Doctrinal Unity

Note: the content on this page is a revision of the material of the page 'Unity in Bible Interpretation' to include greater detail and depth. While there is some repetition, there is much here that is new.

There are a number of doctrines peculiar to the Family, in which portions of Scripture are or have been interpreted in ways that are completely different to mainstream Christianity. So, is it legitimate for different Christian groups to hold contrasting views on Scripture?

The Family strenuously defends its own teachings both internally, to its own members, and publicly when necessary. Depending on the doctrine in question, their position is either that different groups may hold to different doctrines “according to their faith,” or that their own doctrines are new deeper truths, revealed to them because of their obedience, and presumably which other Christians will eventually accept, given enough time. It is clear, however, that many Family teachings are totally incompatible with those held by mainstream Christians, who will never conform to Family viewpoints. Certain Family doctrines are diametrically opposite to those held by most Christian churches. There is no middle ground, no room for compromise, no possibility of both being right.

This study looks at the doctrinal aspect of Christian unity; to what degree are Christians supposed to agree in matters of faith.

Unity of faith

To the early church, unity meant unity of heart, mind, soul and spirit. There either was unity of faith, or there was no unity. Likewise in the Family, there is tremendous emphasis placed upon internal unity:  a great deal of material has been published, vigorously urging its members to strive for internal doctrinal unity, to defend at all costs the uncompromised faith that arises from all members believing the same doctrines. On the other hand, there has also been a great deal of material published vigorously urging members to remain separate from the churches. The Family claims that their internal unity results in whole-hearted commitment. In other words, in order to remain a whole-hearted Family disciple, it is necessary to remain separate from churches who do not believe the same way. This is not a matter of petty inter-church squabbles over matters of administration. Rather, the Family clings to certain doctrines that cause permanent separation from the rest of Christianity, and steadfastly maintains that those doctrines are correct.

Therefore, the Family believes that unity of faith is only necessary within a particular church group, not to the entire body of true believers.

The issue here is those particular doctrines that separate the Family from mainstream Christianity. There are always numerous doctrinal issues where one church differs from the next, but most of these are minor. One church imposes a strict dress code upon its members, while the next allows casual dress. One church forbids women to teach men, while the next has female ministers. One church baptises by full immersion, while the next baptises by sprinkling. Within the Family, there are also numerous minor issues which in themselves are insufficient to cause an insurmountable division. An example of this would be the Family’s insistence on the return of Jesus and rapture of the saints occurring after the tribulation. There are some churches who agree with the Family, and many who do not, but few would be so dogmatic as to exclude the Family from their fellowship on the basis of that point alone.

However, there are doctrines that separate the Family from almost all other Christian churches or groups, to which the Family clings in the face of united opposition from most other believers. In particular, the Family’s teachings on sex, spirit helpers and the ‘keys of the kingdom’ all place an impenetrable barrier between the Family and the churches.

No divisions among you

1 Cor 1:10 Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. NASU

First Corinthians is a letter of correction written by the apostle Paul to the believers in the cosmopolitan, decadent city of Corinth. Paul addresses numerous different issues which have come to his attention. Some of these matters were reported to him (1 Cor 1:11), and others were issues that the Corinthians themselves wrote to him about (1 Cor 7:1). Paul had written to the Corinthians before (1 Cor 5:9), and it appears that his previous counsel had, in many cases been rejected. This produced factional arguments (quarrels, or “rivalries, disputes” 1 Cor 1:11 NET Bible footnote) within the church over which leader the believers were to follow:

1 Cor 1:11-12

11 For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. 12 Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.”

NASU

 Paul’s immediate response was to remind the Corinthians that they are one in Christ, not in any earthly leader.

1 Cor 1:13 Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? NASU

It is Christ Himself that unites believers, not allegiance to a particular teacher. Paul continues the topic of leadership in chapter three, emphasising that each leader is merely a servant accomplishing a task given to him by the Lord.

1 Cor 3:3-5

3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men?

5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe — as the Lord has assigned to each his task.

NIV

First century Christians who gave their loyalty to a particular leader instead of to the Lord were guilty of worldliness (vs.3). So, one of the ways worldliness is manifested is in loyalty to a particular group or person over loyalty to Christ.

Gifts for unity

Later on in the same book, Paul discusses spiritual gifts.

1 Cor 12:4-11

4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. 6 There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. 7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various  kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.

NASU

In this list of various spiritual gifts, Paul repeatedly stresses that all gifts come from the same, single source. Notice how many times he says, “the same Spirit” or “the one Spirit.”

It is the Holy Spirit who distributes different gifts to individual Christians “just as He wills” (vs.11). One of the reasons for this emphasis is the fact that the Corinthians had been engaging in a certain amount of spiritual one-upmanship. Paul rebuked them in chapter one for their factional disputes over preferred leadership (“I am of Apollos” “I am of Paul” 1 Cor 1:12). Here, Paul stresses that no particular gift is more important than any other gift because they all originate from the same Holy Spirit. There is no particular hierarchy of gifts. One person may be given the gift of prophecy, while another may receive the gift of the word of knowledge and the prophet is not above the one with knowledge.

