How Exactly Does Doctrine Unite?

In our series on doctrine uniting and dividing, my main point is that you should not view doctrine as divisive. Instead, we should view it as uniting. How does it unite? Following are several factors.

A. The purpose of doctrine is to provide a common base upon which we can unite. To the extent that our teaching impacts our thinking, and our thinking is as close to God’s thinking as it can be, this draws us closer to God as well as to one another. Shared doctrine knits us together in a closer relationship.

Notice the connection of doctrine to the early church in Acts 2:42: "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers." Ephesians 4:3-6 adds,

“endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

There are seven “ones” here – including one faith and one hope and one baptism. There are not two faiths, two hopes, two baptisms, two possible futures, two different versions of Jesus, two different gospels, or three for that matter. These “ones” are the basis of unity in the church. The apostle Paul teaches that doctrine does unite us.

B. The unifying feature of sound doctrine has a side effect or consequence of marking off those who are outside of its boundaries. It is akin to the difference between Jesus coming to save the world versus to condemn the world (John 3:17). His coming, which was salvation-oriented, is not bad because it has judgment as a side-effect for those who do not believe. They were already under judgment (John 3:18). The purpose of the incarnation and atonement is not condemnation but salvation. Ina similar way, doctrine is not bad because it has a consequence that it shows someone to be wrong and outside of the boundaries of healthy teaching. Just because it happens (as a side-effect) to demonstrate a delineation between people who do not hold sound doctrine and those who do, does not mean that doctrine is bad. In itself, it is inherently a good and healthy thing.

C. The Scripture repeatedly commands Christians to be "of one mind" (Romans 15:6, 2 Cor. 13:11, Phil. 1:27, 1 Peter 3:8). The doctrine that "doctrine divides" promotes a very broad approach that downplays doctrine and really encourages people to have a wide variety of views on various matters—often in practice it amounts to whatever suits their fancy. You cannot have "one mind" with others in the church if you actually have "several minds" in the church.

As an example, if I believe in believer’s baptism and you believe in infant baptism for the infants of believing parents, we do not have the same mind. I would argue that difference is significant enough that we should properly separate into different churches. This is precisely why Presbyterian churches are not Baptist or Bible churches, and vice versa.

Another example of a doctrine that is almost always relegated to the third tier as a non-essential is the rapture. We believe the rapture is imminent—the next event in the divine plan. This is an encouragement to those who face trials today, or who have lost a loved one and are awaiting the resurrection. 1 Thess. 4:13-18 is a real comfort to those who grieve someone who has died. This shared comfort unites us in the Lord in a practical way. Others believe that the church will pass through the Tribulation and only afterward will the Lord return. This does not offer the same kind of comfort as the view we hold. This is not merely discomforting; it is dis-uniting because it is a contradiction. Both of these views cannot be correct.

(In other venues I have stated my belief that although there are doctrines which are not essential to believe for salvation, there are a good deal of those very doctrines are appropriate to delineate for church fellowship and sound worldview, and in order to avoid unnecessary disunity. Furthermore, while we may disagree on some doctrinal matter and thus not be of the same mind, we can do so charitably.)

E. Our viewpoint that doctrine unites encourages discernment and also demands discernment. Discernment is the ability to understand things that are not immediately obvious, along with the skill to differentiate between one viewpoint and another. It is a skill that helps us to select what matches Scripture and to reject what does not.

1. The idea that doctrine unites encourages discernment because we want to know what is right and true, and to know if a church properly holds Scriptural teaching. This allows us then the freedom to join that church and partner with that church in good conscience. Sound doctrine is the platform and foundation of discernment that allows us to be united. It helps us begin a relationship of unity.

Of course we are not expecting that everyone agrees on every detail. But what we are aiming for is that along the main lines of doctrine that there is agreement, not just on the bare minima involved in the gospel. We ought to be able to discern that it is wrong to delete as many truths as possible from the "important list" to get down to a handful of statements regarding the gospel of Christ that must be believed. As Christians, we are not to be focused on believing a few facts. Instead, we are believing in a person and in what He believes.

2. The idea that doctrine unites demands discernment because you become displeasing to God if you unite yourself to those who are not the friends of God in some way. Sound doctrine is the foundation upon which discernment is built, in order to know if something is wrong. If it is wrong, we must separate from it or refrain from joining in close partnership with it—that is, to not unite with it. It helps us to avoid relationships that damage unity.

Someone who believes a different gospel or a different Christ or a different spirit (2 Cor. 11:4) is not a friend of God. They might be a “nice” person, but niceness does not save anyone or please the Lord. Without faith it is impossible to please Him. You must possess discernment in order to avoid partnering with error.

Allow me a couple more remarks to conclude this series on the unifying nature of sound doctrine. Maximizing unity for unity’s sake is not a doctrine that we can find in Scripture. I do find a command to maintain the unity of the Spirit (Eph. 4:3). That is a task enough in the life of a local church, one to which we should apply ourselves diligently.

Our doctrine unites us as one, as Eph. 4:4-6 teaches us. And that is my message: doctrine does not divide. True doctrine unites and gives us a solid foundation to serve the Lord.