The Unity of the Believers

The Unity of the Believers

There have been many ecumenical meetings and gatherings to discuss how Jesus’ prayer “that they all may be one” can be fulfilled. In spite of all this effort and labor they have come further and further away from the goal. There have never been so many denominations and so many divisions as now.

What, then, is the cause? It is easy to understand for the person who loves the truth. Previously Jesus says in His prayer, “Keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.” John 17:11. Therefore all those who gather in a name other than Jesus’ name work against Jesus’ name. They are dividing instead of gathering. Consequently, there is no point in having ecumenical meetings or discussing the unity of the believers for those who do not want to give up their own name.

What, then, is the reason for believers to gather in various names? The reason is that they seek their own, not the things which are of Christ. Phil. 2:21. To seek the things which are of Christ Jesus means to fight for the goal for which Jesus gave His life: “Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.” 1 Pet. 2:24.

Here we can clearly see the goal. We cannot become one unless we have the same goal. Those who have differing goals are soon separated. Paul writes about the hope of the gospel—the goal—to present us holy, and blameless and irreproachable in His sight; to this end he also labored, striving according to His working which worked in him mightily. Col. 1:22-23, 28-29. He writes further about the hope of the gospel—the goal— in Ephesians 3:19: “That you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” This was the same goal Peter had with his labors. “That through these [promises] you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” Reading further we see how persistently he worked toward this goal. 2 Pet. 1:4.

Without this one goal with our labors—that we shall partake of divine nature, all the fullness of God—becoming one is hopeless. There is strife as soon as we start gathering to a denomination, and it is impossible for a preacher to be hired by a denomination unless he also gathers to that denomination. This results in all kinds of arguments about doctrines. They do this not to lead people to all the fullness of God, but rather to increase the membership of their own denomination.

In the German Bible, Colossians 2:18-19 reads as follows: “Let no one move you from your goal, as those do who do not hold fast to the Head, from where the entire body is kept together and grows up to the full stature of God.”

As soon as you put the emphasis on people—Paul, Cephas, Apollos—there is strife. People hold fast to persons rather than the Head. Then the goal has been moved, and there can never be unity. We can be joined together only by the Head, and only the Head can keep the body together. We can have this one goal only in connection with the Head: growing to the full stature of God—God’s fullness. Those who argue about doctrine or gather to a religious denomination or movement do not have this as their goal. They all have had their goal moved, and they should give up their striving for unity as soon as possible. Instead, they should use all their strength and time to preach the hope of the gospel and work in the power of God so that those who come to faith can grow with the increase which is from God—partake of divine nature— and be filled with all the fullness of God. Then we walk in the light and have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:7.

This is God’s work in our times as He, through the hope of the gospel being preached, gathers the upright from all over the world and from among all religious denominations to the unity of the Spirit. There—outside the camp—the body of Christ, the church is being built, set free from all partisan strife. This is hidden to the ungodly as well as to the religious world. Heb. 13:13.