Unity of the Spirit

More often than not, the topic of the class I teach Sunday morning and the topic of the sermon preached right after are similar. Yesterday my class studied the obedience of Jesus Christ and how obedience to God could be costly, but was worth it. The sermon title was “A Painful Obedience.”

When I looked at the sermon outline in the bulletin, I chuckled. How does that happen? I’ve no idea what the pastor is going to do, and he certainly does not consult with me about my class. Actually, someone from one of the other classes said their discussion also involved obedience.

For anyone outside the Body of Christ, this looks like a coincidence. For those of us who know the Holy Spirit, we recognize that He is speaking to us and it is not a great surprise if His message comes the same way yet through various sources.

This morning I read this beautiful passage from Colossians 3:12-17. It talks about the ideal and joyful relationship between the people of God as we obediently walk with Him.

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

These words are not to one person, but to all who are in Christ. It speaks of a bond, a unity, a mutual attitude and care for one another that we have because Jesus lives in our hearts. When all of these things are in place, it should not be a surprise that the expression of the Holy Spirit coming from each mouth and life is in harmony with everyone else.

Further, if God’s concern, or warning, or encouragement, or exhortation to us is for the whole Body, it ought not be a surprise that each one in the Body needs and hears and passes on that same message. It might be presented in different forms (Sunday lessons, preaching, music, personal conversation), but it will be in harmony with the Spirit because He gives it to each one.

My favorite part of this particular passage is verse 16: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. . . .” I love the Word of God and am certain that all who know it are far better equipped to live out the lovely unity expressed here. The Scripture is powerful and “given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 2:16).

When the Bible is taught and takes up a firm and lasting place in our hearts, it unfolds to us a wealth of treasure, opening up to us the wisdom of God and the mystery of godliness. If we search and study the Bible with prayer and are continually seeking to understand what God wants for us and from us, God not only gives each Christian personal instruction, but that instruction is in harmony with what He is giving the others. Because of His Spirit, we have a bond that would not otherwise be ours.

Obedience is key, but obedience is not to rules or lists of do’s and don’t’s. Instead, it is simply a response of trust to the Lord and to what He opens up to us through His Word and His Spirit. Sometimes, when a Christian is in tune with God, that response is so natural that we are not even aware that God is in the thing we are doing. I imagine myself as a glove with God being the hand. He moves and I move with Him.

Of course this is about the ideal. As my devotional reading for today says, “we very easily fall off from abiding in Christ.” It warns that we cannot “expect to keep up sensible union and communion with the Lord Jesus if we neglect those means of grace which the Holy Ghost has provided for the nourishment of the life of God in the soul.”

Those means of grace include reading His Word with prayer and faith so as to feed the spirit and the life of God in my heart. Communion with Christ results in unity and communion with His people because He lives in me and also in them. He is our bond, our common ground.

Yesterday was rich and wonderful. Today God reminds me that this richness is from Him, yet it requires spiritual discipline from me. Today might be a national holiday, but that is never an excuse to take a break from spiritual disciplines or risk doing (or not doing) anything to impoverish my own soul or break that incredible bond that He gives me with His people.