Our Mutual Relationship

Our Mutual Relationship

The greatest portion of all difficulties, and thereby almost all of our salvation, is through our mutual relationships. People with all kinds of similarities and differences meet in the church, as well as outside the church.

We are different in many ways and in many different areas; different, yet alike; alike, and yet different.

The life in God, i.e., truth, love, etc., is alike for everyone. Everything else is different: 1) our former life; 2) our upbringing; 3) our habits; 4) our understanding; 5) our physical strength; 6) our soul strength; 7) our giftedness; 8) our environments, circumstances, fortunes, poverty, riches, and much more; 9) our sinful inclinations; 10) our desire; 11) our age and the stage of our development in Christ Jesus; 12) our spiritual gifts; 13) our ministries and diversity of activities; 14) even the measure of grace according to Christ’s gift. Eph. 4:7.

Since there are now and will continue to be such manifold disparities, it is self-evident that the great task, the great difficulty, the great art, the inexpressibly great salvation will be to get all these various people with all their disparities to harmonize and become a perfect whole without a single grating sound!!!

Then it becomes a question of associating with and serving each other, considering and viewing and treating each other justly, with wisdom, with a tender heart, and with understanding; being conciliatory, merciful, and compassionate; with hope, confidence, and longsuffering; with reverence and esteem, fully convinced that He who has called and chosen each individual is also mighty to complete His work in them and with them even though it does not appear like that in our eyes! Glory to God!

The difference is overwhelming, especially in the beginning, but also later!

However, the end of the matter is that the likeness also becomes correspondingly overwhelming!!!

But then both heaven and earth will also resound with praises and shouts of Hallelujah! All the heavens will resound with the cry “Glory! Glory! Glory!” because of this tremendous work that God has done.