DIVINE vs. DIABOLICAL DIVISIONS

Ever thought about the mathematics of God?
We know that He is good at addition:

ACTS 2:47. . . And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

We also know that He is good at subtraction as well as addition:

JOB 1:21
And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

As well as this, He does well with multiplying:

GEN 17:2
And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.

And of course, He is just as proficient at division:

EXOD 8:23
And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be.

This is not to say that the enemy of the church, Satan, is not good at math either, he knows how to subtract:

LUKE 8:5
A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured (took away) it.

He likewise knows how to add:

MATT 13:38-39
The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

As well as this, by adding just one word to the holy command of God to Adam and Eve, he caused an enormous world of trouble and woe! -

GEN 3:4
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

(Compare this with the actual command of God: GEN 2:17)

And he is prone to use people as agencies to promote his work of division:

TITUS 3:10
A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject; The word for heretick in Greek is hairetikos and it can mean to "cause division".

Likewise to be contentious, prone to strife, participating in divisions,

ROM 2:8; 13:13; 1 COR 3:3; PHIL 2:3a; and these verses as well:

1 TIM 6:3-6
If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, [even] the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;

He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.

. . . these scriptures clearly reveal that we are not to participate in words, actions, and beliefs, nor are we to promote dogma and doctrines that promote diabolical divisions, or as it says above:

If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness,

So there are deeds and doctrines that are "otherwise" to the "wholesome words . . . of our LORD Jesus Christ and to . . . [godly] doctrine" and come from those who are destitute of the Truth.

Can we saints be DIVISIVE for TRUTH? The very notion seems to bother some people, because after all, who wants to be divisive, or who should aspire to be divisive, especially when one considers such verses as mentioned above?! Are all divisions diabolical? Are there some that are actually Divine in origin?

Or are we not to live peaceably with all men? To live a quiet and peaceable life, and to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit (ROM 12:18; 1 TIM 2:2; EPH 4:3)?

Absolutely! Does this mean we are not to be divisive under any circumstances? Let's examine this issue a bit closer.

Look at the words that the LORD Jesus, the Prince of Peace Himself spoke:

MATT 10:34-36 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.

What does a sword do, but cut, slice, essentially, it divides. In this instance Jesus states His 'sword' will bring division among those that will follow Him, and those who won't; it will make a distinction between those who pledge a higher allegiance to Him, and those who will refrain from such (consider the continued passage of MATT 10:37-39).

As there were many that were offended at the words that He spoke, and since He is also referred to as the Word of God (JOHN 1:1,14; HEB 4:12; 1 JOHN 5:7) Himself, this 'sword' can justifiably be referred to as the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (EPH 6:17)

Also, in Luke the LORD Jesus, the Prince of Peace says the following:

LUKE 12:51-53
Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three.
The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

That's an awful lot of division going on, and its all centered around the Person of Jesus Christ. There are those who will profess faith in Him, and become baptized into Christ, thus a member of the body of Christ, and then there are those who will not profess faith in Him, and not be baptized into, nor become a member of the body of Christ.

Don't assume that those who are not members of the body of Christ are irreligious either! There are many who are not genuine Christians, who disdain the truth of being born again, the truth of the cross, the truth of the blood atonement, even disdain the very truth of God's written Word!

And some of these even make the claim of being Christian! Although they much prefer the term 'Christ follower'. Such are the numbers that populate apostate churches and movements in today's world.

JOHN 7:41-43
Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee? Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was? So there was a division among the people because of him.

More division created because of controversy surrounding Jesus Christ.

What reason is there to be divisive? Why should Christians aspire to separate themselves from others? The LORD does admonish us to keep ourselves separate from the defilements of the world, of course (2 COR 6:17).

Yet how do we balance this out with keeping unity in the Spirit? Quite simply that we are to keep (not create) unity among believers, members of the body of Christ based upon the revealed truth of scripture; this is our foundation and its as we examine, learn and study the scriptures we learn the doctrines of the Word. Any that would oppose the truth, being destitute of the truth, are those we are to identify and to "withdraw from" (1 TIM. 6:6). Yet these are not always easy to identify; some of these ministers are as subtle and devious as their master (2 COR 11:14-15)!

The word "withdraw" is aphistemi in the Greek, meaning, "to instigate a revolt, to desist, sesert, depart from, refrain." Or you could even say, 'separate or divide from'. Consider the following verse:

1 JOHN 4:6
We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

We are to divide from those who are false brethren, that is, those who espouse a different Gospel, or deny the essentials of our 'one faith' as it states in scripture (EPH. 4:5), which refers to the body of truth as written in the scriptures themselves.

Hence, DIVISIVE FOR TRUTH.

