A Life in Christ by Brian Salazar - HTML preview

Chapter 4

⁷ But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. ⁸ Therefore He says:

“When He ascended on high,
He led captivity captive,
And gave gifts to men.”^[b]

⁹ (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first^[c] descended into the lower parts of the earth? ¹⁰ He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)

¹¹ And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, ¹² for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, ¹³ till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; ¹⁴ that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, ¹⁵ but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. Ephesians 4:7-16

The fellowship of the saints is a magnificent gift.  Amongst one another we find encouragement, support and the joyful exploration of the deeper places in God.  The Body of Christ joined together supplies unto itself what is needful for its own edification. 

The gifts that are imparted by God, when administrated by the Holy Spirit, bear the intention of creating unity and function.  What gifts we have, when ministered properly, will equip and build other people, not to mention the Body of Christ as a whole.  The operation of those gifts knits us together, bringing unity of faith, unity of purpose, unity of heart. 

Unity is a condition created in an environment prepared for its existence.  More than learning how to "get along", unity creates function.  Ephesians 4:16 tells us that a joint supplies into the body.  A joint is where two distinct, separate parts are bonded in such a way that it creates an operation which allows mobility.  Mobility, when exercised, produces strength.  There is not a part within the body that operates as it should independent of joints, independent of the connections it has with other parts. 

When Hebrews tells us to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, this is the idea being conveyed.  Assembling is a collection of parts put together in such a way that it creates function.  Unity is the harmonious movement of those parts in unison together, responding to the head which is Christ. 

          The church is a people, not a place.  With that said, many Christians go to church and are involved at various levels of church activity.  Though they continue this way for years, they never actually experience the enjoyment of true fellowship, of unity, of what it means to be assembled together.  Our assembly is not merely about a weekly meeting or the place in which it is held.  Being assembled together is about a people whose hearts and lives are intertwined by the thread of the person of Jesus Christ.  It is lives enriched by our souls touching one another as a normal, consistent course of life.  Such is a life in which we become gathered together in His name in small pockets and large, in planned and impromptu ways, in convenient and inconvenient times.  We become acquainted with one another's successes and failures.  We become one.  In becoming one, we operate in the

fullness of who we were made to be. 

Those joints, accompanied by the presence of unity, create function within us and those around us.  The function it creates is in accordance with the gifts and callings we have from God, not just the church programs that need someone to work them!

Allow me to digress for a moment while I speak to an unfortunate reality.  So many people remain in divided, toxic environments for years in order to fulfill a false notion of obligation as to what it means to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together.  It is a tremendous loss.  The loss of spiritual health and growth because of such misunderstanding is not only unfortunate, it is sad.  What’s more, that loss is more common than we might care to admit. 

If you were to make inquiry in many churches, the majority of the people there would acknowledge either a lack of understanding of the gifts God has given them, or an uncertainty of how to use those gifts.  While it is true that such uncertainty can be attributed at times to a lack of priority or a lack of pursuit of the call of God, another significant source of our atrophy is something else.

There is very little empowerment in the Body of Christ.  Many Christians sit idly by, not because of a lack of desire to walk out what God has put in them, but a lack of opportunity.  Many, if not all gifts, are designed to function through the unity of the Body of Christ.  Most of those gifts will never come to fruition because of religious systems that are in place which give preeminence to a few so they may build their own kingdoms. 

The Body is meant to function exactly as that- a body.  When we restrict ourselves to church environments that function in ways other than that, it restricts the full measure in which God is able to use us to benefit and bless other people.

Having tasted the heavenly gift, the priorities of the world take on a different meaning.  The drive to further excel in the worlds methods, to measure success by wealth, to acquiesce to human pressures to perform are, in part, the thorns that choke out the word.  Those pressures to perform somehow find their way into our communion with God and one another.  The same efforts to excel become the driving force behind our efforts.  The same frustrations and discontentment spiritually are the inevitable result.  Do it the world's way, you will get the world's fruit.  These pressures to perform have become ingrained in the majority of our church culture.

In addressing these things, and the divisions which result from them, it is in no way my intent to condemn or lay accusation against those who are children of God, but find themselves subject to such systems.  What I know to be true is that myriads of people abide there, with the deepest longings for renewal in their spirit, refreshing in their bones, but they never find it because they are bound with the obligations of manmade tradition. 

