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Unity in the Truth

by David A. DePra

But if I tarry long, that thou may know how thou ought to behave thyself in
the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground
of the truth. (1 Tim 3:15)

For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. (2 Cor 13:8)

I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye
know it, and that no lie is of the truth. (1 John 2:21)

I’m not sure what is more important than the Truth. Of course, I’m speaking
in a Christian context, but really, truth is likewise the most important thing in
ANY field. For example, if you operate in error regarding gravity or other law
of physics, what will happen? If you lack the Truth about economics or
accounting, then what? If you live in error with regards to your family
relationships it will likewise result in many bad consequences. How much
more essential is the Truth in our relationship with God, and with other
Christians!

In the church today, we live in a day and age where Truth doesn’t matter
anymore. What does matter is church growth, people feeling good about
themselves, signs and wonders, and political correctness. Add all of these
things up and not only do they mean Truth doesn’t matter, but they mean
Truth is to be despised. For once Truth matters, all of the rest of these things
must be adjusted to the Truth. And all of them will be exposed as error and
purged out of the church.

Jesus Christ said, "I am the Way, the TRUTH, and the Life." He likewise
said, "You shall know the Truth and the Truth shall set you free." Do the
math. If I think Truth doesn’t matter, then I think Jesus doesn’t matter, for HE
is the Truth. And if I think Truth doesn’t matter, then I think freedom doesn’t
matter – for the Truth sets me free. Furthermore, read the gospels and the
epistles. In them you find a continual contention by Jesus and the apostles
FOR the Truth. In the end, it cost them their lives. Truth matters. Indeed,
Truth is everything.

Truth IS

Truth exists because God exists. Because there is an Absolute Being,

there is absolute Truth. Indeed, it is only by knowing HIM that we can know
the Truth – it is only by knowing Him that we have a frame of reference for all
else.

This is why God is described as LIGHT. It is why Jesus said, "I am the
Truth." Truth is described in doctrines and communicated through teaching.
But in the end, Truth is God Himself.

This brings us to a conclusion that cannot be avoided. It is a conclusion

that ought to be so self-evident that it should form the foundation of ALL
ELSE. And yet the moment you hear it, you will know that even in churches
today such a statement would be controversial. That conclusion is this: Truth
is not optional. It is central. Indeed, if you believe that the Truth is
unnecessary you are already deceived. If you believe that knowing the Truth
is impossible or unimportant, you are already deceived. If you believe that
knowing the Truth takes second place to anything in the Christian walk, you
are already in danger. There is nothing more vital, essential, and central to
walking with Jesus Christ than is the Truth. To say anything else is a LIE.

Do we realize that one of the many ways in which we could, in a sentence,

describe the purpose of Jesus Christ, is to say that He came to restore the
Truth? Sure. Even His Redemption was, in one sense, unto that end. How?
Well, obviously, the Redemptive work of Christ was not merely a doctrinal
statement. It was an actual breaking of the realm of darkness, and the
ushering in of resurrection life. But as it pertains to Truth, the Redemption
made it not only possible for you and I to know Truth – the Redemption made
it possible for you and I to be MADE TRUE.

Now ask: How could you and I be MADE TRUE to God, and restored back
to the relationship God always intended, unless we know God IN TRUTH?
Indeed, how can you and I walk with God – the God who is THE TRUTH –
unless we know the Truth about Him?

The bottom line is this: Christianity – when everything is said and done –
IS THE TRUTH. Have we recognized this? What we call Christianity is God’s
revelation of Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ – made real to us, in us,
and through us. Therefore, once you say Truth doesn’t matter, you are
denying the very essence of Christianity itself.

Truth Divides

There are thousands of professing Christians today who are convinced that
as long as UNITY is preserved, they are on the right track. They grab out of
the Bible verses that tell us that unity is God’s will, and they translate that to
mean, "unity at all cost." Thus, if you preach the essential of uncompromising
Truth, these people will accuse you of dividing the Body of Christ. They will
say that you are, "judging." They will make you out to be the bad guy.
 Let’s be very clear about some things. First, it is possible to have perfect
unity in ERROR. There is such a thing as group deception, or church
deception. And where that is the case, everyone will say the same thing – the
WRONG thing. Everyone will have the same mind – the WRONG mind. And
most of these places will seek to preserve that unity in error – because it
cannot be preserved unless THEY force it. They will grab verses and
passages out of the Bible that encourage unity. But the problem is not that
they need to preserve unity. The problem is that they have no Truth.

