WITH ONE ACCORD

"Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus; so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ"   Romans 15:5-6

It is amazing to me how many times in the beginning of the Lord's church, the phrase "with one accord" calls attention to itself. This is found so often in the Book of Acts because a significant attribute of the early church was its TOGETHERNESS and UNITY. We find it at least 12 times in the Book of Acts. I believe it was very essential for the church to be of "one accord" in order to have unity and love. In Acts 1:14 we see that the 12 apostles, the women, Mary the mother of Jesus, and His brothers continued with "one accord" in prayer and supplication. In Acts 4:32, we see again that those who believed were of the same heart, mind and soul. They were in so much "accord" that they wanted unconditionally to share all they possessed.   

Again, in Acts 2:44, they were together with "one accord" and had all things in common. In Acts 2:46, this new church continued daily with "one accord," breaking bread from house to house, they ate with gladness and simplicity of heart. This "one accord" is able to praise God and have favor with all men. The apostles and elders, with the whole church were assembled with "one accord," to send chosen men to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, Acts 15:25.

In order for the church, the body of Christ, to be of "one accord," we must learn and labor hard in fellowship, unity, love, affection and mercy, "Being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of  ONE MIND," Philippians 2:2; being of the same mind toward one another, Romans 12:16; Our main goal must be to edify one another, Romans 14:19; They were like-minded in glorifying our Lord Jesus Christ, Romans 15:5. The only way to accomplish this and have victory is to have the mind of Christ and be willing to do His will, "Who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God... He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, death on a cross, Phil. 2:5-8.  In order to be of "one accord" we must learn and exercise the love of God who sent His only begotten Son to die on the cross, that WHOEVER believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  To say that we LOVE and BELIEVE God means to OBEY His Son in order to have eternal life and not the wrath of God, John 3:36. This takes practice, hard labor and a desire TO DO HIS WILL, but the end result is UNITY in the body of Christ, having the mind of Christ that is able to show affection, mercy, love, fellowship, patience and hope. 

We have been taught by our God to love one another, I Thes. 4:9. The Thessalonian brethren were a great example of this love. Even though, they were once very unrighteous Gentiles, they learned and exercised this love. We need to cleanse ourselves from the old leavened bread of wickedness and replace it with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, I Corinthians 5:7-8. We need  to learn to live a crucified life, Galatians 2:20 and let the Spirit of Christ live in us.  The only way we are going to be able, as the body of Christ, the church, to be of "one accord," is by crucifying the old man that is full of hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfishness, dissension, envy, murder.... We need to first go back to our first love, Christ, and walk in the Spirit with gentleness, love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against these there is no law, Gal. 5:16-26.  Finally, we must pray fervently for UNITY in order to be of "one accord."

I am always amazed at how many times the apostle Paul prayed for the early church to be of "one accord"; meaning having abounding love, enlarging their hearts, forgiving one another, having a sincere heart, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are the glory and praise of God.  This can only be accomplished with a lot of DISCERNMENT and KNOWLEDGE of the will of God from Scripture. I believe that the reason why so many times brethren, those in the body of Christ, are not of "one accord" in unity and love is because of this lack of KNOWLEDGE and DISCERNMENT of the will of God. This is VITAL for spiritual growth and edification of the body of Christ. We must put on the breastplate of faith and love in order to be of "one accord."; we must learn to edify and comfort one another, I Thes. 5:8-11 in order to be of "one accord"; we must learn to consider one another in order to stir up love and good works Heb. 10:24 in order to be of "one accord"; we must learn to love one another  in order to be of "one accord," for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know the Father, for God is love... If God so loved us, we also ought to love one another, I John 4:7-11.  

Let us remember and purpose in our heart, soul and mind to keep the UNITY of the Spirit in the bond of peace, Eph. 4;1. Let's follow the example of the apostle Paul who prayed constantly for the UNITY of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God... to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, Eph. 4:13. Let us never forget our Lord's prayer, "I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be ONE as We are ONE, John 17:9-11.

May the Lord help us to be of ONE MIND walking in the Spirit of Christ for our spiritual growth and edification of His body.  May we edify, love, comfort, consider.... one another by crucifying our flesh and going back to our first love, Christ, in order to have the mind of Christ in us and be of "one accord" in UNITY and LOVE.

Luci