“Having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.” [1]
Lone-Ranger Christianity has no relationship to biblical Faith. God’s purpose is to build His church—a vibrant, world-encircling community of Faith. This is so much more than a matter of just saving individuals and then leaving them to their own devices until they die. God is creating a Family of redeemed people who know they belong together. These are redeemed people who realise they need one another if they are ever to fulfil the will of their Master and Saviour. Some who are numbered among the professed saints of God say they love the Lord, but they somehow fail to honour the local church—they don’t believe that belonging to the local congregation is necessary. How can such individuals be in fellowship with the One who “loved the church, and gave Himself for her” [see EPHESIANS 5:25]?
Only in healthy interdependence on each other, in a fellowship where love is actively lived out, can we realise the ideal that is presented in EPHESIANS 4:13, “…until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” The new life we who are the redeemed now have in Jesus Christ must never become a private matter to be lived out in isolation.
I acknowledge that our faith does have its solitary aspects. No one can be saved for another. Each individual must individually turn to Christ in order to be saved. People are saved one at a time, not in groups. Saving faith is personal faith. But there is a corporate element in our faith. The church of our Lord is the body of Christ, and it is a family in which we are fellow-citizens. He is the head and we are the members. We cannot belong to Christ without belonging to his people as well. We cannot be properly related to each other without being properly related to God; but we cannot be properly related to God without being properly related to each other.
There is no such thing as genuine fellowship of believers among themselves apart from their individual fellowship with God. And there is no genuine fellowship with God that does not produce a living fellowship with other believers. A vital part of our life with the Lord is our life with each other. The reason the apostle Paul warned the Ephesians to put away lying and to speak the truth is because “we are members one of another” [see EPHESIANS 4:25]. We who are saved are called to invest our lives in one another. This is why we are gifted as we are, because only in community with others can we reflect the Body of Christ.
Listen to the Word on this issue. “There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” [1 CORINTHIANS 12:4-7].
We who are saved share one Spirit, as stated when Paul writes, “Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body” [1 CORINTHIANS 12:12-13a].
Understanding the impact of the Spirit’s work in uniting the saints leads to the rational conclusion that there is no private sin, no isolated wrong. Sin for a Christian always has an impact on others—family, friends, church. A lie is a sin against the fellowship of believers, a hurt inflicted upon others with whom we share the faith. The idea of fellowship, of sharing life as members of one family, dominates the New Testament teachings about congregational life. Any thought of enjoying salvation in isolation from other Christians is foreign to the New Testament. Christian fellowship moves us toward mature stature of His fullness and is the earthly counterpart and foretaste of the eternal fellowship that is promised us in heaven.
In the text before us, and which I intend to explore with you in this hour, we witness the Apostle as he stresses the steps leading to unity. And this is not an ersatz unity founded on some earthly commonality; rather, it is a genuine oneness that only those sharing the life of the Risen Son of God can know. Dear people, the unity we share as followers of the Risen Son of God, as worshippers of True and Living God, is real.
PREPARING FOR UNITY — “Having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another” [EPHESIANS 4:25]. The relationship of the saints of the Most High is grounded in truth. This should not be surprising since we know, “God is truthful” [see JOHN 3:33 NET BIBLE 2nd]. We were born in truth to the God of Truth; that is, we who are redeemed are born from above and into the True God.
We had visitors to our services during my holidays. These visitors arrived during one of the Sundays when we observe our agape, our potluck meal. During the meal, the couple spoke to one of our deacons, asking if we were all family. When our deacon assured them that we were quite a diverse congregation, represented by differing genealogies, the couple commented that they were amazed by the warmth and acceptance they witnessed as you, the redeemed people of God, interacted in love.
I was made aware of that conversation weeks later. Had the couple spoken to me, I would have been tempted to tell them that the Spirit of God was always working so that the people put away falsehood, and they thus spoke the truth with one another. As Christ’s redeemed people, we walk in truth. I would have been inclined to tell our guests that the Spirit was teaching us to be members one of another. Any one of us could have referred that couple to the text before us this day, telling them that we were learning to be real with one another.