The next topic (vs.12-26) presents the analogy of the human body as representative of the church, in which each member depends on all the others.

1 Cor 12:12-13

12 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

NASU

Notice how many times Paul uses the word ‘one.’ There is one body and one Spirit.

1 Cor 12:14-27

14 For the body is not one member, but many. 15 If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. 19 If they were all one member, where would the body be? 20 But now there are many members, but one body. 21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; 23 and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, 24 whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, 25 so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

27 Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.

NASU

The church is Christ’s body, and Christians are like his hands, his feet or his eyes and so on. Now, the first point that needs to be made is that Christ has one body. In other words, it was not as though the Corinthian church was one body and the Ephesian church was another body. On the contrary, all Christians who have ever lived in any part of the world comprise His body. Therefore, people are either a part of this single, united body or they are not.

Second, Christians only have functionality as part of the body. Cut off a hand, and that hand no longer lives. Therefore Christians must act in subservience to Christ Himself as the head, because without Him they have no life, and in unison with the rest of the body. If they attempt to operate apart from the body, they immediately begin to die.

Third, Christians depend on each other for survival. Without feet, the hands would not get very far. Without the stomach, the eyes would die of starvation. Without this interdependence, death is inevitable. If a group of ‘believers’ continues to exist, while remaining separate from the rest of the believers, this merely proves that they are not members of Christ’s body at all.

Fourth, all truth proceeds from Christ Himself, who is the head (Eph 4:15); He is the truth (John 14:6). Therefore, everyone who is a member of His body must of necessity hold to the same truth. Those who have different ‘truths’ are therefore not members of His body.

The body possesses an organic unity. There is a common life principle that brings all of its diversity together so that it becomes a whole, a unit. And Paul realized that the church is no different. The basic intrinsic definition of the church is that it is one organic whole, a plurality of members with a common life principle. And in that plurality of members there is only one kind of Christian. The body of Christ does not possess two or more brands of Christian, some with more of the Holy Spirit than others. We are all members of the body of Christ. We are all a part of the organic whole through which pulses the very life blood of Christ Himself. (Macarthur, The Charismatics)

It is important to remember that the word ‘church’ in 1 Corinthians does not refer to ‘the denomination’ or the ‘group of believers in Corinth’ or ‘those who follow Paul.’ Rather, the ‘church’ is the universal body of all believers, regardless of their location, the historical time they live, or the particular group they are organised into. If they are true believers, then they are members of the church. Therefore, the unity that is an integral part of the gifts of the Spirit means cross-denominational unity. Unity that is confined to a particular location or denomination or group is no unity. Christians who want to remain separate from other Christians actually desire amputation from the body of Christ, and therefore from Christ Himself.

Therefore, as long as the Family holds to doctrines that separate it from other churches, it will remain separate from the body of Christ, unless, of course, it chooses to believe that Family members alone comprise the body of Christ.

Such separation effectively prevents spiritual growth, functionality and strength, and ultimately causes spiritual death, as the individual believers are separated not only from other Christians, but also from Christ the head.

After discussing the human body as an analogy of the church, Paul returns to his earlier topic, with another list of various roles and spiritual gifts that may be present in the church.

1 Cor 12:28-31

28 And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various  kinds of tongues. 29 All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of  miracles, are they? 30 All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they? 31 But earnestly desire the greater gifts.

NASU

Not every Christian needs to fill every role, because within the body of believers, God will have appointed people with the roles or gifts that are needed. So, one of the points we may get from this passage is that the church consists of unity within diversity.

Despite the Family’s emphasis on the gift of prophecy, it is clear that prophecy is not more important than any other gift, and it is also clear that true prophecy will not cause division. In fact, the theme of unity is so strong in this passage that we may say that true gifts or ministries within the church will never separate believers from each other. If anyone’s teaching or prophecy causes division, that is a sure sign that that message was not inspired by the Holy Spirit. True prophecy or teaching will always bring about unity.

Unity and maturity

The book of Ephesians tells a similar story. It is God who appoints His people into various roles:

Eph 4:11-16

11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as  evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

NASU

Note that the purpose of the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers is to equip the saints “for the work of ministry” (vs.12 NET Bible), “until we all attain to the unity of the faith” (vs.13). Apostles, prophets, evangelists pastors and teachers build up the church in order to bring unity of faith and unity in knowledge of the Son of God. In fact, this unity is a measure of Christian maturity: “Until we all reach unity in the faith… and become mature” (vs.13 NIV).

This unity of faith will protect us from being “tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine” (vs.14). Therefore, one of the ways to tell if someone is giving a false prophecy is if that prophecy causes division within the universal body of Christ. The body of Christ is “held together” (vs.16) that it may grow and mature, and the result of true prophecy will be unity and growth.

