Lives that Are One in Christ --the True Lives of the Children of

Lives that Are One in Christ --the True Lives of the Children of God

1. We used to be disobedient to God, objects of wrath, and enemies.

“As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; ” ( ROMANS 3:10 )

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ” ( ROMANS 3:23 )

“Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. ” ( COLOSSIANS 1:21)

“At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.” ( TITUS 3:3)

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. ” ( EPHESIANS 2:1-3)

“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. ” ( COLOSSIANS 3:5-7 )

Even though some claim to know God, they do not live their lives as the children of God at all.

“People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God-- having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. ” ( 2 TIMOTHY 3:2-5 )

“They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good. ” ( TITUS 1:16 )

2.Because of the great love of God, He gave the salvation through His beloved son -- Jesus Christ so that men might be conformed to the likeness of his Son and regain the image that God created at first to be the children of light and the true children of God.

“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. ” ( ROMANS 8:29 )

“In other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring. ” ( ROMANS 9:8 )

“In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. ” ( HEBREWS 2:10-11 )

We were baptized into Christ and have clothed ourselves with Christ. We should turn from the wickedness and acts that lead to death. We should take off the old selves and behavior , and put on the new selves to become holy people belonging to God.

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.” ( EPHESIANS 2:13-16 )

“We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. ” ( ROMANS 6:4 )

“I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ” ( PHILIPPIANS 3:10 )

“We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. ” ( 2 CORINTHIANS 4:10-11)

“For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. ” ( COLOSSIANS 3:3)

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” ( GALATIANS 2:20 )

“for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ” ( GALATIANS 3:27-28 )

“For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. ” ( 1 CORINTHIANS 12:13)

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. ” ( TITUS 2:11-14 )

“For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, ” ( COLOSSIANS 2:9-11 )

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! ” ( 2 CORINTHIANS 5:17 )

The mystery of God’s will is that our lives should be one in Christ.

“And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment--to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. ” ( EPHESIANS 1:9-10 )

“My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ” ( COLOSSIANS 2:2-3 )

“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” ( 2 CORINTHIANS 10:5 )

“This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. ” ( EPHESIANS 3:6 )

“Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ” ( JOHN 14:6 )

“He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” ( 1 JOHN 5:12 )

“For it is said, "The two will become one flesh." But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit. ” ( 1 CORINTHIANS 6:16-17 )

“Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself?” ( 1 CORINTHIANS 6:15 )

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ” ( 1 CORINTHIANS 6:19 )

“But we have the mind of Christ. ” ( 1 CORINTHIANS 2:16 )

“and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God. ” ( 1 CORINTHIANS 3:23 )

“On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. ” ( JOHN 14:20 )

“We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true--even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. ” ( 1 JOHN 5:20 )

“I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. ” ( JOHN 17:23 )

3. The lives that are one in Christ are the lives of true children of God.

“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children ” ( EPHESIANS 5:1 )

“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, ” ( ROMANS 15:5 )

(1) The lives of the true children of God that are one in Christ are: the lives of trusting and obeying God, doing the will of God and humbling oneself in Christ.

“If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! ” ( PHILIPPIANS 2:1-11 )

 

“If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. ” ( JOHN 15:10 )

“Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. ” ( JOHN 14:23 )

“I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say." ” ( MATTHEW 12:50 )

“Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. ” ( 2 JOHN 9)

“See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us--even eternal life. ” ( 1 JOHN 2:24-25 )

“We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. ” ( 1 JOHN 2:3-6 )

(2) The lives of the true children of God that are one in Christ are: the lives of following the holiness, righteousness and goodness of God in Christ.