For years, when we were identified with this dying world, we wore masks. We were uncomfortable with allowing anyone to see us as we actually are. We wanted people to think we were strong, without flaws. Oh, we might say something along the lines of, “Nobody is perfect;” but we did not want anyone to see our imperfections. We didn’t speak openly of our struggles, or if we did speak of our frailties we attempted to excuse or minimise our failings. We wanted people to think well of us, and thus we refused to admit to any sinful proclivity. Coming into the Faith of Christ the Lord and having been born from above, we are learning to confess our sins to one another so that we can pray for one another [see JAMES 5:16]. We are learning to strip away the masks we once wore when we were part of those groping about in the darkened world. We no longer need those masks because we are donning the robes of light that we are given through the grace of our Lord. We are learning to love one another deeply from the heart.
I am not advocating that we are obligated to participate in the cult of spiritual nudity as we rush into dumping every past sin on the floor at first meeting, but we must not allow ourselves to attempt to wear the masks with which we once attempted to hide our brokenness. We must practise honesty, especially with one another. Within the church—and I’m speaking of the community of faith, not the building we happen to meet in at the moment—we must be honest, speaking the truth in love. Some actions that are presented as compassionate are grossly dishonest. Whatever can I mean by such a statement?
The denizens of this darkened world are masters of self-deception; and the tragedy for the redeemed people of God is that we have too often been brain-washed into adopting the attitude of the world in our own conduct. In our contemporary world, we transform negligence and compassion. The world refuses to hold evil acts accountable and calls the excusing of evil “compassion.” There are people that are deranged—I am confident that many of these wicked individuals are demon possessed.
In Chicago this past week, a man who had been previously arrested more than forty-nine times, accumulating at least ten felony convictions, including convictions for arson, filled a plastic bottle with gasoline and carried that volatile liquid onto a train. There, this man poured the gasoline onto the head of a young woman before lighting her on fire and watching her burn. [2]
What this man did was reminiscent of a similar crime in which was woman was set ablaze on the subway in New York City late last year. [3] Other gruesome murders or assaults saw a man in Chicago stab a young woman [4] and also saw a woman who had fled Ukraine to find a new life in Charlotte, North Carolina stabbed and left to die. [5]
Each of these murders and assaults had in common the revelation that the assailant had been arrested for violent crimes multiple times only to be released by judges. In each instance the release was presented as an act of compassion. The men were criminals with extensive records stretching far into the past. Rather than holding criminals to account for their crimes, modern jurisprudence seeks to “understand” the hardships the evil person may have experienced, before excusing the evil behaviour because the jurist believes the wicked person will do better.
The examples I cited were from the United States; I listed them because they were recent, egregious, and horrifying. However, we have our own horrifying stories here in Canada—in fact, ours are too many to list. [6] At the root of these exercises in futility are what are presented as acts of compassion. Criminals are excused because of what is presumed to be a history of systemic social evil. Almost without exception the criminals released appear to be members of either an ethnic minority, a religious minority, or a linguistic minority; their supposed disadvantage outweighs the pain experienced by the victim. Liberal society excuses the evil, casting the judicial decision to free the criminal as an act to rectify a supposed social injustice.
These actions are resulting in a dissolution of western society! And the horrible truth is that the actions of society at large were first perpetuated and now embraced by the churches of our Lord. Liberal churchmen began to excuse sin decades ago. Refusal to worship Christ as the Son of God was justified by appealing to human reason. Rejection of the Bible as the Word of God was presented as a necessary concession to science. Sinful behaviour was excused since people were not created but simply popped into existence. (After all, scientists long ago decided that given enough time, life can come from the slime of the swamp—and science can never be wrong.) Christians saw preachers as experts and ceased allowing the Spirit of Christ to speak through the Word He had given. What became the novel standard adopted among the churches oozed into society, resulting in the confusion witnessed throughout society today.
In Canada, as is true throughout the western world, refugees were received without any encouragement that they should adopt Canadian values. We who were Canadians were expected to adapt to their values instead of them adopting the values that made us one of the premier western democracies. “Asylum-seekers,” so-called, are disproportionately males of the age when they should be in the military of the nation they supposedly fled. Within a startlingly brief period these “asylum-seekers” begin to create separate enclaves that mirror the societies from which they fled. In many instances, not even police are welcome to patrol these enclaves.
Again, liberal churches led the way in welcoming these people into the nation, teaching their own parishioners that it was not necessary for the “asylum-seekers” to adapt to the host nation, but that the people welcoming them were obligated to adapt to the expectations of those coming into the nation. What could go wrong?
God was quite clear in instructing His people not to adopt the way of wicked societies. He warned, “When my angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I blot them out, you shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them, nor do as they do, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in pieces. You shall serve the LORD your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you” [EXODUS 23:23-25].
