LET’S REITERATE OUR POINTS:
We find our previous points stressed in the rest of the New Testament. For example, there were divisions in the churches of Jesus Christ in Galatia. Let’s read Galatians 1:6-9:
“I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!”
Turn over one letter to Ephesians and let’s read 1:22-23: “And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Please observe here that the “church” is the same group of people as the “body” of Christ and Christ is the head over the church. Therefore, He has the right to tell people – you and me – what to do in His church.
Then look at Ephesians 4:1-6:
“Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.”
Here, Paul deals both with the attitude we are to have and the pattern for Christianity: One body. There is to be one church, teaching the one doctrine of, about, and from Jesus Christ. One Holy Spirit. One hope. One Lord. One faith – the Christian faith. One baptism. One God who is Father of us all.
The attitude, then, we are to have, is to be humble, gentle, patient, and tolerate one another in love working to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
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CONCLUSION:
Every denomination has its creeds, its manuals, its system of teaching. Those creeds are simply what creates division among those who seek to honor Jesus Christ. But the church of Jesus Christ is not and cannot be divided. The church of Christ must follow the pattern of the New Testament laid out for us by the inspired apostles.
1.) Division is sinful.
2.) There are certain practices that were commanded by the inspired apostles of all Christians, everywhere, for all time. It is our obligation to study the NT and to see what those behaviors are. That’s why we continue to study the Bible together and at home – to learn all we can about the doctrine of Jesus Christ.
3.) We need to recognize that the apostles have the authority to command us today, as Christians.
4.) Finally, when we see something in the Scriptures that we are not doing – we need to do it. If we see something in the Scriptures we are doing that has no authority from the inspired apostles, we need to quit doing it.
If we need to, let us repent and go back to the pattern of teaching that the New Testament gives us from Jesus Christ through His apostles who were inspired by the Holy Spirit. That is the solution for denominationalism today.
–Paul Holland