Our Responsibilities To One Another

I Cor. 10:17

We are members of one another, one body in Christ Jesus. By the grace of god we are identified with and united to each other. We are the family of God in this world. These things are true of the church universally. But they are especially true of men and women who are banded together in a local assembly. And as members of one another, as one body in Christ, we have certain privileges and responsibilities toward one another.

1. We are to LOVE ONE ANOTHER (Rom. 12:10). Love is the law of Christ's kingdom, the evidence of grace, and the joy of God's saints in this world.

2. We are to KEEP THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT AND BOND OF PEACE (Eph. 4:3-6). Unity of heart, faith, doctrine, and purpose are essential to the peace of God's family.

3. We are to BE SYMPATHETIC AND KIND TO ONE ANOTHER (Rom. 12:15). Who does not need kindness and sympathy? Give it and you will receive it.

4. We are to MINISTER TO ONE ANOTHER'S NEEDS (Matt. 25:40). The material, physical needs of God's people and their emotional, spiritual needs are to be matters of concern to us.We are to do what we can to help them.

5. We are to WATCH OVER ONE ANOTHER (Heb. 12:15). We are not to spy over one another, or endeavor to govern one another's lives and consciences. But we are to encourage one another in the way of faith, supporting the weak, helping the faint, and restoring the fallen.

6. We are to BEAR ONE ANOTHER'S BURDENS (Gal. 6:2). The strong are to bear the infirmities of the weak. The offended are to forgive the offending. The faithful are to be patient with the unfaithful.

7. We are to PRAY FOR ONE ANOTHER (Eph. 6:18).

8. We are to ASSEMBLE WITH ONE ANOTHER (Heb. 12:25). God's people need each other. We greatly depend upon and are affected by mutual faithfulness.

9. We are to SHOW NO RESPECT OF PERSONS IN THE HOUSE OF GOD (Rom. 12:10, 16). Position, wealth, worldly honor, race,and social standing are nothing among God's elect. "Christ is all and in all." In Christ all are equal.

10. And we are all TO BE EXAMPLES TO ONE ANOTHER (I Tim. 4:12). "Holiness," John Gill wrote, "becomes the house of God, and the members of it; their light should so shine both in the church and in the world, that others beholding their good works, may imitate them, and glorify God."

Don Fortner