"IN ALL THINGS UNITY" (SPIRITUAL WARFARE, PART 4)

“In matters of faith, unity. In matters of opinion, liberty. In all things, charity.”

The saying is attributed to John Wesley, though many have used it widely, including many among the churches of Christ. In Wesley’s time, “charity” was synonymous with “love,” while today, charity has a more limited meaning. Nowadays, we would say, 

“In matters of faith, unity. In matters of opinion, liberty. In all things, love.”

I’ve heard it from pulpits and in classrooms all my life as representative of the spirit of unity the churches of Christ were intended by our forefathers and our Lord to exemplify. Sadly, we haven’t lived up to the ideal very well. Often, we struggle between the two equally essential aims of maintaining doctrinal purity and being diligent to preserve Christian unity. Neither aim is optional. The Lord requires both. He never said this would be easy. 

While the quote isn’t directly from the wording of Scripture, it is a Scriptural ideal. 2 John 9–11 teaches that there must be unity around matters of faith. Romans 14 teaches that there must be liberty around matters of opinion. Passages beyond counting (including 1 

Corinthians 16:14 specifically) teach us to do all things in love. All three of these sentiments are essential to Christian unity, and across church history, it has always been the willing sacrifice of one or more of them on the part of one or both dividing parties that has caused division. The state of the kingdom is presently one of a great deal of division. The question is, can it be healed? Is restoring Christian unity in this world realistically possible? Not only is the answer yes, at least to a great degree, but it is essential that all genuine believers be moving continually and intentionally in that direction. 

The terms need some defining. “Matters of faith” means “matters of The Faith.” In other words, these things are the commandments of the Lord and His apostles and prophets revealed in Scripture, the conditional statements in Scripture (John 8:24, etc.), and the warnings. Everything Scripture teaches, properly understood, is sound doctrine, and we live by “every word” (Matt 4:4). However, not everything Scripture teaches is required for salvation or is on the same level of importance (Matt 23:23–24). I remember an article in the ESV Study Bible breaking things down into essentials, convictions, opinions, and questions. All dedicated Bible students know of all of these. While it may be difficult to separate essentials from convictions, it should be much easier to recognize the difference between these and opinions and questions. Romans 14 is a good place to do some prayerful meditating to understand these things better, and, Lord willing, I’ll write a bit more on this sometime next week. 

In the last post, I highlighted that the New Commandment (John 13:34–35), the Lord’s High Priestly Prayer (John 17:17–23), and the apostle Paul’s teachings about the purpose of church leaders (Ephesians 4:11–13) strongly implies that we must achieve a much greater degree of Christian unity that is now our reality before we (the church) can fulfill our mission. It seems to me that this must be done before the Lord’s return without sacrificing any essential truth. 

The question is, how?

The answer to the question, as best as I can presently envision it, is complex. I don’t mean complicated because it’s not hard to grasp. I mean complex because I think there are a few steps to consider.

First, restoring Christian unity will have to be a work of the Holy Spirit. The flesh cannot accomplish it. Galatians 5 proves this to be true if it proves nothing else. All divisions result from the works of the flesh (Gal 5:19–21). We need to recognize that this isn’t some high intellectual code talk and that it has nothing to do with mysticism. It simply means we’ve got to have God’s help. If we work towards unity with the tools we have in our fleshly minds and hands without divine assistance, we will consistently achieve the works of the flesh. This aligns with Paul’s confession in Romans 7:18, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out” (ESV). It also aligns with his teaching in Philippians 3:3: We “put no confidence in the flesh.” 

True and lasting unity is the result of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22–23), not the “fruits,” as many mistakenly say, but the “fruit,” singular—all nine virtues are the singular fruit the Spirit produces. The role our flesh plays is the role of being crucified with Christ (Gal 2:20, 5:24); in other words, denied, disciplined, subdued, and only then sanctified, and God will not lead us to succeed in this against our will, but even so, it is not within the power of our free will to achieve all this. The regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit empowers us to see, think, speak, and act differently and progressively better as we grow up in His teachings. The prophets promised this, and it is now our reality in the New Covenant (Jer 31:33; Ezek 36:27; Acts 2:38–39). The Holy Spirit will bear the multifaceted fruit of His nature through us when we embrace the discipline to cease doing what we want to do and sink into union with the will of the Spirit so that we come to desire to do His will instead. In this process, God is the initiator and finisher of the work (Phil 2:13), not us. Some find this hard to accept because they don’t understand it. I don’t understand it either, which is precisely what we would expect if it’s not the flesh (of which we are in complete moral control and capable of understanding) but the Spirit (of Whom we are in no control at all and cannot fully comprehend) making the changes. Accept it if you can, but in no case will you ever be able to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps in your own fleshly power and bear all nine qualities of the fruit of the Spirit. While a perfect demonstration of all nine aspects of the nature of the Spirit is unlikely in this life, if you lack one of its qualities altogether, you’ll do the works of the flesh. 

Meditate prayerfully about this. Read Galatians 5 repeatedly, prayerfully, and read the whole letter a time or two and see if these things I’m writing aren’t the truth. That’s all I can ask.

Second, we’re going to have to get ahold of some wisdom. Not surprisingly, again, it seems we will have to ask God for it, as we cannot obtain it without His help. Consider the following:

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. (James 1:5–8 ESV)

Wisdom comes from God. He has the exclusive rights to it all and gives it to those who seek it from Him. I say it will take some wisdom because it isn’t easy to restore unity where it’s been fractured without fracturing unity somewhere else. I wish I had more time, but I’ll pick this up again in a few days, Lord willing. 

---JLP