True Unity of the Spirit (Part 3)

I believe in and covet unity among believers—wholeheartedly. I grealty prefer unity over disunity, harmony over disharmony, accord over discord, concord over controversy, agreement over disagreement, amity over animus. There are numerous Scripture passages stating God's desire for unity among the Brethren. Genuine unity of the Spirit is vital to the Body of Christ in order to accomplish the purposes and plans of God on Earth. Unfortunately, however, the notion of unity that many in the Church today have been indoctrinated with is not true unity at all, but rather a convoluted counterfeit that is used by some unscrupulous and unaware leaders as a subtle mechanism of manipulation aimed at predomination for self-aggrandizing purposes.

If you did not read Part 1 and 2 of this three-part article, I strongly urge you to do so, because the foundation was laid for this portion in the previous posts. This part cannot be properly understood or assessed apart from the backdrop laid out in those previous posts. Links to archived articles are on the right side panel. You may also read the entire 2-part article on my website at: http://www.slm.org/trtdigst/articles/unity_part2.html.

In the first post, I said I believe in and covet unity among believers—wholeheartedly. I talked about my surpassing personal preference for unity over disunity, harmony over disharmony, accord over discord, concord over controversy, agreement over disagreement, amity over animus. I quoted Scripture passages indicating God's affinity for unity among the Brethren as well. Moreover, I stated that I believe genuine unity of the Spirit is vital to the Body of Christ in order to accomplish the purposes and plans of God on Earth.

But, then I indicated that the unity I believe in and strongly desire is Biblical unity, juxtaposed to the many other ideas of unity that exist today in the world. Then, I narrowed our focus to the particular notion of unity that many Pentecostals, Charismatics, and other Neo-Pentecostals have been taught, the centerpiece of which is the premise of "covenant relationships."

Here again I will state emphatically and unequivocally that I believe in the concept of "covenant relationships"—within its Biblical bounds.

I believe it is vital that relationships among believers be predicated on our covenant with God that we share, and that it is vital that our interrelations be rooted in the koinonia that the Early Church experienced for a time. But, again, the pivotal qualifier with respect to unity is the word—Biblical. Indeed, the point of this article and the book chapter from which it is adapted is that, unfortunately, the notion of unity that many in the Church today have been indoctrinated with is not true unity at all, but rather a convoluted counterfeit that is used by some either unscrupulous or unaware leaders as a subtle mechanism of manipulation aimed at predomination for self-aggrandizing purposes.

As I stated in Part One, the version of "covenant relationships" that has now permeated much of the Pentecostal and Neo-Pentecostal church is a product of a spiritually toxic rue of Truth mixed with mysticism. Under the auspices of the fallacious and errant teachings of the Shepherding Movement of the 1970s that were woven into the very fabric, foundation, and functions of the Neo-Pentecostal Church at large, the application of the Scripturally-valid principle of interdependency and fraternal responsibility among believers, i.e., koinonia, is extended far beyond its import and true intent, and is conveniently transformed into very unscriptural chains of spiritual bondage and psychological captivation . While believers are to value and validate fraternal relationships, as well as demonstrate a certain measure of unceasing and "unconditional" commitment to one another, those relationships in terms of their application in the natural realm in the here and now are not sacrosanct or inviolable, and they most definitely do have limits. Understanding and acknowledging those limits is imperative to avoid excess and error. In this Part of the article, we will examine the salient characteristics of Biblical unity juxtaposed to those of this fallacious unity to which I allude.

Good and Pleasant Unity
Firstly, let's look briefly at the nature of Biblical unity. One dictionary offers the following definition and synonyms of the word "unity," which supply us with some excellent concepts concerning the unity that God desires the Body of Christ to flow in:

1. The state or quality of being one; singleness.
2. The state or quality of being in accord; harmony.
3. a. The combination or arrangement of parts into a whole; unification.
   b. A combination or union thus formed.
4. Singleness or constancy of purpose or action; continuity.

