Jesus Living in a People

What would followers of Christ look like that were committed to Him and one another fully on a daily basis? First there would have to be the vertical relationship of each believer with Jesus Christ, and from their that individual experience would flow over to one another to reveal who Jesus Christ is to one another and the world.

This is why throughout the New Testament the phrase one to another is used so much. It was simply a part of who the people of Jesus Christ were. It was impossible not to share life together because of the very real experience they had with Christ Himself, which is impossible to hold in. That is part of what it means when the scriptures say out of our innermost beings will flow rivers of living water. Water flows, and no matter what is in its way it finds a way around it to reach its destination.

So when Jesus Christ is birthed within individuals, and those individuals die to themselves, then His life predominates and reaches out to others with that same life within them. In other words, fellowship based upon Christ begins to emerge, which is what the people of God were created for.

In this article I'm not going to get into all the endless possibilities that can come forth from that experience, just that it is a major part of what the followers of Jesus Christ are all meant to experience. We need to first see that before anything else as far as being part of something larger than our individuality.

To truly give one's life to Christ is an act of dying to self. And if we die to ourselves, it'll truly bring forth many more brothers and sisters to be "one to another."

Having said that, Jesus isn't just bringing a people together to form a social club or only enjoy hanging out together with no purpose. After all, there is an eternal purpose, and the final aspect of that purpose of God is that we are conformed to the image of His son, Jesus Christ. It is nothing less than that, and it is what the Holy Spirit within us lives and works for and towards relentlessly.

The major means of achieving that end, besides the Spirit within those who are truly born from above, is for the overflow of that Spirit to interact with those people who are committed to one another in Christ on a daily basis.

That means we'll respond to a living situation within people who are living out a life for Christ. So if someone is in need, the people of God who have the means will helps supply that for them; if there are people that are down, those who are encouragers will reach out and comfort and lift them up; for those struggling with sin, someone in the body will challenge them, and maybe rebuke them in order to get them back on the right path. Again, I don't want to attempt to cover the potentially thousands of interactions that could happen in a day or two with those who share the life of Christ together, as it would take volumes of books and thousands of articles just to unveil small portions of those things if they could even be found out and known.

The point is that Jesus Christ living in us pushes and draws us to one another in a way that an endless amount of human action towards and with one another happens in response to living situations we encounter individually and together daily.

It is those interactions that work to build us up into the full knowledge of Christ and solidifies our lives into becoming a temple for the Lord to fill; a home He is welcome in.

This is why the warped and pathetic idea that a building, and edifice, is a "church" is such a false and anemic idea. It hinders the work of God rather than helps it, and gets in the way of that which Christ really has called us to be and do.

Anything that gets in the way of daily life together in Christ needs to be removed so Christ can have His way with us. The first step is to die to ourselves, and from there any practical element that could be hindering the purpose of Jesus Christ can be dealt with.

If we only deal with the outward, we really never get to the core of what it is that caused Christianity to become what it is today, which is nothing like we see in the Holy Scriptures.

So to meet and homes or live close together will mean nothing if there is not a deep work of the cross in our lives and a response to the life of Christ in one another.

That means if we aren't changing into the image of Christ, we are only moving the chairs on the deck of the Titanic while is sinks into the ocean.

Many people have taken steps to leave the institutional and bureaucratic "church," only to have nothing in their lives change in regard to Jesus Christ. It's impossible to be close with one another and not have an influence in one another's lives if we're committed to the end result of the eternal purpose of God to be conformed to the image of Christ.

As a matter of fact we'll quietly grown within when we see each other missing the mark of Jesus Christ, and we'll pray and seek God for the hearts of one another to open to that to happen, while also taking the steps to share with one another those things that need to be changed.

We can't make it in Christ alone; we need one another. How can we grow into the very likeness of the man Jesus Christ if we aren't receiving the various aspects of Him as found in His body? The answer is - we can't. All of us sharing life together are what makes that a possibility. Anything short of that will hinder and frustrate the purpose of God of having a people that express His very person hood (not His deity which is separate from us).