The truth of the matter is, our unity in the body is based upon this 'one faith' and 'one baptism (in Christ) and if there are any that bring in "another Gospel" or a 'new truth' or deny the sacred scripture, it is they that are bringing the diabolical brand of division, that would separate believers and disciples from the Word of Truth, and draw them into doctrines of devils and seducing spirits (something that is most prevalent, and growing alarmingly these days!).

From an earlier study in Ephesians I wrote:

EPH 4:3-6 
Endeavouring 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.

"There are those that are committed to the Truth of God's Word, yet they are sometimes harsh, and unloving; others are all about love, and non-confrontational, avoiding the challenge of those who even bring in false teachings and heresies at the expense of the Truth.

"There must be a balance between these; and true, godly love will declare the truth, not to harm but to help; those who are intent on the truth, the truth as in JESUS CHRIST, will do so in the Spirit of Him Who is Himself love. Note: In verse five it states that there is " . . . one faith . . . " which speaks of the exclusive nature of God's truth and revelation recorded in scripture.

"Thus for unity, we realize that both love AND truth are required in the life of the believer and in the life of the church (see ZECH. 8:19; 1 PET. 1:22; 1 JOHN 3:18; 2 JOHN 1:1, 3). True unity in the body is established because we are all born of God: One Spirit; and unity is strengthened as the individual members grow in Christ-likeness. This is in answer to the prayer of Jesus our LORD (JOHN 17:11, 22)"

Finally, two other verses to consider:

2 TIM 2:15
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

JUDE 1:3
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

There are those who adhere to New Age beliefs, and others endorse Emergent church dogma, and yet for all this, they still claim in some form or another either to be 'Christians' or at least, to follow the 'Christ Spirit' or 'Christ Consciousness'. As previously mentioned, others have a different Gospel, or have extra-biblical beliefs, or deny some, most or all the fundamentals (foundational) doctrines of the Truth.

We are not called to love lies, or deception; we are to expose the works of darkness where ever they may be and reprove them (EPH 5:11); we are not called of God to hate any one, and so we shall not, by any means! We will by God's grace examine whatever teachings and beliefs that are being proclaimed publically, determine whether they are "of the spirit of truth" or "the spirit of error" and side with the Truth of God's Word.

I will be divisive for the sake of the Truth; if there are any that have a problem with that, so be it.

Divisiveness is the only way we can keep the unity of believers and if that statement doesn't make any sense to you, you haven't been paying attention.

Re-read the article (wink and smile)

TRANSFORMATION to LIGHT - Pt. 2

TRANSFORMATION TO LIGHT - Part Two
By David Fiorenza

The majority following events occured in the time frame of 1983 – 1984

We now pick up where we left off in this testimony. David was experiencing a dramatic increase in paranormal activity in his apartment, and he was bewildered as to what to do about it. Someone at work suggested that he call the Syracuse University Paranormal Department and see if they could help him. Around that same time is when he met this woman named Pat who was "sensitive to the spiritual realm".

She was at a friend’s house when I came over to kill some time that day. She was sitting at the table not saying anything; she just sat and watched me as I talked. I never once mentioned anything that I was going through, but after a while she told me that she knows that I have a problem where I live. I didn’t believe she knew; how could she?

I tested her by asking what color the kitchen was. She said that it was blue . . . over yellow . . . over brown. She nailed it! I asked her about the rug patterns in the parlor. Once again, she nailed it: they were triangular shapes of carpet I got from my work place when they installed new carpet. I placed them in each corner of the room, creating a diamond shape in the middle.

TRANSFORMATION to LIGHT - Pt. 1

The following is the testimony of a dear friend and brother that I've had the blessing and honor of knowing for about a quarter of a century! This is a tremendous privilege to have it posted here on this blog, and I pray that it will reach many people, particularly those who come from broken homes, those who are among the lonely of this world, and those who are trapped in the cold darkness of this world with no apparent way out, and without any hope of escape. For those who have delved into the demonic, witnessed the reality of the spiritual darkness of this world, and yearn for the means of deliverence, you need to read this! There is hope in the Person and the Power and the Name of Jesus Christ, the LORD!

EPHESIANS: Form & Function in Christ CH 6:1-8,19-24

This particular study in Ephesians will be a somewhat short one, consisting of only fifteen verses. The reason for this is because I've completed vs. 10 through 18 in a different study on The TRUTH Under FIRE (www.thetruthunderfire.com) regarding the subject of  spiritual warfare.
So this study will extend from vs. 1-9, and then pick up at vs. 19 to the end (vs.24).

Remember that chapter divisions are not inspired (nor are verse numbers, these are constructed for convenience in referring to passages and are quite useful for this purpose!) and as is often the case, the divisions are not warranted as the same subject matter is dealt with before and after the division.