Robert E Rasmussen.com

The restrictions of Covid-19 are opening our eyes to see in a fresh way how the church actually grows. Services are cancelled, gatherings are held by Zoom, yet the Church is adapting and functioning. How?

If there is one key to understanding the Church, it is that it is a living organism, connected to Christ for its existence. The body of Christ has systems which help all the parts thrive. Here’s how it work.

“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Eph.4:11-12).

Recent teachings on this passage have entitled these roles ‘the five-fold ministry.” The concept is that ideally every local church should have people filling these roles or functions (with my definitions):

Apostle — one sent to launch and extend into new works
Prophet — one who boldly speaks truth from God
Evangelist — one who announces the gospel
Pastor — one who shepherds God’s people
Teacher — one who explains the Scriptures and corrects falsehood

Clearly, each of these functions is important in establishing and maturing churches. It’s good to remember that the giver of these ministries is Christ (“And He Himself gave…. v.11).

A key question for any local body, or any fellowship of churches should be, Who are the people whom Jesus seems to have given us to grow us up in maturity?

Let’s not forget Christ’s intent. These are not five superstar experts who perform better than all others. In fact, super performers are usually the worst equippers. True equippers are often in the background, where they resource, empower, and release others for a life-time of fruitful ministry.

Performers gather large crowds. Equippers build up the body by helping many others excel.

Instead of handing out titles and budgets, remember that these functions constitute a living system in the organism, the one new man with Christ as head and the church His body. The church thrives when all the saints are being equipped to minister in one or more of these five areas.

If you are an experienced believer, you should be equipping others. What does equipping look like? The Greek word (katartismon) has this range of meaning:
1. Mend, or repair.  (In Mark 1:19 it refers to mending fish nets; In Gal.6:1 it speaks of restoring the one caught in sin)
2. Render fit or complete (cp. 1 Peter 5:10 “perfect,” and 1 Cor.1:10 “joined together in the same mind”)

All equipping is to result in “edifying of the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:12). It is interesting that just as Jesus was a builder, now His church is to be built up (the Gk word, oikodomen, translated “edification,” comes from the realm of home construction).

Have you noticed how much of this system depends on facilities and formal worship services? Did you see anything in the text about the necessity of outstanding national leaders, fair taxation, and efficient health care?

The beauty of the organic nature of the church is that it is thriving today in high-rises, slums, and “underground.” Its even working in many suburbs!

My point is not that budgets and bylaws are wrong. But let’s not forget what actually helps the body of Christ grow according to God’s design.

I had a seminary professor who always encouraged mentoring. He often asked us, “Men, where are the men you are mentoring?”

If you are reading this, you are not a baby Christian. So I would pose these questions for our reflection: 

• Who are you equipping?
• What kind of conversations and vocabulary feed the equipping system of the body?
• What styles of teaching the Word enhance equipping? Which detract?
• How are our children being equipped? Our teens?  In our homes?

Covid-19 has prompted many churches to stream their weekend worship services. This is an important step in both maintaining community with regular attenders as well as reaching a new audience. Church workers are laboring diligently to expand technological capacity. This is admirable and much appreciated!

However, the attention which is required to stream services has a troubling aspect to it. Church leaders are being drawn to ask (among other things), “How do we produce the best quality online experience?”

I have been writing of my conviction that Covid-19 trumpets the call to Jubilee 2020 — a year to pause, reflect, and make deep changes in personal and church life. The effort put into streaming services could distract us from seeing the opportunity to shift our energies to more important questions, such as, 

>>How would God want us to equip our congregants to extend friendships with their neighbors?
>>How can we help our members be the arms and words of Jesus to lonely and suffering people locally and globally?

As we improve our abilities in reaching out with technology, let’s use all these means to build the body of Christ according to God’s design. Which is what?
Experienced ministry leaders are given to the church,

“for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry” (Eph.4:12a).

Fruitful ministry is ripe for harvest during this season.
Personally, we have seen more of our neighbors in the last two months than in the last two years.
>>Dads are biking with their kids.
>>Moms come pushing strollers around the block.

I tell you, we are having many conversations and learning many of our neighbors’ names simply because they are outside and have time. We are sitting intentionally in our front driveway to wave to neighbors as they walk or drive by. We stroll around the block and stop to talk.