Isn’t it amazing how the teaching of the Bible cannot even apply to us
unless we have the right foundation? For example, when Paul teaches that
we should all have the same mind, and say the same thing, he means THE
TRUTH. He doesn’t mean ERROR. Thus, if the church to which I belong
doesn’t know the Truth, but teaches error, these commands by Paul do not
apply. Commands to speak the same thing cannot apply unless that SAME
THING that is being spoken is the Truth. Paul is NOT saying, "All of you
need to be in agreement. It doesn’t matter if what you agree upon is the
Truth. All that matters is that you agree." Nonsense. The only solution in
such cases is that the entire foundation of error be broken, and a new one be
established in Truth. Until then, commands to speak the same thing don’t
apply. Ones that command that we know the Truth DO apply.

And yet, as mentioned, Christian people continue to harp on unity, and

ignore the Truth. This is a blindness and a deception. It comes directly from,
"the father of lies." What could please Satan more than to have a group of
people who are completely deceived, and yet in complete unity in that
deception? What could make him happier than to have people who brag
about their unity, and yet who have no consciousness that their unity is in
error and heresy?

Therefore, we need to get this straight: Christianity unity means NOTHING

– if that unity is in error. It means nothing GOOD, that is. The only kind of
Christian unity that is according to the will of God is unity that is in the Truth.

Now, this ought to clear up the meaning of a few Bible verses. For
example, what did Jesus say about the INITIAL IMPACT He would have upon
unity?

Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send
peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his
father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against
her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He
that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that
loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh
not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his
life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. (Mat
10:34-39)

Can we see what Jesus is saying? He is saying that wherever He is

preached, and wherever He enters the picture, all unity that is NOT in
Himself; that is NOT in the Truth, is going to be disturbed, toppled, and
hopefully destroyed. But unto what end? Well, in order that a NEW ORDER
and a TRUE UNITY might be formed in Himself.

How could it be otherwise? If I am in a church or group, where the Truth is

NOT being preached, or where the Truth is NOT important – where error
reigns – then there isn’t any way to deal with such a thing until the unity in
apathy and error is broken. And it is a fact that the Truth will always expose
and break error. Always.

Truth is NEVER neutral. It is NEVER anything but absolute and total. The
Truth ALWAYS divides between light and darkness. Any church that has a
foundation of error is going to absolutely be divided if the Truth is introduced!
And that is a GOOD thing.

I can tell you what will happen if Truth is introduced in a place of darkness.
First, those standing in Truth will be attacked. Second, TWO lines will form.
One will consist of all those who desire the Truth. The other line will consist
of those who don’t. And I will also promise you that many people will refuse
to stand in EITHER line – which, if they only knew it, is really equal to
standing in the line with those who don’t want the Truth. If the place that
Truth is introduced is a church, many people will leave. Perhaps the pastor
will be fired if it is him that introduces the Truth. But Truth always divides. It
must divide – in fact, God WANTS it to divide if things are initially unified in
error or apathy.

If you have ever entered a creepy, old abandoned house, and gone down
the cellar with a flashlight, you will know what I mean. Shine that light into a
place where darkness has become normal, and what happens? All the
critters scatter and run for the darkness! Pardon my French – but this IS
Biblical – if you shine the light of God upon any place of darkness all HELL is
going to break loose. And I do mean HELL. Have we forgotten that there are
spiritual forces behind these situations?

What applies to the group applies to the individual. If I am a person who is

comfortable, apathetic, and really doesn’t want to be bothered with Truth,
then how must God initially deal with me? He must disturb my self-contained
unity. He must upset my life. He must put me in a situation where I MUST
find the Truth – or choose greater darkness.
 It is an understatement, but we simply do not know that we don’t know. We
are blind. Many THINK they know the Truth, but they don’t. The only way in
which God can deal with us, and set us free, is to disturb us. But even then,
some won’t turn to God. They walk into greater darkness.

I really believe that many in the Body of Christ do not want to be

personally accountable to God. TRUTH will always require this – for to know
the Truth means more than just knowing true doctrine. It means to be MADE
TRUE TO GOD. And that means standing in the light. Many will NOT be
exposed before the Lord – they simply won’t have it. But this same light will
also reveal to us the Truth about God. It is simply not possible to separate
the two – if you want to know the Truth, you must be made true. In effect, our
knowledge of the Truth ties directly to our willingness to be accountable to
God Himself in Truth.