Synonyms: unity, union, solidarity. These nouns denote the condition of accord resulting from an identity or coincidence of interests, purposes, or sympathies among the members of a group. Unity implies agreement and collaboration among interdependent, usually varied components… Union connotes harmony, cohesiveness, and often unanimity among individuals united in a whole…. Solidarity refers to the community of objectives and responsibilities that enables a group of people to think and act as one.¹

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! (Ps. 133:1)

Separating the holy from the profane, we can see from the very first of the unity passages I cited in the first Part, above, that the unity being described by the Spirit, in that it speaks about "brothers," is a unity that is mutual among all the brotherhood, not just certain ones. Indeed, the pivotal word in this passage is "brothers." To understand properly the unity that God has designed for us to walk in, it is imperative to understand that all believers—laymen and leaders alike—are coequal brothers and part of the Brotherhood of Christ. In this Biblical unity there is an inherent mutuality, void of exclusivism and elitism—that "big me, little you" attitude—so overtly manifest and prevalent in so many churches, church groups, networks, and denominations today, leadership in particular. Nothing is more divisive and stifling of comm-unity and camaraderie than such attitudes of arrogance and ascendancy.

One revelation concerning which much of the Body of Christ needs a fresh and added awareness is that regardless of our God-assigned function and responsibilities, status, or station in life, all believers—leaders and laymen like—are on par as brothers. Jesus explicitly stated that in Matthew 23:8: "all of you are on the same level, as BROTHERS" (L.B.). Spiritually, i.e., in our spirit-being, all believers, male and female, leader and layman, are coequal brothers. Though there is diversity in function, there is yet coequality or parity in our spiritual status or standing in Christ. In a word, we are "peers" or "fellows." Understanding that we are fellows is the fundamental ingredient in experiencing blessed "fellowship." Indeed, the overriding point this passage expresses is that unless believers relate and interact with one another as coequal "brothers," there will be no true unity, and their relationships and interactivity, rather than being good and pleasant will be bad and unpleasant—yea miserable!

Having become spiritual sons of God through the New Birth, believers are even (cherish the unfathomable thought!) on the same level with Jesus in terms of our heritage and inheritance. Jesus is even our Elder Brother!

the FIRST-BORN of many BRETHREN (Rom. 8:29);

For both He who sanctifies (Jesus) and those who are sanctified (believers) are all from one Father, He is not ashamed to call them BRETHREN, saying, "I will proclaim Thy name to My BRETHREN" (Heb. 2:11,12).

Merely by virtue of the New Birth, every believer is baptized into the family of God, the Brotherhood of Christ (also known as the Church). Moreover, God has Himself elevated the entire entity of the Brotherhood of Christ to as sublime a height as possible short of infringement on the God-Head itself! Truly, if we ever fathomed the profound depths of this glorious Truth, all perceived need for preeminence and predominance over fellows among the Brethren would be instantaneously and eternally eradicated! Would to God it would be!

Part of what we can draw from this unity passage is that the unity that is being spoken of is mutually beneficial in many ways and produces "good" results. In Part One I talked about the anointed ambience, or supernatural atmosphere, that was manifest in the Early Church as a result of the apostolic dimension that was present among them. What it generated was works of supernatural power in the form of healing, deliverance, and miracles as well as supernatural working in the lives and relationships of the believers. The result of it all was that the Jerusalem Church was "having favor with all the people," and "the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved." Certainly that would qualify as "good" results of the "brothers dwell(ing) together in unity!"

The unity passage also described this kind of unity that occurs when the Brethren live in harmony and oneness of purpose, or koinonia, as "pleasant." Pleasant is defined as giving or affording pleasure or enjoyment; agreeable; pleasing in manner, behavior, or appearance; amiable, fair and comfortable (as in pleasant weather); merry; lively. When Brethren gather and live their lives in comm-unity, all of those elements are manifest. And when they are, that certainly is pleasant! Where that kind of comm-unity exists, it always exists because of the Presence of God, and the Presence of God is manifest there because there is a core group of true worshipers who are worshiping Him in Spirit and Truth, which causes God to inhabit the praises of His people. And wherever the Presence of the Lord is, the atmosphere is to say the least—pleasant! It is pleasant because where the Spirit of the Lord truly is present and truly is Lord rather than humans, there is always discernible liberty, liberality, and liberation from the influences of demons (2 Cor. 3:17).

