Basis of Our Fellowship
What is the basis or ground of our fellowship with other Christians? Should we have any association with other Christians? What would be the reason that we could or that we should not?
To many the definition of a cult member is anyone who does not go to our church. A false prophet is anyone who is not ordained by our denomination. Many are not aware or do not care to recognize that we have very much in common with others who are genuine Christians.
Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Eph 4:3)
Paul is imploring his readers to walk in love and humility toward each other. That does not mean that we abandon Jesus' and the apostles teaching in order to approve of and please every animalistic impulse that a church person might have. In the other extreme, we have teachers who clearly state that we cannot associate with anyone who has a different understanding of end-time events than our group has. If you hold to a young earth or to an old earth philosophy you must be labeled as deviant, according to many. All of these things are important and there are many such things. If two people genuinely have placed their trust in Jesus' person and His work they have a multitude of things that are common to both of them.
We have the same Faith
Though we are required to have the proper response to the Gospel, which is faith, and not having faith is faulted by God, it is also a gift of God. If anyone is a saved person, he has the same faith as I do.
We have the same God
We all (speaking of other true Christians) have the same final Authority and object of worship.
We have the same Father
If we have been born again, we have the same Father that caused us to be born from above.
We have the same Spirit
As believers we all have the same Spirit that is united to our spirit. We all are identical in our deepest core.
We are part of the same Body
While we have a diversity of giftings and motivations, we are members of the same body.
We have the same Hope
We all have the same expectation to participate in the resurrection, the return of Christ with our dead loved ones, and to see the Father's house.
One Lord, one faith, one baptism, (Eph 4:5)
We have the same Baptism
We are all baptized by the Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ.
We have the same Lord
We all have the same employer, Master, boss, ruler, and Brother. We are practically all twins with each other in the Universal Church.
We have the same Documents
Aside from some extreme bibles we all have the same documents from which we get our authority and understanding. As poorly as a few fake Bibles are made, we all carry around with us or have in our homes the same texts! In other languages we all have the same basic documents. We all have the same potential understanding. Your brothers and sisters in a land where you have never been, your brothers that lived a thousand years ago, and those who speak a language you cannot understand all have the potential for the same understanding about God because we all have the same documents.
The things we have in common with other true Christians make us a tighter family than we can imagine. Our similarities overshadow our differences greatly. If someone hates us because they have a different mode of baptism, they are ignorant of these precious truths. Do not be a child. Be one of the older, more mature brothers that can demonstrate love to the smaller ones.
Feb. 17, 2024