We’ve posted this sign on our front lawn. An Arab woman and her daughter thanked us for the sign. She read it for us in her language, and had her daughter interpret!

Even though (understandably) no one joined us, our family sat and watched a Good Friday worship concert in our driveway.

These merely illustrate that we who know Christ have fresh opportunities to get out there with Jesus’ love. Let’s stream our services for the glory of God. But let’s ask the bigger questions of how to equip all the saints for the work of ministry.

Most of us don’t need much equipping. We know how to be neighborly. We just need intentionality in moving beyond our own needs and concerns.

Till next time,

Robert

P.S. About the sign, we got ours here.

As many times as I have studied this missionary newsletter from Paul, I nevertheless saw something new in this go-around. What surprises me is that a short paragraph I’ve passed over due to its difficulty is, I think, one key to understanding the letter and the grand theology behind it.

Please belt in and grab the safety bar

Paul, from prison, writes:
“But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift” (Eph. 4:7).

That which Christ gives to each believer is immense. Ultimately, Christ Himself is the gift and He desires that His body (the church) know Him fully and grow up into His fullness (4:13). He continues:

“Therefore He [God] says: ‘When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men” (4:8)

Take note. This is taken from Psalm 68:18, where King David recounts God’s victory in delivering Israel from captivity in Egypt. In that historical incident, two events occurred:

1. PLUNDER.  Egyptians surrendered to the Israelites all kinds of silver and gold (Exod.12:35,36).
2. VICTORY.  The Egyptian army was swallowed up in the Red Sea.

I believe David refers to #1 when he says, “You have received gifts among men” (Ps.68:18). This represents the spoils of war.

I think David then refers to #2 in saying, “You have led captivity captive.” This depicts victory over the enemy. The Egyptian captors became God’s captives and perished. This tragedy speaks of the hard truth that God does and will have vengeance on His wicked enemies who oppose Him.

Back to Paul

Our imprisoned apostle teaches us how to walk out our beliefs. Grace given by Christ to each one of us who believe will empower us to do this.

The source is the victory of Jesus Christ over His enemies through His sacrificial death on the cross. And as the Victor, He shares the spoils of war with us, His body and bride.

What are these gifts? The church that works together beautifully (which we will explore next time).

One more head-scratcher

David wrote, “When He ascended on high” (Ps.68:18). This takes us back to the Exodus story and refers to God dwelling up in Mt. Sinai where His holiness makes surrounding mountains jealous (Ps. 68/16)!

Now Paul applies this ascension in a New Covenant sense:

“(Now this, ‘He ascended’ — what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things)” (Eph.4:9-10)

Wow, this is difficult.

The best I can make of this is that after crucifixion and before resurrection, Jesus’ soul descended into Hades (see Acts 2:27 and 31). Peter also seems to say that Jesus proclaimed the gospel to the spirits in prison (1 Peter 3:18-20; 4:5-6).

I don’t know if this was to announce ultimate defeat of Satan and all his wicked allies, or whether this was a one-time retrospective proclamation to Old Testament people, even giving an opportunity to accept the good news of salvation, or both (any opinions or insights on this?).

What is clear is that Jesus fought the good fight and ascended far above all principalities and powers as the Victor (Eph. 1:20-21). From His victory, He brings grace-gifts to distribute to His own — “every spiritual blessing” in fact (chapter 1). The unfolding verses say that the spoils of victory include five ministries for the Church (next time).

And when we get to chapter six, we will see that the armor of God which brought the victory is a part of Christ’s gift to us, that we might share in His battle and win. The armor is beat up, but its accustomed to victory!

Do you see how this knotty paragraph sheds light on much of Ephesians?

Too much information, I know!

Here is a take-away for you. Jesus wants to share His victory with you and me (“each one of us”).   

• How have you see His generosity with you in recent days?
• How has He gifted your church?

By Robert E. Rasmussen

Is 2020AD a mandated Year of Jubilee? Is unfolding history telling us to stop, to reset, to find balance and equilibrium again? Is God inviting us to return to Him and restore spiritual centeredness?

The many changes that have come with Covid-19 are surfacing deeper issues of our personal and societal soul, just as sabbath principles delve down to the deep roots of family, values, and worship.

