Pursuing Peace
To live in God's will, we are to do all we can
to create love and unity in the body of Christ.
Here's Gene:
In some respects, I believe that
this Principle actually concludes
what we might call a trilogy.
And by the trilogy, I am referring to
the previous two Principles and this Principle.
And they're really related.
And they unfold from what
we've been reading about in terms of
disputable matters.
So let me take you back
and show you that connection.
You remember that we looked at
the Principle--Principle 28--Accepting One Another:
To live in God's will, we are to
avoid judging one another
where God has given us freedom.
And that works both ways.
Those who are strong.
Those who are weak.
We're not to judge one another.
However, here's the next Principle
that Paul deals with in giving us
a more specific guideline.
I've called it Protecting One Another:
To live in God's will, we are to
avoid using our freedom in Christ
in a way that causes another Christian
to fall into sin.
And we know what that means.
This is falling into sin.
This is causing a person, with our freedom,
to take a step that leads them
out of the will of God
into destruction, as it were, of their life.
And so Paul gets very specific about that.
And gives us a Principle by which
we can evaluate all of our behaviors.
No matter what culture we live in
and at what moment in history
that we live in.
And then it leads to the third Principle
in this trilogy:
To live in God's will, we are to do all we can
to create love and unity in the body of Christ.
And here you see the connection
because Paul goes on
in Romans 15, verses 5 and 6, to pray.
And notice what he prayed:
Now may the God who gives
endurance and encouragement
grant you to live in harmony
with one another, according to Christ Jesus,
so that you may glorify the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
with one mind and one voice.
In other words, he's culminating here,
as it were, with a Principle,
with an idea that we should
do everything we can, not to be in arguments
with each other in disputable matters.
But to be in harmony with one another
relative to what God really wants us to do.
Now as you look at this, I think there's
a much bigger picture here,
or painting, as it were,
that takes us back to what Jesus taught.
And you'll see a correlation here in Romans
that to me is just very, very fascinating.
And here's what I want to do.
I want to take you back to the upper room.
And I want to remind you of what Jesus said
when he was talking to the apostles
who were arguing among themselves
as to who was the greatest--who was going to be
the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
You remember, He washed their feet,
demonstrating this servant attitude.
And then He said:
"I give you a new command: ...
[I give you a new command]
Love one another.
Just as I have loved you,
you are also to love one another. ...
And there, he had just washed their feet,
which was really pointing forward to the fact
that he was going to die on the cross.
It wasn't just a feet-washing experience.
It was an illustration of what
Jesus Christ was really going to do for us.
And John later captured that,
sixty years later, when he said:
This is how we know what love is.
Jesus laid down his life for us.
We ought to lay down our lives for one another.
That's what Jesus was pointing to.
And then He said:
...By this everyone will know
that you are my disciples,
if you love one another."
Now let's look at the correlation.
Look at what Paul wrote in Romans
relative to a new commandment.
We looked at this earlier.
But let me just show you the correlation
and the review--in Romans 13, Paul said:
Do not owe anyone anything,
except to [What?] love one another...
That's what Jesus said--three times:
Love one another. Love one another. Love one another.
And then he says:
...for the one who loves another
has fulfilled the law. ...
See Jesus said, I'm giving you a new command
that is greater than all the old commands--.
the Ten Commandments:
. . . Love does no wrong to a neighbor.
Love, therefore, is the fulfillment of the law.
If you really love one another
as I have loved you, Jesus is saying,
then you will do what is right to serve one another.
To care for one another.
To protect one another.
So you see the first correlation?
Love one another, Jesus said.
Paul said: Love one another.
But notice, after Jesus washed their feet,
they went down in the streets of Jerusalem.
They're going towards the Kidron Valley.
Jesus prayed a prayer.
And he said to the Father:
"I pray not only for these,
[that is these men,]
but also for those who believe in me
through their word. ...
How did we come to faith?
Through the message of the apostles ultimately.
And so Jesus prayed for all of us.
What did He pray?
...May they all be one, as you, Father,
are in me and I am in you.
May they also be in us, so that
the world may believe you sent me.
He prayed for unity and oneness.
Well what did Paul pray for now,
after saying the same thing Jesus said:
That we're to love one another.
He prayed, in essence, the same prayer
that Jesus did.
Now to me, that's not an accident.
That's divine correlation by the Holy Spirit.
And here's the prayer:
Now may the God who gives
endurance and encouragement
grant you to live in harmony
with one another...
Jesus prayed that prayer.
Paul prayed that prayer.
After saying we're to love one another
as Christ loved us:
...live in harmony with one another,
according to Christ Jesus,
so that you may glorify the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
with one mind and one voice.
And to me that correlation
is not an accident.
Paul was saying the same thing as Jesus did
when he wrote to the Romans--
in the same sequence.
Because love is the basis of unity.
And that's exactly what he said to the Romans.
Love your neighbor as yourself.
That's the basis of unity.
So in Ephesians--and make every effort
to maintain unity of the Spirit
in the bond of peace.
Which leads us to the
Reflection and Response question:
How can mature Christians pursue
love and unity without enabling
immature and carnal Christians to be divisive?
See that's an issue that he was
talking about here.
The immature Christians
particularly were being divisive.
But also the more mature Christians
were getting into arguments
with those who were immature
and there was disunity.
And so Paul is praying for unity.
And he gives instruction on how to
lead up to that prayer
in the Principles we've just looked at.
But here, to me, is the answer.
Because at the beginning of Romans 15,
I think he gives us a very significant guideline.
And that is to model Christ's love.
Before he prayed, notice what he said:
Now we who are strong have
an obligation to bear the weaknesses
of those without strength,
and not to please ourselves. ...
In other words, he says, those of you
who are strong really have
a greater obligation
to help others grow and mature.
Rather than causing them to stumble.
So that's a pretty powerful Principle
in itself, isn't it?
And then he says:
...Each one of us is to please his neighbor
for his good, to build him up.
For even Christ did not please himself.
On the contrary, as it is written,
the insults of those who insult you
have fallen on me.
See, Jesus is the one who modeled this.
He modeled it for the apostles
when he washed their feet,
which was serving them.
Which really was an illustration of what
he was going to do for all of us.
And to die for the sins of the world.
So we need to model Christ's love.
Now, modeling Christ's love
won't necessarily resolve all the problems.
And that's why Paul in Colossians says
that we need biblical teaching
and worship together.
And this is part of the process
of growing together. When he said:
Let the word of Christ
dwell richly among you...
What endures forever?
What gives us guidance?
It's the Word of God.
It's the Scriptures.
It's the Word of Christ.
And in a previous Principle, I took you back
just to read a passage out of the Scriptures.
And we have lots of Scriptures
that we need to teach
and we need to read
to give us guidance in all of these issues.
...[So] let the word of Christ
dwell richly among you, in all wisdom
teaching and admonishing one another
through psalms, [and] hymns,
and spiritual songs, singing to God
with gratitude in your hearts.
And whatever you do,
in word of in deed, do everything
in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.
That's the process by which we will grow
and reflect the stature of Jesus Christ.