Today, in the Lord’s recovery, the most important thing is to keep the oneness of the Body of Christ. This oneness is different from being united. Being united means that a number of people are joined together. But oneness is to have only one person, who is the pneumatic Christ Himself living in us, so that we can do everything according to God and Christ and can be built up in the Body to live out the life of God’s kingdom. Romans 14:17 says: “For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” God’s kingdom is the sphere for God to exercise His authority and where God expresses His glory and accomplishes His will. It is not a matter of eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. We who live in God’s kingdom should be right and proper toward men, toward all things, and toward God. We should be without mistakes, prejudices, or deviations. In this way, we will have peace as the proper relationship between us and others and between us and God. There will be no criticisms or disputes. If we are right toward man and God, and we are at peace with all men, we will have joy in the Holy Spirit. In this way, we will have the reality of the kingdom life.
From the whole chapter of Romans 16 we can see that all the churches and all the saints on the whole earth live in one universal fellowship (vv. 1-27). When Paul wrote the book of Romans, Corinth and Rome were geographically far apart from one another. The means of communication were not advanced. Yet in Paul’s numerous greetings in verses 1 through 27 he mentioned many names. Although he was never in Rome, there were many people in Rome who knew him. This shows that although the churches then appeared in different localities, and there were saints all over the earth, they were still living in the one fellowship of the Body. In whatever nation or land the churches were found, they were still one Body. All the saints are members of this Body, and they live in the oneness of this Body of Christ.
In 16:17 Paul said: “Now I beg you, brothers, keep a watchful eye on those who make divisions and causes of falling contrary to the teaching which you have learned, and turn away from them.” In chapter fourteen, in the matter of receiving those with different doctrines and practices, Paul was very broad and flexible. But here, he resolutely charged us to turn away from those who hold dissenting opinions and who make divisions and causes of falling. Both aspects are for the maintaining of the oneness of the Body of Christ, so that we can live the proper church life.
When we live in the oneness of the Body of Christ and express this Body in the various local churches, the result will be: (1) God’s crushing of Satan under our feet (Rom. 16:20a), (2) our enjoying the grace of Christ and the peace of God (Rom. 16:20b), and (3) the giving of glory to the only wise God (Rom. 16:25-27). This is the peak of our church life. No matter how many saints or local churches there are on earth, in the various places we all give glory to the only wise God. This God is the One who has given Jesus Christ to us according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept in silence in times eternal, who also is the One who has saved us, regenerated us, and through His divine dispensing is continually sanctifying, renewing, and transforming us, and who will eventually glorify us and conform us to the image of God’s firstborn Son, bringing us into glory. Now all of us are in this Body of Christ, glorifying our God to eternity.
(A message given by Brother Witness Lee in Sib, Malaysia on October 29, 1990)
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