Like Israel’s Year of Jubilee, Jubilee 2020 may serve as a huge erasure of financial and relational scribbles which have accumulated for decades.

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Events on my calendar have, one by one, been cancelled for the year 2020. As I considered the unprecedented clearing out of planned activities, including sports seasons, concert tours, the Olympics, entire school semesters and more, I began to wonder what opportunities were being offered to us as occupiers of planet Earth.

I recalled the year-long rest God gave His people Israel, and began to wonder what principles from the “Year of Jubilee” we could find helpful in experiencing Covid-19 (the 19 indicating 2019, the year in which the corona virus emerged).

I have gone back and taken a fresh look at God’s gracious provision of rest for the land and its people, both in the “sabbath year” and the “seven sabbaths of years” – the Jubilee every 49 years (Leviticus 25:8). Let me summarize my understanding of the intent of this law, and some principles which could help us navigate 2020.

GOD’S HEART IN JUBILEE

Israel was a young nation, still learning to manage its affairs. God wanted to establish a strong society that would keep worship central, would hold to high morals and integrity, and would maintain kindness to its neighboring nations, while protecting itself from invasions and idolatry. The ten commandments summarize the core of this nation-building intention of God.

“Jubilee” is a translation of the Hebrew word which can literally mean “trumpets” which would have been rams horns. Priests would have pursed lips and emitted long, heralding blasts, calling the nation to a year-long release of tensions in land and clan. Jubilee declared a national call to discipline which all were to observe as an expression of obedience to God and mutual commitment to strengthening their society.

Two priorities stand behind Jubilee: Land and Family.

Jubilee could never happen apart from the understanding that the land was given to Israel by God and continued to be His possession. The law declared, “The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me” (Lev.25:23).

The law of Jubilee stipulated that land that had been sold out of duress would be redeemed and given back to the one to whom it had been allotted by inheritance. The flip side was that the one who had gained the parcel of land had to let it be redeemed away from him.

The second and related priority is the family as the basic building block of a strong society. If economic difficulties had caused a father to “sell” land, cattle, or even family members to get by, all were to be redeemed back to the family in the Year of Jubilee (Lev. 25).

Jubilee was a huge reset, giving families a fresh start at thriving. Imagine the joy of being together again, regathered on the property granted by great-grandfather. The one who had profited in recent decades also reset his life, bringing him back to that which was apportioned to his family. He too would now focus on his family without the burden or blessing of his acquisitions. He would be called to contentment.

The priorities of land and family were to ultimately point to dependence on God as provider. Jubilee reminded the people of the compassion and justice of God. It brought a sense of mutuality and unity in building a community that was good for all.

JUBILEE PRINCIPLES

Let’s consider three principles which were true for ancient Israel and can help us in Jubilee 2020.

Principle#1. God can be trusted to supply what is lacking when we follow His ways.

Jubilee was a sabbath year, the seventh since the last Jubilee, 50 years prior. Every sixth year, a family needed to trust God for a harvest adequate for years six, seven, and eight. God told His people:

“And if you say, ‘What shall we eat in the seventh year, since we shall not sow nor gather in our produce? Then I will command My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it will bring forth produce enough for three years” (Lev. 20-21).

The family would need to pray for abundance, would budget their consumption, and ultimately depend on God for His divine compensation to make up for their lack of tending the soil or herd. I expect there was also some sharing between friends and neighbors

Jubilee is really a call to faith, isn’t it? We have to believe God to come through with what we need. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb.11:1).

Faith sometimes calls us to chew on left overs! God continued, “And you shall sow in the eighth year, and eat old produce until the ninth year; until its produce comes in, you shall eat of the old harvest” (Lev.25:22).

A few years back, when my first wife was deep in her first fight with cancer, a friend, Stan Davis, stopped by our house. He was teaching a Bible class the following Sunday, and I asked what his topic was. GOD IS ABLE!, he said. That is all I needed to hear to encourage me that day.

You may be having a really rough time right now, and the future is uncertain. You are already eating last year’s harvest, and need God to come through. As you have seen God faithful in the past, you can trust him for today and tomorrow.

Principle #2. Happiness increases when there is contentment with what has been rightly apportioned.

