Teaching - Unity
Jesus Prays for All Believers
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one — I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.'
John 17:20-23 in the New International Version
[This is the 28th lesson of this series]
Jesus prayed for his disciples and as we read from the excerpt above, He also prayed for all future believers (all of us) those who will believe because of the teachings of the disciples He left in the care of the Holy Spirit.
He prayed that all believers be united. Yet humans being humans, it didn't take long before disunity among them take place, and in time for believers to break off into different denominations.
Over 500 years ago, a major split happened as a move to go back to biblical Christianity begun.
Out of this movement emerged the unification of the five essential Christian doctrines known as the five solas (solae) -- the core beliefs of Christianity.
Sola (Latin) - Alone
The five solas state that Christians are saved
-by Grace alone (Sola gratia),
-through Faith alone (Sola fide),
-in Christ alone (Solus Christus),
-as revealed by Scripture alone (Sola Scriptura),
-to the glory of God alone (Soli Deo Gloria).
No one is righteous. And no one knows everything, let none of us act like we do.
We are saved by grace, so not one among us can boast.
We are saved by faith, not works. Works is the fruit of our faith.
Jesus was and is The Way to salvation -- one of the original sources of disagreement.
Scriptures is God's written Word. And it is the supreme authority. This is where many Christians disagree on, and then more arguments come about as different versions of the bible emerged.
The last sola is that all glory, all honor, all praise, and all worship is reserved for God. This is the other main point of contention, where many fall, as people normally would want to add somone or something to glorify -- their denomination, their congregation, their religious icons, their church building, their traditions, their hymns, their bible version, their founder, their preacher, or themselves.
500 years later and here we are, disunited still. We have the different kinds of Catholics, the Anabaptists, Baptists, Adventists, Calvimists, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Pentecostals and the Charismatics and Non-denominationals among the many other branches of Christianity. And worse each one pulling down another because they claim theirs is the only way.
Let us not play this game. The original disciples played this arrogant game. The Sons of Thunders played this game. The big three, Peter, James and John played this game. And they played this against Paul and those followers who came after them. Paul mentioned some follow Apollos, some Paul, followers of men, more than Christ. This is still happening today.
The cycle continues as we need another move to return to Christ, the Only Unifier, and resolve our differences. Quo vadis? And if not now, when?
Let's read how Jesus prayed to Our Father in heaven (for all of us) again:
'I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one — I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.'
Image Credit: young-catholics.com
Scriptures is God's written Word. And it is the supreme authority. This is where many Christians disagree on, and then more arguments come about as different versions of the bible emerged.
The last sola is that all glory, all honor, all praise, and all worship is reserved for God. This is the other main point of contention, where many fall, as people normally would want to add somone or something to glorify -- their denomination, their congregation, their religious icons, their church building, their traditions, their hymns, their bible version, their founder, their preacher, or themselves.
500 years later and here we are, disunited still. We have the different kinds of Catholics, the Anabaptists, Baptists, Adventists, Calvimists, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Pentecostals and the Charismatics and Non-denominationals among the many other branches of Christianity. And worse each one pulling down another because they claim theirs is the only way.
Let us not play this game. The original disciples played this arrogant game. The Sons of Thunders played this game. The big three, Peter, James and John played this game. And they played this against Paul and those followers who came after them. Paul mentioned some follow Apollos, some Paul, followers of men, more than Christ. This is still happening today.
The cycle continues as we need another move to return to Christ, the Only Unifier, and resolve our differences. Quo vadis? And if not now, when?
Let's read how Jesus prayed to Our Father in heaven (for all of us) again:
'I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one — I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.'
No wonder the world still does not know Christ. Let us have some shame and be convicted by the Holy Spirit.
Image Credit: young-catholics.com
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