Establish my footsteps in Your Word ~ Psalm 119:133

On May 1, 1992, Rodney King of Los Angeles riot fame asked the profound question, “Can’t we all get along?” Sadly, as society has proven over and over again, the answer is, “No! We cannot!” King, of course, was referring to the property damage, numerous injuries and tragic deaths in the days following his brutal beating at the hands of four LAPD officers. The problem of not being able to ‘get along’ is nothing new though. Human beings have been at odds with each other ever since Cain slit Abel’s throat. If only there was a better way!

In the Scriptures, God has indeed given us a model for this concept of getting along in the church, and I will refer to it as Christian Unity. There are numerous commands for unity amongst believers in God’s Word, however, we have also proven that getting along with each other is exceedingly difficult… maybe even impossible. But is it, really? Does it have to be?

If we were to consider a couple ‘unity’ passages in scripture, the following verses may immediately come to mind:

• Psalm 133:1- “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in unity!”
• John 17:21 – “I am not asking on behalf of these alone, but also for those who believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one; just as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me”.
• 1 Corinthians 1:10 – “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 the same judgment”.
• Ephesians 4:1-6 – “I, the prisoner of the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you also 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.
• Philippians 2:1-2 – “Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose”.

Comparing our actual words and behavior with the content of these verses, it would appear that Christians are not very unified. In fact, if we were to measure unity by the number of different church denominations, then it seems that Christians are divided over almost everything.

To be fair, the writer of three of those passages had his own share of disagreements. The Apostle Paul himself had a sharp disagreement with Barnabas over whether or not John Mark would go along with them to cities they had previously preached in (Acts 15:36-39). He also recounts the disagreement he had with with Peter in Galatians 2:11-14, “opposing him to his face”! Paul tells us to be in agreement with one another, and yet at the same time it seems he is violating his own standards of unity. What is going on here?

To unravel these seemingly opposing thoughts, we must first back up and define scripturally what is meant by ‘church’. Then taking a broad look at church history with respect to ‘church denominations’ might be helpful. With this, we can determine if our differences are the same as disunity. And we will hopefully decide if we should set aside our doctrinal convictions and consider them to be inconsequential in the quest for unity… or make a call as to whether we would break fellowship with a brother at the first sign of doctrinal difference.

Church

When we hear or speak the word ‘church’ it is often in reference to a building, as in, “I am going to church for the Wednesday night prayer service” or “That church has beautiful stained glass windows”. However, the term ‘church’ in New Testament Greek is the word ‘ekklesia’, which means ‘those who are called out’. Or more specifically, a company of Christians¹.

The church is referred to in two distinct contexts in the New Testament:
1). Universal Church – This is the whole body of believers scattered throughout the whole earth. Upon the rock of Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus said that He would build His church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it². In other words, Jesus Himself promised that He was going to assemble a group of people, singled out to be a part of a living organism that we call the church, and not even hell will destroy it. This is the whole body of believers all over the world – and all these people stand together as one because their foundation stone is Jesus Christ.

Other references to the universal church would include verses like 1 Corinthians 4:17, Galatians 1:13, Ephesians 1:22, 5:23, Philippians 3:6, Colossians 1:18 and Timothy 3:15.

2). Local Church – This is a group of Christians gathered in one place (in New Testament days it was likely a home or several homes) in a specific city, village or region. There are many Bible verses that support this:

• Acts 8:1 – persecution against the church at Jerusalem
• Romans 16:1 – a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea
• 1 Corinthians 1:2 – the church of God which is at Corinth (see also 2 Corinthians 1:1).
• Galatians 1:2 – to the churches of Galatia
• Ephesians 1:1 – to the saints who are at Ephesus
• Philippians 1:1 – to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi
• Colossians 1:2 – to the saints and faithful brethren who are at Colossae
• Colossians 4:15 – the church which is in the house of Nymphas
• 1 Thessalonians 1:1 – to the church of the Thessalonians (see also 2 Thessalonians 1:1)
• Philemon 1:2 – the church in the house of Archippus
• Revelation 2:1,8,12,18, 3:1,7,14 – the churches at Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea

It is significant that the New Testament speaks of the church as both a universal entity and a localized entity, which cannot be ignored in the discussion about Christian unity.

A straightforward reading of scripture reveals that Jesus Christ has one group of people that He has called out for His purposes: a worldwide body consisting of all people who confess that Jesus is Savior and Lord. These people are called Christians. Practically speaking, even though they are considered one body, it’s impossible to gather all together in one place until we all see each other in Heaven. Therefore, beginning with the foundation of Christ’s church, believers have assembled in various localities for the teaching of the Apostle’s doctrine, fellowship, prayer and the breaking of bread (Acts 2:42).

