Paul is appealing and begging us to WALK habitually a life which is worthy of the calling which the Lord has put upon us. Paul is BEGGING us to behave in such a way that out life is a credit to the summons of God's service.
The oneness of believers in Christ is already a spitirual reality...we have a responsiblity!4:1-3 Unity is not uniformity. comes from within and is a spiritual grace...uniformity is the result of pressure from without. To preserve the Unity we must possess the necessary Christian graces:
1. lowliness of mind- humility. "humility is that grace that when you know you have it, you have lost it!" Putting Christ first, others, second, and self last. Recognize that our worth and value are found not in ourselves, because of our obvious weakness, but in God, because of His obvious strength. TOTAL DEPENDENCE UPON HIM!
2. Meekness - power under control.
3. long suffering...patience...long tempered...the ability to endure discomfort without fighting back. It is God's longsuffering which keeps Him from wiping out the world because of our sin.
4. Love...not based on feeling, but on commitment. Making allowances because you love one another...does not grow out of our feelings...but our commitment to love others the way Christ loves us. Seeks the highest good in another regardless of what they do.
5. Be eager - strive earnestly to guard and keep the harmony and oneness of the Spirit.
6. binding power of peace...let His Peace rule in our hearts...then we build unity. Col. 3:15. THE REASON FOR WAR ON THE OUTSIDE IS WAR ON THE INSIDE.
the ground of unity (basis):
7 basic realities that unite all true Christians: ONE Body, ONE Spirit, ONE hope of your calling, ONE Lord, ONE faith (II Tim. 2:2), ONE baptism (not of water but of the Spirit), ONE GOD and Father...we are children in the same family...loving and serving the same Father, so we ought to be able to walk together in unity.
THE GIFTS OF UNITY v. 7 - 11 You can only know (discover) your spiritual motivational gift (Rom. 12) when you are involved with other Christians. Do you know your gift????
THE GROWTH OF UNITY:
The Lord's intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of His saints--that we should do the work of ministering toward building up Christ's Body (the church). When every Christian focuses on his gift and what God wants him to do with it, he does not have time to complain about others and criticize them. When you use your gift for service to others, it will grow you in your faith.
IMPORTANT: wE ARE NOT HERE TO DEVELOP A SPIRITUAL LIFE OF OUR OWN, OR TO ENJOY SPIRITUAL RETIREMENT; WE ARE HERE TO REALIZE JESUS CHRIST!!!! THAT THE BODY OF CHRIST MAY BE BUILT UP.
QUESTION to ask yourself: Am I building up the Body of Christ or am I looking for my own personal development only? The essential thing is my personal relationship to Jesus Christ--'That I may know HIM!' To fulfill God's design means entire abandonment to Him. Whenever I want things for myself, the relationship is distorted. It will be a big humiliation to realize that I have not been concerned about realizing Jesus Christ but only about realizing what He has done for me!
As members of the ONR Body and a local body, we belong to each other, we affect each other, and we need each other. No matter how insignificant you may feel, you have a ministry to other believers. Love is the circulatory system of the Body. An isolated Christian cannot minister to others, no can others minister to him, and it is impossible for the gifts to be ministered either way. UNITY is not something we manufacture...it is something we already have in Christ and we must protect and maintain it.
Next week we might look at the first evidence of spiritual growth - do you know what the four evidences might be?????
Next week: TAKE OFF THE GRAVE CLOTHES AND PUT ON THE GRACE CLOTHES! 4:17-31
Suggested Homework
1. Describe the lost man in "walk not as..."
2. Instructions for the saved man v. 20-24 Paraphrase.
3. Compare above description witha summary of Romans 5 - 8
4. What are the five different sins Paul names and tells us to void? List and tell why we should avoid them.
1 comment:
As described in 2nd Thessalonians a lost man stays lost because they refuse to love the truth and choose to be saved. Their sin becomes the rejection of the truth thus delight in evil. Thus condeming them to a life seprate from God.
2Th 2:10 and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 2Th 2:11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion a so that they will believe the lie
2Th 2:12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
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