Christian unity
"Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among
you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in
the same judgment." 1 Cor. 1:10. Jesus wants to have no division
among his disciples, and in the Bible are many warnings against
disunion. Please also read 1 Cor. 1:11-13, 3:1-9.
If sins destroy the unity, then we may confess and leave our sins.
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9. Jesus says
in Matt. 18:15, "Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee,
go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear
thee, thou hast gained thy brother." Nevertheless, before you talk
to him, forgive him! Else you cannot win him. Perhaps you think,
well, if he himself comes and asks for forgiveness. But what does
Jesus say? If you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will
not forgive your sins.
Please, read Matt. 6:12-15. This is a prayer that Jesus taught his
disciples. But if we do not forgive, then this prayer is highly
dangerous. You can pray yourself to hell with this prayer. If we
don't forgive, and we pray God to forgive in the same way as
we forgive, that would be no forgiveness. Matt. 18:21-35. We
can also turn the prayer of the Lord and pray, "Help us Father to
forgive as you forgive."
Consider. Suspicions about sins also can destroy the unity and
fellow****p. The devil tries to entice Christians to suspect one
another. He wants to exaggerate oppositions and induce us
Christians to see oppositions that in the reality do not exist.
Many suspicions about sins can be groundless.
Within the e***enicalism they mean it is better we tell about
such things that we have jointly than such things that separate
us from one another. Nevertheless, such thinking does not
solve any problem. We cannot remove oppositions only through
to pretend that they do not exist. It is not only different
apprehension and opinions that disturb our fellow****p. The
Christian fellow****p is in the first hand a spiritual fellow****p,
and the worst threat against this fellow****p come from the
spiritual world of evil. Our struggle is not against flesh and
blood, but against the powers of this dark world and against
the spiritual forces of evil. Eph. 6:10-18.
These spiritual forces of evil are more insidious and impudent
than many Christians think. They try to use people's weakness and
lack of knowledge and induce them to act against God's word.
They can darken the people's spiritual view and capacity for
thinking and induce them to use incorrect names for things.
It is usually that people are "totally blind" in certain references
so that they do not see what that is written in the Bible. Many
are entangled in church traditions and ideas which they think
are better than God's word.
The Catholic church has pursued, tortured and murdered millions
of Christians, but about this they say nothing. It is something old
and forgotten. Yet, churches and denominations can never get
forgiveness for their sins. They have no part in Jesus' propitiatory
sacrifice on the cross, and they will never repent. Individual
members can be saved, and it is im****tant that they leave church
and denomination in which they are members.
When Jesus died on the cross, he opened a way to God for people,
Hebr. 10:19-22, but church system or religious organizations have
no share in Jesus' expiatory death on the cross, and they can never
receive forgiveness. The churches' falseness and hypocrisy must
get its judgement. The churches' pursuit, torture and murder of
millions of Christians can never be forgiven. God will repay the
great whore and all her daughters for all their deeds.
To find a true Christian unity, we have only one way to go and
that way is Jesus. John 14:6. If we love Jesus then we love also
God's word because Jesus is the Word. John 1:1-14. Only the
love to God's word can break down party walls and overcome
a conflict of opinion between us as Christians. If on some point
you think differently, that also God will make clear to you,
Phil. 3:15, so that the Body of Christ may be built up until we all
reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God,
and become mature, attaining the full measure of perfection
found in Christ, Eph. 4:13, in whom are hidden all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge. Col. 2:2-3.
"Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels
of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have
a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgive you, so also do ye.
And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of
perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the
which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful."
Col. 3:12-15.
Therefore, each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully
to his neighbour, for we are all members of the body. In your anger
do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and
do not give the devil a foothold. He who has been stealing must
steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his
own hands that he may have something to share with those in need.
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only
what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it
may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of
God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid
of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with
every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another,
forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Eph. 4:25-32.
Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. We know
that we have passed from death to life because we love the brothers.
Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his
brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal
life in him. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother
in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions
and in truth. 1 John 3:13-18.
We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God,"
yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his
brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also
love his brother. 1 John 4:19-21.
Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in
the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there
is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his
brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does
not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded him.
1 John 2:9-11.
Allan Svensson
Do you want to read the continuation of this article
or if you have any questions
Please, visit my Web Site
http://www.algonet.se/~allan-sv/CONTENTS.HTM
(Article 28)
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