"The Church Is One Body"

Victory Can Be Yours!

Article #30 – “The Church is One Body”

            The Church is a community of believers drawn together by God.  It should be a place of warmth where each brother and sister in Christ can share their joys and sorrows, share their abundance and have their needs met.  It should be a time and place where the gifts that God has given each believer can be used to strengthen the body.

            There should be no boundaries between believers or churches, there should not be doctrinal differences drawing us apart.  The doctrines of the Bible should be drawing us together, instead.  “There is one body, and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.” (Eph. 4:4-6)

               The differences between church bodies today, are man-made.  Man causes confusion by not allowing God to reveal the truth to him.  The Holy Spirit, if we will allow ourselves to be open to Him, is the One who reveals the truths of God’s word.  “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” (John 14:26)  If we all, as brothers and sisters in Christ, allow this to happen our differences will soon disappear and we will truly be as one family.

            Imagine for a moment if you will, the difficulty a new family entering a community with eight different church bodies.  What a burden this would be for them to find the right church.  They would have to spend a great deal of time checking for doctrinal differences, how each conducts the worship service, opportunities for spiritual growth, which one could most nearly meet their family needs, and give them an opportunity to serve the Lord.  What a shame that we all think we have to be different.  What kind of a testimony are we?

            God has chosen the church to evangelize the world.  The first century church was one body, a community of evangelists.  To the church in Thessalonica, Paul wrote; “For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything.” (1 Thess. 1:8)  Paul is saying that there was no need for him to evangelize in some places, because the Thessalonian church’s testimony has already done the job.  What a powerful witness that church must have been to all who came in contact with them. 

            May God help us to become what He intended, so we may be effective for Him.

            You, too, can have victory in Jesus!  More to follow.

Lowell Parrish