However, there is nothing whatsoever pleasant about the obverse of that—the atmosphere in which human predomination is manifest. In groups where it prevails—where the leadership is wittingly or unwittingly employing witchcraft to dominate, control, and subjugate the followers—there is a distinctive foul, foreboding, fiendish sense of demonic captivation tangibly present and readily discernible to those not bewitched by its spell. Indeed, when the interrelations among the members of a group are not a "good and pleasant" experience, chances are the "unity" being promoted and pursued is not a bona fide unity emanating from the Spirit of the Lord, but rather a bogus man-centered "unity" characterized by bondage, restriction, constriction, and demonic activity and attack.

All of these conditions are indicative of the spirit of divination or witchcraft, which some expositors posit is symbolized in Scripture as the Python Spirit. A python is a huge specie of snake often 20 feet or more in length that kills its prey by wrapping itself around its victim and squeezing or "constricting" it until it crushes or asphyxiates it. Constriction is the primary modus operandi of witchcraft. Its ultimate goal is to squeeze the life right out of its prey. That's precisely what happens to followers of spiritual leaders who are exercising witchcraft over them—eventually they become spiritually crushed, the Pneuma (Breath) of God, the Holy Spirit, spiritual life, is squeezed right out of them, and they die of spiritual asphyxiation.

Coerced Conformity
there are two other distinctive characteristics of this type of false unity predicated on and supposedly emanating out of this erroneous version of "covenant relationships"—coerced conformity and required or expected uniformity. Here again the nature of a counterfeit is demonstrated. A counterfeit by definition is a fraudulent copy of an original, a mock up of the real. It has the appearance of the real thing, but it really is not the real thing. It is a pretense of the real thing, but it only feigns the nature of the real thing. It is a phony, a fake, a sham, a falsification, a fraud. The intent of the counterfeit is to defraud by making you think you have the real thing but you really don't.

In the case of the hyper-authoritarian counterfeit of "covenant relationships" and the sham unity it engenders, the very valid principle of interdependency and fraternal responsibility among believers is extended beyond its proper import and intent to virtually nullify and eliminate any semblance of personal autonomy and individuality. Contrary to the prevailing "wisdom" within much of Christendom, "autonomy," "individuality," and the much-maligned "independence" are not "four-letter words." In their proper application and context, these concepts are not at all incongruous with the Divine Nature and Christ-likeness. Ezekiel's vision of a wheel within a wheel portrays the precept of "interdependence with independence" inherent in the Kingdom of God and which is to exist in the administration and the interrelations of the Church of God.

God has created every human-being with a will, or volition, and endowed us all with the inviolable right to self-rule, or autonomy. So inviolable is that prerogative that not even God will violate or impinge upon it. Even when we choose to subject and subordinate our will unto God's as Jesus Himself did in the Garden of Gethsemane, that in itself is a voluntary exercising of our own free will. We choose to submit and subject our will and purposes unto God and His will and purposes, but He never coerces us to do so.

It may come as a surprise to some, but being Born Again does not mean that we forfeit our free will and right to self-rule in order to become some sort of mindless spiritual robot or zombie. Even after the Holy Spirit inhabits our being, we are still free moral agents, and are given the prerogative and privilege of operating in accordance with God's revealed will, allowing the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us by His inner promptings and urgings, submitting to His desires, and thereby allowing Him to live His Life through us. Being a willing participant in this cooperative coexistence is the great joy and privilege of it all. We are not compelled and coerced, but entreated and enabled.

