Blessed are the Peacemakers - In His One Body

PART 10 - Henry Hon with Doug Krieger in Henry’s 10-Part Series on our Oneness in the Body of Christ - 4.56 min. - "Are you ready to be a peacemaker and bring together those divided in the ekklesia? In 1 Cor. 11:29 we find that differences - various factions - are mandatory, or necessary, when God's people gather together. Those who are genuinely approved of God - those who are truly peacemakers in His One Body - will manifest as the PEACEMAKERS and be able to maintain the unity that we have in Christ. Part 10 is so critical and may be the apex in our quest for expressing the oneness in His One Body. This is the final part, Part 10, in our 10-part series on our Unity in the Body of Christ by Henry Hon with Doug Krieger narrating. This also appears @ www.onebody.life BLOG in full text underneath these brief descriptions--so one may listen, view, and/or read the full text. Please CLICK HERE to view/listen to the presentation in video format - 4.56 min. Please READ the text below.

BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS IN HIS ONE BODY

Indeed, it is necessary that there be factions among you, so that those who are approved may be recognized among you” (1 Cor. 11:19 CSB). To be in a faction means a person made a choice to be identified with one group rather than in an opposing group. Generally, when people of differing factions come together, they will either be a clique by themselves, or if a discussion is started, a debate resulting in a division will be a likely outcome. Being factious is nothing less than the sinful flesh; these factious brethren divide the Body of Christ.

However, it is precisely in this environment that those approved (tested to be genuine) are recognized or manifested. They are the Body’s peacemakers. They are not taking sides; rather, they fellowship with all those from diverse factions and facilitate fellowship between those in opposition in their positions to one another. Without those who are genuinely approved, then the Ekklesia will devolve into divisions like it did in Corinth. In Romans 14 where some believers from the Jewish faction gathered with the Gentile faction, the Apostle Paul charged them not to judge one another, but to receive one another. Furthermore, Paul defined an approved person as one who serves in the way of the kingdom of God, which is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17-18). This person doesn’t take sides; rather, he/she is ministering righteousness before God, peace among previously divided people, and resultant joy in the Holy Spirit. This is the pursuit of peace and the things which build up one another. When it comes to various polarizing doctrines and Christian practices, a peacemaker may well have his own convictions. However, for the sake of peace in the Ekklesia and not being a stumbling block to others with contrary view, this approved person will keep it between himself and God (Rom. 14:22). His goal in the Ekklesia is the kingdom of God, the coming together of once divided people. The more there are those approved, peacemakers, the more the Lord’s Ekklesia will be manifested as the light to the world.