Part 8 of Oneness in the Body of Christ takes on a most prickly issue—coming out of our "comfort zone" to meet and greet believers who are "different" from our particular group of Christians. It is not until the very end of the book of Romans that we find this "meeting and greeting" of all members in His One Body . . . the result in this "mixing" is the CRUSHING OF SATAN under our feet—the feet of His One Body. Please CLICK HERE to view/listen to the presentation in video format - 4.17 Minutes. Please READ the text below.
When the apostle Paul wrote his letter to believers in Rome, there were at least five different groups of Christians in Rome according to Romans 16. There were divisions among the Christians based on Jewish or Gentile backgrounds, and socio-economic status. Rome can be considered a precursor to all the various groups of divisions among Christians today. Paul’s desire, according to God’s eternal purpose, was for believers in Rome to be One Body, in one fellowship. He made clear from Romans 9-15 that no distinctive group of believers is more superior or special than any other group of believers, because we are all members one of another in the one Ekklesia.
Therefore, in Romans 16 Paul commanded believers to go greet one another, specifically, those outside one’s own group. Greeting in those days was not just walking by and saying “hello”; rather typically, it included a meal with intimate conversations. It was a uniting and an embracing of each other.
After an unusually long list of individuals and people within groups all of whom were strongly encouraged to meet and greet one another, such encounters would result in Satan being crushed under their feet by the God of peace. Their indiscriminate greeting of one another would testify to the peace of Christ wrought on the cross to bring divided antagonists together in One New Man . . . so making peace (Eph. 2).
So obeying Paul’s injunction to go greet the brethren would release believers out of their comfortable, yet divided or segregated groups, by fellowshipping with unfamiliar brethren. In today’s parlance, this is not church hopping, but is designed to reach out to believers no matter what church they may attend.
There are believers going to various churches within the same family, neighborhood, school, or workplace. Let’s reach out to hear the testimony of others, fellowship concerning Jesus Christ, and pray for one another. Such greeting/greeters will be united in the “Peace of God” while crushing Satan under their feet.