Chapter VIII: The Basis of Unity

In the forum last Tuesday night it was said that we ought to leave off all doctrinal differences and just love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Let’s put that to the test. What does it mean to love your neighbor? Do you love your neighbor as you do yourself when you see him on his way to hell and don’t try to stop him? Suppose you are thoroughly convinced that your neighbor is following a doctrine that will take him to hell, and you don’t try to stop him, just throw your arm around him and call him “Brother,” is that love? Why that’s the very opposite of love! If you see a man riding down the highway and know that a bridge has been washed out a few miles ahead and he is going to run off and kill himself, will you try to stop him? You will if you love him. If you see a man on his way to hell, you’ll try to stop him if you love him!

I agree that we ought to love our neighbor as ourselves, but I also insist that love will move us to do everything we can in order to correct him when we see him following a course which will lead unto his destruction. Love demands that we preach the truth. Love demands that we persuade people to obey Christ. Love brought Jesus to this earth, and if we have the love that he had, we will do everything in our power to get people to believe, understand and obey the truth.

In mathematics we have a very simple law which says that things equal to the same thing are equal to each other. If two things are both equal to a third thing, then they are equal to each other. Friends, that gives you the basis of Christian unity. When we all get with Christ we’ll all be together. Isn’t that simple? And that is the only ground for unity. Christian unity cannot exist on any other basis. The only way we can have Christian unity is for all to get with Christ, and then we’ll all be together. The unity problem will then be solved. There can be no unity when one takes Christ as his creed, another follows the Old Testament and denies Christ, and still another follows a man over in Rome and calls him “Father.” In such a group unity cannot exist.

Christ is revealed in the New Testament. When we all take our stand on the Bible and get with Christ, we’ll be together. Jesus said, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16). That is what we have to do to get with him. Paul said, speaking by the Holy Spirit, “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27). That’s the way you get into Christ. When you believe and are baptized into Christ that puts you in Christ; then you will be with all the other folk who are in Christ and they are the only ones with whom you want to be. You don’t want to be with those who are outside of Christ because they are lost. You want to be with those who are in Christ.

If you have put on Christ through obedience to his will and continue to follow in the footsteps of Christ as revealed in his word, then some day you will go home and be united with Christ forever, and united with all other Christians forever, in the world better than this one. Surely in this large audience there are many people present who are ready to obey Christ. When you do, you’ll be taking your stand on the ground of unity, where unity must be established if ever established. Therefore, you will not be to blame for the division that curses the world today. We invite you to accept the invitation of Jesus Christ and come to him and let him save you now. Will you come?

IV
WHENCE SO MANY DENOMINATIONS?

Sometimes the question of our topic is asked for information. At other times it is presented argumentatively, with the implication that the mere existence of so many denominations is evidence of their right to exist. The implication is that churches of human origin, operating on human authority, could never have secured such a large following. Back of this implication is the assumption that the majority is necessarily, or at least usually, right.