Heralds of Love

How we function as a family in Christ.

The New Covenant life is multifaceted. It is based on the manifold grace of God, to display the manifold wisdom of God. A central theme of life in the New Covenant is the reality of union with Christ and the unity of believers.

In the Books of Acts, we find this truth repeated over and again. Unity among believers found expression in virtually all community expressions, and this is always attributed to our common Faith.

[41] Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

[42] And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

Acts 2:41-42 (KJV)

As the community of believers was formed, certain patterns began to emerge. There emerged four streams that started to characterize them. These four streams covered the horizontal and vertical axes of the believers’ relationship. They also illustrate the pillars that uphold our corporate expression as believe.

Firstly; the Apostles’ doctrine is the embodiment of all that Jesus taught (Matt 28:20). It is the doctrine of Christ. It is the doctrine that accords with Godliness. We can’t invent new content. We can’t upgrade the content. The doctrine is fixed in its essence. It’s fixed in scope. It calls for our participation and continuance.

Secondly; we have fellowship. This is an encompassing word. I find 1 John 1:1-4 to be very helpful here. Our entrance into Faith brings us into a fellowship that we could never enter before and can’t enter outside of the gospel door. It is a reality that is based on that which God Himself is a part of it. This is profound, such that whenever we gather together in his name, He is there with us, presently present to also partake as it were, our fellowship.

Thirdly; the breaking of bread. We have captured herein times of communal eating together – and also in a significant sense, the Lord’s supper. Both thoughts are revealing. Keep in mind that most of these brethren previously would not have known each other or some might even have been at odds with others, and yet in full embrace of their new states and bond, they were in the habit of partaking at their tables and also the table of the Lord.

Fourthly; Prayer. Can we ever talk about the Christian life without prayer? We can never fully experience the full weight of the faith life outside of prayer. At the heart of our introduction into the family of God, Jesus Christ, the first born, taught us to pray: ‘Our Father’.

In the faith we come into an ‘our’. From Day One, we are shown the community. We are shown the coorporateness. We are also brought into the economy of the fatherhood of God, a truth that makes all the difference.

These four things typify the family of God. Any corporate expression of believers that does not accord with these four is suspect until proven otherwise. These are the hallmarks of the family of God.

We must endeavor that they find expression in our own spaces.