“If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him. ” ( 1 JOHN 2:29 )

“Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. ” ( 1 PETER 1:17 )

“"Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you." "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty." ” ( 2 CORINTHIANS 6:17-18 )

“It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; ” ( 1 THESSALONIANS 4:3-5 )

“For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit. ” ( 1 THESSALONIANS 4:7-8 )

“As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." ” ( 1 PETER 1:14-16 )

“Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. ” ( 2 CORINTHIANS 7:1 )

“Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. ” ( 1 JOHN 3:2-3)

“You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. ” ( EPHESIANS 4:20-24)

“Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. ” ( JOHN 8:34-35 )

“Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. ” ( ROMANS 13:13-14)

“For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person--such a man is an idolater--has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. ” ( EPHESIANS 5:5 )

“Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, ” ( 1 PETER 2:1-2)

“In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ” ( ROMANS 6:11 )

“In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ” ( ROMANS 8:13 )

“For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, ” ( ROMANS 8:17 )

“that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. ” ( ROMANS 8:21 )

“We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. ” ( ROMANS 8:22-23 )

“don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. ” ( JAMES 4:4 )

“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ .” ( PHILIPPIANS 3:7-8 )

“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ .” ( GALATIANS 5:13-15)

“You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature ; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.” ( GALATIANS 5:16-21 )

“Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. ” ( JAMES 4:8-10 )

“But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. ” ( COLOSSIANS 3:8-10 )

“Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ” ( COLOSSIANS 3:11-15 )

“For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. ” ( EPHESIANS 2:10 )

“What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you--guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. ” ( 2 TIMOTHY 1:13-14 )

“So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good. ” ( 1 PETER 4:19 )

“So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good. ” ( 1 PETER 2:15 )

“Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins. ” ( JAMES 4:17 )

“Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. ” ( 1 TIMOTHY 6:18-19 )

(3) The lives of the true children of God that are one in Christ are: the lives of loving God, loving your neighbor as yourself ( loving your brothers and even the enemies ) in Christ.

“Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." ” ( JOHN 14:21 )

“This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother. (Love one another ) This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. ” ( 1 JOHN 3:10-11 )

“If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. ” ( 1 JOHN 3:17-18 )

“And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us. ” ( 1 JOHN 3:23-24 )

“We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” ( 1 JOHN 4:19-21 )

“This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, ” ( 1 JOHN 5:2-3 )

“But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. ” ( MATTHEW 5:44-45 )

“so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ” ( EPHESIANS 3:17 )

“But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” ( LUKE 6:35-36 )

(4) The lives of the true children of God that are one in Christ are: the lives of filling with the fruit of the Spirit such as rejoicing in God through Christ.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. ” ( GALATIANS 5:22-26 )

“Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” ( ROMANS 5:11 )

“Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. ” ( PHILIPPIANS 3:1 )

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ” ( PHILIPPIANS 4:4 )

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ” ( PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7 )

“May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance. ” ( 2 THESSALONIANS 3:5 )

“But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. ” ( 1 TIMOTHY 6:11-12 )

“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. ” ( 2 PETER 1:3-4 )

“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” ( 2 PETER 1:5-8 )

“And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. ” ( 1 THESSALONIANS 5:14-22 )

“Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. ” ( 1 PETER 3:8-9 )

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to one hope when you were called-- one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. ” ( EPHESIANS 4:1-6 )

“filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God. ” ( PHILIPPIANS 1:11)

In Christ, we follow Jesus Christ and take up our own cross to conform to the likeness of Christ; to become a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God; to have the lives that are one in Christ and to be the true children of God.

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ” ( 1 PETER 2:9 )

“you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ” ( 1 PETER 2:5 )

“For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. ” ( EPHESIANS 2:18-22)

“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. ” ( COLOSSIANS 2:6-7 )

“But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.” ( HEBREWS 3:6)

“We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. ” ( HEBREWS 3:14 )

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. ” ( 2 CORINTHIANS 2:14 )

“It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. ” ( 1 CORINTHIANS 1:30)

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. ” ( 2 CORINTHIANS 4:7 )

“If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. ” ( 1 JOHN 1:6 )

“Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe… ” ( PHILIPPIANS 2:14-15 )

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. ” ( EPHESIANS 5:8-11 )

“My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, ” ( GALATIANS 4:19)

“I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. ” ( PHILIPPIANS 1:20)

“until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. ” ( EPHESIANS 4:13 )

“To Be One in Christ” is a message from Holy Spirit in order to build and clean the temple of God. All praises, thanks and glories be to God!