Christ’s Ambassador

All Christians accept that the Bible is word of God and that All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2Tim 3:16) Similarly, all Christian churches are expected to make use of the Bible in all or part of their activities and they should believe that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation, for prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2Pet 1:20,21) But sadly, this is how far the unity goes among Christians. Denominational barriers have been erected with each group having practices and doctrines unique to them and not found in other groups. Yet, neither Jesus nor any of the Apostles started any denomination or sect. Christ is not divided. How did it start?

Purpose of the Bible

The Bible was written so that men may know the love in the mind of God and build up their faith in Him. From Genesis to Revelation, the theme of the Bible is Jesus Christ, the son of God who was sacrificed at the cross of Calvary for the sins of the World. He rose up on the third day after triumphing over the cause of sin and death and He is coming again to save those who have put their faith in Him. The Apostles operated on this doctrine without division and the whole world knew that they were Disciples of Christ and that God sent Jesus to the world to save sinners. This is in answer to Christ’s prayer as recorded by John; that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (Jn 17:21)

Men opposing the truth

But after the death of the last Apostle, the prophecy of Paul soon began to manifest fully that; There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of Godhaving a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truthmen of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone. (2Tim 3:1-9)

Because people began to have ulterior motives for going to church, divisions came into the church. They began to build different interpretations to the scripture to back up their ulterior motives. Church constitutions came in and different churches began to build up their own doctrines and teach same to their adherents. The pure worship of God became polluted as men continued teaching doctrines of men. This is in fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah which Jesus also quoted in Mark 7:6-8 that; Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men Replacing Bible with Church constitution.

The false teachers have neglected the key of ‘Calvary’ but now search the scriptures with different keys: the keys of denominational practices developed by men. Each group now read the Bible looking for their adopted practices and because the heart of man is wicked and deceptive, they always find their way to deceive more people. In most cases, the church constitution, the articles and memorandum of association get quoted to resolve issues while the Bible is relegated to a mere symbolic status. But as Paul said in 2Tim 3:9, they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men [Jannes and Jambres], their folly will be clear to everyone.

Spiritual unity in denominational diversity

Because of these reasons, the Bible for now is not seen to be unifying Christians. But one thing is certain, the church of Christ is not recognized by any denominational contrivance but is an assemblage of all genuine believers who do the will of God and God can pick them out. Just as Paul also wrote in 2 Tim 2:19; Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness. The real body of Christ is Spiritual and each member is known to Christ Himself. They are Bible believeing and Bible practicing disciples. The Bible is still paying a unifying factor among them.