The Explanations on “To Be One in Christ: We Have Treasure in the Jars of Clay” -- the Series of Explanation and Analysis of Scripture
There are totally 59 articles in the series of “To Be One in Christ: We Have Treasure in the Jars of Clay”, including JOHN and all the letters in New Testament. It is all about the theme of “To Be One in Christ: We Have Treasure in the Jars of Clay”, that is, every Christian after the rebirth has the promised Holy Spirit of Christ dwelling in; the mystery of Gospel (Eph 3:6) is that we Christians let Christ in us take charge of our life completely, live a Christ’s life, and press on to be one in Christ.
This series of explanation and analysis of scripture are based on the traditional explanation and analysis of scripture, and are compiled and edited based on the guidance of Holy Spirit. The traditional explanation and analysis of scripture are from “Christians’ Digest of the Scripture Analysis Series” by Jiale Huang (1-10 of the series); “The Lectures on the Bible Studying of the Letters in New Testament” by Zhongdao Chen (15-22 of the series); also the materials from Watchman Nee, Zhongdao Chen, Pengzhang Zhong, Xiaoyun Wan, Shuguang Niu, Huirong Chen (11-14 of the series). The articles are complied and edited more or less. As to those articles without any changes, there is no the word of “compiled and edited” in the article. The explanation and analysis that have been explained more precisely and more close to the original verses, it is all because of the enlightenment and guidance of Holy Spirit; all thanks, praises and glories be to LORD!
There are several points that are different from the traditional explanation of scripture:
1. In the traditional explanation of “to be one”, it always refers to the church. However, here, what is emphasized is that firstly every believer’s life is one in Christ, thus, all the believers will be one and the church will be one. The union inside the church is not the meaning of “to be one”. Every believer’s life is one in Christ and the believer unites oneself with Christ in one spirit, that is the true meaning of “to be one”.
2. Traditionally, it is believed that after the believer was reborn, the believer will do good deeds naturally. Here, the truth is that we have free wills: we can choose to live in accordance to the new life from Holy Spirit; or we can choose to stay in the life of old selves, live in sins, even accept the temptation from the devil and deliberately keep on sinning, fall away and finally go to destruction. Therefore, we must arm ourselves with Christ’s attitude of suffering, deny ourselves and carry our own cross to follow LORD Christ, let LORD Christ be in charge of our life, live a Christ’s life, press on to be holy and to be one in Christ. Only in this way, the status of “being holy” is turned into the reality of “being holy”. Truly being away from sins and evils, one can take hold of the eternal life.
3. Traditionally, it is not emphasized that the believers must do good through faith. And misinterpret “not considered righteous because of deeds” into “do not need to do good and what is righteous”. Here, it is emphasized that it is the duty of the believers to do good and what’s righteous and to lead others to righteousness. God created us in Christ and prepared us to do good works(Eph 2:10). Anyone, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins(Jam 4:17), and will be judged by what he did.
4. Traditional, it is not emphasized that the believers must obey all the teachings of LORD, especially, “the teachings on the mountain” (Mat 5-7). Here, it’s emphasized that we Christians must obey all the teachings of LORD, including “the teachings on the mountain” (Mat 5-7). Relying on the new life of Christ in us, we can abide by not only the common laws of the world, but also the commands and words of LORD, especially the commands of loving God and loving others. This is the duty of we Christians.
5. Traditionally, it is believed that the believers will not be judged, only need to get rewards more or less based on their work. Here, it demonstrates that the believers will also be judged based on what they did: those who did evil and did not repent will be destroyed; those who did good and what is righteous will get eternal life and rewards.
Hope that everyone will read and compare these points carefully and understand precisely the truth in the Bible, in order that we will be built altogether and get the truth in the Bible and Gospel on “to Be One in Christ”. All thanks, praises and glories be to God!
