Weekly Pursuit – Week 1 of January
Verses:
Philemon 16 “No longer as a slave, but above a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.”
Excerpts:
The distinction of social rank and status among the believers is nullified not by an outward legal act, but by an inward change of constitution. Ranks have been abolished because the believers have been constituted of Christ’s life. Christ’s life had been constituted into Philemon, and the same life with the same divine element had been constituted into his slave, Onesimus. According to the flesh, Philemon was a master and was free, and Onesimus was a slave and was not free. But according to the inner constitution, both were the same. Because of the divine birth and a living by the divine life, all the believers in Christ have equal status in the church, which is the new man in Christ, with no discrimination between free and bond.
In the practice of the economy of God, it is crucial that all social ranks and differences among races and nations are swallowed up. As long as we see that the believers have an equal status in the new man, there will be no problems among us concerning social rank, nationality, or race. We shall have no problems with different peoples. Those who discriminate among people in any way do not practice the proper church life. If we would have the genuine church life, we must receive all the saints regardless of race, nationality, or social rank. (Life-study of Philemon, msg. 2)