Christian Living

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ADDITION:
When Peter and the other apostles preached to the crowds in Jerusalen on the day of Pentecost, he said, "Repent and be baptized everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit. Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were ADDED to their number that day. Acts 2:38,41 And the Lord ADDED to their number daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:47b More and more men and women believed in the Lord and were ADDED to their number. Acts 5:14

Peter says, "Make every effort to ADD to your faith, goodness, and to goodness, knowledge, and to knowledge, self-control, and to self-control perseverance, and to perseverance, godliness, and to godliness, brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 1:5-8

Luke records Jesus as saying, "Do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. But seek you first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be ADDED unto you." Luke 12:29, 31

Rev. 22:18 warns everyone that hears the prophecy of this book: "If anyone ADDS anything to them, God will ADD to him the plagues described in this book."

MULTIPLICATION:
"So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem MULTIPLIED rapidly, and a large number of Jewish priests became obedient to the faith." Acts 6:7 "Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. Strengthened and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it MULTIPLIED, living in the fear of the Lord." Acts 9:31 "And the word of God continued to MULTIPLY and spread." Acts 12:24 Peter addresses his first epistle to "God's elect, strangers in the world, chosen by the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by His blood. Grace and peace be MULTIPLIED to you." 1 Peter 1:1a, 2

SUBTRACTION OR TAKING AWAY:
Job said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has TAKEN AWAY; blessed be the name of the Lord." Job 1:21

"And there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves THRUST OUT." Luke 13:28

"The next day John saw Jesus coming to him and said, 'Behold the Lamb of God who TAKES AWAY the sin of the world.'" John 1:20

"And you now have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man can TAKE FROM you." John 16:22

"Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances which was against us, which was contrary to us and TOOK IT OUT OF THE WAY, nailing it to His cross." John 2:14

"And you know that He was manifested to TAKE AWAY our sins, and in Him is no sin." 1 John 3:5

"And if any man shall TAKE AWAY the words from the book of this prophecy, God shall TAKE AWAY his part out of the book of life and out of the holy city, and from the things that are written in this book." Rev.22:19

DIVISION:
"But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them, 'Every kingdom DIVIDED against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against itself cannot stand." Luke 11:17

"Now I beseech you, brothers, mark them which cause DIVISIONS and offences contrary to the doctrine which you have learned, and avoid them." Romans 16:17

"I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no DIVISIONS among you and you may be perfectly united in mind and thought." 1 Cor. 1:10 "I hear that when you come together as a church, there are DIVISIONS among you. Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not." 1 Cor. 11:8a, 22b

"I pray for all those who will believe in me...that all of them may be one. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You have sent me." John 17:20, 21a, 33b

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all ONE in Christ Jesus." Gal. 3:28

In Kingdom arithmetic, addition is a plus, as is multiplication. Subtraction is sometimes negative and sometimes positive, but division is an absolute no-no. It is the cruelest of all. It crucifies the Body of Christ on the bloody cross all over again. It sends a negative message to the world that we do not love Christ because we do not love one another. Christians divide over matters that are not nearly as significant as tearing up the Body of Christ. Divide and conquer is the devil's battle cry. There is strength in unity, and every Christian is injured in a church split--to say nothing of the harm done to the Body as a whole.

Brothers and sisters, this ought not to be. What binds us together is much stronger than the differences of opinion in non-salvation areas, and the picky little personality quirks that so often divide us. We need to cling to the truth in love; one is entirely ineffective without the other, but there is peace and unity when they are joined. Keeping unity in the bond of peace strengthens the Body of Christ and allows it to function in the world as it was intended by the Lord Himself.

We are a cantankerous lot, but we can surely agree that Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost (all of us), paid a terrible price on the cross, and deserves our undivided attention to His cause: to add and multiply, not divide His precious Body.

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