Unity in the Church can only take place under the umbrella of God’s Word and the recognition that Jesus Christ alone is the only way to salvation and the only way to find reconciliation with the Father. True unity in the Body of Christ cannot take place by disregarding Sound Doctrine.
Sound doctrine is not the opinions of men, but the description of God’s character, the functioning foundations of the church and the absolute guidance concerning our way of living. Sound and perfect doctrine is what the original apostles gave us; even as they were not perfect themselves; but by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they gave us sound doctrine.
Whether you believe that Jesus will return before, during or after the great tribulation, I can still be in unity with you. However, if you deny His return or if you start giving dates for His return or if you believe we are already in the millennium, I won’t be in unity with you.
If you believe that there is another way to salvation other than Jesus, I will not be in unity with you. If you believe in the baptism of babies, if you pray to any other god other than my God Jehovah and, if you pray in any other name other than the Name of Jesus, I won’t be in unity with you.
If you add and/or take from God’s Word, you are cursed and I will not stand in unity with you (Revelation 22:19). If you do not consider the Bible the only divinely inspired word of truth by God and believe in any other books to be equally divine to the Bible, I will not stand on unity with you. It is all heresy!
If you call sin, good and good, sin or both; even after the Word clearly establishes what is what, you are promoting the devils agenda and I will not be in unity with you.
We can disagree in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and how it comes about, however, if you don’t believe in the Spirit I won’t have unity with you. You may believe that you receive it all with the born again experience, I can still have unity with you and a respectful disagreement, but if you totally close your life away from the Holy Spirit and the crucial ministry He has to offer, we probably can’t work in unity.
If you call yourself a Christian, and after clearly presenting the solution to any particular issue according to the Bible, you still have a “but,” and insist in pushing your agenda and desires, I will not be in unity with you.
You can congregate in a home with a few families or in a twenty million dollar building; I will still be in unity with you. However, if you, calling yourself a Christian, do not congregate nor see the need to do so, I can’t be in unity with you.
You get the point! Understand that there are things that are non-negotiable. I know people make mistakes; they misinterpret something or were not properly discipled; however, there are also false prophets and teachers; with them I will not be in unity.
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