One thing we can all agree on is that we are not all going to agree on everything all the time.
The school of sound logic and experience has taught us that anytime a group of people get together, there is a likelihood of disagreement on any given topic, especially matters pertaining to faith and conduct.

When Paul exhorted the brethren in 1 Corinthians 1:10, “that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you”, did he really expect that every believer in Jerusalem, Cenchrea, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colossae, Thessalonica and the seven cities mentioned in Revelation would be in 100% agreement on everything? It is obvious that this would be just as much of an impossibility for these individual church assemblies to agree on everything as it is in our churches today.

A critical question to ask at this point is this: How does God expect us to be unified universally when there are hundreds of thousands of local churches across the whole world?

The answer to that question is actually embedded in the question. The local church (and yes, denominations) IS God’s provision for unity.

God does not give us a command, but yet not give the wherewithal to fulfill the command.

As the Puritan Richard Sibbes pointed out when referring to the covenant of grace, “He requireth no more than he giveth, and He giveth what He requireth, and accepteth what He giveth”³. This principle holds true for Christian unity! The local church is a great gift that God has provided for His people. Since God is sovereign, all those localized individual churches springing up in the New Testament wasn’t a surprise to Him. In fact, He planned it in eternity past (even though it was referred to as a mystery in the Old Testament). Since He planned that there would be a local church, He also designed how it would operate and He ordained that certain men would lead the charge. God would never allow the church to languish in darkness and so He appointed godly men like Martin Luther, John Calvin, George Whitefield, the Wesley brothers (John and Charles) and many others along the way as catalysts to theological reformation and evangelical movements that eventually resulted in different denominations.

How Did We Get Here?

We can learn some valuable things when we evaluate our past, and so it would be of benefit to travel back through the history of the church to help get our feet on level ground. It is important to note that we cannot interpret scripture based on the unfolding of church history, however a high level view of how we arrived at the door of the modern church through various movements over the centuries may provide a glimpse into what Paul was dealing with in the Apostolic age.

Starting from its very infancy, the church has always been bombarded by people who undermine orthodox teaching. Sometimes from selfish ambition (Philippians 1:17); sometimes unwittingly through wrong interpretation of the Bible (see 2 Timothy 2:15); and sometimes by sinister motives of the enemy seeking the church’s destruction.

One of the earliest heresies to attack the church was Gnosticism, which basically emphasized that there is a special secret mystical knowledge necessary, and that its proponents “exalted the spirit and viewed matter as the seat of evil”⁴. Paul wrote the letter to the Colossians to combat this dangerous movement. Gnosticism was followed by a number of false teachings in those first few centuries of the early church.

The false philosophies of Pelagianism infected the church in the fifth century. Pelagius was considered by many to be an intelligent and capable teacher, but he advocated doctrines contrary to the clear teachings of scripture, like his denial of original sin and predestination. He was a proponent of “We are born neutral. We choose God. We have the moral ability to live a holy life”⁵. Augustine condemned these teachings because he saw them as a threat to the very gospel itself. Augustine understood that lining up with the teachings of Pelagius would be wrong and so he was compelled to publicly disagree.

The Roman Catholic Church itself had plunged into a works-based system of religion throughout a thousand years of promoting false teaching. John Wycliffe biographer Steven Lawson writes of the strife between the Roman Church and the man of God, John Wycliffe⁶. In the late 1370’s, Wycliffe wrote a very controversial article entitled The Power of the Pope, where he asserted that the pope was an apostate. In the next few years, Wycliffe continued railing against the church in his vehement disagreement of the doctrines of Rome in publications called On Apostasy and On the Eucharist, where he refuted the church’s teachings on transubstantiation. He denied any efficacy of the Mass to remove sin. In the mid-1380’s A.D. Wycliffe wrote a fiery polemic treatise entitled The Seven Heresies, continuing his onslaught against the false teaching of the Catholic Church. To Wycliffe, the church was unrecognizable as Christianity based on his understanding of the Bible, and he was not going to stand by idly and accept it.

The headwinds of the Protestant Reformation began to swirl as Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door at Wittenberg Germany on October 31, 1571. His original intent was not to break up the church, but rather to address the abuse of indulgences. Luther disagreed with a practice that he perceived to be non-Biblical. And not only did he disagree, he was willing to put his life on the line to defend orthodox Christian doctrine. A theological storm was about to ignite a fire that continues to burn even today.