Jesus Christ is seeking a people willing to walk this walk and not just intellectually agree with it. Doing it is doing it. Talking about or agreeing with it isn't doing it.

Christ in a Pre-Christian World

It appears the majority of believers have come to think in terms of Christianity as having entered into a post-Christian era in the world, including so-called Christianity itself, which has abandoned much of the tenets of the faith.

When I say abandoned the tenets of the faith, I'm mostly referring to mixture, where a lot of the world is added to a little bit of the Bible and Christ.

Even so, there are denominations which claim to be Christian which allow practicing homosexuals to lead the flock, even though the Lord Himself condemns this aberrant lifestyle, which is counter to Christ, and not something anyone has been born with. It's a choice. Period!

There are many more examples which could be cited, as you know, but I want to focus on the implications of that in this article, and not the numerous consequences resulting from it.

Specific implications refer to whether or not Christianity is in fact in a post-Christian era or not. My argument is that we aren't in a post-Christ era in any way, but are rather still reside in a pre-Christian era.

While we could make a case for a post-Christian era from the atrocities being accepted by what are labeled as Churches, but that misses the point.

The reason it misses the point is because of church history, which shows that there really hasn't been an overall embrace of Biblical Christianity since not too long after the period of the early Church, even though there have been periods of recovery which have affected relatively small segments of those professing Christ.

If you read the Bible and have Christ truly residing in you, there can be no doubt there has been little in the way of maturing into the image of Christ, which is part of His eternal purpose for us. There have been some solid individuals over time, but not much in the way of a corporate testimony of Christ.

My conclusion is that requires us to conclude that we are still largely in a pre-Christian era, and have yet to sustainably, and over time, mature in Christ to a state where we, as an entity, can say we represent Christ on the earth; in who He is and what He demands of us.

Once we do, from there we'll truly begin to see what it means to take dominion on this earth, another aspect of His eternal purpose concerning His people.

So don't be discouraged or lose hope, as what we're seeing is really just the beginning of a shaking out in those who name Christ, but in fact aren't really His.

There is much talk about there being many people repeating a sinners prayer, but without real conversions. I believe that is the case, but not just in our day, but throughout much of Church history.

We still await the day when the Church becomes a people reflecting Christ in the earth, and what that will mean for creation before the Lord returns for His people. We must reject that which is of this world and not allow it to infiltrate the Church.

We also must become a people of the Spirit, living from His life and showing forth who Christ is to a world that have yet to fully see Him in His people in an unmixed, pure manner.

Again, there have been times throughout history where there has been a glimpse of this, but overall, there has been a resistance to maturing in Christ because it entails the work of the cross in His people, as well as a separation from the world and its underlying premises.

Christians, or those who name Christ, are afraid to go all the way because they know deep within it will cost them everything. We need to be of those that are willing to take this journey, not counting anything of importance in this world, as we pray for the will and kingdom to come down from Heaven.

We aren't living in a post-Christian world, as that would imply some type of magnificent, truly spiritual period and people we can point to as a point of reference to back the assertion.

Again, there have been small pockets of people such as this throughout history, but not to the point where it has been embraced by Christendom as a whole.

Until those who are redeemed apply themselves and respond to the call of the Lamb, we will continue to dwell in a pre-Christian era on the earth.

Christ continues to woo those who will respond to His call. Let's cast off our baggage and run the race He has run and placed before us.

What is Christian Ministry?

The Real Meaning and Practice of 'Christian Ministry'

Ephesians 4:11-16 (New King James Version)


11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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The scriptures above are probably the most neglected and resisted from institutional Christianity as there ever has been. They completely undermine the idea of the Church practices we have seen, for centuries, and put the people of Jesus Christ at the center of what 'ministering' is under the new covenant.