So what we see in all of this is that DIVISION is good, and GOD-

ORDAINED, if the division is caused by the presence of Jesus Christ – if the
division is caused by the Truth. It is good because Truth will break up all
unity in error, for the purpose of salvaging those who respond to it, and
establishing a new unity in Christ.

Truth Unites

Truth will break up error. But Truth will unite those who are made true by
it. And this unity will not need, and cannot be, FORCED. You don’t need to
force unity among those who are individually centered in Christ.

There have always been groups and churches who force unity with
religious laws, rules, and legalism. Sure. You can force unity by establishing,
"accountability principles," and fear tactics, and peer pressure. But none of it
will be REAL. Real unity is in Christ – in the Truth.

Unity in the Body of Christ, if it is real, is the result of EACH individual

having a relationship with Christ – in Truth – that rightly relates them to each
other individual who have a relationship with Christ -- in Truth. That is
communion and fellowship. Thus, the very basis of body unity is each
individual’s relationship with Jesus.

This is so often distorted. Many people continue to think that in order to

have communion with each other, we must forfeit or relinquish our personal
relationship with Christ – to whatever degree it takes to keep the unity. No.
In reality, EACH believer needs to be presented mature in Christ. And then,
unity will be the outcome. The Body of Christ will only function according to
the Truth to the degree that the members know the Truth.
 There is an important principle in all of this, as it relates to some of these
errors about unity. That principle is this: The wrong kind of unity will always
strip the individual believer of their personal relationship with Christ. The
wrong kind of unity will cast the individual adrift, at best, or make them
unable to function as an individual at worst in the Lord. But the right kind of
unity will work towards BUILDING UP EACH believer in Christ. And if EACH
believer is built up in Christ, the BODY will be strong as a unit.

I have known of places where almost no one has a healthy personal

relationship with Christ – and yet they all glory in this, thinking that their
submission to leadership IS that personal relationship. That is deception.

Any leader who tells you that you cannot be right with God, or grow in
Christ, or find God’s full purpose – unless you come to God through THEM,
submit to THEM, or sit at their feet – that leader is a false teacher. Indeed, if
a leader is right with God, and a true servant of God, they will seek to make
others strong in Christ for themselves. They will seek to make themselves as
useless as possible, if you know what I mean, so that each believer can be
presented mature in Christ.

The Truth

The only alternative to knowing the Truth is deception. Note that – the
ONLY alternative to Truth is error. You cannot have it both ways. You cannot
sit on the fence. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would seek to guide us into
all Truth. The question is – are we open for this work?

If you haven’t noticed, more and more today, the Truth is being sacrificed
on the altar of religious unity. Indeed, those who insist on the Truth are now
the bad guys. I realize that some who insist on the Truth do it in an unloving
way. But the Word of God nevertheless commands, "Speak the Truth in
love." There is no compromise with Truth if you love Jesus.

God warned us of these times all through the Bible:

Now the Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart
from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; (1
Tim 4:1-2)

A, "seducing spirit," is one that has something attractive about it, such that
it is able to lead someone away from the Truth – all the while they THINK it
is the Truth. Sure. Satan always appears as an angel of light. And doctrines
of demons? Does that sound serious to you? Well, we have been warned,
haven’t we? It is all right there, in our Bible. And yet look how many people –
and sadly, many of them quite young – are being led astray into these false
revivals. Look at how many today don’t even TALK about the Truth. It isn’t
even on the table for discussion.

I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall
judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the
word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all
longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure
sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves
teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the
truth, and shall be turned unto fables. (2 Tim 4:1-4)

Here we see instruction as to the responsibility God has given His people.
For those who DO know the Truth, we are not to remain neutral. We are to
proclaim it with whatever means God provides. You will note that this is a
CHARGE BEFORE GOD. Again, do you think this is serious? Actually, it is a
matter of spiritual LIFE and DEATH.

The church is supposed to be the PILLAR and GROUND of the Truth. Get
that. The church is supposed to be the living representation of the Truth – as
a witness unto Christ Himself. And if we are NOT? Well, then we are a
FALSE witness unto Christ. That is not a pretty picture. But it is a fact that
needs to be faced.

We are in the middle of the great apostasy. But none of us need be part of
it. It is always possible to turn to God for the Truth. And if we do, He will be
faithful.

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