New; A bit about me; My new interest--Church oneness

This is my first post.

Briefly, this is my testimony. When I was young, I decided to listen carefully during the first Eucharist/communion that I was allowed to participate in. The pastor quoted, “This is my body which is broken for you.” I felt guilty, but wondered what I had done wrong. Nevertheless, I prayed in all sincerity, “God, I’m sorry. Please forgive me.” I felt a new intense joy that I had never felt before. Isaiah 45:22 says, “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other.” Like the thief executed with Jesus, that simple turn to Jesus was all it took to have a saving relationship with God. All my past and future sins were forgiven. The process began, and just like Hebrews 12 says, the process continues with laying aside every encumbrance and sin which entangles me.

I have an interest in church oneness and was wondering if anyone else is interested in it?

It is only recently that the Holy Spirit has directed my thoughts regarding oneness of the Church. There are a lot of scriptures on the topic. The most common scripture that others refer to is in John 17 where Jesus prays for all believers for all time to be one as He and the Father are one, so that the world may believe. However, perhaps just as interesting is another passage. The apostle John says in John 11 that Jesus died for something more than just our salvation. Jesus died to gather into one the children God. It seems that the apostle John had a keen interest in sharing what God thinks about oneness.

Have you ever noticed these passages? What do you think?

Welcome, i hope you are blessed more here rather then not..
If you mean oneness as it how Jesus was one with God in spirit and in purpose and in mind then yes.
I want that myself and I want that for the same of others.

If you mean bringing all the "Churches" together under one banner. No.

John 17 is ONE of my favorites.
Read a transliteration of the Greek and you see the exact word for ONE is the same throughout but is translated in three of four different ways, doctrinal bent is the only reason I can think for intentionally doing such.

I am currently working with one brother in coming together in unity going through the word of God together and receiving from each other how we see what we read. In an effort to come to a single understanding between to very different people.
I hope to build up a nucleus of a fellowship in agreement, who are one regarding the things of God so God can build on that.
Hopefully start planting New Testament like Churches who pursue the same thing together, growing together in unity or oneness and holiness.

Isaiah 45:22 + Revelation 3:20

You are correct in saying that all of your sins past, present, and in the future were forgiven as Jesus paid the price for these sins by shedding His precious blood on the cross and dying for them. The process that began is a life-long repentance process leading to sanctification. Glad to have you as part of our family. Welcome to CC.

Magenta, Oh Happy Day! I love that song. I would not mind that for an earworm.

Yes, learning, sharing, loving, appreciation of others, and giving of ourselves are all needed if we are going to act in the oneness that Christ prayed for. “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” John 13:34 It is a standard I fall short of even aiming for, but want to aim for. Oneness is similar. Paul said, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:3) Another translation says “being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit,” which sounds more attainable. Nevertheless, not so attainable that I can do much more than aim for being diligent. My hope is in Christ working in me.

Thank you for the welcome. I am not always correct. No comment on oneness? Oneness is often characterized as unity. Good people often avoid the subject because it makes one a lightning rod for criticism. However, if our oneness is important to God, it should be important to us.

Isn't it wonderful to know that this beautiful vision will someday come to fruition! Welcome to CC and God bless you.

Matthew 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, [thou] that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under [her] wings, and ye would not!

Agree, so long as deity of Jesus and belief in His finished work at Calvary is embraced by all involved.

Welcome , Hoaj and God Bless ..

Yes, we are on the same page. Your comment about how the Greek word was translated encouraged me to look it up and think through the meaning. It is the same ‘one’ used to refer to marriage as “the two shall become one.” An on-line Greek site (offering classical or modern Greek lessons) stated that it further means not easily separated.

Jesus will have one bride, the Church. However it seems this analogy was not suitable when telling the parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25). The purpose of the parable seems to include a prophecy regarding denominations that will make up the Church. Some of the institutions (the lamps) will have oil and some will be almost out. I have thought about the oil. I know what some speculate the oil to be. I think it is what Jesus said to the women at the well, “God is looking for those who worship Him in spirit and in truth.” Some Christian institutions will no longer have many that worship God in spirit and truth. It is also interesting that those almost without oil in their lamps are waiting together with those who do have oil. Though perhaps this is reading too much into the parable, it does agree with the parable of the wheat and the tares.

What are the other words that the Greek word “hen” is translated as?

I agree with you. Many Christians agree with you. But do you agree that there is too much disunity and not enough oneness?

Im no expert. But some things are obvious.
if I am using the exact same world to create connections in my discussion I would not expect it to be translated into different words in order to create separation..

If I am using say three different words that describe say Anger to create distinctions I would not expect it to be all translated as one word and remove any distinction.
But that is what you often get in translations, the bias of the translators or the difference in how fine the language is.
Many languages have 10 words for the same thing while a language like English has only one and you need to add the lost flavor with additional descriptions. that part I understand is extra effort. But what happened in John 17 borders on sabotage.

Here is where some of the disunity comes from.
The rest is pride build around someones favorite point of view on it all.
Everyone sees the truth differently depending on where they stand, their position AKA how they live their lives.
The unity of believers is in sharing one anothers point of view and confessing of hearts of sin.
Repositioning ourselves to see how others see it and see us.
Kind of like shaking a package full of packing stuff, eventually it all settles into place around what is precious and is not shaken anymore.
But the un-humble bumbles in the mix, those hard hearts in the mix end up breaking things and making it all an unpleasant process that people have learned to avoid and labeled useless.
You need to remove them or you will get breakage and no one will want to risk shaking things up.

If you want unity find someone that you recognize Gods Spirit in and read the word together.
Sharing what you see and think and do not see and do not know what to think about.
Let them do the same or go find someone who will be real with you and let the Holy Spirit teach.
Be moved not by lecture or the vain crafting of words but by the reality of the heart of the other person.
Let what God has done in it and is doing in them shaping how they see things become a new place for you to stand and look at God from.
Let the word expose you both to one another.
Expose your thinking and your hearts to one another.
Then pray for truth
Pray like two people who only have the truth to the extent they live in Christ likeness through the power of Godliness.

Not a path un-humble bumbles can take and if you try to take one with you they will either laugh or rage but or sure there will not be unity or maturity only the shaming of the while process keeping other from maturity in Christ. Because Maturity in Christ Jesus is where the unity is found. When our lies reflect His we have oneness with God and one another (those also one with God)
I wrote a lot more then I intended but that has been my experience.

Welcome and nice to meet you! I'm sure you will find the BDF, Bible Discussion Forum, interesting! God bless you and your family!

Hello Hoaj, welcome to Christian Chat. I hope you'll enjoy your stay here.

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