What is Christian Unity?

A short lesson with author and theologian J.I. Packer.

[thewayofoneness]

I love this! Unity around our agreements. Letting our unity of all believers having the Holy Spirit indwelling be more important than our doctrinal differences. Jn 17:23

[Howtogetalong]

Great video! Loving God and loving our neighbor doesn't mean we always have to agree but that the Holy Spirit and His presence is the most important component to Unity.

[thefungustomorow]

Oau i just hear about this old man but is so fantastic when you hear what he say about God ..
God bless him

[drpdlp]

Unity of one church under the trinity of the holy one.

[mountainbrease]

Why does the volume of the piano compete with the man's voice.
Who cares to even take whatever he has to say with any further attention?

[brendan]

What about God is in each of us, as we are all in God? That is union.

[rogermetzger]

Which of the following doctrines should people be required to abandon in the name of Christian unity?

That humans are free to choose or reject the offer of salvation through Jesus.
That God had predetermined that some people will be saved and others lost.
That the Decalogue is the standard of doctrine and conduct for every human who has ever lived or ever will live.
That the Decalogue has been changed.
That the Decalogue is not applicable to Christians.
That single immersion of believers is baptism and nothing else is.
That immersion, sprinkling, pouring can all be considered “baptism”.
That trine immersion is acceptable.
That trine immersion is required.
That Adam and Eve were endowed with conditional immortality.
That Adam and Eve were endowed with unconditional immortality or immortal souls.
That the finally impenitent will be destroyed by fire.
That the finally impenitent will be tormented without end.
That the seventh day of the week is the day the Lord rested in creation and in redemption and that he is honored by Christians who rest on that same day of the week.
That the sabbath has been abolished.
That the Christian sabbath has been changed to the first day of the week.
That the sabbath is merely any seventh part of time.
That the tithe should be used only for the support of full-time gospel ministers.
That the tithe should be used for the support of Christian organizations which, in turn should provide financial support for gospel ministers.
That tithing was only for the physical descendants of Israel (aka Jacob).
That Christians should wash each others’ feet as Jesus washed his apostles’ feet.
That foot-washing was merely an accommodation to the customs and necessities of the culture of the Middle East 2, 000 years ago.

[PatrickSteil]

Love requires Obedience
Obedience and Unity require Truth
Truth requires Authority
 (or else we end up with 30, 000 versions of Truth)
Jesus granted the Authority to the Church
therefore Love requires us to submit to the Authority of the Church in order to know and follow God's Truth.

The God of the Universe is the Author of all Truth.

Let go of your own pride and look into the early church fathers to see what was handed down to them by Jesus and his direct Disciples and Apostles. You will be shocked to find it doesn't look ANYTHING like protestantism.

May God Bless us All on our search for Truth and Unity amongst Christians!

[dg_f_Christs]

I just looked up Ecumenism. I saw a picture of different denominations. No. I'm a nobody, for the record, we are to be united 'in love'; in the love of God, come as you are, as men, no uniform, no title, no rank, no denomination, just men who love God because of, and through Jesus God's Christ/Messiah. Not as Ecumenismists but through Yahoshea (the God who saves His people) 'the' way(Jn14v6), 'the' truth(Jn1v1), and 'the' life(Jn17v3&1Jn5v11).
One God, One Lord&Saviour, One Spirit, one people in Christ we are because He is. HalleluYAH. Amen.

[johnlavender]

I don’t think that Story’s take on Adam stands up to Biblical accuracy.


“It is most unfortunate that some who debate this issue (evolution) begin by assuming that the words “creation” and “evolution” are mutually exclusive. If everything has come into existence through evolution, they say, then biblical creation has been disproved, whereas if God has created all things, then evolution must be false. It is, rather, this naïve alternative which is false. It presupposes a very narrow definition of the two terms, both of which in fact have a wide range of meanings, and both of which are being freshly discussed today…
“But my acceptance of Adam and Eve as historical is not incompatible with my belief that several forms of pre-Adamic ‘hominid’ may have existed for thousands of years previously. These hominids began to advance culturally. They made their cave drawings and buried their dead. It is conceivable that God created Adam out of one of them. You may call them homo erectus. I think you may even call some of them homo sapiens, for these are arbitrary scientific names. But Adam was the first homo divinus, if I may coin a phrase, the first man to whom may be given the Biblical designation ‘made in the image of God’. Precisely what the divine likeness was, which was stamped upon him, we do not know, for Scripture nowhere tells us. But Scripture seems to suggest that it includes rational, moral, social, and spiritual faculties which make man unlike all other creatures and like God the creator, and on account of which he was given ‘dominion’ over the lower creation.” (John Stott, Understanding the Bible: Expanded Edition; 54-56)

