Passage of the Day: Ephesians 4: 4 – 6 [highlight underlined portion] – 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
My Journal for Today: In the final phrase of this passage [i.e., Eph. 4: 6], Paul puts a capstone on the emphasis of importance that we, as Christians, must be unified in serving the ONE true and sovereign God, Who is above all, our Lord; … and Who is through all, our Provider; … and Who is in all, the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.
Certainly the Old Testament asserted for God’s chosen people to be set apart in their worship of the One, True God, there being no other worthy of worship besides Jehovah [see Deut. 4: 39 and Is. 45: 45]…
SCRIPTURE: Deut. 4: 39 … Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.
SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 45: 45 I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, …
And into this one true faith, we, as Christians, have been grafted by/in Christ. And as with the Old Testament believers, it is only by our obedience and unity are we blessed by God, the Father, … The Author and Finisher of our faith … the One Who forged our one, true Body, His Church, … ministered to by His One, true Spirit, … with one hope, found in God, the Son, Who is our Lord. And all of this produces ONE faith, ONE baptism, and ONE Body.
And we have seen that only by joining all of the souls of believers into a unity of God’s Spirit can we be a powerful and effective witness in a world permeated by so much divisiveness and so many false gods and idols.
My Prayer Today: O, Lord, You are Holy … my All in all. May Your Church find Your power in the unity of Your Spirit. Amen
Showing posts with label One Body. Show all posts
Showing posts with label One Body. Show all posts
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
January 28, 2011 … Our Unity In The Spirit
Passage of the Day [NIV]: Ephesians 4: 4 – 6 [emphasis noted by capitalization/underlined words] – 4 There is ONE body and ONE Spirit—just as you were called to ONE hope when you were called— 5 ONE Lord, ONE faith, ONE baptism; 6 ONE God and [ONE] Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
My Journal for Today: Well, in case you didn’t notice ;) , the operant word in this passage is the word “ONE;” and the Apostle Paul is almost shouting that we, of the Body of Christ, are ONE body in Christ … sealed by ONE Spirit … with ONE eternal calling from God, the Father. He is clearly stating that we are not many bodies, … but ONE … The Church Universal … all ONE in Christ Jesus (see Gal. 3: 28) …
>>> SCRIPTURE: Gal. 3: 28 … There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all ONE in Christ Jesus.
ONE; … no matter how many creeds we believe and utter; … no many how many races are represented in our congregations; … no matter how many languages we may speak; … no matter how many worship styles we represent; … our individual souls and our singular houses of God are collectively ONE Temple, guided by ONE Spirit [1st Cor. 6: 19], Who builds The Body in the likeness of our ONE Lord, … Jesus Christ [Eph. 2: 22].
>>> SCRIPTURE: 1st Cor. 6: 19 … Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?
>>> SCRIPTURE: Eph. 2: 22 … And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
And finally, it is that ONE Spirit, Who has sealed (or guaranteed) us into the ONE hope of our ONE calling, which is our inheritance in eternity [Eph. 1: 13-14] from our ONE Lord …
>>> SCRIPTURE: Eph. 3: 13-14 … And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit, guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession — to the praise of His glory.
You’ll never get a better guarantee than that in this world! Therefore, we must do all we can as THE ONE Body of Christ to maximize the unity unto which we are called and sealed. Therefore, we, as born-again Christians, need to recognize from the context of the passage Dr. MacArthur has been using all this month (i.e., see Eph. 4: 1-3) that our worthiness as His bride, the Church, is dependent on our faith in the ONE Lord and our belief in and surrender to the ONE Spirit, Who ministers to our spirit in the Name of the ONE Father in Heaven.
My Prayer Today: Precious Lord, I am ONE in You for eternity. Hallelujah! Amen
My Journal for Today: Well, in case you didn’t notice ;) , the operant word in this passage is the word “ONE;” and the Apostle Paul is almost shouting that we, of the Body of Christ, are ONE body in Christ … sealed by ONE Spirit … with ONE eternal calling from God, the Father. He is clearly stating that we are not many bodies, … but ONE … The Church Universal … all ONE in Christ Jesus (see Gal. 3: 28) …
>>> SCRIPTURE: Gal. 3: 28 … There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all ONE in Christ Jesus.
ONE; … no matter how many creeds we believe and utter; … no many how many races are represented in our congregations; … no matter how many languages we may speak; … no matter how many worship styles we represent; … our individual souls and our singular houses of God are collectively ONE Temple, guided by ONE Spirit [1st Cor. 6: 19], Who builds The Body in the likeness of our ONE Lord, … Jesus Christ [Eph. 2: 22].
>>> SCRIPTURE: 1st Cor. 6: 19 … Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?
>>> SCRIPTURE: Eph. 2: 22 … And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
And finally, it is that ONE Spirit, Who has sealed (or guaranteed) us into the ONE hope of our ONE calling, which is our inheritance in eternity [Eph. 1: 13-14] from our ONE Lord …
>>> SCRIPTURE: Eph. 3: 13-14 … And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit, guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession — to the praise of His glory.
You’ll never get a better guarantee than that in this world! Therefore, we must do all we can as THE ONE Body of Christ to maximize the unity unto which we are called and sealed. Therefore, we, as born-again Christians, need to recognize from the context of the passage Dr. MacArthur has been using all this month (i.e., see Eph. 4: 1-3) that our worthiness as His bride, the Church, is dependent on our faith in the ONE Lord and our belief in and surrender to the ONE Spirit, Who ministers to our spirit in the Name of the ONE Father in Heaven.
My Prayer Today: Precious Lord, I am ONE in You for eternity. Hallelujah! Amen
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