Is Christ Divided?

Is Christ Divided?

ONE BODY IN CHRIST

“For as the body is one, and hath many members,
and all the members of that one body, being many,
are one body: so also is Christ.”
I Corinthians 12:12

Truth by its very nature is simple, but the implications of its simplicity are profound and costly. Truth demands change in order for us to enjoy and walk in the power it brings. Truth is the root from which all the fruit of the Spirit is formed. Without truth all things are a counterfeit and a sham. In the presentation of the Gospel of John we see in the introduction the simple statement, “In the beginning was the Word…” This Word is not a truth written in ink on paper. This is the LIVING SON who alone IS TRUTH. It is therefore vital that in the forming of HIS life in the individual believer there be a ministration of TRUTH to make us TRUE in the core of our lives. Truth only has one purpose, one end; to make the recipient TRUE in character and expression. Truth is not knowledge, it is not opinions, and it is not a supposition. Truth is power, truth is substance and it is nothing less than Jesus Christ Himself. Jesus did not say I give you a truth. He said I AM THE TRUTH! Truth is the WORD becoming flesh. To the extent that we reveal HIM in our daily lives is the revelation of the TRUTH that is in us. In the actual development of TRUTH in our hearts, we must begin to see that there is ONE BODY because “so also is Christ”! (Many members, ONE BODY.)

We look today over the landscape of what men call “Christianity” and wonder how such a unity could ever be. IF HOWEVER, we look into the POWER and LOVE of God through the eyes of faith, we must say, “How can these things NOT BE?” In 1 Corinthians 1:13 Paul asks the most profound question…

“IS CHRIST DIVIDED?”

I Corinthians 1:13

IS HE? The issue is not what we see, but what we know to be truth. FAITH is the doing of that which is the TRUTH in Christ. It is not concerned with what is, for FAITH can only reveal that which is REAL in the Spirit. By faith Peter walked on water; at that moment of time he walked in truth by faith. He saw JESUS walking on the water and his FAITH translated what he saw in JESUS into what he walked on earth. That is the true nature of FAITH. Faith is not statements, teachings or ideas. Faith is substance, revealed by our walk. If I believe there is ONE BODY even as there is ONE CHRIST then my life will reveal it. IF the question Paul presents here “Is Christ divided?” is answered by a resounding NO within our hearts then it is of necessity that our lives reveal this truth! Our speech, our behaviour and our prayer life must certainly be indicative of our individual abiding in HIM. To have and walk in the LOVE OF CHRIST can only mean that we love what HE loves.

This ONE BODY can only be the product of TRUTH. For the corporate expression of the RISEN CHRIST will require HIS LIFE to arise within the life of each individual believer who would know of this oneness. The difficulty of this is measured only by the condition of our hearts. Peter asked Jesus about John, and Jesus replied “What is that to thee? Follow thou me”. Man always tries to quickly excuse our response by looking at someone else, but the truth lays within our own heart not someone else’s. This reality can only be known as truth is truth in the individual. For this unity WILL SURELY COME to pass, but only through the medium of faith will it be so with us.

Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, but the efficacy of the blood can only be appropriated by faith within the heart of each life. Faith is the conduit through which the life of Christ is received and appropriated into our own being. It is in my own heart becoming united in its love and pursuit of Christ whereby I will touch the wonder of that unity in my brother and sister. Unity is the natural state of being where God reigns.

Jesus set forth in a clear and definitive way those who are His brothers and sisters…

“For whosoever shall DO the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother”
Matthew 12:50

It is not by some religious profession which constitutes the family of God; The true children of God are they who DO His Will and walk in His Ways. The Lordship of Christ is the basis of this unity and all they who are of the truth hear His Voice and grow into the unifying reality of the Power of His Love.

“Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently”
1 Peter 1:22

This unity and its unspeakable glory can only be approached by the obedient heart individually; for the purity of our hearts can only be realized by a life which obeys the truth through the power of the Holy Spirit.

 “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven”
Matthew 7:21

Doing is the path to Becoming.

HE IS ABLE!
HE IS COME FOR THIS PURPOSE!
(John 17)

Ω

“I have never yet known the Spirit of God
to work where the Lord’s people were divided”
D.L. MOODY

Brian Troxel
(Updated writing from “He is Able” Series Part Two)