IS CHRISTIAN UNITY ATTAINABLE?

 

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Just recently the Pope signed a peace agreement with Moslem leaders promising peace and respect between the two religions, and promising to respect other denominations. How practical is this peace agreement, and how long will it hold?

It is said that, "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand" (Matt.12:25).

Unfortunately, this is the predicarment of the Christian religion. The credibility of the Christian religion is dwindling because of their disunity, not only among other religions, but also among the Christian community. It is not the desire of Jesus Christ for his followers to be so divided, and live in such confussion. The spirit that should prevail in the churches of the saints is one of peace, because Jesus Christ is not the author of confusion.

In as much as Jesus Christ is not the author of confusion, whu should there be so much confusion in the Christian community?

SECTARIANISM

Confusion exists among the Christian community because of sectarianism, which is the spirit or the tendencies to adhere strongly to a particular religious sect.

Sectarianism is forbidden in the first place. It is daimetrically opposite to what God intends. John said to Jesus, "Teacher, we saw a man using your name to cast out a demon and we prevented him, because he was not associating with us."Do not stop him," Jesus said. no one who does a marvelous work in my name will not forthwith speak evil of me. For he who is not against us is on our side" (Mk.9:38-40).

Sectarianism violates God's law. The Apostle Paul made an earnest plea to all Christians saying, "Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no division among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment" (1Cor.1:10).

The mere fact that one claims to be a member of a particular religious denomination, and do not mingle themselves with other believers, is division, and tantamounts to sin. The apostle Paul made this abundantly clear when he said, "Now, I say to you; each one of you say, "I belong to Paul," or I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas," or "I belong to Christ".Is Christ separated? Was it Paul who gave his life on the cross for you? Or were you baptized in obedience to Paul? (1Cor.1:12-13).

point number three; sectarianism is worldly. It means that people are not careful in regards to the things of God, but are careful in regards to the things of men. It refers to people who do not receive the things pertaining to the Spirit of God, for these things are foolisg to them, neither can they know them, because they are spiritually discerned. Carnality is the root cause of envy, strife and contention. It originates from a mind which is in conflict with God, and which is not subject to the principles of God, and can never be. According to the apostle Paul,where there exist envy, strife, and divisions among believers, is a sign of carnality, behaving like mere men? For when says, "I belong to Paul," and another, "I belong to Apollos" Are you not worldly?

How can sectarianism be avoided?

To avoid sectarianism we must all admit that, we all know in part, and we prophesy in part, but the real antidote is:-

We must all return to the true form of worship, and to do that, we must;

A. Stop refusing to accept or believe in the commandment of God, by adhering to our own tradition.

Jesus quoted the prophet Isaiah saying, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. And in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. You have let go the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men. 7:7-8).

Jesus said to them, "All too well you refuse to keep the commandment of God, so as to keep your own tradition.7:9).

A tradition according to Christian theology is, an unscriptual opinion or doctrine claimed to have been received from Jesus and his disciples, and handed down verbally to succeeding generations.

The fact is, worshiping God in accordance to man's doctrines and traditions will not put an end to sectarianism, but will rather aggravate it. Jesus said, "It is not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but it is the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. "On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord' have we not preached in your name, drive out demons in your name, and done many miracles in your name? And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness" (Matt.7:21-23).

B. Give honor to God in spirit and truth.

To the Samaritan woman Jesus said, "You worship what you do not know; We the Jews know what we are worshiping, for salvation is of the Jews. The Father is seeking at this hour, true worshipers to worship him in spirit and truth. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth" (Jn.4:22-24).

Salvation descends from the Jews, for to them alone has God revealed his true mode of worship. With reference to true worship this is what the lord says: heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the temple that you have prepared for me? And where is my resting place? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things are mine, says the Lord. But this is the man to whom I will look, he that is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.66:1-2).

Believers in Jesus Christ are as living stones coming together at the time of worship, building up a spiritual house for the Lord. They also are a holy priesthood, to offer to God spiritual sacrifices which is acceptable to him through Jesus Christ. 2:5). This is the house and the place of rest the lord is expecting us to build for him.

Spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ constitute of:-

1. Present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is our spiritual worship. 12:1).

2. Giving to God the sacrifice of praise, that is the words of our mouths. Giving thanks in Jesus' name.13:15).

 

3. Offer right sacrifices and trust in the Lord.4:5).

4. The prayers of the saints is figurative to the burning of incense.5:8; Isa.66:3).

5. In recognition of his goodness, a gift from our hands, especially on the days he has set aside to appear before him. It is stated, "Three times in a year all your men shall appear before the Lord your God.” - And they shall not appear before the Lord empty handed (Exo.23:15; Deut. 16:16).

Spiritual sacrifices are presented to the Father in a holy, perfect, blameless, irreproachable state, by the offering of the body and blood of Jesus Christ to the Father for the remission of our sins.

The apostle Paul directed our attention to this by saying, "I speak as to men of wisdom; judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks, is it not the sharing of the blood of Christ? the bread which we break, is it not the mutual relation of the body of Christ? For we being many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread" (1Cor. 10:15-17).

Sinful mortal man cannot offer him/herself to the Father as a perfect acceptable offering, unless Jesus Christ as the High priest, first make an atonement on our behalf. "For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. It is necessary for Jesus Christ as High priest to have something to offer.It is the ordaind duty of every high priest taken from among men, to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins, and things pertaining to God.8:3;5:1).

Christian unity is possible, but only when the true spiritual sacrifice is offered, and true worship of God according to his word is restored. Until this is done, there can be no Christian unity, unless they are forced to adhere and comply with laws that are contrary to the will of God.