Our true and singular source of strength is the tangible presence of the person of God communing with the deepest part of our being.  In those depths, the fires of what we call true revival are stoked.  The more we find our satisfaction solely in Christ, all the more can we distinguish the declaration of demise scrawled upon the decaying walls of this world.

Let us not expect a man, even a Godly man, to bring revival to us.  Only the Spirit of God can ignite an eternal flame which ever burns.  Our God truly is a consuming fire.  Why would we want to be spoon fed from another that which we may feast freely of from our Father's table?

We must not look to one another, as human beings, for strength.  Rather, we must look to God in each member, strengthening us all, uniting us all, making us one.  My strength is not my brother, it is Christ in my brother.  If my brother gives to me anything other than Christ, he gives me nothing. 

That does not suggest a lack of need for one another- quite the opposite.  Christ who is in us, will draw us together in ways we cannot even conceive apart from Him.  Furthermore, it is His will and intention to do so.  What His intention is not, is for us to look to other people for what can only be found in Him.  Psalm 118:8 says, “It is better to trust in The Lord than to put confidence in man.”  This verse is reportedly the very center of the Bible.  The message it bears is plain and straightforward.  You can trust God or you can trust man, but you cannot do both. 

Many of us carry the testimony of a miracle God has done in our life, our family or our home.  We can also state in many of the times of great desperation which led up to that miracle, God helped us when man could not.  Does that mean God does not use the hand of others to bring aid to people?  Of course, it does not.  What it means is that even those things are sourced in Him.  With that in mind, if the center of our concern is what other people think of us, of our Lord, or of His word, then we have no center at all.

When our heart is true, we do not seek the honor of God for the sake of possessing the honor before men.  Instead, we seek the honor for the sake of honoring the giver of all good things.  Do not seek to be honored among men as though exaltation in their eyes and the pride of it mean anything.  Honor from men is nothing, a fleeting wind that brushes across your face, passes by and is gone.

It is a sorrowful thing to see scores of Believers in atrophy, at least in part, because church leadership or church culture hangs chains of tradition on their necks, then ridicules them because they cannot walk under the weight of bondage.  It is not unity to be in harmony with division.  It is not unity to compromise with a lie.  Some things are worth standing up for.  Some things that we stand for will demand of us that we stand against other things.  The harsh truth is that you will never remove division from the church world in this age.  But, you can remove yourself from division and into unity.

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, ² with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, ³ endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you  all.  Ephesians 4:1-6

Unity is a reflection of the nature of God being produced from within us by His Spirit. It is not sheer coincidence that many of the fruit of the Spirit identified in Galatians 5 are also listed in this passage.  A call to unity goes beyond a pitiful human effort to simply get along.  Unity is the ultimate demonstration of the oneness of God being produced in us corporately.  Unity can be sourced only in God, thus the reason the scripture says "the unity of The Spirit."  That unity is preserved by the overwhelming majesty of His peace that fashions two together and makes them one.  Peace is a bond. 

There is no separation in God.  Within Him, there is not a conflicting purpose, thought or idea between Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Everything that God has ever spoken, thought or done has issued forth from a constant, unalterable harmony that is at the core of His nature.  So then, unity amongst us is that same harmony making many into one- one functioning body.  His peace knits us together in heart and in mind without removing the distinction or the uniqueness of what each of us was created to be.  In fact, the fullness of your gift can only arrive at its highest potential as a result of being joined together in unity. 

If unity is God producing the oneness that is inherent to His nature within us corporately, what then is division? 

¹¹ For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you. ¹² Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” ¹³ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 1 Corinthians 1:10-13

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. ² I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; ³ for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? ⁴ For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?  1 Corinthians 3:1-4

The reason for the division that existed within the Corinthian church was quite clear.  At the heart of it were people that confessed Christ, but lived in and were governed by their carnality.  Their perceptions were governed solely by their natural senses, their fleshly desires.  As such, they were incapable of receiving spiritual things. 

When people conduct themselves in such a way, governed by natural desires and producing the grievous works of the flesh, the inevitable result will always be division.  Within the Corinthian church, they separated themselves into sects based upon which teacher they gave the greater credence to. 

The letter of First Corinthians was written for the purpose of addressing and correcting the complicated, significant problems within that church.  As a spiritual father to them, exercising love and concern, Paul found it necessary to address first, and with the greatest adamancy, the division that existed amongst them.  It is a problem that has never gone away. 