Even when we are indeed Born Again, inhabited by the Spirit of God, and have become doers of His Word—active cooperatives for God on this planet—we still are not merely a contingent of identical "clones." Even then, we still have a certain amount of individuality, we still have the right of self-governance, or autonomy, and we are even given a certain kind and degree of latitude and independence within the bounds of righteousness. Independence is not intrinsically evil. While there is a certain amount of interdependence inherent in our relationships as members of the Body of Christ, nonetheless, God made us independent as well. Though those two concepts may sound contradictory, in fact they are not, but rather are quite congruous.

Yet in churches and ministries where predomination or hyper-authoritarianism is flowing down through the leadership unto the members, there is a definitive usurpation of their free will and right to self-governance. The followers are indoctrinated to believe that God requires them to surrender their will unto the will of their spiritual leaders, and that they must receive the approval of their leader(s) for major and in many groups even mundane decisions of life. They are taught that Scripture teaches that they must conform to the dictates and desires of their "masters in the Lord." This "coerced conformity" often starts out small and seems somewhat innocuous, but then continues to increase and expand until it is invasive and eventually pervasive. The victim is no longer his own or even God's, but the slave of some flesh and blood human.

Required Uniformity
The other characteristic of this fallacious unity is that of "required uniformity." True unity is not and does require uniformity. Too often, however, people perceive unity as being uniformity. In fact, it is quite a common thing among humans to view diversity as opposition and even as a threat. People are commonly suspicious, distrusting, and unaccepting of anyone who is significantly different than they. Sadly, that is too frequently the case among believers also, both individually as well as the groups they comprise. But true "unity of the Spirit" engenders a oneness and fellowship with members of the Body of Christ actuated in the natural, physical realm, however, based purely on "likenesses" in, of, and by the Holy Spirit. True unity can never be attained on the basis of our fickle carnal personal likes and dislikes. Rather, "the unity of the Spirit" is a unanimity in, of, and by the Spirit, produced by the confluence of diversity to create a complimentary and harmonious concinnity (working together) of "the body for the building up of itself in love" (Eph. 4:16).

All of Creation itself makes it abundantly clear that uniformity is not a God thing at all. And if it's not a God thing, it certainly is not a good thing. God, like so much of His Creation, created us all unique. There's no carbon copy of any of us anywhere. We are all "one of a kind," not just the "weirdos" to whom that term is often attributed. God delighted in making us all unique and so we should embrace it and learn to appreciate and like those things about us that distinguish us. It is okay to be different than everyone else. After all, even God called us "a peculiar people," and I always like to add, "some more peculiar than others." We all have things about us that make us "weird" to somebody else. We all have what others consider idiosyncrasies, and that's okay, as long as it is indeed idiosyncrasies and not neurosis or psychosis.

Today, with the prevalence of amateur psychology in our culture, it is common for people to try make a character issue out of what is in reality merely a personality issue. I enjoyed immensely what Graham Cooke said in different contexts concerning the uniqueness of his personality, in his book, A Divine Confrontation, which I highly recommend:

To read the rest of this article click here.

In the next and final part we will take a look at some of the effects of false unity and what it keeps us from possessing that God desires and has made provision for us to possess. We will also examine the limitations of true unity.

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Endnotes:
¹ Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition. © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic version licensed from INSO Corporation; further reproduction and distribution in accordance with the Copyright Law of the United States. All rights reserved.

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This article is an adaptation from the book, Charismatic Captivation, which may be ordered online at: http://www.slm.org/pubs/ccbook.html, or from booksellers worldwide.

False Unity and the Lakeland Revival Cult -- Part 2

Finally and mercifully, the "strong delusion" known as "The Lakeland Outpouring" or "Lakeland Healing Revival" is no more, after its main leader, Todd Bentley, has been exposed as the charlatan that Biblically-grounded and spiritually-discerning believers always knew him to be. In "ONE DAY," the farcical charade Bentley passed off as "ministry" emanating from the Holy Spirit and shamefully flaunted over satellite airwaves around the globe nightly for months on end on a television network audaciously, if not blasphemously, named by its founders, "God TV," was suddenly brought to a screeching halt by God Himself.

