“Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ”―1 Corinthians 1:1-31Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, 2Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: 3Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 1:1‑3).
ASSEMBLIES of Christians in apostolic days constituted one fellowship, wherever they might be located individually. All held the same precious faith, all proclaimed the same blessed gospel, and each was recognized as the expression of the Body of Christ in the particular place where he was found. Many divisions have come in since, and many unsaved ones have come into various churches, but true believers still constitute one holy fellowship as the “sanctified in Christ Jesus.”
As we enter into the truth of the one Body, our hearts will be enlarged to take in every member thereof.
Even where marked differences of judgment are found as to church order, disciplinary measures, and creedal statements, there will be practical unity where Christ Himself becomes the object of our hearts’ adoration.
“Christ from whom all blessings flow.
Perfecting the saints below,
Hear us, who Thy nature share,
Who Thy mystic Body are.
Sweetly may we all agree.
Touched with loving sympathy:
Kindly for each other care;
Every member feel its share.
Love, like death, hath all destroyed.
Rendered all distinctions void;
Names, and sects, and parties fall:
Thou, O Christ, art all in all!”
—Charles Wesley.