The complementary church

As with my last Quay County Sun column on July 19, this article is based on readings with complementary themes from books used for my daily devotion.

One article was titled “The Holy Spirit: The Power of the Highest,” from “365 Ways to Know God” (Elmer Towns, Regal Books, 2004), and the other was from “The Best of the Bible” (Tyndale House Publishers, 1996) titled “Daily Life in the Early Church.” I’ve added some of my thoughts.

The Towns article, based on Luke 1:35, emphasized that God is the highest authority/power. However, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are separate but equal and complementary entities of the Trinity (John 10:30-38; 14:6-10; Galatians 3:26-29; 4:6-7; Colossians 2:9-12; 1 Corinthians 12:12-13; 2 Corinthians 3:2). All three entities are active in our recreation in God’s image through salvation, and they’ve been unified from eternity, even collaborating in the creation of the world (Matthew 28:16-20; 2 Corinthians 5:14-18; Colossians 3:9-11; 1:15-20; Genesis 1:1-2, 26, 31). Note the plural pronoun in Genesis 1:26 (“Let us make man in our own image”) but a singular pronoun in Genesis 1:31 (“God saw all that he had made”).

While we might be idolatrous, there’s only one God we can obey for freedom from sin’s consequences and eternal life (Exodus 20:1-6; Isaiah 42:5-9; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Colossians 3:5; Romans 3:23; 6:3-23). Upon baptism, God’s Holy Spirit indwells us with power of the Most High to live the godly life that understands and accomplishes his will with true contentment without idolatrous greed or envy (Acts 2:38-39; 5:32; 2 Peter 1:3-11; Ephesians 1:3-14; 1 Timothy 6:6-12).

Because God’s Spirit indwells each Christian, he also indwells the local body of believers and the church worldwide (Ephesians 2:11-22; 3:14-21). After reading the Towns article that day, “The Best of the Bible” article was about the acts of the Holy Spirit in the early church — particularly, how the believers were unified in heart and mind and how the beggar, who was expecting a temporary blessing, received a greater, long-lasting blessing (Acts 2:41-3:11; 4:32-33).

We should pattern our activities after that church because Jesus only built one church upon the rock of Peter’s confession that Jesus was God’s Son, and no new teaching has been given since that first century (Matthew 16:16-18; John 17:20-23; Ephesians 4:1-6; Jude 1:3; 1 Peter 1:22-25; 1 Corinthians 1:10; 4:17; 11:1). Those indwelt by the Spirit are to have the mind of Christ and Jesus wasn’t schizophrenic as indicated by today’s division/denominations (1 Corinthians 2:9-16).

When we follow the first-century church’s example and stand for the once for all delivered Apostolic doctrine from God, rather than the doctrines of men, we’ll answer Jesus’ prayer for unity and be blessed, as will the world (1 Corinthians 1:11-13; James 1:21-25; 3;13-18; 1 Corinthians 14:33; 2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Let’s have an honest, Bible-based conversation with noble and good hearts to bring about Christian unity as a complementary church rather than continuing as a divided church (Luke 8:4-15; Acts 17:11; Ephesians 4:11-16)!

Leonard Lauriault is a member of the Church of Christ in Logan who writes about faith for the Quay County Sun. Contact him at [email protected]