Christians are responsible for each other

One of the ways Christian unity is to be manifested is in the care that believers are to show each other. Jesus left His disciples with the command to love each other (John 15:12) and severely warned those who had so little care that they would cause young believers to stumble (Matthew 18:6). This is also the point that Paul makes in his counsel to some people who were quarrelling over petty issues.

The fourteenth chapter of Romans contains some counsel on how to handle differences of opinion in matters of conscience. There are two relatively minor issues mentioned, one concerning which food Christians are allowed to eat, and the other concerning holy days. Paul says that each person should act according to his own conscience, if he is “fully convinced in his own mind” (Rom 14:5).

There are two important points to bear in mind when applying this passage. First, the particular issues mentioned are not major doctrines. Paul in no way implies that his advice in this chapter may be applied to any doctrine or teaching. That is, we may not use this passage to justify actions that are elsewhere described as sinful. For example, the Bible categorically and repeatedly condemns extra-marital sex as sin, therefore we cannot use these scriptures to justify such an act, saying that we are “fully convinced”. On the other hand, when we are considering minor issues that are not specifically addressed in Scripture, we may prayerfully consider the counsel given here.

The second important point about this passage is that Paul actually spends very little time explaining how people are to act according to their own conscience, or how to ensure they are fully convinced. Rather, the bulk of the chapter deals with the impact our decisions may have upon other believers. In fact, Paul says that when it comes to making decisions, the effect we may have on other believers takes precedence over our own conscience.

We are not to judge, or look down on other believers:

Rom 14:10 But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. NASU

Regardless of our decisions, we are neither to despise other believers, nor judge them.

Rom 14:13-15

13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this —  not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way. 14 I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. 15 For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died.

NASU

Here is Paul’s key message: we are “not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way” (vs.13).  Regardless of one’s personal persuasion, “if your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love” (vs.15 NIV). The command is clear: “Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died” (vs.15).

Rom 14:19-23

19 So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another. 20 Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense. 21 It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles. 22 The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. 23 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.

NASU

Christians are accountable for their effect on other believers. It is interesting to note that the final phrase, “whatever is not from faith is sin” (vs.23) does not in fact summarise the main point of the chapter. One’s personal faith plays a vital role in making personal decisions, but if we neglect the effect we may have on other believers, we may be guilty of tearing down the work of God (vs.20) or even contributing towards a fellow believer’s spiritual destruction (vs.15).

To apply this principle, Family members who neglect their membership in the universal body of Christ, or who disregard their effect upon other believers will be required to answer for their actions before Christ Himself (vs.10). In fact the ‘Judgement Seat of Christ’ invoked in verse ten specifically relates to Christians’ relationships with other Christians (“why do you regard your brother with contempt?”).

Moreover, even if we are personally convinced that God would allow us to do something, our responsibility to other believers takes precedence over our own liberty. In fact, the very thing that we are sure is permitted by God actually becomes evil if our indulgence “causes someone else to stumble” (vs.20 NIV). Liberties become sin for us if we stubbornly cling to them despite offending our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Divisive teachers

The final chapter of Romans contains numerous greetings sent from Paul and others to the believers in Rome. Sandwiched in the middle of these final salutations is a short final warning to the Roman Christians to stay way from anyone who contradicts true doctrine.

Rom 16:17-18

17 Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. 18 For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.

NASU

Christians who “cause divisions” (NKJV, NIV) do not serve Christ. What are we to do? “Avoid them!” (NKJV, NET).

Paul ended his first epistle to Timothy with a similar caution.

1 Tim 6:3-5

3 If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, 4 he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.

NASU

Beware, says Paul, of those who “teach false doctrine” (vs. 3 NIV). This false teaching is specifically designated as that which is different from apostolic teaching. The application is straightforward: Beware of those who teach doctrines that differ from those of the New Testament. Stay away from teachers who reject the spiritual authority of Paul, Peter, James, and the other New Testament writers.

In Galatians, Paul says that if anyone teaches anything different, he is “accursed.”

Gal 1:8-9

8 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! 9 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!

NASU

There are similar warnings in Matthew 7:15, Titus 3:10, 2 Thessalonians 6:4,14 and 2 John 10.

Conclusion

Christians are members of the body of Christ first and foremost. Membership in a particular church, denomination or Christian group may be acceptable provided that group does not separate itself from the body of Christ through unscriptural teachings. Christian leaders who wish to be separate from the body of Christ, or who teach doctrines contrary to apostolic teaching are strongly condemned by the Bible.

The Family is at particular risk, adhering as it does to certain doctrines that can only cause division from mainstream Christianity. Those doctrines not only cause division from Christians and from churches, but also cause separation from Jesus Christ Himself as the head of the church.

The biblical solution is to reject unscriptural doctrines together with the people who teach them.

Unity that exists only within the Family is no unity.

See also

Unity in Bible Interpretation

The Standard of Measurement

The Authority of the Bible

The Word of God

References

John Macarthur, The Charismatics, 1978, Zondervan.

© 2006, 2008 Make Straight Paths

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