Israel was plainly cautioned, “You shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the LORD your God” [LEVITICUS 18:3-4].
Elsewhere, the LORD instructed His people, “If you forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. Like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God” [DEUTERONOMY 8:19-20].
Self-deception, living a life that embraces falsehoods, leads to disaster. A society cannot long continue when it is built on falsehoods—falsehood dishonours God Who is truth and such deliberate lies ensure that there will be no foundation on which to build for the future. What is true in society is true for the fellowship of the faithful. Those churches that have been erected on the shifting sands of human speculation cannot account for the lack of interest from the world in which they exist. The churches that have embraced truth, avidly pursuing God’s will as revealed in His Word, continue alive and lively.
As I drafted the thoughts just presented, my mind turned to the warning Jesus presented as Doctor Luke recorded what was said. “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great” [LUKE 6:46-49].
Societies, as is true for churches and denominations, and as is also true for the lives of individuals, must be established on a firm foundation to have any hope of enduring. When life is built on lies, there is no prospect of enduring. And it seems as if much of modern society is built on falsehood. Don’t neglect the fact that long before our culture moved to adopt the gossamer lie that we use as a foundation, the churches had built their existence on falsehood.
I encourage all who hear my voice and especially you who are known by the True and Living God, set aside any efforts to don a masque to hide your brokenness so that you may be fully restored by the God Who heals our brokenness. Where we have grown ragged and uneven, our Master will make us smooth and ensure that our rough edges will be honed to a brilliant polish. Where we are incapable, He will make us capable. Where we are dull, He will sharpen our intellect and our abilities.
As I read the admonition, my mind turns to the words penned by an unknown writer who urged the people of God, “Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” [HEBREWS 12:1-2]. The journey to unity begins as we put away falsehood. To all who walk in the way with the Master, I encourage you to ensure that you have taken the first step—determine that you will live openly and honestly in the midst of a world darkened by the miasma of sin that has contaminated the entire creation.
IMPLEMENTING UNITY — “Having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another” [EPHESIANS 4:25]. Having put away falsehood—and that is our responsibility as followers of the Risen Saviour, we must practise speaking the truth with our neighbour. God never removes an aspect of our life without replacing what was stripped away with something of eternal worth, something that is truly valuable. Whatever is identified as associated with falsehood must be replaced with truth. And this is especially true when thinking of our interactions with fellow saints.
Practising truthfulness is strictly necessary for achieving unity. I’m focused on seeking unity in the church, though the principle given will be necessary for unity in the family as well as unity in a given society. Any relationship must be built on truth, or it is doomed to failure. Among the faithful, within the Faith of Christ the Lord, we who are redeemed have been brought into a living relationship with God Who is truth. Speaking through the court prophet Isaiah, the Lord GOD pronounces a curse on those who rebel against Him, choosing to live as though their imaginations are superior to His Word. Then, the prophet writes,
“You shall leave your name to my chosen for a curse,
and the Lord GOD will put you to death,
but his servants he will call by another name,
so that he who blesses himself in the land
shall bless himself by the God of truth,
and he who takes an oath in the land
shall swear by the God of truth;
because the former troubles are forgotten
and are hidden from my eyes.”
[ISAIAH 65:15-16]
Isaiah identifies the Lord GOD as the God of truth—and that is Who He is. Perhaps you will recall Jesus’ interaction with religious leaders on one occasion. The Master had asserted, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” [JOHN 8:12].
His words got pushback from the Pharisees; they claimed his words were untrue. Patiently, the Master responded to the slanderous accusation these religious leaders were making, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me” [JOHN 8:14-18].
There followed an even more strongly worded refusal to accept what Jesus was saying. At this point, Jesus focused on the relationship He had enjoyed with the Father, stating how the Father was truth. His words broke the religious leaders.
Jesus testified, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come… You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins” [JOHN 8:21, 23-24].
What Jesus said caught the attention of these Pharisees because they now asked, “Who are you” [JOHN 8:25a]?
Jesus patiently explained, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him” [JOHN 8:25b]. Did you catch what Jesus said about the Father? Jesus said that the One Who sent Him, that is God the Father, is true.
Paul seizes on this aspect of God’s character when he writes, “What advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written,
‘That you may be justified in your words,
and prevail when you are judged.’”
[ROMANS 3:1-4]
Indeed! God is true, though the vast majority of mankind speak of God as though He is a liar.