Other reformers with the same commitment to the truth of the scriptures stood against the false teachings of the church in the same manner as Luther. Towering historical figures like John Knox, Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin made inestimable contributions to the restoration of true Biblical doctrines.

The fruit produced by the Protestant Reformation can be summed up in five bullet points that are often referred to as The Doctrines of Grace⁷:
1). Radical Depravity – Sin has affected the total man (his mind, emotion and will). All men are born spiritual dead in sin and trespasses. Fallen man will never seek God or His grace on his own.
2). Sovereign Election – Since no man can choose God, God must choose man as objects of His saving grace. This was foreordained and predestined by the sovereign will of God in eternity past.
3). Definite Atonement – Jesus did not make the entire world somehow potentially savable. Rather He actually saved. He really purchased the church with His own blood. He actually purchased the salvation of those whom the Father elected, and them only.
4). Irresistible Grace – The Spirit activates the dead wills of men so that they may believe the truth. The Holy Spirit has come to convict, call and regenerate all of the elect. Faith is the gift of God.
5). Preserving Grace – All of the elect are kept by the power of God. True believers will persevere because God Himself will persevere within them – and cause them to stand faultless before His throne.

The reformers rallied around the truth of scripture and drew a line in the sand, saying, “This is what we believe. We believe it because the Bible teaches these things”. They were willing to die to preserve the truth. And some of them did.

Calvinism
John Calvin (1509-1564) was perhaps one of the brightest theologians and writers in the history of mankind. His intellect and ability to grasp and communicate Biblical truth was unmatched by any of his contemporaries. He was an expository genius according to many theologians. He believed that the biblical mandate to advance the kingdom of God was by expository teaching. He strongly advocated for the main teachings that came out of the Reformation, and as such, the doctrines of grace quickly became known as Calvinism.

Arminianism
It didn’t take long until there was opposition to the doctrines of grace. The first of it came from James (Jacobus) Arminius (1560-1609) in Holland. In 1591 he preached a sermon on Romans 7 that stirred up quite a controversy. His view of that passage is that Paul laments over his previous unregenerated condition⁸. For Arminius the struggle against sin in Romans 7 is a struggle before conversion. This went against the Calvinistic teaching that Paul is speaking as a regenerated Christian. Arminius continued to raise the eyebrows of his Calvinistic critics, especially when he disagreed with them on the doctrine of predestination (similar to Pelagius before him). As tensions rose, Arminius wrote a summary of his beliefs regarding predestination called “Declaration of Sentiments”⁹.

Arminius proceeded to write The Remonstrant Articles¹⁰ which many early theologians considered to be heretical. They can be summarized by these five points that strongly emphasize man’s free will and involvement his own salvation:
1). Conditional election (God chooses people based on His foreknowledge of what they will choose in their free will)
2). Universal atonement (Jesus died for all humans without exception, which means there are people in hell for whom Jesus died!)
3). Limited depravity (Original sin has not entirely tainted human free will)
4). Sufficient but resistible grace (God’s grace can be resisted by the exercise of free will)
5). Uncertainty about the perseverance of the saints (Salvation can be lost; no eternal security)

To address the controversy caused by the rise of Arminianism, the proponents of the Doctrines of Grace (the Calvinists, as they were called) conducted 180 council meetings known as The Synod of Dort. These meetings were held between November 13, 1618 and May 29, 1619. The final documentation produced from the synod was called the Canons of Dort. Calvin died in 1564, so the Canons were published 55 years after his death. Though it unclear exactly when the phrase “The Five Points of Calvinism” originated, it seems that the use of it was not before the Canons of Dort, and maybe even popularized when the acronym TULIP¹¹ first appeared in the early 1900’s.

Calvinism never had five points¹², but rather five theological answers to the five errors of Arminianism. The so-called Five Points were not chosen by the Calvinists as a summary of their teaching. They emerged as a response to the Arminians who chose these five points to disagree with¹³. Calvin’s name is often attached to TULIP and he would roll over in his grave knowing that his name is often dragged through many a Christian debate on these matters.

Church Denominations

Regardless of the name of a church, most doctrinal statements today (excluding extreme fringe groups and cults) would fall into either the Calvinistic or Arminian theological discipline. The doctrines of grace necessitate this categorization due to the perceived role of man’s will in his own salvation. If there is any shred of the free will of man, then the theological system is Arminian because it robs God of His sovereignty.

