Right in the middle of Jesus’ prayer there is an amazing statement. “I am not only praying for these here, but for all who are going to believe through their word.” When Jesus prayed these words He was praying for believers who are alive today! Jesus was praying for me!
Now, it is obvious that this whole prayer was for us, but the context of when He prayed this is interesting. "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.”
What was His prayer her specifically? It was that we would be one and that as one we would be one with the Father and Son, and that “the world may believe that You have sent Me.” The purpose of our unity is that the world would truly believe that God the Father sent the Son!
Now we have seen that the world will know that we are saved by the love we have for each other. Here we see that the world will believe that Jesus was sent by the Father though our unity. Isn’t it obvious that God’s focus is at least partially on love and unity?
We cannot argue that there is a Bible concept of separation. But it sure looks like we had better be very sure and very careful before we take the step of disunifying within the body of Christ. The very cause of Christ is at stake.
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