One

We live in a world made with many different peoples, languages and cultures. Among these people are different religions. The diversities are too great to fathom the idea of one people. Trying to have one righteous people for the entire world is even more difficult to believe, much less seem possible.

When Apostle Paul wrote unto Corinth with their diverse peoples and cultures, he tried to define the idea of all being one in Christ. Some accepted the notion; others did not. People today cannot fully accept the fact all men are created equal and in the image of Almighty God.

To the Jews in Corinth, they were different from the Gentiles. The Gentiles must adhere to the teachings of the Jews to become Christians. The Jews held the hand of God and were the chosen people. Did this make them always saved? Did they have a choice?

According to Paul, they were not always saved just because they were born a Jew. Their choice to be righteous before Almighty God and their required lifestyle of being found righteous, without severe punishment, was taken away. Being born a Jew in the Hebrew nation set their course for life without a choice. However, they were obligated to live according to God’s law or suffer severe punishment. That punishment was death; physical and spiritual death–separation from God. God would turn his face from them for extended periods of time. We can see this situation for the Jews in Paul’s discourse starting in chapter 10.

1 Cor. 10:1-4. 10 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

Apostle Paul, a Jew, speaking to the Jews at Corinth, spoke of their forefathers–the sons of Jacob (Israel). They were made to be ONE. One family of God. God took all of them and made them live ‘under the cloud’. They had one government–God’s. They were baptized into the body–Law of Moses–having ‘all passed through the sea’. They had no choice. They were made one regardless of their choice. They ‘did all eat the same spiritual meat; 4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink’. No wonder they felt they were supremacists over every other peoples and nations. They belonged to God and could never fall from His grace. (so they thought and perhaps still think today) If anyone wants to belong to God, the individual must do everything the Jews say to do, do as they sometimes do and never falter from these guidelines. The idea of becoming one was to be under their terms; not necessarily the terms of God.

Is that not the way people act and do today in religious realms? This is the very reason Paul is writing to Corinth concerning divisions in the assemblies of God. Today, Islamists will not tolerate Christians nor Jews; these religious groups must be annihilated from the face of the earth. Their immoralities and filthinesses are abominations unto their religion and require the punishment of death. Humans of Christian religious sects, also, act similarly–all new converts must act and do as the leaders say, not as they do. Some Christian groups will not allow different nationalities or peoples who speak a different language enter into their religion; much less their assemblies. Divisions still exist.

Being this letter from Apostle Paul unto Corinth is about divisions in the assemblies of God, all mankind needs to examine themselves concerning what Apostle Paul is writing because it applies to all peoples worldwide today. To be found in the body of Christ, the son of Almighty God, we all must become one in mind and judgment. 1 Cor. 1:10. 10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. It is sad how often we forget.

To become ONE, mankind must be joined together with Jesus Christ, not contrary to him.

Let us look at some things which are designed to make us ONE. When the forefathers passed through the sea and were baptized into Moses, God made them one in Him and His son Jesus. When a person today is baptized, they become ONE in Christ and what do they do similarly to the forefathers? [A]ll eat the same spiritual meat; … all drink the same spiritual drink: for [we all drink} of that spiritual Rock, … that Rock [is] Christ. 1 Cor. 10:3-4. The Sacraments of the bread and the fruit of the vine are proof of the eating and drinking of The Rock–Jesus.