Skip to main content

One In Christ

i've never made a secret of the idea that one of my favorite authors is james m. boice. his commentaries are a staple of my Bible study diet, and his Foundations of the Christian Faith is my systematic theology of choice.

so this week, i've been reading his writings on the church and as always, the highlighter is going crazy. but a couple things he said, worked in with the justice and mercy thoughts that are marinating on my back burner. so i thought i'd share those here:

The church must actually develop brotherhood, a sense of family oneness, among those to whom the gospel spreads. Many barriers to such a union existed in the early church. There were barriers of race - the Greek despising the Roman, the Roman contemptuous of the Greek. There were barriers of nationhood - most captive people chafing under the yoke of Rome. There were barriers of sex, language, and culture - the same barriers that exist among people today. But they were broken down as those who were called to faith in Christ increasingly came to see their oneness in him. "For he is our peace, who has made us both [Jews and Gentiles] one, and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility" (Eph.2:14) To the Corinthians, Paul wrote, "God...through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation." (2Cor.5:18)

He quotes Martin Lloyd-Jones:

"We are all equally sinners...we are all equally helpless...we have all come to the same Savior...we have the same salvation...we have the same Holy Spirit...we have the same Father...we even have the same trials...And finally, we are all marching and going together to the same eternal home."

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Discussion Questions for Easter

Have several people ask the question, “What’s the most important thing you’ve ever done?” Ask other people, “What do you hope to accomplish in the next several years of your life?” Tell your class that today you’ll be talking about “life mission” or the one most important thing you do that drives everything else. Tell them that Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is the defining moment in history, so it should be the defining moment in our lives. Read 1 Corinthians 15:12-19. How does the resurrection impact some of the crucial beliefs of Christianity?  How would Christianity be different if there was no resurrection? How would you be different without the resurrection? Read 1 Corinthians 15:50-58. What are some specific ways that the resurrection gives us hope? If you had been a friend of Jesus when he was on earth, how would the resurrection have impacted your life?  How do you think his followers then were effected by the resurrection? Read 1 Corinthian...

Community Killers: Crisis

Here is Part Two in my series on dealing with "Community Killers". Today the topic is "Crisis". Every group experiences crisis at some point. Death, illness, divorce, and financial ruin are just some of the issues that can threaten to destroy a group. These crisis, however, are not to be feared. Rather, they should be embraced as an opportunity for the group to care for one another in unique and deeply meaningful ways. The following are five suggestions (certainly not an exhaustive list) which can help a group handle crisis successfully: Openness. The first step in a group’s efforts to deal with crisis is simply knowing about and understanding the crisis. If a member does not feel comfortable sharing the crisis issues in their life, the group cannot come to their aid. A willingness to share not only the crisis situation, but also the details can significantly impact the degree to which the group can offer assistance. The role of the leader sometimes requires a per...

Humility: It's Not All About You

Without naming names, when have you observed a person who seems to be only interested in “moving up the ladder”? What are some of the character traits of a person like this? • Read Genesis 11:1-9. • Generally speaking, who were these people focusing on, themselves or God? Why was this a problem? John Calvin thought that verse 6 was God ironically saying, “This people have conspired against me, and since they can speak to one another in the same language, how can their plan be defeated?” In other words, God wasn’t concerned, he found it humorous that the people thought so highly of themselves. • Read verse 4. What do you think it means that they wanted to “make a name” for themselves? • What things do we (you) often do try to make a name for ourselves? Why is it important to us that people think highly of us? • Read Romans 12:3. What do you think it means to think of yourself with “sober judgment”? Why are we sometimes slow to “judge” ourselves? How can we judge ourselves in a heal...