General and Particular Baptist Churches

The Baptists have their origins way back in the Puritan era of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. As the name suggests, what made this movement distinct was it’s proponent’s views on baptism. The General (Arminian) Baptists began in the 1610’s, with the Particular (Calvinistic) Baptists forming in the 1630’s.

The General Baptists were Arminian in their theology, specifically the belief in unlimited (or general) atonement. By contrast, the Particular Baptists under the leadership of William Kiffen were of the Calvinist mindset that Jesus died only for the elect.

At the time, both sets of Baptists were convinced of “believer’s baptism”… that only a genuine believer should be baptized and that the mode should be by immersion. The First Baptist Church in America was formed in Rhode Island by Roger Williams, a Puritan who sailed to our country in 1630. Currently (2024), there are over 46,000 Baptist churches in America, which cover a wide spectrum of Baptist denominations and independent congregations¹⁴.

Presbyterianism
The Presbyterian Church traces its roots back to the teachings that came out of the Protestant Reformation. Their distinctives align with Calvinistic teachings and their belief system is crystalized in a publication called The Westminster Confession of Faith. This major document was the result of a parliamentary assembly that met from 1643 to 1648 to reform the church of England.

As proponents of Presbyterianism migrated to America, they imported their confessional heritage with them. The name ‘Presbyterian’ comes from the Greek word ‘presbuteros’, which means ‘elder’. Consequently, their name is reflective of their form of church government, representative assemblies of elders.

Pentacostalism

The Pentacostal (or Charismatic) movement can trace it’s beginnings back to the early 1900’s where Charles Parham believed that Christians needed to rediscover the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit, especially that of speaking in tongues which would allow missions work to thrive in foreign lands. William Seymour of Topeka, Kansas seized on this idea and decided to attend the Bible school that Parham had founded. Seymour led The Azusa Street Revival and thus began the quick rise of the Charismatic movement in America. The early Pentacostal movement had as its basis the Wesleyan theology, but added new elements to it. Women were allowed to have leadership roles. The “baptism of the Holy Spirit” was an experience added to justification and sanctification which allegedly launched the believer into what they termed “Christian perfection” and “entire sanctification”. Speaking in tongues was essential to prove the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Within its first decade, the movement was struck with scandal surrounding racism, and despite an initial decline, Pentacostalism survived. Today, a half-billion people identify as Pentacostal or Charismatic¹⁶.

Each of these denominations make the same exact claim: that their system of belief is based on the Bible.

The Importance of Reviewing Church History

The value in this brief historical sketch lies in its lesson to us relative to Christian unity. When we color that knowledge with the scriptures, we come to a beautiful conclusion.

When Paul wrote the unity words to the Ephesian and Philippian believers, there must have been some danger of disunity in their fellowship. We know for sure that the Corinthian church had their disagreements because Paul explicitly says so: “I hear that divisions exist among you”. (1 Corinthians 11:18). And if this same Paul had his own disagreements with people like Barnabas and Peter, as mentioned above, then we might conclude that maybe our one-dimensional expectation of 100% lockstep agreement with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ is not quite right.

Paul can hardly mean “absolutely no disagreements with other believers” by his statements on unity in Ephesians. There must be something else at play here. It is possible to disagree with someone while still maintaining unity! We do it all the time in other areas. For example, in my family, we disagree about the enjoyment level of Brussels Sprouts. The five of us do not agree on what is the best time to wake up and when go to bed. But none of that destroys our family unity, because we love one another and we know that there are more important priorities to focus on.

Rupertus Meldenius, a Lutheran theologian and educator in the seventeenth century famously said, “In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, charity.” We bristle at the thought that something may considered as ‘nonessential’ in the Bible, and we would be justified in our bristling. Every word of God in the scripture is essential, however not everything in the Bible carries equal weight. Jesus even said so in Matthew’s gospel, where He makes reference to a weightier category of the Law, giving it preference to other categories: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others¹⁷” (emphasis added). The Apostle Paul agrees with this as he wrote, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures¹⁸” (emphasis added).

