S. 1 Corinthians 1:10 “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.”
O. Paul called for unity despite the great divisions of society during his time; Jew vs Gentile, Slave VS free, Men vs Women. In the church as well there were divisions, i.e. people divided over leadership and following various leaders. In this call for unity, Paul uses such words as “appeal”, “agree”, and “no divisions.”
However the word that caught my eye is “perfectly united.” In the Greek this word is “katartismenoi” which is what is referred to as as perfect passive participle of katartizo meaning “to unite completely, to adjust thoroughly, to restore to original purpose, to reinstate.” It’s a passive voice which means that someone else (The Lord Jesus through the ministry of the Holy Spirit) is doing the action; and perfect tense which is an action in the past that is still happening in the present and into the future.
Paul is referring to the fact that Jesus Christ has given us unity in Him! He did this when He secured our salvation. We are complete in Him (Col. 2:10). As we have that completeness in our positional relationship to Christ; so we are then encouraged to make this perfect unity a reality in our experiential relationships with one another. We are to look to the Lord Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit to keep us from allowing things to divide us and to return to the original purposes for which we are now new creatures in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17).
A. As a believer in Christ, I desire Christ Jesus to continue to restore me, to knit me in, to adjust my thinking to that which He has given me through the Holy Spirit and His word. I will allow Christ to adjust my thinking and not allow any thing to divide me from others no matter what the culture screams.
P. Thank you Father for this word today. Holy Spirit fill me and guide me to keep my thoughts directed by your Word. I desire to not allow things in our culture to divide me from others. Further, I desire to walk by the Spirit and to daily experience your work in my life, returning and keeping me to walking according to the purposes you have for me and those you place before me. In Jesus’ name!