“If one of your brethren becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and if his redeeming relative comes to redeem it, then he may redeem what his brother sold” (Lev.25:25).

In Israel’s Jubilee year, there would have been different causes for up to 49 years of loss or gain. Sometimes it was foolishness or debauchery that caused the loss. Sometimes it was misfortune. In some cases, a person would have prospered through greed and dishonesty. Either poverty or profit can cause one to forget God. Either one can cut a person off from family, breaking key supportive relationships (Lev. 25:8-11).

Jubilee was a gracious gift to stabilize society, better ensuring the longevity of the people. It taught citizens to hold property loosely as stewards for the common good, rather than ultimate owners for personal benefit.

Jubilee rebukes classism, and can call out against prejudice. It’s even good for the soil, as the land is given a chance to rest, so that it has nutrients to produce for generations.

For us, Jubilee 2020 can redefine how much is “enough” and what is “success” in ways that are healthier for the soul. Look around you and notice not only what you have, but what you have over and above your basic needs.

As Paul wrote, “Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content” (1 Tim. 6:6-8).

We have seen a lot of hoarding happening in recent weeks. There is wisdom in storing up, but selfishness can take over and become oppression. This unusual season provides an opportunity to live out our faith by being content.

Principle #3. We enjoy a more just society when we seek the blessing of our neighbor.

Because sabbath years allowed redemption of property, society needed to regularly observe who had come under hardship and who had prospered. Every seventh year was a corporate protest against self-interest and getting ahead at the expense of others. In returning property, the strong were not to take advantage or oppress with charging interest. They were to set fair prices of redemption.

“In this Year of Jubilee, each of you shall return to his possession. And if you sell anything to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor’s hand you shall not oppress one another”(Lev.25:13-14).

The more prosperous citizens could show gratitude for the prosperity they enjoyed, and those who suffered could admit mistakes or begin again with new life skills.

Sabbath principles tutor societies and generations. The younger see the folly or wisdom of the older, and can determine how they want to live. Parents can explain the value of sharing, justice, and sacrifice. They can give the example of putting trust into action. Sabbath principles can prevent the younger generation from presumptuous inheritance and wealth, or presumptuous poverty.

1,001 APPLICATIONS FOR JUBILEE 2020

Wikipedia tells us that some religious Jews still practice some principles of sabbatical years. The Roman Catholic Church celebrates Jubilee every 25 years. And British monarchs periodically celebrate Royal Jubilee’s to mark significant milestones in their reign.

But I am suggesting a personal and corporate reset in this most unusual pause in normal life. What are some ways that we could apply Jubilee principles?

As we said previously, how might Jubilee 2020 serve as a huge erasure of financial and relational scribbles which have accumulated for decades.

We should not miss the fact that the Year of Jubilee began with observance of the Day of Atonement (Lev.25:9), a day of rest and “affliction of soul” (23:27).

The spirit of the year of the great reset begins with personal and societal repentance. When a nation refuses to acknowledge its pride, God chastens the land and people that they might turn back to Him and be rescued from their own demise. Even in chastening, God welcomes the people to return to Him. God reiterated as much to King Solomon:

“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chron. 7:14).

There is not a nation on earth today that can claim faithfulness to God. Every people can begin their reset through corporate affliction of soul.

Sometimes movement toward soul change must come with small behavioral steps. Let’s consider a few ways we can take concrete steps to implement sabbath principles in this unique year. I have some ideas, and in presenting the, hope to prime the pump for you to think of ways you could take practical steps. Here are some examples, from smaller to larger, to implement Jubilee principles.

Places to start:

• Clean out storage and clutter. Organize your possessions. Use what you need and donate the rest.
• Clear out, sort, sell or give away all contents of your storage unit. Stop renting a storage unit and apply the savings according to godly principles.
• Review those “free 30-day trials” that you are still paying for and not using. Review paid or unpaid subscriptions you are not using, reading, or watching. Review newsfeeds and blogs (even this one!) and unsubscribe from those you don’t read.
• Take the trouble to recycle old devices in ways that are friendly to the environment.
• Revisit unrealistic expectations which are defeating. Set realistic goals with are achievable and life-giving.
• If over time you have accumulated projects or materials, decide and do them, or give away the materials.
• As you watch your investments decline in value, don’t be anxious about it.
• Stop hoarding. Give away what you don’t need. Don’t be unjust in stockpiling. Realize that stockpiling can be fear-based, and therefore counter to kingdom living.
• Fix what can be fixed, rather than replacing with new. Put a fresh coat of paint rather than paying for an expensive remodel. Plan for maintenance rather than waiting for breakage or decay.