Al Mohler explains this thought pattern when he categorizes theological doctrines in a way that the weightier matters bubble to the top of the list¹⁹. The first level theological issues would be doctrines most central and essential to salvation. These are the most fundamental truths of the Christian faith, such as the Trinity, the full deity and humanity of Jesus Christ, justification by faith and the authority of scripture. These are absolute requirements. The second level issues would be those doctrines through which significant boundaries exist between believers but do not affect the fundamental truths. This might include infant baptism by sprinkling vs. believer’s baptism by immersion. These people see each other as genuine believers, but their disagreement in a second level (non-fundamental) issue make it harder to enjoy closeness of fellowship. They likely would worship in different churches. Third level issues are those which Christians disagree over within the same local church. Eschatology might be something in this category. We may hold different views on end times, but it doesn’t stop us from worshiping and fellowshipping together.

What this means is that we tend to congregate with people who think like us and believe like us. This is not wrong! In fact, it is a blessing and a gift from God that we can enjoy unity with people in our local church, worshiping as one body and serving together. And the person sitting in the pews of the church in another part of my city isn’t necessarily wrong.

Unity in Practice

Scripturally, Christian unity is two sides of the same coin. On one side is the unity of the universal church and the other side is the unity amongst those who belong to a local assembly.

Universal Church Unity

As the Apostle Paul has pointed out in Ephesians 4:4-6, there is one body, one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism and one God and Father, none of which we created, made up, built or fashioned in any way. This oneness is all of God. He is the driving force of all spiritual unity. In this passage, Paul says to be “diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”. Preserve strongly implies that something is already there and we have an obligation. That ‘something’ is unity of the Spirit. The Spirit of God has created the unity of all of His people. The believer’s obligation then is to display that unity, to manifest that unity, to keep that unity.

With that said, there are non-negotiable truths that we MUST agree on. Everyone who claims to be a true believer, everywhere, all over the world must be in agreement on the gospel, namely that all people are born into sin, separated from God and that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. For these foundational truths we contend, never compromising or succumbing to every wind of doctrine in these matters²⁰.

Local Church Unity

In our local assembly, we must learn to recognize the weightier matters of God’s Word and develop the ability to prioritize the truths that unite us. This is important because not everyone we rub shoulders with in our churches have the same intellect or are at the same level of spiritual understanding. Even as we gather with our like-minded brothers and sisters, we will still experience points of disagreements.

Love is the perfect bond of unity. ~ Colossians 3:15

In our church, we may all be on the same page when it comes to the gifts of the Holy Spirit and on baptism, but have differences on what Bible version is most accurate or what kind of music is best. But Colossians 3:14 has the solution for this when it says that “love is the perfect bond of unity”. Believers are indeed called to love one another, however it was never Paul’s intent for Christians to love at the expense of truth. In fact, the most loving thing a Christian can do is express the truth when correct doctrine is at stake²¹.

George Whitefield is a real-life example of this approach. As he grew in his understanding of doctrinal truth, even though he differed in theology with some people, he still expressed a love for them knowing that they were unified in Christ. In a letter to his friend Gilbert Tennent, fellow pastor in the Great Awakening era, Whitefield wrote, “As I believe many of them love the Lord Jesus, I would love and be friendly to them, as I would be to all others who I think bear the image of our common Master, notwithstanding some of my principles differ from theirs²²”. Similarly of the Moravians with whom he was in often disagreement on a variety of topics, he said in a letter to a friend regarding Moravian deacon Peter Bohler, “Alas! we differ widely in many respects; therefore to avoid disputation and jealousies on both sides, it is best to carry on the work of God apart. The divisions among the brethren sometimes grieve, but do not surprise me. How can it be otherwise, when teachers do no speak and think the same things? God grant that we may keep up cordial undissembled love towards each other, notwithstanding our different opinions”²³.

The reality is, Christians do not always agree. But that should not stop us from finding areas of commonality and seeking peace with one another. Sometimes it results in separation.

Some words of caution are due at this point:
1). As it is clear in 2 Corinthians 6:14, we are not to be united with unbelievers. Heroes of the faith down through the centuries took this principle seriously by identifying those with whom they disagreed and separating themselves from their damnable heresies. There is no expectation of unity with unbelievers.
2). Breaking fellowship is the only option between you and the person that professes faith in Christ, but yet wants to continue in sin. If the church discipline process outlined in Matthew 18 reaches the ending point of non-repentance, we are instructed to treat him “as a Gentile and a tax-collector”. In other words, treat him as an unbeliever that needs to be evangelized. Paul agrees with this sentiment, imploring the Corinthian believers not to hang out with immoral and idolatrous people and to keep away from those who walk in idleness²⁴.
3). We must steadfastly devote ourselves to doctrinal purity and refute the errors that come before us. Bad doctrine and inaccurate teaching is unacceptable. Incorrect doctrine is what divides and, for the sake of unity, it needs to be confronted. But the Bible is clear: we must do it by “speaking the truth in love”. This requires a humble approach to the conversation, willing to hear and evaluate the other person’s claim against Scripture. We must be willing to change our stance if we find compelling evidence to do so. And when there is no evidence? We must stand resolute in our convictions.
4). While hard conversations over differences are often necessary, there is a God-honoring way to do it without an L.A. riot style debate where we injure our brother with our theological fists.

