COMING TO THE UNITY OF THE FAITH
There is a continual effort by some to find a way for the existing Christian Church and the churches of Christ to find acceptance of one another. Acceptance to these individuals and not unity is the driving force behind their efforts. Several things are understood when one reads the writings of Paul to Ephesus about coming to the unity of the faith (Ephesians 4:13).
One thing was that the miraculous gifts had a purpose and a limitation as to time. The purpose being, as revealed by Paul, was the maturing of the saints, work of the ministry and the edifying of the whole body of Christ (verse 12). These gifts were not natural abilities that an individual may possess and, thereby, through practice excel in some given ability. These were gifts given directly by God in order that the church would mature and be a positive influence in the communities in which it was planted. The gifts were given by the laying on of the apostle’s hands (Acts 8:18). The limitations on the gifts were time wise, until the church came to a unity of the faith.
There is only one faith (Ephesians 4:5). As long as God continued to reveal truth, the faith could not be complete or finished. Once God quit sending messages, the Bible could become a finished product (I Corinthians 13:8). When this purpose was accomplished there would no longer be a need for the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit. Christians today can test any doctrine or teaching by means of the written Word of God because we have the confidence that what we have is the sum total of all the truth God wants us to have. We can know the things that we receive from God because the Spirit of God has revealed it to us through words we can understand (I Corinthians 2:12,13).
How then would the church in the first century come to this unity of the faith? Paul avers it would be through the knowledge of Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Ephesians 4:13). The driving force was to bring the church to maturity or as Paul writes, “…unto a perfect man”. The standard was to be the fullness of Christ within that body. He was the life force in the individual Christian’s lives working through them through the Word of God. The individual Christian who is striving to grow works together with other Christians who desire the same and, thereby, the church is made strong.
Once we arrived at the unity of the faith we would no longer be like little children tossed to and fro by man made doctrines. When I look at the Christian Church with its instruments in public worship, praise teams and the shifting role of women, I ask you, is this part of the faith of Jesus the Christ? Did the church in the New Testament ever have mechanical instruments in their worship to God? The answer is simply, “no”. If it is not then a part of the pattern of worship in the first century why would it be so now? Since we operate by faith and faith has as its origin, the Word of God, certain things cannot be practiced because there is no authority for it (II Corinthians 5:7; Romans 10:17).
How then can we enjoy a unity of the faith? If you do something in worship and there is no authority for it, how can we be united? We can be united but not under the rule of the unity of the faith. If we are united under a unity of faith then we must all be teaching the same things relative to salvation and worship. May I agree with individuals within the religious world about moral issues? Of course I can. What enables me to have such an agreement? If the origin is the Word of God then I agree with it and not because of who said it. So there may be some areas where I can agree with what is taught. This however is not a unity of the faith. The unity of the faith comes when the Word of God is the only standard to which men appeal (Colossians 3:17). How can we settle the question of faith only? How do we resolve the issue that a person is saved by faith and faith alone, nothing added? By the same token how do we settle the issue of one being saved by grace alone with nothing else?
If both of us agree that the Word of God is the standard, then we have the means to come to the unity of the faith. If we rightly divide the Scriptures then we would know that faith only or grace alone will not save (II Timothy 2:15) . If we both look at the scriptures and rightly divide them, we would know that baptism saves us (Mark 16:16; I Peter 3:21). Can there be unity between the Christian Church and churches of Christ? The answer is “yes” if we give up the Bible, otherwise, “no”.