Take a fresh look at your lifestyle.

• Ask what are the aspects of your lifestyle that have become inhibitors to creativity and joy. What schedules, structures, relationships, debts, routines, etc. are deadening and stultifying? Include your practices such as emails, social media, video games, etc.
• Review your life rhythms. Do your days and weeks reflect good rhythms of work, rest, reflection, prayer, leisure, creativity, reading, etc.? There is a time to mourn and a time to dance.
• Be honest about institutional hoarding and family hoarding. Ask how your standing in society allows you to keep or gain more for yourself and your family, such that you have more than your share.

Bigger financial decisions:

• Reduce spending so as to have more to share with others. Pay off credit cards and maintain the practice of paying off credit monthly.
• Those with rental property can lower the rent. Allow the renter to have a plan for purchase that is fair to the owner but non-exploitative.
• Stay long-term in your home that is adequate rather than upsizing to a larger or nicer home.
• Refinance to lower mortgage and share the savings, and/or give to church or mission.
• Sell a second home or condo and apply the profits according to godly principles.

Tend to relationships and habits.

• Over time, tension can build in relationships. Rather than healthy friendship, oppressing or co-dependency develops. Reconciliation is needed. Jubilee means being able to look anyone in the eye and smile.
• Tackle recovery from attachments and addictions with new vigor and a new approach. Codependency is chronic obligation no longer given freely out of love; it hitches your happiness to another person’s behavior. Return responsibility to make wise or foolish choices to the other person, making them the rightful owner of their consequences. Give them a fresh start at stewarding their own lives.  This may allow all parties to see others whom they have ignored and therefore failed to enjoy.
• Break unequal yokes – a decision or partnership made which has born bitter fruit, an unholy alliance. Jubilee breaks free, in honesty and justice, with courage.
• Welcome a family member back home. Help a struggling member get a fresh start. Open up channels of communication.
• Help start a college or retirement fund for a younger family member.

Church-related matters:

• Traditions can be life-giving or death-producing. Assess patterns that have become “old wineskins” and no longer meet current needs.
• Church budgets should be reviewed to discover accumulated expectations which no longer prioritize real ministry needs. Budgets can be right-sized to better reflect priorities of the kingdom of God.
• A church may have leased space to another ministry or congregation. Consider easier terms. Consider selling at a fair price. Consider ending agreements which have become unhealthy entanglements.

How happy church and mission leaders would be if people voluntarily and cheerfully practice principles of Jubilee! Court cases could be dropped. Lawsuits go away. Neighbors reunited. Divisions healed. Workers paid a fare wage, and cancel plans to strike. Banks don’t compete for customers but provide solid service based on sound principles. Lawyers give wise counsel and draw up just contracts without drumming up business. Debts are paid down, interest is fair or eliminated, so what would have been interest is now spendable on real goods and services. The church is so known for generosity and compassion that many people want to be part of such community. Crazy? Yes, God’s ways seem that way.

However, the gift God wants to grant is even more liberating.

TRUE JUBILEE

When Jesus launched His ministry in the synagogue of His home town, Nazareth, He opened the scroll of Isaiah and announced His calling:

“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD” (Luke 4:18-19).

In the coming of Jesus, the kingdom of God drew near. The nation had an opportunity to be pardoned for its iniquities. Sadly, it was society’s imprisonment to religiosity that caused the nation to miss the window of invitation, and the kingdom passed them by.

A nation, a people, can still recognize the invitation to enter the kingdom of God. But it requires nothing short of battling against the forces which are in power. Jubilee must not only signal redemption, it must call for revolution.

Come back for a moment to the early days of Israel’s history. After Moses bid the people farewell from east of the Jordan, Joshua led the 12 tribes westward against Jericho (Josh. 6:1-12). The Israelites were to march around the city once a day for six days, and on the seventh day were to circle it seven times. In front of the battle procession, were seven priests who were to blow long blasts on the “jubilee,” that is, trumpets. The people shouted their uprising, and the walls of the city crumbled.

