We must not lose sight of the object Paul had in mind in referring to
the meeting in Jerusalem. It was to show that there was no difference of
opinion among the apostles nor in the church as to what the Gospel is.
There were “false brethren,” it is true, but inasmuch as they were
false, they were no part of the church, the body of Christ, who is the
truth. Many professed Christians, sincere persons, suppose that it is
almost a matter of necessity that there be differences in the church.
“All can not see alike,” is the common statement. So they misread Eph.
4:13, making it read that God has given us gifts, “till we all come into
the unity of the faith.” What the Word teaches is that “in the unity of
the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God,” we all come “unto a
perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.”
There is only “one faith” (Eph. 4:5), “the faith of Jesus,” as there is
only one Lord; and those who have not that faith must necessarily be out
of Christ. It is not at all necessary that there be the slightest
difference upon any question of truth. Truth is the Word of God, and the
Word of God is light; nobody but a blind man ever has any trouble to see
a light that shines. The fact that a man has never in his life seen any
other light used at night, except that from a tallow candle, does not in
the least stand in the way of his recognizing that the light from an
electric lamp is light, the first moment he sees it. There are, of
course, different degrees of knowledge, but never any controversy
between those different degrees. All truth is one.
[Sidenote: Withstanding Peter.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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