The Tie That Binds

Brenden Ashby
05/18/25 - Sun AM

The Tie That Binds

Brenden Ashby

There is a beautiful hymn that expresses the blessings of unity within the body of Christ. That hymn is titled “Blessed Be the Tie,” and we want to take the first stanza of that hymn and explore the Scriptural truths it expresses.

The hymn begins “Blessed be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love.” Our unity is based upon the wonderous love of Christ! The whole reason we can love is because God through Christ has first loved us (1 Jn. 4:19). It is the love of Christ that binds us together in mutual love.

The hymn continues with “the fellowship of kindred minds.” Our unity is not just in the love of Christ but in truth of the Christian faith (e.g., Eph. 4:1-6). We are united on truth of God’s word and the doctrine it reveals.

The stanza ends with “Is like to that above.” The unity we have, we preserve, and we strive for is the very unity that God Himself enjoys within Himself. Paul says that we are to work at growing in our unity until it matches the unity of God (Eph. 4:13). And to the degree we experience unity within the body we enjoy a foretaste of the unity that will exist in eternity.

Truly unity is a blessing from God. Let us strive to preserve and promote loving unity within the body here!