Conclusion

Immediately following Paul’s instructions to his son in the faith, Timothy, about leadership structure in the local church (elders and deacons), he pivots to a foundational reality about God’s universal church: that it is “the pillar and support of the truth”²⁵. “Pillar and support” hardly need explanation since they signify strength and stability. Stitching this together with the Ephesians 4 passage referenced above, we begin to understand that doctrinal purity is the essential fabric of Christian unity.

In Ephesians 4:7, notice that each one of us has been given grace according to the gift of Christ in verse 7. In continuing with the rest of the passage, this gift is shown through the evangelists, pastors and teachers who are equipping the saints (that’s us!) for works of service, to the building up of the body of Christ. And verse 13 is the key to unlock this chapter: “until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ”.

The sequence in the Timothy and Ephesians letters could be summarized like this:
1). The universal church was given a body of truth by God in the Scriptures. This truth is what is supposed to characterize every local church.
2). Each local church must have Biblical qualified elders and deacons who love the truth, guard the truth, teach the truth and live the truth.
3). When church leadership is properly equipping those in their care, the resulting effect is the preservation (or restoration) of doctrinal purity.
4). Doctrinal purity then leads to individual spiritual maturity.
5). The continuing outcome of spiritual maturity in the faith is unity!

One thing we call all agree on: each one of us is a work in progress! It is a beautiful reality that maturity in the faith is possible! As we press on toward the goal of Christ Jesus together, true unity isn’t really all that far out of reach.

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Footnotes

1. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g1577/kjv/tr/0-1/ ↩︎
2. Matthew 16:18 ↩︎
3. Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed and Smoking Flax, Printed for the Book Society for Promoting Religious Knowledge Among the Poor, London, 1825, p. 49 ↩︎
4. New Testament Commentary, Exposition of Colossians and Philemon, William Hendricksen, Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, MI, 1964, p. 19 ↩︎
5. Paraphrased from https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts/5-minutes-in-church-history-with-stephen-nichols/who-was-pelagius ↩︎
6. The Bible Convictions of John Wycliffe, Steven J. Lawson, Ligonier Ministries, Sanford FL, 2021, p. 90-93 ↩︎
7. Taken from Foundations of Grace, Steven J. Lawson, Ligonier Ministries, Sanford FL, 2006, p. 28-30 ↩︎
8. https://www.wscal.edu/resource/who-was-arminius/ – W. Robert Godfrey ↩︎
9. https://evangelicalarminians.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/Arminius.-Declaration-of-Sentiments.pdf ↩︎
10. https://www.apuritansmind.com/creeds-and-confessions/the-remonstrants-arminian-documents/the-arminian-articles/ ↩︎
11. TULIP stands for Total depravity, Unconditional election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible grace and Perseverance of the saints. ↩︎
12. https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/arminius-and-remonstrants ↩︎
13. https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-we-believe-about-the-five-points-of-calvinism ↩︎
14. https://christian.net/theology-and-spirituality/how-many-baptist-churches-are-there-in-the-united-states/#currentnumberofbaptistchurchesintheunitedstates_1_4 ↩︎
15. George Whitefield, Volume 1, Arnold Dallimore, The Banner of Truth Trust, Carlisle PA 1970, p. 313 ↩︎
16. https://www.challies.com/articles/where-did-all-this-pentecostalism-come-from/ ↩︎
17. Matthew 23:23 (NASB) ↩︎
18. 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (ESV) ↩︎
19. https://albertmohler.com/2004/05/20/a-call-for-theological-triage-and-christian-maturity-2/ ↩︎
20. Jude 3, Ephesians 4:14 ↩︎
21. Titus 1:9; 2 Timothy 3:16 ↩︎
22. George Whitefield, Volume 1, Arnold Dallimore, The Banner of Truth Trust, Carlisle PA 1970, p. 507 ↩︎
23. Ibid. p. 506 ↩︎
24. 1 Corinthians 5:11-12; 2 Thessalonians 3:6 ↩︎
25. 1 Timothy 3:15 ↩︎

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