Now here is the point of this excursus: God is true and those who are twice born are likewise born in truth. Therefore, the people of God are to be true in their lives as they are in their speech. Our interactions with one another are to reflect the truth in which we were born. What is often overlooked, or even ignored, when we advocate for speaking the truth with our neighbour, is that we are obligated by God Who is true to avoid withholding service toward our fellow Christians. We are responsible to invest ourselves in one another.
I know you are aware of the instructions for how we are to minister to one another. And you, when you were born into the Family of God, were gifted with a gift, or with gifts, that were given by the Spirit of God. The gift(s) you hold were not entrusted to you for your benefit. Rather, the Holy Spirit specifically chose you to receive the gift(s) you received for the benefit of the Body. Then, the Spirit of Christ appointed you to the congregation in which you were prepared to serve and build. There, you are to invest your ministry in others.
I know you are well acquainted with the gifts that are listed in the First Corinthian Letter. What may be overlooked is the repeated emphasis on why gifts are given. After a brief introduction, Paul writes, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone” [1 CORINTHIANS 12:4-6]. At this point it is essential that you take especial note of the verse that follows—it is critical for our understanding of what God is doing. Paul has written, “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” [1 CORINTHIANS 12:4-7]. The gift(s) you hold were given “for the common good.” What you have was given for the benefit of all, and not for you alone.
Hold in mind that each believer is gifted and appointed to the place where that saint is to serve. We read, “All [followers of Christ] are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills” [1 CORINTHIANS 12:11]. And again we read, “God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose” [1 CORINTHIANS 12:18]. You are essential not incidental to the life of the Body.
This is the reason we read elsewhere, “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift” [EPHESIANS 4:4-7]. I need you; and you need me. Only together can we anticipate becoming one in the Faith of Christ the Lord. Only as we share our lives can we hope to build up the Body, just as we read when Paul reminds us as worshippers of the Christ, “What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation” [1 CORINTHIANS 14:26a]. Then, the essential admonition, “Let all things be done for building up” [1 CORINTHIANS 14:26b].
Flowing out of this service to one another are the reciprocal commands that are given throughout the Letters drafted by the Apostles. I would not wish to be tedious in listing the various reciprocal commands, but they are critical to our advance in the Faith. Therefore, I believe it beneficial to remind you of these excellent, though tragically neglected, commands.
• Love one another [ROMANS 12:10a; 1 PETER 4:8; 1 JOHN 3:11, 23; 4:7, 11, 12; 2 JOHN 5];
• Outdo one another in showing honour [ROMANS 12:10b];
• Live in harmony with one another [ROMANS 12:16; 15:5];
• Don’t pass judgement on one another [ROMANS 14:13; cf. JAMES 4:11; 5:9];
• Welcome one another [ROMANS 15:7];
• Greet one another [ROMANS 16:16; 1 CORINTHIANS 16:20; 2 CORINTHIANS 13:12; 1 PETER 5:14];
• Comfort one another [2 CORINTHIANS 13:11];
• Serve one another [GALATIANS 5:13];
• Put up with one another in love [EPHESIANS 4:2 NET Bible 2nd; COLOSSIANS 3:13];
• Be kind to one another [EPHESIANS 4:32a];
• Forgive one another [EPHESIANS 4:32b];
• Submit to one another [EPHESIANS 5:21];
• Teach and admonish one another [COLOSSIANS 3:16];
• Encourage one another [1 THESSALONIANS 4:18; 5:11; HEBREWS 10:25];
• Build one another up [1 THESSALONIANS 5:11];
• Do good to one another [1 THESSALONIANS 5:15];
• Exhort one another [HEBREWS 3:13];
• Confess your sins to one another [JAMES 5:16a];
• Pray for one another [JAMES 5:16b];
• Show hospitality to one another [1 PETER 4:9];
• Serve one another [1 PETER 4:10].
Our life as a congregation, as is also true of our individual lives as the redeemed people of God, is to be marked by openness, by honesty, by a refusal to wear the disguises we once wore when we were in the world. No one should ever allow herself or himself to take advantage of another through knowledge of the brokenness of a brother or a sister.
Surely you will remember the admonition given by the Apostle as he writes the Salonica congregation: “This is God’s will: that you become holy, that you keep away from sexual immorality, that each of you know how to possess his own body in holiness and honor, not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God. In this matter no one should violate the rights of his brother or take advantage of him, because the Lord is the avenger in all these cases, as we also told you earlier and warned you solemnly. For God did not call us to impurity but in holiness. Consequently the one who rejects this is not rejecting human authority but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you” [1 THESSALONIANS 4:3-8 NET BIBLE 2nd].
