Sunday Class @ 9am; Worship @ 10am & 5pm
Articles
The Sin of Division
The Greek word “hamartano”, which is translated sin, properly means “to miss the mark (and so not share in the prize), to err, offend, trespass.” John by inspiration stated, “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” (1 John 3:4). Paul stated, “...where no law is, there is no transgression.” (Rom. 4:15). Jesus has been given all authority in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18) and stated very clearly that “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him – the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.” (John 12:48). His word tells us that whatsoever is not of faith is sin (Rom. 14:23), and faith comes by hearing the word of God (Rom. 10:17). We therefore must be guided in all that we do by His word which is referred to as the new covenant or new testament (in contrast to the one given to Moses – Heb. 9:15-20) as the law of liberty (James 1:25; 2:12) by which we will be judged and as “the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).
Division arose in the church at Corinth, and Paul wrote to them stating, “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). In his second letter to them he exhorted that they “be of one mind, live in peace” (2 Cor. 13:11), and Peter exhorted his brethren to “all be of one mind, having compassion for one another” (1 Pet. 3:8). Does this appeal of the inspired apostle Paul to the authority of Christ urging perfect unity of teaching sound like Christ’s prayer that believers may all be one, as He and the Father are one (John 17:21) or like the prayers of denominational preachers who thank God for the various denominations/divisions or various “faiths”? In this regard God’s word (Eph. 4:4-5) states emphatically that there is one body (church - Eph. 1:22-23; Col. 1:18), one faith, and one God. He is not here denying that there are no other gods, faiths, or bodies, but that there is only one true God, one true faith, and one body of Christ. Concerning false gods or idols he wrote, “...we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), yet for us there is one God, the Father,… and one Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 8:4-6).
We realize the passages of scriptures quoted above did not have specific reference to the hundreds or thousands of denominations which are in existence here in this nation currently since most of them began at least fourteen hundred years after they were written, but they do condemn division within the body of Christ, the church. Many denominations teach that as a group they make up the one true church; and IF such contention were correct, it would be self-condemning since it advocates the division which is condemned by both God’s word and Christ’s prayer. Why not be content to simply obey Christ and His word and thus be added to the one true church (Acts 2:47)?