[GavinFinley]

The Judeo-Christian faith is an ongoing story. We have an opportunity to discover its wonders as we journey. The Germans speak of “heilige geschicter” or “holy history”. And all the psychological archetypes, grand narratives, epic stories of literature and poetry, (or as Christians call them, “types and shadows of Scripture”, suggests an eventual glorious unity, even in the global Jewish-Christian spiritual dynamic. This will come by grace through faith in the indwelling Messiah. He holds a dual office in the Order of Melchizedek.

As Messiah he presides as both High Priest ministering Grace in the individual hearts and also as the returning King of Kings ruling in Law, Justice, and righteousness from the Holy Place in Jerusalem. He holds both offices.

It is helpful and encouraging for us to look at some wonderful unifying unpacked prophetic elements of the faith from both the Old and New Testament. In the prophetic Word, both the Logos, and the Holy Spirit energized Rhema, we have every reason to believe that the great mysteries of great glory are set for discovery up ahead. There is a company of people of faith who are in communication with Someone beyond the dimensions we can se3 with the five senses. He is leading a covenant people on a journey of adventure and romance. The covenant people facing the dragon at the consummation of the age are the woman of Revelation chapter 12. See

The Shepherd of Israel is gathering of his flock. As the saga continues on up into the latter days He will take his covenant people up a Pilgrim pathway into wonders yet unseen. The dual office of Messiah in the Order of Melchizedek is the key to the final restoration that brings salvation/deliverance and peace. He is the Prince of Peace/Shalom. And as both High Priest of Grace and Mercy and King of Righteousness / Law / Torah / the Teachings He is the One who wraps up the epic story. As we search the Holy Scriptures we discover that there is destined to be a reconciliation between the Jewish house and the Christian house, the house of mystery. The lost tribes of Israel who leaned towards Grace, rebelled from the royal Jewish house a full 2950 years ago. In doing so they lost their sovereign connection to Israel. They are out there, hidden in plain sight. They have forgotten their resting places. This explains the terrible angst, the inner sense of loss, the amnesia, the jealousy, of the people that went “into the West”.

The terrible divorce that split Israel into two kingdoms happened after the death of Solomon. It was the Breach of Jeroboam.

The lost house rebelled and went off, seemingly into oblivion. The prophet Hosea reports to us that under the Old Covenant forged at Sinai they were divorced by God. They were “lost to history”, as we are told. But as we are now discovering from the work of Jewish scholar and author Yair Davidiy they went “into the West”.
And

Meanwhile, the royal Jewish house of Judah in Israel, leaning to the righteousness and Law of God, carried on. The royal house of Judah was, and remains today, the house carrying the throne of David. Judah is the holder of the scepter until Shiloh comes, the One to whom it belongs, as we see in Genesis 49. Messiah in His kingdom office is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. After their captivity ended the Jewish house returned to the land. They carried on under the laws of the rabbinical priesthood. They failed to receive Messiah in His first coming. But they will when He returns at the conclusion of the story.

The archetypical story comes to its appointed climax with “the return of the King”. He is the One who brings peace to men of good will, people who come to Him in repentance and blood covenant commitment. They are destined to bring their testimony, their witness to Him. This will all unfold in the final end-time witness, even a witness unto death, should that be called for.

The New Covenant (personal), completes and restores the Old Covenant, (communal). Out of this will come the reunion of all 12 tribes of Israel, together with all of their companions, as spoken of by Ezekiel in Ezekiel 37. This will be the union of the two sticks, the Commonwealth and Congregation of Israel, the greater Israel spoken of by the apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:11-13.

The “final witness” must surely come. And it will. All this will come to pass inside the endtime drama at the consummation of the age. This comes in the blowout climax of the Holy Spirit outpouring that the prophet Joel saw and described in Joel chapter 2. The glorious consummation will see the mysteries revealed along with wonders yet unseen. For the called, the chosen, and the faithful, it will come to its appointed climax in the Agape love of God even as Messiah returns in vengeance upon His enemies and deliverance of His saints. The Resurrection-Rapture will see Messiah snatch up to Himself a glorious company of people from every nation, race, and tribe. This is the true and Apocalyptic gathering of the full company of the covenant people of Yehovah-God. It will be a glorious united gathering of which all the imitative and usurping collectives of mere men, even those of the white horse riders, are but pale foreshadowings .