There is a sense in which true Jubilee cannot happen unless it is a battle cry against walls and enemies. The forces which enslave are so entrenched they can only be removed with a wartime mentality.

That’s why true Jubilee can only come as we see Jesus as the head of a revolution. Six times in the inaugural address of His kingdom, the sermon on the mount, Jesus repeated “you have heard it said…but I say to you” (Matt.5-6). The principles of the Old Testament Jubilee, He said, are not radical enough for the revolution we need. Why? Because they can change property and possessions, but do not change the heart. Society will only change when our hearts are called to revolution. When we return gains to those in need, not by law but love.

True Jubilee returns the heart to its first love. Perhaps over time, our original pledge of fidelity (Gk. pistis) has weakened and we have “cast off our first faith” (1 Tim. 4:12). What affections have crept into my heart to infiltrate the full fidelity I first had toward Jesus? That is the Jubilee question. What will it take to identify secondary affections, to laser off the cataracts which cloud my clear vision of my beloved Savior? What words and actions will truly restate my vows to Him?

The 12-step recovery programs call us back to a fearless moral inventory of any wrongs we have committed against others. Such may seem, to the mature believer, like a relapse into legalism, a kind of sin management we have labored to escape. But change of behavior and practice may be the first steps back to a changed heart. Where my treasure has been, there my heart has followed. To lead my heart back to my first Love, I must divorce from the flirtations and affairs I have entertained.

With Covid-19, a window of opportunity has opened to the human family. As these extraordinary times pass by, I believe Jesus again calls out, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mk.1:15).

Paying off credit cards, even selling a property, are only window-dressing when compared with the heart-renovation offered by the gospel. As Paul writes, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor 5:17).

I believe our greatest gift is to live into the spirit of the true Jubilee.

If 2020 becomes a year of personal revolution for you, how would God want you to change?

Due to Covid-19, our churches are not gathering as is our custom.
What are the factors that will hold churches together? What has kept the global Church together for centuries?

In Ephesians chapters two and three, Paul unveils the church as the mystery now revealed – that believing Jews and Gentiles (in all their diverse cultures) belong to one body which Christ made possible through His death.

As we descend from mountain-high “ecclesiology” (study of the church) to walking it out in our practice, we see how the church is intended to operate (Eph.4).

Paul has given many comparisons to reveal the beauty of the church. We are:

• fellow citizens (in God’s new nation), 2:19
• members of God’s household, 2:19
• a holy temple being built by God, 2:21-22

But the picture Paul develops most fully is that of one new man, with Christ the Head and the Church His body.

Just as the global Church must look to Christ as our Head, each local church or fellowship plays its part in also looking to our Head. In broad strokes, what does this require?

1. UNITY OF THE FAITH

The Church is held together by common commitment to shared truth. Paul gives specifics:

“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (Eph.4:4-6)

The polytheistic Gentile cultures would have stumbled over the singularity of this doctrine. Jews, God’s chosen nation, would have struggled to hear that their exclusive relationship with God was now opened to hundreds of Gentile peoples with their diverse languages, foods, dress, holidays, and habits.

Today, “universalism” says that there are many ways to reach God, and that ultimately everyone will be saved.

The Bible, however, unashamedly declares there is one body consisting of all those who genuinely believe in, and are spiritually connected to their Head, Jesus Christ.
In compassion, God’s Word beckons all to accept this message of particular salvation.

In order to preserve this unity of faith, Paul instructs us to love one another.

“with all lowliness and gentleness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bod of peace” (Eph.4:2-3).

How do we walk worthy of our calling as members of the body of Christ? We start by knowing the truths which God wants us to preserve.

Cognitively, we study God’s written Word for knowledge. Through prayer and experience with Christ, we yearn for spiritual understanding which surpasses knowledge (3:19).

What is it that keeps the scattered church one in Spirit? One factor is the unity of our faith based on divine truth revealed to us in the Scriptures.

Are you a rigorous Bible student? Does your church help you delve into God’s Word consistently?

How do you want to use this unique time of slow-down to know your faith more deeply?

Next time we will look at a second aspect of the effective church:
>>> Equipped saints doing the work of ministry.