Due to COVID-19 and disruption to international mail service
we have temporally suspended our ‘Free Print Book service’.
we have temporally suspended our ‘Free Print Book service’.
In the light of this situation we are not able to mail you the books at this time.
Pray that this pandemic will end soon and the resumption of the postal service.
Pray that this pandemic will end soon and the resumption of the postal service.
Subject 12 : The Faith of the Apostles Creed
● Faith in the Communion of Saints
What Is the Communion of Saints?
Those who received the salvation from all their sins by believing in the truth that Jesus is God Himself, and in the baptism that He received and the blood of the Cross, are the ones who have joined the family of God. As Ephesians 2:19 states, “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.” The righteous have fellowship with each other.
There Is a Precondition to the Communion of Saints with God
Before we hold communion with the other saints, there must first be the communion with God. This is why the latter half of 1 John 1:3 states, “Truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.”
That’s right! There must first be the communion with the Lord. For there to be the communion with the Lord for us, we must first receive the remission of our sins by believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that He has given us. Why? Because the Lord is the Holy One who is sinless.
Those who thus have the right relationship with the Lord first by receiving the remission of sin can have the right fellowship with the other righteous persons as well. The saints who have been saved through the baptism and blood of the Lord can have fellowship with God, on their above, and, at their sides, with their fellow saints. The God-given salvation enables us to have fellowship with God, and with the fellow saints as well. In other words, because of the works of the baptism of Jesus and the precious blood of the Cross, we, who had been God’s enemies before, have now come to serve Him as our own Father by first being forgiven of all our sins. And furthermore, we have to come to forgive, understand, and have fellowship with one another when we admit the works of Christ that has perfectly removed the blockages among us.
The Core Essence of the Communion of Saints Is the True Gospel and True Love
By giving the righteousness of the salvation of His baptism and His bloodshed of the Cross to those who believe, Jesus declares, “You have now received the remission of your sins.” The One who thus told us is the Lord. And He admonishes us to love the Lord, and to live with the fellow saints in peace also. The Apostle Peter, who had disobeyed the Lord before but was forgiven, explained his joy by saying, “And above all things have fervent love for one another, for ‘love will cover a multitude of sins’” (1 Peter 4:8).
That’s right! As trees and grasses grow when watered, and the saints grow by the fellowship with each other, by the Word, and by the love of God.
From Acts 2:46-47, we can see the beautiful lives that saints of the Early Church had lived: “So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”
Not every Christian who professes to believe in Jesus actually believes in the true Jesus. This means that those who do not know the gospel of the water and the Spirit given by Jesus, and therefore do not believe in it, are not saints. Therefore, the true forgiveness and fellowship can only be possible within the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 states, “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, For he has no one to help him up. Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; But how can one be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
Let us all put our efforts into the communion of saints, looking at ourselves to see if any of us has been left alone and ostracized.
The works and burdens you have to bear may be too much for you. Then, you have to share your problem with you fellow saints, for “you are not able to perform it by yourself” (Exodus 18:18). And Matthew 18:20 states, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
There is an orient saying, “When there is peace in the family, everything is fine.” Taking a step further, we can say, “When there is peace among the saints in God’s Church, everything indeed is fine.” When the saints are at peace with God, everything works out. It is when we first have peace with the Kingdom of the Lord that we can have peace in our homes and with each other.
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Copyright © 2021 by The New Life Mission