I am well aware that Paul was speaking of the possibility that a follower of Christ might surrender to sexual immorality, but it seems obvious to me that the principle is far broader than that singular application. The Apostle begins this portion of the missive with the affirmation that God’s will for us is holiness, and especially it is the will of God that we should conduct ourselves as holy and honourable as we walk before the world. We are to live so that we are distinguished from the pagans among whom we live and with whom we were once identified. Accordingly, we are assured that the Lord is an avenger if we should attempt to take advantage of our brother. This warning flows from the knowledge that we were called in holiness.
Don’t ever forget where we were and what we were when Christ found us. We were each ruined sinners when Christ found us, and He did not treat us as we deserved. Rather, He accepted us, forgave our sin, and since that time He has been building us up by giving us His Spirit. Because we are in Him, we seek to build one another and glorify Him in all things. We seek unity; we turn from sin because we know there is no private sin.
UNITY ACHIEVED — “Having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another” [EPHESIANS 4:25]. Here we are given the secret detailing what ensures a vibrant, growing congregation: “We are members one of another.” To be sure, there is a spiritual connection between all who are twice born followers of the Risen Son of God. But we often miss the truth that there is an organic connection between those same followers of the Son of God. To be a follower of the Lord of Glory without a willingness to openly identify with His people would have been strange, to say the least. A Christian that remained aloof from openly uniting with the local congregation would have been at best an aberration; that one would have been viewed with a healthy measure of suspicion.
It does not do to claim to be a member of “the universal church” while holding oneself from union with the local congregation. I’m reminded of the story Dr. R. G. Lee tells of a woman who came to him stating that she wanted to be part of the choir of the Bellevue congregation. When Dr. Lee asked her if she was a member of the church, it was a congregation of well over fifteen thousand members, she casually responded, “Oh, I’m a member of the universal church.” Dr. Lee immediately responded, “Fine, go join their choir.”
Where does the universal church meet? Who are the elders of that assembly? Who serves as the treasurer of the congregation? I acknowledge that we are taught to anticipate the revelation of a prospective church that is met at Jesus’ feet. We see that coming church that is yet hidden from our eyes when it is revealed in the Word when an unknown writer informs us, “You have not come to something that can be touched, to a burning fire and darkness and gloom and a whirlwind and the blast of a trumpet and a voice uttering words such that those who heard begged to hear no more. For they could not bear what was commanded: ‘If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.’ In fact, the scene was so terrifying that Moses said, ‘I shudder with fear.’ But you have come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the assembly and congregation of the firstborn, who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous, who have been made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks of something better than Abel’s does” [HEBREWS 12:18-24 NET BIBLE 2nd].
In this present age, all who come to faith in the Risen Saviour are quickly and openly to identify with Him in baptism. After His resurrection, Jesus commanded His disciples, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” [MATTHEW 28:19-20].
We who follow the Master are to be busy discipling others so that the number of disciples is always growing. Those who are discipled are to identify as followers of the Christ, being immersed as a sign of acceptance that the old nature is dead and through faith they are made new in Christ. Then, these newly identified followers are to be baptised. That is what was witnessed on that glorious day of Pentecost when the Spirit of Christ was poured out. In Doctor Luke’s account of the advance of the Faith, he has written. As he proclaimed the message of Christ, Peter attested, “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” [ACTS 2:36].
Here was the impact of his message. “Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’ And Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.’ And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, ‘Save yourselves from this crooked generation” [ACTS 2:37-40].
Look carefully at the next verse: “So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls” [ACTS 2:41]. To what were the three thousand souls added? The obvious answer is that they were added to the New Beginnings Baptist Church of Jerusalem! They were added to the nascent congregation that Jesus had just energised through pouring out His Spirit.
This expanding congregation continued growing. The new saints were instructed in the Faith, sharing in the Communion Meal and participating in the prayers. They joined in worship, praising God and ministering in the city [see ACTS 2:42-47a]. Note the conclusion of ACTS 2:47: “The Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”
Someone was keeping track of the Christians. Those who embraced the Faith were added to the number of whatever entity was identified with the followers of the Son of God meeting in Jerusalem. When at last we learn of the intense assault against the Faith that was fueled by the hatred of Saul of Tarsus, we read, “There arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem” [ACTS 8:1b]. Now we see that the entity into which all the newly minted worshippers of the Son of God were incorporate was “the church in Jerusalem.”
