What is Restoration?

What is restoration? To restore is to bring back to the original. The goal of Restoration Christians is to bring the church of Christ back to the teaching and spirit of the church first established following Jesus' ascension into heaven.

Jesus told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem until he sent power from on high. Luke 24:49. The Book of Acts 1:8 confirms the message from Jesus: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses..." At least one purpose of the giving of the Holy Spirit was to empower the disciples of Jesus to be his witnesses. A witness is one who give evidence off or testifies to someone or something. The Holy Spirit was given to followers of Jesus so that they be taught and reminded of what Jesus said, to comfort us in trouble, to bear witness with us, to guide us into all truth, to take the things of Jesus and give them to us, to intercede on our behalf when we don't even know what to say or ask of the Father, and to show us how to live. See John 15, 16; Romans 8; Galatians 5.

And note Ephesians 4:3. We, as Christians, have this obligation to God: "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace."

Without a doubt we differ in our various opinions concerning what might be meant by certain passages of scripture. See Philippians 3:15, 16. "...if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only live up to what we have already attained."

Unity is not equal to uniformity. This is not mind control. This effort to be united is not and effort to quench the Spirit. It is an effort to be one based on God's Word so that the world might believe that He sent Jesus to be the Savior of the world. John 17:21-23.

If we can agree to let God's Word be our guide, if we can allow one another the privilege of being able to think about these things for ourselves and discern how these apply to our lives (Romans 14:4), then we can accept one another as members of the universal church of Christ. All those who put their faith in Him are part of the body, or church, of Christ. Read Ephesians 2:8-10: 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Unity that is forced is not of God, but when we as God's people allow His Spirit to work in us, He will "reconcile both of them to God through the cross." Ephesians 2:16.

We can only be what God calls us to be if we will listen to his word and put it into practice Matthew 7:21, 24-27.

May He give us hearts that long to please Him and live our lives out fully for His glory. May we surrender our pride and self-centered thinking to the larger view of longing for His honor and glory above our own wishes or desires. If we can truly die to self and live to God, He will be our Master (Romans 6), and all who decide to give Jesus the place of Lord in their lives will be united. They will be one. They will have regained the teaching and spirit of the early church.

"That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:10, 11.