Western people have been blessed. They are not subject to the polytheism, the pantheism of eastern mysticism. They are not subject to the never-ending stalemate of the ying and yang, the notion of good and evil wrestling in cycles forever with no conclusion. They know that history is teleological. Holy history goes somewhere. They know that life is more than sex and death. Life as it unfolds in God is not just the monotonous rising and falling of the Ganges river in a non-conclusive struggle between good and evil. The chess game between Yehovah-God and Lucifer will end. And when all is said and done Someone will declare, “Checkmate!”

The latter days will see a sharp polarization of good and evil. And are we not beginning to see that now? The time will come when the mystery of iniquity and the mystery of godliness will be made manifest for all to see. The people of the prince who is to come, the people of the Antichrist, will make their play. And the saints of God Most High will go up to witness. All this is the final leg of the relay race spoken of by Paul in Hebrews 11-12:1. The grand spectacle will be seen before men and angels. We are told that the angelic host is on tiptoes, awaiting the revealing of the sons of God.

At the climax of the archetypical story, (in which we all play a part), the ship comes in. This is prefigured in the stars, the Bootes constellation, and other elements to the redemption and deliverance story. The patriarchs of old saw this glorious united gathering of all the saints outlined clearly in the constellations and in prefigured in the naming of the stars. These grand themes are in the art, the music, and the poetry of the West. We see the Argus, Homer’s Oddysey, “The Ship” of Khalil Gibran, and a host of other great stories of vessels carrying the wanderers home. We see the shipwreck of the apostle Paul in Acts chapter 27. O, yes, the crew wanted to desert, as many pre-tribbers want to do today. They wanted to save their skins. But the apostle Paul alerted the captain and the plot was foiled. The small boat in which the would-be deserters planned to skip out was cut loose. Everybody stayed on board until the end. And as we see, not one soul was lost. Is God trying to tell us something here?

The body of the Logos of Holy Scripture tells the whole story, even as everything is wrapped up at the end of this age. The Word of God declares a final reconciliation, reunion, and restoration of both houses of Israel. The prophets tell of this great gathering coming together in a conclusive upwelling of history at the consummation of this age. This great prophesied unity of the faith comes not by Nicolaitan dominion by politicians, churchmen, or rabbis. Rather, it comes in the unifying Holy Spirit of Messiah who is about to become manifest in a great unveiling, the Revelation of Christ in the Day of the Lord.

The end-time drama is something we either embrace or deny. All this trial and Tribulation will be happening in company with a global awakening, a revival among ALL people, of every nation, race, and tribe. John saw the full company of the redeemed. He saw the true saints, even a God-ordained multicultural gathering and described them in association with the 12 tribes in Revelation chapter 7.

It is Messiah who brings the reconciliation between the two houses of Israel. And He does so in symphony with a global gathering of people from every nation, race, and tribe. This happens in the auspices of personal redemption that is in the New Covenant. This is the global gathering of God that eclipses all the previous collectives of men. Messiah is King of shalom, Prince of Peace. He outshines all the kings, rulers, and all the false messiahs pushed up by men that have gone before.

The end-time drama will soon be upon us. But there is a Redeemer who is also a Deliverer. And He invites us to follow Him. A pathway of adventure and romance lies up ahead. A certain company of saints are set to go up on the stage of Holy History. They will bring their testimony before kings and rulers. It seems that those who care to follow Messiah to the end are destined to become a part of all these unfolding wonders.

See

[alessandracanez]

Is anyone going to talk about the unity church not only taking and reading scriptures from the Bible but also Buddha and Tao and so much more... but I thought there is only one true god and one true book/word ?!?!!!!?!??

[josephsiler]

All those Christians who have died are already in Heaven! Not purgatory! That's millions of people! All those Christians living today will go to Heaven! Not purgatory! That's millions of people! Heaven is really a Big Place! The Kingdom of God! " In My Father's Mansion there are many Suites! I go to prepare a place for you! ( Gospel of John 14 : 1 - 4 ) Jesus said that! We will each have our own Suite in Heaven!

You can believe what you want to. And I will believe what I want to. And we will both see one another in Heaven! We are All Christians! Believers in Jesus Christ! By believing in Jesus Christ : Your sins are forgiven! Even unconfessed and forgotten sins! Absent from the body is present with the Lord! My last day on Earth will be my first day in Heaven! All Christian Men Rejoice ( Christian Song )

[michaelquintana]

theres is unity and the one world church..