Where In The Bible Will I Find:

That Provisions Are Made For Religious Unity?

The apostle Paul believed in, taught and preached religious unity, "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" (I Cor 1:10).

During the earthly ministry of our Lord He prayed for unity, "And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are one…Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me" (John 17:11, 20-21).

Jesus believed that religious unity was possible else He would not have prayed for something that was impossible. He also recognizes the difficulty of bringing the world to Him through a divided people. Those then who thank God for the divided world, for all the denominations, as they say, "So that everyone can have the church of his choice," are in direct conflict with the prayer of Jesus.

Where God rules and where His rules are obeyed there is NO division, but where man adds to, or takes from the Word of God then there are differences in opinion, confusion exists, and divisions abound. Paul points out the basis for unity, “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all" (Eph. 4:1-6).

There are seven distinct objects referred to by Paul and he declares that there is only ONE of each. Most of the religious world will accept neither. While in America there is almost unanimity of belief on some of them, there is none of all of them. Many believe and teach that there is ONE Lord, ONE God, and ONE Spirit, but when it comes to ONE faith, ONE baptism and ONE body, then they say "NO! There are many faiths, many bodies and many baptisms."

Jesus and His apostles taught, prayed, and gave provisions by the way of examples and teaching for religious unity, and this we can and will have provided we believe, accept and obey their teaching. By this obedience ALL of us will be added to the ONE body (Acts 2:47), where there is ONE faith and ONE baptism.