God's standard of unity

With all different groups in the world today!
Which group are you with?

God's standard of unity

We are each given opportunities - what we do with them determines where we spend Eternity!

In John 17 Christ prays for unity and direction for all people; which is an excellent scripture to seek wisdom!

 John 17:1-17New King James Version (NKJV)
Jesus Prays for Himself

17:1 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You,
 2 as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should[a] give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.
3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
4 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.
5 And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
Jesus Prays for His Disciples

6 “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.
7 Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You.
8 For I have given to them the words which You have given Me, and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You, and they have believed that You sent Me.

9 “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.
 10 And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.
 11 Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me,[b] that they may be one as We are.
12 While I was with them in the world,[c] I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept;[d] and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
13 But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.
14 I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
 15 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.
16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is the truth.

Footnotes:

    John 17:2 M-Text reads shall.
    John 17:11 NU-Text and M-Text read keep them through Your name which You have given Me.
    John 17:12 NU-Text omits in the world.
    John 17:12 NU-Text reads in Your name which You gave Me. And I guarded them; (or it;).

 
Jesus is praying for all believers to be one as He and the Father are one.

This goes far beyond what many promote as unity today. Paul sought the Corinthians to "all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment" (1 Cor. 1:10).
 This is God's standard of unity.

This oneness among believers is what Jesus said would cause the world to know that Jesus is the Son of God. This is the greatest tool for evangelism that the church has. The only way that Christ's body will be one as the Father and Jesus are One is God's kind of love.
No wonder Satan tries to get believers to go at each others' throats. We spend billions of dollars a year on evangelism through television, radio, conventions, and crusades, yet, the world is not evangelized because the body of Christ is not united in love.

There is very little unity among believers today.
This has occurred over thousands of years and it probably won't be fixed overnight. We must strive towards unity but not be overwhelmed by the problem. All Christians have already been joined to each other through the body of Christ, and God the Father sees us all as His children.

All divisions among Christians are made by man, not God. For a brief period of time in the First Century, the church enjoyed unity on earth. Regardless of what strife and division that has occurred, all believers are still one in Christ and will live in perfect oneness throughout eternity. We are now one in Spirit.
We just need to experience that unity here on earth.


"Thy Kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven" (Mt. 6:10).