We see the replication of the division of the Corinthian church to this day.  The name we ascribe to it is “denominations”.  A denomination is a group that has separated itself, set itself apart, or isolated itself.  Often they are comprised of member churches which are obligated to adherence of whatever standard or bylaws that particular denomination espouses.  Most, if not all of those denominations, were created in some way by contentions or splits that happened within the church. 

Regardless of the name, those are organizations that are founded on or exist because of division. 

Scripture says "a little leaven, leavens the whole lump."  You cannot be immersed in an organization founded on division, and division not permeate into every aspect of what it becomes and everyone who touches it.  Being founded on division, it is subsequently founded on carnality.  As such, it will appeal to and provoke carnality, continually pressuring those within it to make a choice between it and unity, between it and the truth, between it and some of the deepest convictions of your heart. 

Let me be clear about something else- division does not only haunt the halls of denominational churches.  It is a bitter tare that can be found growing anywhere- denominational churches, non-denominational churches, home churches.  The results will be the same in that it will force someone to choose between it and one another. 

In order to make a tree into a useful bench, you must first take it out of the place where it grows and kill it.  While that bench may serve you well in providing something beautiful and comfortable for your purposes, it will never again produce fruit.  Carnal churches, filled with division, turn people into benches.  Their efforts are concentrated on the fulfillment of their fleshly, self seeking desire.  As a consequence, they take the people at their disposal and fashion them into instruments that suit their own design.  In so doing, they limit, if not all together prohibit true fruitfulness and function in the body of Christ. 

          One of the ways you can recognize such motivations is their focus.  Their drive often centers around how many people can they get into the seats and of those people that are in the seats, how many can be convinced to give regularly into the offering basket.

          Division has other faces as well.  Every carnal doctrine appeals to carnality.  It often stirs a sense of superiority over other believers, and appeals to ambitions fueled by self interest and pride.  Anyone who has been a Christian for any length of time has witnessed some variant of a message proclaiming a new move of God.  It is often presented as new revelation, superior methods, a godlier leader, or similar things.  These people gather a following by compulsion, insisting that others get on board or be left behind because they are declaring what God is really doing in the earth today.  That type of poison has been at the heart of a great deal of the division that has plagued us.  Carnal men build their own kingdoms to gather tribute to themselves. 

          The message of the gospel and the intent of God within that message, which is Christ in you, are not hidden mysteries.  They are clearly revealed.  What it reveals is plainly communicated and God is not withholding information. 

Therefore, when someone brings to your ears the assertion that they posses hidden, secret knowledge- special knowledge- be careful!  Such declarations should raise the warning flag as high on the mast as it can fly.  Special knowledge, as it were, is the lie by which Satan deceived Adam and Eve and is a tool he uses to this day. 

          All of these sources of division are tools used by the enemy or taken up by men which are meant to appeal to carnality.  Thus, they become a source of poison amongst us.  Consider what the scripture says:

Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? ² You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. ³ You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. ⁴ Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. (James 4:1-4)

What James makes clear to us is that every war ever waged, whether it was nations rising against each other, personal disputes amongst neighbors, or divisions within the church, was provoked by desires for pleasure within the heart of one or more parties involved. 

Pleasure, as used in this verse, is an interesting word in the Greek.  This word is where we get the English word "hedonism."  Hedonism is a manner of life in which the thoughts, actions and motives revolve around a person's own self gratification.  In other words, they seek fulfillment in life by satisfying whatever desires for pleasure they have.  That desire is not limited to sexual pleasures, but would include desires for power, wealth, frivolity or anything else that the heart may wish to obtain.  For such people, the apprehension of those things becomes the meaning of life in a sense.  Everything revolves around fulfilling those desires. 

Something that James tells us is that hedonism, desires for pleasure, is one of the reasons we ask for things from God and do not receive.  The motivation for our request is a desire to fulfill those pleasures.  We want God to broker our hedonism. 

Those same desires are at the heart of every contention that rages amongst us and every division between us.  Therefore, it could be understood that unity begins in the heart of each member of the Body of Christ being shaped by, and bearing the fruit of our God.

In drawing attention to these things, the attempt is by no means an effort to patronize you with some empty doctrine which gives you two easy steps to unity, wrapped in a bow, and presented for your enjoyment.  The reasons for division boil down to the carnality of man and the source of unity being the oneness of God.  How deep a well that is to drink from?!

To be drawn into unity, we must be drawn out of division if that i