:8; 1 Jn. 3:12; Jude 11).  It wasn’t Abel’s fault that Cain’s sacrifice was not accepted.  Time and space would not allow us to explore every example of this attempted shifting of responsibility in the Bible from Aaron’s excuse for fashioning the golden calf (Ex. 32:21-24) to Saul’s insistence that he had obeyed but the people spared the animals for sacrifice  (1 Sam. 15:13-23) and so on, but these examples suffice to show it is prevalent in human behavior.

Romans 3:10-18 gives a clear verdict that all accountable individuals stand guilty before God on their own merits.  While death is deserved for our decision to sin, salvation is provided as a gift through Jesus Christ (Romans 6:23).  Faith, repentance, confession, and baptism are required to enter the realm of the saved (Acts 2:38; 8:37-39; 17:30-31; 22:16).  A faithful life is required to maintain salvation (Mt. 25; 1 Cor. 10:1-14; Rev. 2:10).  In the end will you be found lost trying to argue your own goodness to the Lord (Mt. 7:22), or will He find you faithful and welcome you into the joys of heaven (Mt. 25:21, 23)?

-Mark Day