MAINTAINING PERFECT UNITY THROUGH DIVISION.

The Necessity of Division to Reach Perfect Unity

Unity in the body of Christ is not built upon compromise, but upon truth. The Apostle Paul exhorts the church in 1 Corinthians 1:10: “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.” True unity requires agreement in doctrine, judgment, and truth. Anything less is not unity but confusion.

Yet, how is this unity achieved? Paradoxically, it is through division. To be joined together in truth, the church must first separate itself from error. 1 Corinthians 11:19 declares: “For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.” Heresy exposes who is truly approved of God, for those who love the truth will not accept falsehood. Division, then, is the refining fire that reveals the genuine.

Paul reinforces this in Romans 16:17: “Mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.” Unity is not found in tolerating every voice, but in rejecting those who speak contrary to the apostolic word. Likewise, Ephesians 5:11 commands: “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” Fellowship with error destroys unity; separation from error preserves it.

Jesus Himself declared in Matthew 10:34: “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.” The sword divides truth from falsehood, light from darkness, sheep from goats. Perfect unity with God and His Word cannot be reached without this holy separation. To speak the same thing as the apostles, we must reject every doctrine that is not theirs. To walk in the same judgment, we must cut off every teaching that compromises the truth.

Therefore, perfect unity is not the absence of division, but the fruit of it. Division from error is the pathway to unity in truth. The church must cleanse itself from voices that do not speak what God has spoken, lest we be found in falsehood. Only then can we be “perfectly joined together” in one mind, one doctrine, and one Spirit.