Angelic Conflict part 207: Human history (the Church) – 1Co 12-13; 3:1-9; 1Pe 5:5-11; Gal 5:25-26; Mat 6:1-7, 16-21; Mar 12:41-44.Title: Angelic Conflict part 207: Human history (the Church) – 1Co 12-13; 3:1-9; 1Pe 5:5-11; Gal 5:25-26; Mat 6:1-7, 16-21; Mar 12:41-44.
The diversity of the body of Christ: Paul uses the physical body as a metaphor for the various gifts in the Church.
Unity without diversity would produce uniformity, and uniformity tends to produce death. Legalistic churches lack life. Uniformity lacks life as members of the body imitate some so-called spiritual standard that has nothing to do with their own personal walk with Christ.
Life is a balance between unity and diversity. Anything that trends towards uniformity trends towards extinction.
Yet it is also true that diversity can result in chaos, which results in anarchy if it is not kept under the standard. In the body of Christ the standard is the mind of Christ, or the word of God.
Therefore, if diversity is not kept under control, it could destroy unity; and then you have anarchy. The pastor teacher is given as a worker to search out the truth, but he is also an authority figure, exercising that authority through the communication of the word of God and therefore focusing all authority on the word of God.
We shall discover in 1 Cor 13 that it is maturity from faith, to hope, and to love that balances unity and diversity. The tension in the body between individual members and the total organism can only be solved by maturity.
1 Cor 11:19 For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you.
There will be some tension in the church from time to time because everyone in it has an OSN. It is ultimately maturity in the members that solves this problem.
Using the human body as his illustration, Paul explained three important facts about diversity in the body of Christ. Why are there different members?
The body needs different functions if it is to live, grow, and serve (vv. 14-20).
1Co 12:14 For the body is not one member, but many.
1Co 12:15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body," it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body.
1Co 12:16 And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body," it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body.
1Co 12:17 If the whole body were an eye [uniformity], where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?
1Co 12:18 But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.
And some of those are there for testing your virtue love.
1Co 12:19 And if they were all one member [conformity], where would the body be?
1Co 12:20 But now there are many members, but one body.
Denominations tend towards uniformity and conformity as they are ruled by an hierarchical system.
No member should compare or contrast itself with any other member, because each one is different and each one is important. I suppose' I could learn to walk on my hands, but I prefer to use my feet even though I have not yet learned to type or to eat with my feet. The ear cannot see and the eye cannot hear, yet each organ has an important function.
Also, one member should not desire to be another, i.e. perform the ministry that another has been given (I am not hand; I am not an eye).
No member is promoted to function in their ministry until God promotes them and when God promotes, no one can prevent it.
1Pe 5:5 all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another [put on the new man], for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
1Pe 5:6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,
1Pe 5:7 casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.
1Pe 5:8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
1Pe 5:9But resist him, firm in your faith [doctrine], knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.
1Pe 5:10And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect [complete; used of mending nets], confirm [stabilize], strengthen and establish you [lay a foundation].
1Pe 5:11To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Acceptance of this true principle is a step towards maturity and it removes the conflict that arises from envy, a dangerous sin, and eliminates boasting as well as challenging one another.
Gal 5:25-26 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.
Jealousy is defined as unpleasant fear, suspicion, resentment from mistrust of another, and therefore it is and arrogant and emotional sin.
Envy is always an attitude or feeling of discontent. It is envy that regards as important another’s advantages or successes or possessions or how they have mistreated you in your imagination or in reality. Peter – “What about John?” Christ – “What is that to you? You follow Me.”
1Co 3:3 For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?
Jealousy split the nation of Israel into north and south:
Isa 11:13 Then the jealousy of Ephraim [north] will depart, And those who harass Judah [south] will be cut off; Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, And Judah will not harass Ephraim.
We all have sin natures and so at times all of us will be envious or jealous. God fully acknowledges that we are sinners and even calls us liars if we deny it. But the problem occurs when a believer entertains his jealousy and does not recover in grace by acknowledging the sin and changing his system of thinking to the word of God [from jealousy to love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control] and thus depending on the Spirit to instruct and lead.
G/HS teaches doctrine and the bel’s system of thinking is changed. When the bel acknowledges a current sin (jealousy) he must, at some point, cease the sin and then think the doctrine he knows. What that means is that he must apply the doctrine he has learned at that moment. God the HS has taught him and that teaching has caused him to recognize sin as destructive and in opposition to God and His plan. He acknowledges the sin in his life and God the HS gives him the power to apply doctrine at that moment, i.e. change his thinking from sinful or fleshly/OSN mastery to spiritual by thinking the mind of Christ. One cannot change the past and one cannot control the future, but one can determine his present system of thinking by the exercise of choice.
There are (by one count) 1050 commands in the NT. The HS teaches them to us. He teaches us the purpose of them and the reasons why they are of God and not of man or earthly. He teaches us through the whole realm of the Bible the proper motivation for choosing them and He gives the power to apply them. Yet every step of this, from the learning to the applying, depends on the believer’s volition. At the crossroads of temptation I must choose to follow them, with the Spirit’s leading. In sin, I must choose to acknowledge the sin and I must choose to cease from it and turn my thinking to the commands, with the Spirit’s leading. Some will ask, well, which one comes first, the Spirit or my choice? This question distracts from the true issue – choose life that you may live! The Spirit will lead you into all truth. The Spirit bears witness with our spirit. All who are led by the Spirit, these are the children of God. Walk in the light as children of light. In the Spirit we trust and in our volition we choose. Leave the order up to God and pick up your cross and follow Him!
We see here that the solution is to walk by the power of the Spirit by putting on the new man and laying aside the old man and making a decision to yield to the will or commands from God.
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