Genuine unity of the Spirit or ….

Our unity is based on our salvation, being put in the body of Christ and being given God's Spirit, this is where it begins.

Why do some see it necessary to unite with others; with those who have another gospel or another Jesus? Some want to show love, (which is really tolerance) others have made friends, others think the Spirit is telling them, and some are taught wrong and never check to see what's right and still others are just deceived.

1 Cor. 15:1-2 “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you-- unless you believed in vain.”

Elsewhere Paul penned a warning to the Galatian church that succumbed to false brethren that influenced them to accept the Old Testament law, they have been turned away from the grace in Christ.

Galat 1:6-8 “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.

Paul says they have twisted the gospel by their own desires and are accursed.

Most people who have crossed over to unite with Catholics and Latter Rain adherents have had hands laid on them or were slain by those who are already in this unity. Or they have attended these services and opened themselves up to the message. Either way they have been influenced by another spirit.

The unity the Bible speaks of is not an outward unity of purpose. We are to have is a spiritual unity found in Ephesians 4, it is a “unity of the Spirit” (v.3); it is a “unity of faith” (v.13) with “one Lord,” that is based on Christ’s doctrine. To keep the unity means to maintain what we already received in Scripture.

One cannot be a Christian without agreeing with the main tenets of our faith, which are the Christian distinctive. We endeavour to maintain the unity of the Spirit given to us; it is on the basis of doctrine that we are all united.

The Holy Spirit makes this unity with those who are born of the Spirit. Each one of us is brought into this organic spiritual unity by faith when we are incorporated into the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13). The same Spirit saved us all; and teaches us all. We are in him and He is in us. This is what makes us one; all of us have the same Spirit. And this same Spirit wrote the Scripture (not traditions). We are all under the head of the church who is Christ (not a Pope).

You cannot have unity with those who have a different gospel because the Spirit of God does not bring them into the body of Christ.

The early Church had power because “they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine, in fellowship, breaking of bread and in prayers” (Acts 2:42). Those who believed the gospel were brought into the Church and “the Church increased daily.”

We are to withstand outside influences that would bring into the Church anything contrary to what we already have in Christ. For example: when someone denies Christ’s deity or his raising from the dead bodily, that is when we need to show our unity.

When someone says there is a different way for salvation, that is when we need to show our unity.

Those NOT having the true unity of the Spirit, adopt a man-made unity. Some even suggest that the Holy Spirit is not limited to the Christian Church but is found at work in other religions as well (like the Pope). A professed Christian who subscribes to this is biblically illiterate: He is someone who seeks to find agreement with everyone overlooking the apparent contradictions to his faith on purpose.

If he is a pastor or leader it makes it more difficult for other Christians to keep the true unity. It takes them away from the unity in the faith, to be united to a counterfeit.

A fleshly unity that is seen is not what is meant in Scripture (though it may be seen at times), the Bible is referring to a spiritual unity being under Christ’s lordship.

The spirit of the age is actively working to bring everyone into a unity without the gospel that brought us into the truth. Without the truth (the Bible), without the Spirit of truth that bonds us together. God will give us checks along the way to correct us even speak through circumstances if necessary. But when this is ignored, when this unity is persisted and done on purpose God will turn them over to this false unity.

The “Mystery of lawlessness” which has been at work since the beginning results in these last days as an amalgamation of the many religious systems of the world. It is a unity of all religions with one exception, Biblical Christianity. This is what we see taking place now. Babel in its original language means gate of God. Enter this gate and you will unite with all. You will join with the many who claim today we worship the same god, using cultures pagan gods as Yahweh, calling Jesus the son of their God. When one makes unity with one church or group that is not in Christ they will eventually compromise with others not in Christ. The unity of Babylon was mankind uniting without the true God to make a name for themselves, the Babylon in the last days will do the same. We see this with those involved in the ecumenical and Interfaith movement[s].

This continues its climb until it reaches its zenith in the Great tribulation (Rev.18:4)

1 Cor. 1:10 "Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment."

We are to have the mind of Christ, have humility but also be centered on truth, no division’s means to not allow anything taught except the doctrine delivered in Scripture. This means if someone enters speaking contrary to it you are not to allow it to spread. It does not matter what kind of a friend he is to the pastor, or how successful he is in ministry or that he has been doing this ministry for longer than everyone else, he is not to introduce any strange doctrine (Heb.13:9). Today there is no lack of the strange...

Later in the same letter Paul writes, "Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you." (1 Cor. 11:17-19)

How are those approved recognized? By speaking up and bringing correction to what is being introduced. True disciples, genuine believers who are mature will recognize what is false and they will react for the protection of the sheep.

Unlike the early apostolic church, today if you tell people in the Church of the false teaching they are accepting, and you identify absolute heresy in the best and kindest way possible you can still be blamed for being divisive, instead of the false doctrine being divisive. The fact is, you should be recognized as someone who is speaking right doctrine. This has become a very sad sate for the church, things are being turned inside out.

I Jn. 4:1 "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world." Not a few but many. And Jesus warned in the end they would proliferate