But resistance from the existing priest/pastor clergy system continues, and it will keep on continuing, as the inclusion and acceptance of apostolic and prophetic ministry changes the entire equation ... as long as they're not simply more 'titled' men trying to be part of an institutional clergy. True apostles and prophets could never be.

Christian clergy today, for the most part, can't get past the idea of their being apostles and prophets, let alone being built upon the foundation they lay.

This isn't an article about prophets or apostles though, we can get into that another time. This is an article about ministry, and how ministry is defined in this passage from the scriptures.


Here's a breakdown of how it's said here:


equipping of the saints

for the work of ministry

for the edifying of the body of Christ

till we all come to the unity of the faith

of the knowledge of the Son of God

to a perfect man

to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ

that we should no longer be children

tossed to and fro

carried about with every wind of doctrine

by the trickery of men,

in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,

but, speaking the truth in love,

may grow up in all things into Him who is the head — Christ

from whom the whole body,

joined and knit together by what every joint supplies

according to the effective working by which every part

does its share,

causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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So what is Christian ministry? It's the saints building one another up.

You see in the above scriptures the goal and result of all that. But it can't be done unless the people of Christ are the ones doing it. You can't get any clearer than that here.

The reason this scripture is ignored and resisted, is the only way this could happen would be for the present practices of Christianity to be abandoned, and a entirely new way of church life come forth.

Sure, there's a place for apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers; it's equipping the saints so the saints can do the work of the ministry.

The saints are to be equipped to do the ministry. How much clearer can that be said?

When's the last time you've seen a body of believers interacting and sharing Christ with one another, building each other up in a building? Not very often, if ever. Sitting looking at the front of an auditorium or building isn't built for it to happen. Rather, a relaxed, home-like atmosphere is the environment which this type of life comes forth.

The point being made here is that the saints of God, the ordinary believer, the people of God, they're the ones who are called to do the ministering.

What is considered the 'ministry' over the centuries, according to the scriptures, really isn't considered ministry at all.

I know you can grab a few scriptures where Paul and others may talk about the ministry, but they're referring to laying a foundation and equipping the saints. That's legitimate.

But the end of that is to have a people of Christ sharing and building up one another when they come together. That will never be done in the type of atmosphere where you have a pulpit or 'altar' set up for the audience to watch.

The saints of God were never meant to be an audience, but the very heart of Christ filling them up with Himself so they can share with one another those very things Christ is doing in them.

As a matter of fact, read the scriptures above, and you'll see that no one can become the things Christ has meant us to be without the body functioning in this way. That's why the body of Christ isn't that way, as listening to a lifetime of sermons from a variety of people was never the intention of God to get His people to grow into Christ.

Only Christ within His people can bring this about. All the things you read from these scriptures come about as the result of a people in an organic expression of Christ toward one another.

Truly, there can't be something practically called the body of Christ unless the individual parts are sharing the life of Christ with one another.

This of course isn't always, or primarily, done through only talking to one another in a group setting (although that is important), it's done through the numerous practical ways we give of ourselves and serve one another as well.

Unless the parts of the body are ministering to one another, there isn't a body; at least in a practical expression. It would be like saying our physical body is a body when most the parts aren't functioning. If that were the case, the body would be dead. And that's the case today with the people of God, as far as it relates to how the scriptures define 'the ministry.'

There is no 'work of the ministry,' unless the members of the body are ministering to one another.

The body won't be edified, unless the members do the edifying.

There won't be a unity of the faith, unless members of the body of Christ are doing their part.

The knowledge of the Son of God, as it relates to fulness, can never be known unless the members of the body show Him forth to one another.

Again, read above what it says, and see that unless the members of the body of Christ are functioning in this way, all that is expressed won't happen.

Every member of the body of Christ is to minister when getting together for a meeting, or when seeing one another on a daily basis. That can't be done under the existing institutional church system that most currently live under.

The many-membered body of Christ functioning one to another is the only way all of this can come about. That is true Christian ministry.