Doctrines That Divide and Truth That Unites - Part 2 by Jim Sayles
There is one scripture passage that everyone who yearns for the unity and fullness of
Christ in their lives and in the life of the church should pray about, meditate on, and make a
continual obedient faith response to:
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our
warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying
speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every
thought captive to the obedience of Christ,…2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NASB
For though we walk (live) in the flesh, we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh
and using mere human weapons. For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and
blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds, [Inasmuch as
we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up
against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the
obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One), 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 Amplified
Unfortunately, many of the prophets, pastors, teachers, and elders, including those with
doctorates in biblical Greek and Hebrew, from whom we expect to receive correct doctrine,
practice, and the interpretation of scripture, are themselves in disagreement with each other.
And, as stated previously, if any two disagree concerning doctrine, practice, or the
interpretation of scripture, at least one of them is wrong, and possibly both are wrong. Because
the Holy Spirit is not divided.
Nor is ecumenical unity the unity we are commanded to seek. Ecumenical unity (the
agreement to disagree on all but the basic tenets of the faith) is actually a denial of the very
clear command to be of “one mind” and “one judgment”, by those whose investment in their
denomination, their ministry, their reputation, their doctrine, their practice, and their
interpretation of scripture is more important than the Truth.
Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see
you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving
together for the faith of the gospel; Phillipians 1:27 NASB (emphasis is the author’s)
The most important consideration then, for every believer is his/her response to the Lord.
Will we be of “one mind” as we seek the Teacher’s truth and commands, even if it contradicts
what is being taught by our denomination, our pastor, or our favorite big-time public ministry?
A second issue is the determination of which doctrines, practices, or interpretations of
scripture are truly divisive and which are not.
Fortunately for us Paul has given us such a list.
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.
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But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Ephesians 4:1-7
NASB (emphasis is the author’s)
Paul emphasizes the seven things that we must agree on to preserve the unity of the Spirit,
and everyone reading this commentary needs to confirm for themselves a living word of faith in
their own hearts and minds concerning these seven areas of faith.
Our obedience is unto Christ, not unto our denomination, our pastor, our favorite Bible
teacher, our tradition, or our personal intellectual preferences, and it is, therefore, vitally
important for each believer to examine the scriptures like the noble Bereans, praying
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 for themselves as they do, until they have confirmed what the Spirit of
Truth is saying to the church.
The List:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
One body
One Spirit
One hope
One Lord
One faith
One baptism
One God
One body: Everyone who has been born again by grace through faith is united in Christ.
We are the adopted sons and daughters of God in Christ, and the head of this body is Christ,
not the Pope, not our denomination, not our pastor, not the prophet, but Christ.
Our submission to one another is “in Christ”, and if we allow our organizations or the
leaders of our organizations to usurp our obedience to Christ, we will be divided. But the onus
is not only on the leadership within the body, it is also on each individual believer to be
submitted to Christ in all things, even if that submission means that we are no longer in
compliance with the doctrines, practices, and interpretations of scripture coming from our
denominations and religious traditions.
One Spirit: The same Spirit inhabits our human spirits even though we are outwardly
divided, with prejudice, from believers whose doctrine, practice, and interpretations of scripture
are different from ours. Yet, it is not the Spirit who divides. It is the confidence we have in our
own understanding, our own traditions, and our own denominational organizations that divide
us. But what can we do? After all, “we” are right, and “they” are wrong? Aren’t they?
A very small minority of believers today have done a thorough inductive exegesis of
scripture, guided by the Spirit, to test the doctrines, practices, and interpretations of scripture
promulgated by their denominations, fellowships, and chosen “experts”.
Those who do, find that they are united in doctrine, practice, and the interpretation of
scripture, even with those of a denominational tradition supposedly remote from their own, but
only in those areas where both have truly submitted to the Spirit in their quest for Truth
(deliberate capital “T”).
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Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may
know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human
wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.
1 Corinthians 2:12,13 NASB
One hope: Our hope, the expectation imparted to our hearts by the Spirit of Truth, is in
Christ and in Christ only. If it is in religious works (including years of attendance at church),
our denomination, our pastor, or anything other than the impartation of hope in Christ by the
Spirit of Truth, our hope is in vain, and our division from others in the body of Christ is greater
than we imagine.