Almost immediately the ever-growing cadre of self-proclaimed international apostles and other leaders who virtually stampeded the Lakeland platform to make PR hay for themselves by associating with and effectively endorsing Bentley and the Lakeland fiasco are now scrambling to disseminate their statements of regret, explanation, and even apology. As sincere as their post-facto sentiments and apologetics may be, many believers, myself included, find it difficult to see it as anything more than variants of damage control and spiritual spin-meistering.

The fact of the matter is: the entire "outpouring" or "revival" — from the beginning — was indeed a shameful fiasco and fraud that surely those who brazenly claim to be the God-appointed "gatekeepers" of the Kingdom of God on the earth, should have been discerning and knowledgeable enough to recognize from the start. I'm sorry, I really am not meaning to be unkind or overly critical, but how much discernment does it take to know that someone who tattoos and body-pierces himself from head to toe more than a decade AFTER claiming to have been Born Again, and employs WWF "wrassling" body-slams, forearm shivers, step-over-toeholds, airplane spins, fireman carrys, and solar-plexus punches accompanied by such Neanderthal outbursts as "bam, boom, sheeka-heeka, batta-batta-boom," to "minister" to severely infirmed, crippled, pain-tortured, devil-oppressed, and even terminally-ill people desperately seeking Divine healing is not ministering through the genuine anointing of the Holy Spirit? Seriously — how much discernment does that take — to know instinctively and without any doubt that none of that is inspired by the HOLY Spirit but rather some very uncouth and unclean EVIL spirits? I mean, really people! The gift of discernment is not needed to know that! Nor is it needed to look into someone's eyes, smell their breath, and watch their physical movements to know that they are inebriated, as Bentley has now reportedly admitted he was during some of the Lakeland meetings. How much spiritual acumen does it require to recognize the lustful looks, body language, and behavior of a practiced and habitual adulterer, and to be able to deduce from his speech, attitudes, and interactions with his wife that their marriage is not what it should be?

Again, I'm honestly not trying to be unkind, nor am I reacting out of envy, as spiritually immature or untaught people often allege regarding anyone making comments such as these, but I seriously doubt the validity of the claim to apostolic or prophetic anointing and function of anyone who could be so easily duped by such obvious doctrinal deception that in some cases crossed the line of heresy and blatant ministerial travesty that at times crossed the line of outright blasphemy against the Holy Spirit! I'm seriously having trouble believing those that are that gullible, theologically liberal, and given to such compromise could possibly be genuine apostles or prophets.

Of course, I am not an "approved" prophet by the ICA apostles and the self-proclaimed "clearing houses for the prophetic" such as Christian International, in fact those of them who know me, and a number do, highly disapprove of me, nonetheless I AM a Heaven and Head of the Church approved prophet, and I have a pretty good idea what genuine prophets are like, and one of the fundamental characteristics of a genuine prophet is that they are obsessed with the Truth. They can't help themselves. They seek the Truth, speak the Truth, and refuse to compromise the Truth, no matter what — who it offends, or what it costs. Genuine prophets, who themselves are not compromised in some way, can no more compromise regarding the Truth than the sun can stop shining.

I'm sorry, but I just can't give the "high and mighty" — those who so arrogate themselves to purport to comprise the highest echelons of the Charismatic chain-of-command — a pass on this obvious display of lack of discernment and concern for the Sheep of God's Flock.The Charismatic corps d'élite totally missed it BIG TIME on this one, which really is nothing new, but the difference in this case is that they are publicly chagrined and chastised. If I were one of them, I would turn in my Apostle or Prophet badge, resign my position of status, and publicly admit I am not spiritual qualified to accept the title. But, hey, that's just me. I don't look for anything even close to that kind of integrity and honesty coming from the ranks of the ICA types of organizations.