Later, we will see that most of the letters the Apostle to the Gentiles would write would be to churches, congregations composed of followers of Christ who gathered in specific locations—Rome, Corinth, Philippi, Colossae, Salonica, or multiple congregations situated throughout the Roman Province of Galatia. One who professed to be a follower of Christ who would not openly unite with a local congregation would be an aberration. The profession that one made would be suspect, and they would assuredly be held at arms length from participating in the life of the assembly other than being permitted to receive the presentation of the Word.
It is evident that the churches exchanged letters of commendation, recommending those who might travel from one location to another. The saints who had openly united with the congregations would receive letters of introduction attesting to their membership and active participation in the life of the assembly, as witnessed when Phoebe is commended to the Church in Rome. “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae, that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well” [ROMANS 16:1-2]. The Apostle would continue naming names in the verses following as he cited the service of multiple other saints. What is witnessed in this instance is verified in various instances both in the letters included in the New Testament canon and throughout the literature of the early churches.
And that raises the question that must be asked of all who hear the message at this time. Have you believed this message of life? Our God invites all who are willing, “If you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with his heart and is justified, and declares with his mouth and is saved” [ROMANS 10:9-10 ISV].
And if you have believed, have you openly identified with the Master in baptism as He commands? Is He your Master? How can you call Him Lord if you will not obey Him? He calls you to openly identify with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection. Why would you put off obeying His command? The Apostle, recalling the words with which a timid servant of the Lord commanded him to openly identify with the Saviour are the words with which I would urge you, “Why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name” [ACTS 22:16].
Then, having obeyed this command, have you openly joined the church to which the Spirit of God is appointing you? Don’t delay. Doing this, you will embrace the unity God has promised. Take this step of obedience even today. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] Madison E. Goldberg, “Man Charged With Terrorism in Connection With Woman Set on Fire on Chicago Train,” November 20, 2025, People, https://people.com/man-charged-with-terrorism-in-connection-with-woman-lit-on-fire-on-chicago-train-11853390, accessed 20 November 2025; Lisa Chavarria and Francie Swidler, “Woman set on fire while riding CTA Blue Line train in Loop; suspect still at large,” November 18, 2025, NBC Chicago, https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/woman-set-on-fire-cta-blue-line-train-chicago-loop/3852712, accessed 20 November 2025
[3] Tina Moore, Larry Celona, Joe Marino, Steve Janoski, and Dorian Geiger, “Horrific video shows suspect watching woman burn to death in F train car after he allegedly set her on fire,” December 22, 2024, New York Post, https://nypost.com/2024/12/22/us-news/horror-video-shows-suspect-watching-woman-burn-to-death-in-f-train-car-after-he-allegedly-set-her-on-fire, accessed 20 November 2025
[4] Anna Young, “Lunatic stabs female straphanger, 27, at Chicago train station – 3 months after Iryna Zarutska’s murder on Charlotte rail,” New York Post, Nov 11, 2025, https://nypost.com/2025/11/11/us-news/lunatic-stabs-woman-at-chicago-train-station-3-months-after-iryna-zarutskas-murder, accessed 20 November 2025
[5] Desheania Andrews and Anna Young, “Chilling video shows Iryna Zarutska’s cold-blooded accused killer calmly walk off Charlotte train after fatal stabbing,” Oct 17, 2025, New York Post, https://nypost.com/2025/10/17/us-news/chilling-video-shows-iryna-zarutskas-cold-blooded-accused-killer-calmly-walk-off-charlotte-train-after-fatal-stabbing, accessed 20 November 2025
[6] E.g. Andrew Lupton, “Want to know how many inmates have been improperly released from EMDC? We asked,” Nov 20, 2025, CBC, Want to know how many inmates have been improperly released from EMDC? We asked | CBC News, accessed 20 November 2025; Alex Zoltan, True North, “Five shocking cases prove criminals get off way too easy in Canada, Jul 26, 2025, Juno News, Five shocking cases that prove criminals get off way too easy in Canada, accessed 20 November 2025; Tristan Hopper, “Just stop jailing criminals? The absurd odyssey of Canada’s catch-and-release justice system,” Apr 08, 2025, National Post, Why violent criminals don't stay in jail in Canada | National Post, accessed 20 November 2025
