Unity in Bible Interpretation

This is an important topic because there are a number of doctrines peculiar to the Family, or verses that have been interpreted in the Family in ways that other churches do not. The Family strenuously defends those doctrines both internally, to its own members, and publicly when necessary. Many of these doctrines are addressed specifically and in detail on this web site. This study will look at Christian unity, which must transcend mere cooperation, and go beyond mundane collaboration.

Unity must extend to unity of heart and mind and soul and spirit. There must be unity of faith, or there is no unity. The Family stresses unity within the Family and has published a great deal of material vigorously urging members to strive for internal doctrinal unity, to defend at all costs the ‘purity of faith’ that arises from all members believing the same doctrines. Yet there has also been a great deal of material published urging members just as vigorously to remain ‘separate from the churches’, stating that the same ‘purity of faith’ resulting from doctrinal unity also carries with it the necessity of clinging to certain doctrines that can only cause permanent division from the rest of Christianity. In other words, the Family believes that unity of faith only applies within a church, not to the entire body of true believers.

1 Cor 1:10-13

10 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 divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

11 For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you.

12 Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.”

13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

This unity of faith applies to the entire body of Christ, to true believers of all denominations. Applying the principle of Christian unity to those within a certain church is vital for that church’s spiritual welfare, but it is rather short-sighted to neglect the links that should exist between that church and the next.

1 Cor 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.

Jesus is the head over the whole body of true believers, and any part of His body that wishes to be separate from the other parts is therefore desiring amputation from the body of Christ.

Eph 1:22-23

22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,

23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

The different members of the body have different roles and functions, but they are all operated by the same Spirit, and they are all part of the same body. Any part of the body that cuts itself off from the other parts, unavoidably also cuts itself off from the Head. Death, then, is inevitable.

1 Cor 12:12-18

12 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being 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 have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

14 For in fact the body is not one member but many.

15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body?

16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body?

17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling?

18 But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.

God does not want division within His body, insomuch that He asks them all to care for each other.

1 Cor 12:25 that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another.

Self imposed ostracism from the body of Christ is equivalent to self-inflicted mutilation, or spiritual suicide.

Note: 1 Corinthians 12 is examined in greater detail here.

We have no right as Christians to devise private doctrines, or to interpret Scripture in such a way that they apply only to ourselves or to our church. If a doctrine is true it must be true for all; Truth is not selective. The Family cannot therefore have truth that does not also apply to all Christians. Likewise, other churches cannot have truth without it also applying to the Family.

2 Pet 1:20-2:1

20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation,

21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

2:1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.

Note that we are discussing here the doctrines that separate the Family from the rest of Christianity. There are many doctrinal issues that divide church from church, 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 minister, while the next is more liberal. Within the Family are also numerous minor issues which in themselves are insufficient to cause such an insurmountable division as exists. An example of this would be the Family’s insistence on the return of Jesus and rapture occurring after the tribulation. There are some churches who agree with the Family, and many who do not, but none would be so dogmatic as to exclude the Family from their fellowship on the basis of that point alone. The doctrines that separate the Family from the rest of Christendom are those to which the Family clings, in the face of almost united opposition from all other believers. In particular, the Family’s liberal sex doctrines, the ‘spirit helper’ doctrines and the ‘keys of the kingdom’ all place an insurmountably high barrier between the Family and the churches. It is these doctrines which have the potential to not only cut the Family off from the ‘church system’, but also from the body of Christ as a whole and from Jesus Christ as its Head.

We are all responsible for each other.

Christians are accountable before God to care for each other. Again, we are often rather myopic when it comes to applying our care for our brothers and sisters. If we truly believe, then we are part of the body of Christ, the body of all those who have also received Jesus’ atonement for their sins. And God will hold us responsible for how we treated others in this body, regardless of whether they were of the same church or denomination as us. In other words, Family members are accountable for their effect upon non-Family Christians.

Rom 14:10,13, 19-23

10 But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother's way.

19 Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.

20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense.

21 It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak.

22 Do you have faith? Have it to yourself 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 he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.

We are not to look down on other believers as being ‘lesser Christians’ or even less dedicated than ourselves. Each one of us will stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and there will be no boasting there!

Note: Romans 14 is examined in greater detail here.

Moreover, even if we are personally convinced that we are allowed to do something, our responsibility to other believers takes precedence over our own liberty. In fact the thing that we were sure is permitted by God becomes evil if we indulge in it with offence. (Romans 14:20) These liberties become sin for us if we stubbornly cling to them to the offence of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Rom 16:17 Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them.

What is this doctrine that Romans 16:17 refers to? Just a few verses later in the same chapter Paul refers to the Gospel as being the ‘revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began’.

Rom 16:25 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began

26 but now has been made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures has been made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith--

We are urged to watch out for those who wish to cause divisions, those who wish to be separate, those who wish to amputate themselves from the body of Christ, those who divide into doctrinal factions, those whose spiritual ideology appears designed to cause offence. Beware of those whose creed is such that it is impossible to reconcile with the rest of Christendom, and avoid them.

It may be that in clinging so tenaciously to our peculiar doctrines we are in fact glorifying our own stubborn obstinance disguised as religious conviction, instead of giving glory to the only place it is due:

Rom.16:27 to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.

Please see also Doctrinal Unity for greater depth on this topic.

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