Is Christ divided?

I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name – the name you gave me – so that they may be one as we are one.             John 17:11

Paul likened the church to the human body. “The body is a unit,” he wrote, “though it is made up of many parts; and though its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ”

. He points out that your ear has no right to assert independence from the eye, nor your hand from the foot. Your body is a whole, and all the components are related to each other.

Earlier in his letter, Paul rebuked the carnal or immature men and women of Corinth because some followed Peter, some followed Apollos, some followed Paul, and some say, “We follow Christ!” Then he asked a question, “Is Christ divided?”

When he wrote to the Ephesians, he wanted other churches to follow. He said there is one body and one Spirit...one hope...one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:3). 

When you are redeemed by the blood of Jesus you were baptized into that mysterious Body called the Church, and whether others glorify the Father the same way you do or not, remember the decision to give them new birth wasn’t yours. It was that of a Sovereign God who adopts and brings into His family those whom He chooses.

Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds. Psalm 73:25-28