Quote:
Originally Posted by Nell
Freedom, I'd like to take your thoughts one step further...
|
Nell, you have missed the obvious. You cannot keep the unity of the Spirit by following the Law.
To keep the unity of the Spirit is by the Spirit! Trying to follow the commandments is going to result in a division. There will be disunity between those who keep 8 of the commandments and those who keep all 10, or 12, or 400 of them. We have to know what it means to live by the Spirit in order to experience genuine unity. Most Christians think unity is about agreement and commonality, but it is actually about living in the one Spirit. Living in the Spirit is the only way that a Sabbath keeper (for example) could be in unity with a Sunday worshiper. If it's based upon commandments or any other thing it won't work. If we are in the Spirit we are actually in unity with every other believer no matter where we are. The practical expression of that is what.. you go to your favorite church and I go to my favorite? No, it means we meet on the common ground of locality (if we live in the same locality, that is). Many might agree with the concept of spiritual unity by being in the Spirit. But they think they can then go or do whatever they like. What they don't see is the practical unity that should result from that and this is on the basis of locality. In other words, in the new testament they had spiritual unity and also practical unity. A person who is truly in the Spirit will seek and arrive at both spiritual and practical unity. This is because the Spirit is seeking to accomplish Jesus's prayer for oneness in John 17 in a practical way. So I would say follow the Spirit for both spiritual and practical unity, not spiritual unity by the Spirit and practical unity by the Law.