OUR PLEA FOR UNITY
The churches of Christ
Greet You
(Romans
To those of you who believe in Jesus
and desire
to show your love for God (John 14:15), please humbly consider this
brief and
loving PLEA for unity (Eph. 4:15). The realization of this PLEA is
possible,
but only when honest hearted people (Luke 8:15) return to the teachings
of
Jesus and His prophets and apostles for all we say and do (Col. 3:17; 2
John
9-11; Rev. 22:18-19).
This PLEA of the churches of Christ
(Rom. 16:16;
Matt. 16:18) is threefold: (1) That all men repent (change their mind
about
sin) and be saved (Luke 13:3, 5; Acts 17:30-31; 2:38; Mark 16:15-16; 1 Peter 3:20-21). (2)
That all believers in Jesus as the Son of God be first called
Christians (Acts
11:25-26; 26:28; 1 Peter 4:15-16). (3) That all Christians become
united in the
ONE body of Christ (Eph. 4:4; 1:22-23) and worship our Father in heaven
as He
directs (John 4:24; 17:17; cf.
Joshua 24:14). If this PLEA seems reasonable to you, please pray daily
with us
that the Father will bring it to pass IAW His will (James 4:15; 1 John
5:14-15).
The Lord wills for His followers to be
united as
ONE (1 Cor. 1:10); NOT divided. What a convicting power it would be if
all
people only believed and practiced exactly what the Word of God
teaches, and by
their lives showed the love, beauty and unity of TRUE Christianity (John 13:34-35; 1 Cor. 13). The effect of
that love and unity would be as Jesus prayed - the
WORLD would believe that God sent Him (John 17:20-23).
The Holy Spirit teaches that there is one
Body, one Spirit, one Hope, one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism and one
God (Eph.
4:4-6). If all believers would put aside their personal opinions and
preferences, we could be united in the above oneness found only in
Christ. All
of us would be members of that one body or church built and purchased
by Jesus (Matthew
16:18; Acts 20:28).
Unity in the spiritual body of Christ
can begin
when we all obey the same commands to be saved or born again (John
3:3-5). Our
salvation is IN Christ (2 Tim. 2:10; Acts 4:7-12; Gal. 3:27). To get into Christ a person must hear and
believe the facts that Jesus is the Son of God (John
8:24; Acts 18:8; Heb. 11:6); that
He shed His blood and died for our sins, was buried, and rose again on
the
third day (Matt. 26:28; 1 Cor. 15:1-4).
This heartfelt belief will cause a lost
soul to
confess the Lord Jesus as the Son of God (Acts 8:37; Matt. 10:32-33;
Rom.
10:9-10), repent of their sins (change their mind about any unrighteous
conduct
- Luke 13:3, 5; Acts 17:30), and submit their body to be baptized
(immersed/buried)
in water (Col. 2:12) to arise by the grace of God with all spiritual
blessings
(Eph. 1:3) as a new creature in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 3:26-27; Rom.
6:1-7).
The obedient penitent baptized believer
(Luke
6:46; Matt. 7:21-27) comes up out of that grave of water forgiven of
past sins by
the blood of Jesus (Eph. 1:7; Rev. 1:5; Acts 2:38; 22:16), saved (1 Peter 3:21; Mark 16:16)
and added by
the Lord to the church He built (Acts 2:41, 47; Matt.
16:18). Thus becoming a Christian,
he also receives the indwelling Holy Spirit as an earnest (down
payment) of his
eternal salvation (Acts 5:32; Eph. 1:13-14; 1 John 5:11-13).
We plead
with you to prayerfully consider these truths and become a part
of God's
spiritual family on earth (Eph. 3:15) by lovingly obeying the Gospel
(John
14:15; Rom. 1:16; 10:16). Please contact a congregation of the churches
of
Christ near your home ASAP (Rom. 16:16).
Please go and read: God's Only Choice