Yesterday, we looked at two early creeds in Christendom. The creeds of men create division. The creeds of men create denominations. It is the creeds of men that split believers in Christ into various factions and divisions and create strife in the world of Christianity. However, the church of Christ, in the NT, is not divided into various groups with their own creeds, manuals, etc. Let’s continue our study.
THE IMPORTANCE OF UNITY:
Let’s begin by referring to the prayer of Jesus in John 17, specifically verses 20-21: “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.” From this text we learn:
1.) We believe in Jesus through the word of the apostles. That’s consistent with the purpose of John’s Gospel: 20:30-31.
2.) We are one through the word of the apostles. We cannot be “one” based on what man says. I may not agree with you. You may not agree with me. But we must find unity based on the words of the apostles.
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3.) The result of this unity is that “the world may believe” that God has sent Christ. Evangelism is the purpose, or the end result, of this unity that is based on the word of God.
That means when the church of Jesus Christ began in Acts 2, the apostles preached the message about Christ and every where they went, they preached the same message. When Philip preached the Gospel to the Samaritans in Acts 8, it was the same message that Paul preached in Damascus in Acts 9. It was the same message that Peter preached in Joppa in Acts 9. All the way through the book of Acts, the first 30 years of church history, all the men are going all over the Mediterranean world, preaching the exact same message.
But, there was, again, opposition. All opposition comes from Satan. Just like with Eve in the Garden of Eden, Satan tries to change the word of God so that men will not obey the word of God. Because, you cannot be saved unless you obey the word of God.
Tomorrow, we’ll look at how Paul deals with denominations in the church in Corinth. — Paul Holland
