Ephesians 4:1-6
1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,
2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,
3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
So often unity is spoken of within the fellowship of the Church as the one thing that is needed above all else in order to see the Lord Jesus Christ truly lifted up in this world. With this sentiment I would wholeheartedly agree, but with regard to the understanding of what Christian unity is, or how to acheive it according to many professing Christians, I couldn’t disagree more strongly.
It is true that God calls believers from every walk of life, and from all sorts of cultures and communities. Each true believer is then plunged into the death of Christ, and raised back up in the newness of His Holy Spirit, as a spiritually perfect new creature in Christ. However each believer is then taken on a pathway of being conformed into the image of their Creator, being tested and refined by the fire of the Holy Spirit as they are led through times of testing and tribulation, that shapes their character as the Lord leads them. This is a process that will last our whole earthly life, and will of course mean their is much need of grace, patience and forgiveness between believers, in order for this process to be carried out in our lives, for the glory of Christ. This is true Christian unity. As far as I can see, there are two ways to go about acheiving this unity; the right way and the wrong way! I will highlight first that which I would consider the wrong way in the light of Scripture, which will then hopefully serve better to emphasize that which is true.
Firstly I would like to point out that I am not someone who believes that the majority of professing Christians are wolves in sheep’s clothing, having constant ulterior motives going on underneath the surface. Rather I believe that any professing Christian, who strays from the truth of God for whatever reason, can and will be used by the devil and his cohorts to lead other Christians astray too. With regard to unity, it stands to reason that the devil would be particularly busy in this area, attempting to deceive many, that they may be deceived into exhorting disunity with Christ passionately, whilst all along thinking themselves committed to unity more than most.
At the heart of false Christian unity, in all its forms, seems to be the notion that we must do something for Christ. Although this may sound ridiculous to say, when our focus is shifted onto that which we must do, even if we would consider it service to Christ, we will be led from the grace of God into our own works. From this place it is impossible to acheive true Scriptural unity, for when our focus is on the outcome that we are trying to acheive, be it for Christ or not, our next step is to seek to compromise in order to acheive it.
A typical example of this can be seen in the current document known as the “Manhattan Declaration“, which it would be almost impossible for any Christian to disagree with the aims of what it is trying to acheive. As with the supporters of this document, I would also agree that it is perfectly acceptable and proper for any Christian to make a bold stand on such matters as the importance of marriage, the wrongness of abortion, the need to address the needs of the homeless and starving, or any other humanitarian matter that affects this world. However I would also state that a Christian could work side by side with the most ardent atheist in addressing such matters, without it having any diverse effect on the sincerity of their faith in Christ. For to be unified with others in any humanitarian work, no matter how noble, does not signify spiritual unity, any more than a kind and cheerful disposition signifies that someone is truly saved in Christ. I am not saying unity of purpose in this way is bad at all, but what I am saying is that it is not necessarily Christian unity.
True Christian unity stems from one thing above all, namely unity with Christ Himself. It is only from this basis that true Christian unity can be acheived, and all the fruit that unity will produce within a fellowship of believers committed to such a thing. Unity with Christ comes without compromise whatsoever, for the only way unity with Christ can be attained is to display a willingness to die to oneself completely, in order for His rule to become sovereign at every point in one’s life. We must abide in Him and He in us. We must rely totally on His work done for us, depend completely on the strength of His Spirit within us, and cast aside all we think we know and adopt His truth alone as revealed through His Word alone. If we are surrendered in such a way, then we will without doubt be unified with Christ. We will also find that we will be unified with other believers who are unified with Him in the same manner, and together in total submission, we will be moved to action by the Head of the Body, who is Christ alone.
I may be labelled whatever anyone wishes to label me, but I would sooner tear out my own eyes, than to unify in spirit with someone who is in open and unrepentant disunity with Christ. And to put ones name to a binding document such as the one mentioned above, openly acknowledging as spiritual brothers those who openly reject the true Gospel of Christ, as those in the Roman Catholic church do, then it can not be a good thing. It is purely a cop out to suggest that we can disagree about what the Gospel of Christ is, and yet still embrace one another as Christian brothers for the sake of unity.
Understand this clearly: The Gospel of Christ is clearly stated in the pages of the Bible without any ambiguity at all, and if someone chooses to not believe what the Bible teaches us on such a matter, they are simply not a Christian, and cannot be called a brother in the Lord.
2 Corinthians 6:14-15
14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?
15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?
Sourced from: HeartCry!
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