What Is Biblical Unity and Why Is it So Important?

James Craig
March 2011
Jesus prayed for His Church in John 17:20, 21:
My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will
believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one,
Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in
us so that the world may believe that you have sent me (emphasis
added).
Jesus wants us to be one just as He is one with the Father [and the Spirit]. This
Trinitarian unity is characterized by diversity (the persons of the Godhead are
never confused with each other), mutual love, respect, and co-operation.
Our unity cannot be based upon any of the following factors:
Engagement in a common missional task.
The immense and diverse needs of our city.
A single approach to ministry or insistence upon one inflexible way of
ministering to the needs of the city.
The decision of each individual to join a co-operative venture because we
are more likely to succeed if we work together.
A single detailed understanding of what Christians should believe, how
they should worship or the lifestyle they should follow.
Contrary to common misconceptions, unity is not about watering down or
denying our differences so we can accept each other. It is, in fact, about
embracing one another because we are members of Christ, follow-heirs of Gods
promises, indwelt by the same Spirit and members of the same household of
faith. It also must include our willingness to receive one another in Christ and to
celebrate the incredible God-given riches of the diversity of the Body of Christ.
Biblical unity recognizes that there is a core of foundational truths that are
common to all of Gods people throughout history, which is admirably
summarized in the expanded version of the Nicene Creed of 381 [also called the
Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed]:
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,
eternally begotten from the Father, God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God, begotten, not made, of the same substance as the
Father. Through him all things were made.

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For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered, died, and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father.
With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
With some small variations in interpretations (such as the meaning of baptism for
the forgiveness of sins) the vast majority of the worlds Christ followers can
joyfully confess this summation of essential Christian teachings.
Beyond this obvious doctrinal foundation, however, biblical unity is based
fundamentally upon the life of God that we share in Christ by the Holy Spirit. This
is the unfathomable and eternal life of the One Triune God who lives in three
persons in an eternal dance of mutual love, fellowship and co-operation that lies
at the very heart of all things.
The gracious, affirming, humble and forgiving essence of this common life that
we are called to share is modeled for us in the way in which our Saviours loves
us, as He commanded all of His disciples, A new command I give you: Love one
another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will
know that you are my disciples, if you love one another (John 13:34, 35).
Thus we can say that if we do not love one another and therefore endeavour to
walk in biblical unity, then the world has every right, on the authority of the words
of Jesus, to say that the Father has not sent the Son into the world and equally
that we are not His disciples.
In the New Testament the practical scope of this unity is the church in the city.
The Scripture never speaks of an individual congregation, but only of the entire

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church located in one or more given geographically areas. Paul writes in First
Corinthians to the church of God in Corinth [one city] (1 Cor. 1:2) the same as
in Ephesians (1:1). Second Corinthians is addressed to the church of God in
Corinth, together with all his holy people throughout Achaia [city and its
surrounding province] (2 Cor. 1:1). Galatians is addressed to the churches in
Galatia [an entire province] (Gal. 1:1). The letters to the churches in Revelation
Chapters 3-5 are addressed to the angel or messenger (leader?) of the churches
in seven cities. In the case of the church in one city the letter would be intended
for all the house churches in that city.
The point is that God does not see His Church through the lens of
denominational affiliation nor of individual congregation, but of all of His people in
a given shared space that falls within humanly designated boundaries of
authority. This means that there is no biblical precedent or warrant for single
congregation to tackle the task of reaching its city alone. Nor can one church in
isolation claim to have apprehended Gods purposes and plans for an entire city
and received an individual mandate to fulfill them apart from the rest of the Body
of Christ in that city.
In conclusion, the Word of God indicates that unity is not and has never been an
option, a frill, a diversion from the true task of the Church or a pipe-dream. It is
the desire of God for His people, it is the commandment of the Saviour for all of
His disciples, and it is the secret to true missional effectiveness.

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