I keep coming back to the theme of unity that Paul addressed in most of his letters. Christ tore down the dividing wall between Jews and Gentiles (Ephesians 2:14), and there is no longer any divisions in Christ: “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28 (Emphasis added) Elsewhere Paul says,
“[T]here is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.”
Colossians 3:11
We might add the major divisions we have today, like black or white, Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, capitalist or socialist, Palestinian or Israeli, American or Russian….
Did I lose anyone there?
Do you have a hard job believing that certain types of people can be considered Christians?
Are we not “all one in Christ”?
Of course, we need to define what is meant by “in Christ.”
According to John Piper, to be in Christ means to receive and embrace grace (1 Timothy 3:9) to be chosen by God (Ephesians 1:4), to be loved by God’s inseparable love (Romans 8:39), to be redeemed and forgiven (Eph. 1:7), to be justified and considered righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21), and to be a new creation. (2 Cor. 5:17) It means to be in relationship with God in Christ as sons and daughters, marked by God’s Holy Spirit.
“In Christ” means that we have a saving relationship with Christ in union with him:
Being one with Christ, means that those in Christ should be one with each other also. The one thing that binds us together is Christ Jesus. We may be very different from each other in many ways, but we are one if we are, indeed, in Christ.
It doesn’t matter how many differences we have with each other. If we are (indeed) in Christ, we are unified in Christ. Thus, it should not be surprising that Paul urged the Corinthians to be unified:
“I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.”
1 Corinthians 1:10
No divisions among you! Be united in mind and thought.
How do we do that? What keeps us from being united?
I have heard people say that a Democrat cannot be a Christian, and I have heard other people say that a Trump supporter cannot be a Christian. These are just two qualifiers I have heard, but there are all sorts of ways that we add qualifications on being a Christian. Being a Christian, however, simply means being in Christ and marked by the Holy Spirit.
To the Corinthians, he said, “[W]e were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body — whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free — and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” (1 Corinthians 12:13)
Baptized by one Spirit, and one Spirit to drink: those are the qualifications.
John says Christians are “children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” (John 1:13) God chooses us, and that is all the qualification we need. When He marks us with His Holy spirit, we are His.
As I consider this, I realize that Paul’s call to unity in mind and thought suggests that “mind and thought” must be subservient to something more important and fundamental – something that must unify them. I think we tend to want to unify everything under mind and thought (doctrine and theology), but Paul seems to place mind and thought under something more fundamental and more important.
I am reminded of when Peter’s theology was challenged by God. Take a moment to read how God expanded Peter’s theology to include salvation for the Gentiles in Acts 10:1-11:18. Thus, when “the Holy Spirit fell on Cornelius, the Roman Centurion, and his household, and “the Holy Spirit was poured out”, Peter baptized them. Then and there!
They were marked by the Holy Spirit. Thus, Peter knew God had chosen them for salvation, though God’s action did not fit Peter’s theology. Perhaps, it isn’t always that clear who is “marked” by the Holy Spirit, but this encounter emphasizes how we should not box God in. God chooses whom He will.
Our theology and our views need to yield to God and His Holy Spirit. We are told not to lean on our own understanding – even our religious understanding.
Indeed, I don’t have to think too hard to recall how Paul prioritizes the importance of our knowledge and understanding. He does it in the same letter to the Corinthians: “If I … can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, …, but do not have love, I am nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:2) As if to emphasize this, Paul says, “[W]here there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part….” (1 Corinthians 13:8-9) And, in case we miss the point, Paul ends with these famous words:
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:13
The kind of knowledge and understanding we tend to prize today is intellectual and academic. We value science, the Bible, history, doctrine, and theology, etc. Paul was well aware of this human tendency to emphasize that kind of knowledge in his day also. He was dealing with the Greeks, after all, who were known for their philosophy.
He addressed that tendency to prize human intellect and wisdom in the opening chapters of his first letter to the Corinthians:
“For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified….”
1 Corinthians 1:21-23
The highest form of knowledge a human being can acquire is not the knowledge developed by humans and human wisdom, however. These things are foolishness to God. As Paul says, “Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (1 Cor. 13:12)
The greatest knowledge we can have is to know God in Christ. This kind of knowledge is relational: to know and be fully known is the knowledge that comes from being in relationship with Jesus.
“For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror….” (1 Cor. 13:11) We can only see God through the mirror of our own reflection. If our reflection of God is off, we are off. If our reflection of God is warped, we are warped. This is why it is so important that we allow ourselves to be conformed to the image of Jesus! (Romans 8:29)
Human knowledge is the knowledge humans acquire and develop. What we need is knowledge that comes from above – from knowing God. We gain this knowledge as we are transformed into the image of Jesus through the work of the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)
We need to resist being conformed to this world, and we need to give ourselves to the renewal of our minds. (Romans 12:2) We need to “put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (Colossians 3:10)(knowledge of God), and we need “to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God.” (Ephesians 4:24)
Once again, Paul identifies a problem – one thing that holds us back:
“[Y]ou are still influenced by the flesh. For since there is still jealousy and dissension among you, are you not influenced by the flesh and behaving like unregenerate people?”
1 Corinthians 3:3 NET
Dissension/division was the symptom that the Corinthians were still being influenced by the flesh, and not by the Spirit. Yes, they were Christians, but they we were not living like it. They were living like unregenerate people!
If that happened in the 1st Century, it can (and most certainly does) happen in the 21st Century! It is never more evident, perhaps, than during presidential election season.
If people who have received and embraced grace (1 Timothy 3:9), who know themselves to be chosen by God (Ephesians 1:4) and loved by God’s inseparable love (Romans 8:39), who are redeemed and forgiven (Eph. 1:7), who are justified and considered righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21), and who have experienced becoming new creations find ourselves divided over politics, we are still living according to the flesh, like unregenerate people.
What is your litmus test for who is in Christ? If you have a litmus test for authentic Christianity that is different than God’s test, you need to put yours down!
God judges the heart, but we judge by appearances. This is another way of saying that we cannot judge another person’s relationship with Christ. If a person identifies with the factors that describe who is in Christ, who are we to say they are not authentic?
We can judge the fruit (behavior), though, and division on any basis other than Christ is of the flesh! If we are still divided from other people who are in Christ, we are living as unregenerate people.
Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
1 John 4:15 ESV
Navigating by Faith 