Frankly, I believe it's all God! I believe it was a Divine "set-up" or "sting" of sorts. As I said in my first article on this matter, I DO believe the Lakeland things is a move of God — a move of "strong delusion" such that God promised to send upon those who do not "receive the love of the TRUTH...so that they might believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the TRUTH, but APPROVED (lit.) wickedness" (2 Thes. 2:9-12). There were a vast number of people other than Todd Bentley who were and are still being exposed by this "Sting of the Spirit." I don't mean for the same kind of faults and failures as Bentley's, but others that are just as spiritually defiling, destructive, ungodly, and grievous, both to God and genuine believers.

While one, so far, of the elite echelon of the International Coalition of Apostles, Dutch Sheets, has come forward to express his personal remorse and repentance for his implicit involvement in the Lakeland looniness as well as a host of the other Charismaniacal excesses and spiritual failures that have gone on over the course of the Charismatic Movement, others of the exclusive club's leadership have yet to acknowledge or accept any complicity in the obvious errors that were made, including the public and televised coronation ceremony over which the ICA's top leader, C. Peter Wagner, presided, along with three other ICA brass. Wagner has published some statements since his endorsement of the Lakeland Outpouring and Bentley attempting to explain his rationale, but many view his statements as too little, too late, and reflecting that he apparently is genuinely unaware, as sincere as he may be in his beliefs regarding the ICA's stated purposes and mission, of the negative view of the organization held by the majority of Charismatic and Evangelical leaders as well as laity. Apparently, similar sentiments are now being espoused within the ICA's membership, resulting in a number of them resigning from the organization.

Moreover, Wagner is not helping his cause at all by now suggesting that the Lakeland Outpouring should now be viewed as "Lakeland I" and "Lakeland II," which will be viewed by many as being just another attempt to whitewash the many errors that occurred in "Lakeland I" and to promote "Lakeland II," the supposedly "redeemed" continuum under the new leadership of Stephen Strader, the leader of Ignite Church and ICA member. Many believers are finally beginning to recognize "organizationalism" as the bane it has always been with respect to the Kingdom of God. Organizationalism and institutionalism has always been the assassin of every move of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit will not be confined, contained and controlled by men and their contrived organizations. When organizationalism moves in to hijack the move of God, the Holy Spirit departs and moves on to find true worshipers through whom He can operate. From that moment when the Holy Spirit departs, "Ichabod," is written by the Hand of God over the doors of the meeting place, and it becomes a haunt of vipers and overrun by serpents as evil spirits hasten to fill the spiritual void.

How I see it all is that those who were on the Lakeland stage the night of the ICA coronation, all became the natural ground when God downloaded a true "outpouring" of Kingdom Power into the whole "movement," and they were all electrocuted! I believe it was God, and that a lot of good things — meaning, a lot of long needed changes — are going to take place as a result of the Lakeland debacle.

The good thing about the recent implosion of the Lakeland Outpouring is that maybe we can all now move on to better things — real God things — and everyone can get back to daily and faithfully doing what they do in, of, and for the Kingdom, void as it is of all the hype, hoopla, and fanfare.

In the previous post, I was addressing the calls for "unity" that were coming out of and on behalf of the Lakeland Outpouring prior to its debacle, and how that the so-called unity that was being demanded by a multitude of voices endorsing and promoting it, is not the "unity in the Spirit" delineated in the Bible. Often, the "unity" that is being touted in religious sectors is not true unity of the Spirit at all, but a "coerced conformity" that does not promote the freedom that is always present "where the Spirit of the Lord is," but rather a dark, diabolical, and demonic bondage. In this case, the unity enforcers were saying that if you were not onboard endorsing and promoting the Lakeland hubbub you were anti-spirit, anti-supernatural, anti-charismatic, anti-prophetic, rebellious, legalistic, and had a critical spirit and a spirit of unbelief. Well, all those childish, revealing, yet dangerously demonic charges all sounded very familiar to anyone who's been part of the Charismatic Movement for any significant period of time. I've been so labeled by the Charismatic Cosa Nostro for most of my three decades plus in the movement regarding a plurality of new trends and developments that I refused to simply "swallow and follow." So, I'm used to being the odd man out on such things. I'm gettin' so I like that scarlet "R" for rebel they've branded me with, 'cause I've just never been one to go along to get along. Never have; never will.