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His
calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing
greatness of His power toward us who believe. Ephesians 1:18,19 NASB
One Lord: The Pope is not our Lord. The prophet is not our Lord. The pastor is not our
Lord. Our denomination is not our Lord. If we place any of these above our direct obedience to
the revelation of His will by the Spirit of Truth, confirmed by our thorough, prayerful
examination of scripture, we err.
Our petitions to the Father, with whom we have a blood covenant relationship in Christ,
the mediator and High Priest of this covenant, are made only in the name of Christ, our Lord.
We have no individual standing with the Father. Our standing with the Father is in Christ, our
Lord. It is through Him that we receive the covenant promises of God, and it is from Him that
we receive our covenant commands.
If you love Me, you will obey My commandments. John 14:15 NASB
If you are in spiritual obedience to any other, you err, and you are truly divided from those
who “hear” His voice and obey His commands.
One faith: In this Paul is not writing about the entirety of Christian faith, but saving faith.
Not faith in Christ plus works. Not infant baptism combined with confirmation at the age of
accountability. Not mere belief. Not conformance to a religion. Faith, as clearly defined by
Romans 10:9,10.
that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him
from the dead, you will be saved; 10for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and
with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.Romans 10:9,10 NASB
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Evangelicals may take this for granted, but there is an unscriptural practice among
evangelicals of leading the unsaved in a “sinner’s prayer” and a “confession of faith” that results
in many believing they are “saved” when they are not. This subject is dealt with in detail in the
author’s commentary, “The Scriptural Model for the Ministry of Reconciliation”.
One baptism: There is only one baptism, the baptism of the Spirit at the moment of saving
faith. Water baptism is a symbol of what we experience when we are baptized by the Spirit.
Therefore, as a symbol, water baptism itself has no power, nor can our failure to be baptized in
water hinder, in any way, the baptism of the Spirit that takes place at the very moment we
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believe in our hearts (our unique spirit-soul connection) and confess with our mouths (as an act
of faith) that Jesus Christ is Lord.
There is an unfortunate teaching in Charismatic circles that there is a subsequent baptism
of the Spirit for the infilling of the Spirit and the believer’s empowerment with the gifts of the
Spirit “as evidenced by speaking in tongues.”
Clearly there is no scriptural evidence that the gifts of the Spirit have passed away, and
those who teach this erroneous and twisted interpretation of scripture do so out of their own
spiritual poverty and a tradition of spiritual poverty.
However, there is no direct scriptural evidence of a subsequent “baptism of the Spirit”, and
the use of that specific terminology is clearly contrary to the revelation of scripture.
The gifts of the Spirit do come through the activity of faith, and some come only with
maturity, with or without the laying on of hands. But the fact that some do not release their
faith without the laying on of hands is not evidence that the laying on of hands is always
required.
Likewise, many Charismatic fellowships, enamored with outward manifestations of the
Spirit, are in complete disobedience of Paul’s instructions found in 1 Corinthians 14. This is not
evidence of being “Spirit-filled”. It is evidence of trampling underfoot the will of the Lord.
Which, therefore, is more important, speaking in tongues in public or being in obedience to
our Lord?
The gifts of the Spirit are real. They have not passed away. But the doctrine and practice
related to gifts of the Spirit is completely off track in both traditional and Charismatic
denominations and fellowships.
One God: As men we cannot truly understand the mystery of God’s triune nature.
Scripture clearly reveals that there is one God (one God and Father of all who is over all and
through all and in all. Ephesians 4:6). But the one God expresses Himself in three distinct
personas, Father, Son, and Spirit. Some risk everything on their interpretation of scripture to
mean that Jehovah (whom we generally think of as the “Father”) is “God”, Jesus, is the created
“Son”, and the Spirit is merely the working essence of Jehovah. They use the fact that scripture
refers to Jesus as the “only begotten Son” as their primary proof text. This scripture, though, is
a reference to God, as the Son, being born in the flesh, not as a creation of Jehovah.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1
NASB (emphasis is the author’s)
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There are many things about our faith that are merely preferences, but allowing
preferences to divide us intellectually, socially, or spiritually is a clear contradiction of the
revealed will of our Lord.
There are, though, areas if doctrine, practice, and the interpretation of scripture that must
divide the body of Christ where the seven areas of basic doctrine, practice, and the
interpretation of scripture are concerned.. Clearly this division grieves the Spirit and gives the
enemy numerous opportunities to exalt his lies and deceptions against the true knowledge of
God.
Our individual and corporate command in this matter is clear, and our refusal is a
trampling underfoot of the revealed will of our Lord:
Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! 2 Corinthians 13:5
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