Eph 2:15 Abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two [peoples] in Himself into one new man, so making peace, 4:22 That you put off, as regards your former manner of life, the old man... (24) And put on the new man,
After Babel [Genesis 11] , there began to be the differences among the peoples. But on the cross Christ slew all these differences in order to produce the one new man... Except for the Jewish ordinances, all the various manners of life are the heritage of Babel. What should we do about this heritage? We should bury it. This means that we must put off the former manner of life. Do not justify your manner of life or glory in it. The issue is not which manner of life is right and which is wrong. Every way of life involves ordinances and must be put off. How deplorable it is to see so-called churches formed according to nationality! For example, in San Francisco there is a Chinese Presbyterian church. It seems that every nationality has a so-called church. When we come together for the practice of the genuine church life, we must all put off our national heritage and forget it. The worldly people regard cultural differences as a mark of prestige. But in Christ we have all lost this prestige. Now our only prestige is Christ and the genuine oneness... We all need to exercise ourselves to go along with others. As long as a certain practice does not involve idolatry or immorality, there is nothing wrong with it. Do not hold on to your prestige. If we are willing to let go of our cultural pride, it will be possible for the Lord to have the proper church life, [the one new man] .
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 203, 221. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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