The following is Part 2 of this series of posts that compares false unity to true unity. If you did not read Part 1, I urge you to do so. Links to archived messages appear on the right of this blog. If you are a new reader, I suggest you take a little time to browse through the past articles, which I pray will also bless and inspire you.

True Unity is Not All-Inclusive

It's just not humanly possible to be committed to everyone in the same way and degree as we are to our own immediate families or our spouse, nor is that what God intended. Contrary to the idiotic, New Age, one-world, humanistic philosophies, the human race is not "just one big cosmic-family." Yet, many professing believers have not disabused their minds from the plethora of these kinds of "vain philosophies" and replaced them with the Truth of the Word of God. The result is that the belief system of these professing Christians is an eclectic mixture of false doctrines rooted in false philosophies and false religions from Astrology to Zen and everything in between. Certainly no less can be expected when masses of professing Christians are practitioners of scads of demon-associated practices from martial arts to Freemasonry to occult rituals to yoga and a slew of other false religious rituals, and are ensconced in romantic relationships with practicing and therefore demon-possessed Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Shintoists, and so on.

God simply does not intend for us to be in "unity" with everyone! Unity is a oneness in mind and purpose. It is an agreement of sorts. Amos 3:3 says that two cannot walk together except by agreement. Believers cannot be in unity or agreement with and walk with certain people. That's just the way it is—deal with it! As much as you may want to bring the world's humanistic unity along with the rest of its vain philosophies with you into the Kingdom when you enter it, that cannot fly. And, at that stage of your immaturity, if you do not yet understand that and all the whys and wherefores of it, then you've just got to accept it by faith as being the wisdom of the wiser than you! Sorry, you've got to check all the world's philosophies at the door when you enter the Kingdom of God! I know it makes you feel diminished and vulnerable as you start off-loading all that "wisdom" and "knowledge" that you accumulated from the world's university of "higher learning," but that's the way it's supposed to make you feel—humbled is the word—so that you will cast the whole of the weight of reliance upon God Himself and none other. All of that is nothing more than hot air and bluster that just makes you feel smarter, wiser, and more grandiose than you really are anyway. It's all a lie, and you've bought into it all hook, line, and sinker. So, how smart are you really, O wise one? All along the devil's been lying to you and making you think more highly of yourself than you ought, which results in separation from God, so that he can ultimately destroy you. "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Prv. 16:18); and, "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (Jas. 4:6; 1 Pet. 5:5). So, why don't you make it easy on yourself and humble yourself before you are humiliated and come on down here with the rest of us Lilliputians who have realized we're a big fat ZERO in ourselves apart from God?

Believers are not called to be in unity and agreement with everyone! We can't be! Our quest is fellowship, union, and communion with God preeminently—to walk with God. By definition, to walk with God, we must be in agreement with God. To be in agreement with God intrinsically means that we are going to be in disagreement, disunity, disfellowship with fellow humans who are not walking with God. It's just that simple. The Spirit puts it this way:

Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and
lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, "I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. "Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate," says the Lord. "And do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you. "And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me," Says the Lord Almighty. (2 Cor. 6:14-18, NAS)

This is one of the many promises of God in Scripture that is a promise of contingency. It's a covenant, an agreement, a contract—with God. It is a promise, for sure, but it has conditions that are just as sure, and those conditions must be met if the promise is to be fulfilled. The benefits of the promise are great—to the person who meets the conditions. To that person, God promises to dwell with them, walk with them, be their God and be their Father. But, if the conditions are not met, one cannot expect the benefits of the promise to inure to them.

Imbalanced "Unity" is an Abomination to God

Close study of the relatively (and surprisingly) small number of unity Scripture passages makes it clear there is a distinct difference between the "unity of the Spirit" God speaks about in His Word and the notion of "unity" centered around "covenant relationships" and promulgated by Latter Rain-influenced teachers.

