who created it, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, foreigner, Scythian, slave, freeman, but Christ is all things and in all.” And to those of the church in Galatia: “You are all, in fact, sons of God through your faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor freeman, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in union with Christ Jesus.”—Col. 3:9-11; Gal. 3:26-28.

16. What is a prerequisite for one church, and did the first Christians have it?

¹⁶ The basis for one church is unity in teaching and belief, and as long as the apostles and other mature brothers filled with the spirit were present, this unity was preserved. When once there were tendencies to building of sects in the congregation at Corinth, Paul reminded them: “Does the Christ exist divided?” and they were exhorted that they should “all speak in agreement, and that there should not be divisions among you, but that you may be fitly united in the same mind and in the same line of thought.” Common faith makes a common church, no matter who and where the believers are.—1 Cor. 1:10, 13.

17. What other factor contributed to international unity?

¹⁷ Another factor supporting the Christian unity was the particular view of government held by the first Christians. They were no part of this world and its political system, which fact alone can contribute a lot to unity. Still they did not consider themselves a people without a government or ruler, but they had confidence in the Hebrew Scriptures and Jesus’ own words as to himself as the real King in a real kingdom exercising real government and with an army strong enough to destroy all other kingdoms in due time. They confessed the supernational King Jesus Christ as their Lord and dedicated their lives to God’s kingdom through him in unswerving loyalty. They were still obedient citizens of the nations they lived in, but in case of a clash between the commandments of their Lord and Master and those of man they took the stand that they must obey God rather than men; and they meant it, as Rome’s Caesars found out when they tried to interfere with the union in which Christians were bound to their God and to their King. They did not imagine that God’s kingdom is something just in the hearts of men, as many professing Christians do today. Keeping separate from the world, with the eyes firmly fixed on that heavenly kingdom and guided by the love-producing holy spirit, they were “one body” though international.—John 17:16; 18:36, 37; Dan. 2:44; Acts 5:29.

18. (a) Did the spirit guide the local congregations direct in the early church? (b) Why might one think complications could arise over decisions made by the visible governing body at Jerusalem, and did they arise?

¹⁸ Since there was just one organization, there could be only one central administrative agency for the whole organization. The apostles and the mature brothers at Jerusalem made up such a visible governing agency or body under the guidance of the spirit. It was recognized and readily co-operated with, world-wide. Problems of international significance to the church were taken to Jerusalem to be decided on. When the matter of circumcision arose, Paul did not summon to a synod the congregation overseers of Antioch and the rest of the province of Syria for the purpose of discussing and deciding on the matter, neither did he expect the spirit of God to give direct guidance to the congregations, but he went to the visible governing body at Jerusalem; and after the matter was settled there under the guidance of the spirit on that body, he was sent back to the congregations to make known the decision to them. This procedure led to no complications on the part of the non-Jews, as might have been expected under other circumstances. From a normal worldly viewpoint one would not have been surprised to hear the Greeks make objections, calling attention to their proud traditions of the past. After all, were not the world’s leading historians, poets, mathematicians and architects Greeks? Was not everything by the name of culture even in all the Roman Empire actually Greek? Or the Romans, the self-assured citizens of the world’s capital, why should they listen to despised Judeans, who, at times, were not even permitted to live at Rome? The world domination of the Semitic race, had it not passed from the Semitic to the Aryan race with the fall of Babylon? Why, then, should Aryan Romans and Greeks take orders from Semitic, Aramaic-speaking Jews in Jerusalem? Could they not think for themselves? There is nothing in the records to indicate any such worldly nationalistic or racial thinking gnawing away like termites on the roots of the Christian unity. Evidently everybody looked at it the same way as Paul did: “There is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for there is the same Lord over all.” Far from its causing dissension, the record says: “Now as they traveled on through the cities they would deliver to those there for observance the decrees that had been decided upon by the apostles and older men who were in Jerusalem. Therefore, indeed, the congregations continued to be made firm in the faith and to increase in number from day to day.”—Acts 15:2, 41; 16:4, 5; Rom. 10:12.

19. In which respect was the early Christian church something never seen before?

¹⁹ Indeed the church was a wonder and an outstanding exception in the history of mankind; an international organization, yet characterized by “one heart and soul,” “same mind,” and “same line of thought,” ‘one body, one spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father.’ (Acts 4:32; 1 Cor. 1:10; Eph. 4:4-6) Something never seen before. A true product of God’s spirit. Certainly, Jehovah had fulfilled Jesus’ prayer for unity of the Christian church.—John 17:20-23.

The Mark of the Spirit

“I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love among yourselves.”—John 13:34, 35.

1. (a) Why is it only logical to expect Christian unity to be seen in the world today? (b) Of what use would it be to us to find that unity?

TO Jesus the unity and love among his true followers was something unique, something that would set them apart from everybody else, something that should be a special sign to the whole world to prove that he had been sent by the Father and that they had been sent by him. Because Jesus prayed for his future followers to be part of the Christian unity and promised that “Hades will not overpower” his congregation and that he is with it “all the days until the consummation of the system of things,” it is only logical to expect that particular sign should be visible to the world today, and that it can serve as one of the means of identifying his congregation or