Subtle twisting of the Spirit-intended and -inspired import of God's Word and an imbalance in the application of the precept of unity has resulted in a distorted and debauched version of unity. Virtually invariably, over-emphasis, or over-balance, is what makes erroneous teaching erroneous, rather than the radical deviation from truth people commonly look for in their vigilance to spot error and avert deception.

Over-emphasis is over-balance, over-balance is imbalance, and imbalance is error, and—"A false balance [imbalance] is an abomination to God" (Pro. 11:1). Truth consists of counterbalancing components. Imbalance is averted by counterbalancing each component of Truth with the rest of "the whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:27, RSV).

Theological Truth is analogous to human cells in that each cell contains the protoplasm that comprises the whole body. In other words, each component of Theological Truth gleaned from the Word of God contains the essence of the whole Word of God, and will be completely compatible and congruous with same.

The unfortunate dynamic of imbalance or over-balance is that once it occurs, everything, even that which is good and right, slides toward the imbalance or error and becomes tainted by it. So that, once a person or a group loses spiritual equilibrium, a downward spiral into apostasy is begun. Only the sudden applying of a counter-balancing weight equal to the imbalancing weight can halt the descent, rectify the imbalance, and regain the equilibrium.

Many believers and whole groups of believers, unfortunately have slid into an imbalance with respect to "unity" that is an abomination to God. Thus, an equal weight to the over-balance must be applied to the opposite side to regain the balance and rectify the abomination.

In groups who are "out of balance," God often uses prophets to bring a counterbalancing word which when given brings an offense to the mind of believers caught up in the deception. Though Satan perverts and misapplies the concept, and interjects it into a plethora of a New Age "doctrines of demons" being proliferated today in the name of the "prophetic," it is nonetheless true that — it often is necessary for God to offend our carnal mind in order to win or enlighten our heart, i.e., our spirit.

True Unity is of the Holy Spirit, not the Human Spirit

Unity among believers is vital, but it is secondary to and actually a bi-product of unity with God. A significant corroboration of that truth, though I will not elaborate on it here, is represented in the typology of Moses' Tabernacle, in that the Table of Showbread, typifying the Communion Table, one aspect of which is fellowship among fellow believers (cf., 1 Cor. 10:16,17), was located not in The Most Holy Place of God's presence, or Holy of Holies, but its anteroom, The Holy Place. The former signified fellowship with God and the latter represented fellowship with one another.

True unity is a union or "oneness" with God first and then with our fellows second. True unity is a unity in which our love for and loyalty to God is first or preeminent, and all other relationships are secondary or subordinate. In fact, true unity is a unity that results in unity with fellow believers but is rooted in and an outflow of union and communion with God. The nature of true unity is that apart from God it does not exist. True unity is a characteristic of the nature of God. Thus, He alone is the source of genuine unity. Contrary to what some people apparently believe, unity does not exist because you are wanting to have or produce unity. Rather, it transpires when you become, as the Early Church did however briefly, "worshipers in spirit and truth." In other words, unity is an outflow of true worship—"true worship" being defined as "worship in spirit and truth."

Unity is a God-thing! True unity is the unity that originates with the Godhead, the Trinity. The three Persons of the Godhead continually live in complete unity—oneness of mind and purpose. There most definitely is a "oneness" with the Godhead, but not the kind that unitarianists or modalists want us to believe. It is this perfect oneness or unity that flows from the Godhead that is genuine, bona fide unity. That's the Real McCoy! All other forms of unity are merely human and are counterfeits! Without God, and without His Spirit flowing through you to shape and formulate your life, you will never experience or appropriate the real thing! Genuine unity cannot be manufactured, but it can be generated through supernatural communion (union via fellowship) with the Spirit of God both directly and in the human spirits that He habitates.

Distinguishing True Unity of the Spirit From Contrived Counterfeits

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This article is an adaption from the book, Charismatic Captivation, by Steven Lambert, ThD. More information, sample chapters, and online-ordering of the book is available at: http://www.slm.org/pubs/ccbook.html, or from booksellers worldwide.