The genuine oneness cannot be merely in doctrinal teachings. The more we are for doctrinal teachings, the more we will be divided. Neither is the oneness in our practices. Even today we do not know the best way to come together to meet and worship. We are not decided on the right way to sit, call on the name of the Lord, or pray-read, or whether to shout or be silent. We do not want to have a set way, because even the best things can cause a division if they are a set way. In the past, the Body of Christ has been fully divided both by doctrines and by rituals and practices. Therefore, from the beginning of the church life, we realized that we must beware of these two things. How then can we be one? We can see the way in the Lord’s prayer in John 17. Verse 21 says, “That they all may be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that You have sent Me.” The genuine oneness is the oneness in the Triune God—the Father in the Son and the Son in the Father—according to Their divine life and nature. We, the believers, are one not in doctrine or in practices but in the divine life and nature.
In Revelation 1:11 and 12, there are seven golden lampstands, one in each of seven localities. In typology, gold signifies God’s divine nature. This means that all the believers in a locality are one in the golden nature of God. Each of us has a certain amount of the one divine nature, and we are one in this golden nature. However, if we come together to discuss the rapture, the tribulation, foot-washing, or head covering, we may quickly be divided. Even after a little doctrinal discussion we may lose the oneness. We can debate whether the bread on the Lord’s table should be leavened or unleavened or presented whole or in portions, or whether the cup should have grape juice or wine, or whether there should be one cup or many. Some may ask how we have our meetings, who calls the first hymn, or whether or not we have a presiding pastor. The questions are endless. If we care for these things, we will soon be divided into many separate meetings. There is no way for the Lord Jesus to be glorified in such a circumstance. We need to declare that the Lord Jesus is the Head, the pure Word of God is the “shoulders,” the divine nature is within us, and all the doctrines and practices are under our feet. In this way we will have the proper church life, the Son will be glorified, and the Father will be glorified in the Son’s glorification. We cannot have the genuine oneness unless we are in the divine nature.
The Lord said, “That they also may be in Us” (John 17:21). Genuine oneness is in the Triune God who is dispensed into the believers. We should not care for mere doctrinal teachings. All the fundamental doctrines are good, but if we stand for doctrines, we will be divided. It is impossible to have the proper, genuine oneness through mere doctrines. Some may say, “If we do not care for doctrine, how can we keep the Christian faith?” However, the Christian faith is not a matter of foot-washing, head covering, or baptism. Some say that a head covering must be black, and others say it must be white. Some say that it must be long, but others say that since it is only a symbol, it can be small. There is argument after argument. Even those who practice baptism by immersion debate concerning how may times we should immerse someone. Some say we need to immerse a person three times, once in the name of the Father, a second time in the name of the Son, and a third time in the name of the Holy Spirit; otherwise, the immersion is not effective. Some also argue whether we should immerse in salt water or fresh water, in the sea, a river, a well, or in purified water, in a bathtub or in a swimming pool. Similarly, believers hold different opinions about the rapture. Some say it will be before the tribulation, some say after the tribulation, and some say during the tribulation. All these considerations are not items of our Christian faith, and we should drop these kinds of arguments.
The proper Christian faith is first that the Bible is God’s divine Word, divinely inspired by God, word by word. This is the first item of the faith, and if anyone does not believe this, he is short of the faith. Second, our faith is that our God is triune—one God as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We do not have the mentality or expression to explain this, but the Bible tells us that it is so. We must believe that our God is such a God. He is not three Gods but one unique God, who is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Third, God the Son one day became flesh to be a man by the name of Jesus and lived on this earth for thirty-three and a half years. Then He went to the cross and died for our sins. He was buried for three days, and He resurrected physically and spiritually. Today the resurrected Lord as our Savior is in the heavens, and He is also within us (Rom. 8:34, 10). This is the most important item of our Christian faith. Fourth, we are sinners. Without believing in the Lord Jesus, we will perish, but by our believing in the Lord Jesus, our sins are forgiven and we have a new birth with the divine life; that is, we are regenerated. Then one day we will all be with our Lord for eternity. Moreover, all these believing persons, while they are on this earth, should come together to worship God in a corporate way as the church. These are all items of the Christian faith. No one can drop any one of these items; we must keep them all.
All other matters are simply different kinds of doctrines. Some are good, and some are not good. Some are fundamental, and some are not, but Romans 14 says that in order to have the proper church life, we need to receive every kind of genuine Christian, regardless of the doctrine or concept he holds. Some have different opinions and doctrines about food; some eat only vegetables, but others feel that everything is good for eating. Some say that every day is the same, but others believe that we should keep certain days as holy. These are examples of different doctrines and practices. In order to keep the oneness, we need to transcend all these things. However, if anyone does not believe that the Lord Jesus is the Son of God, he is not a Christian brother; he is in the principle of an antichrist (1 John 2:18, 22). Someone else may believe that the Lord Jesus is the Son of God, but that we are not saved by believing in Him; it is likely that such a person is also not saved. If someone simply believes that the Holy Bible is the divine Word; that God is unique and triune; that the Lord Jesus as the Son of God became man, died on the cross for our sins, resurrected from the dead to be our Savior, and is in the heavens and within us; that if we believe in Him, our sins are forgiven and we have eternal life; and that we all need to come together as the church, then we should not make an issue of his beliefs about the rapture, foot-washing, or head covering. Jesus prayed, “That they all may be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us.” Our oneness is in the divine life and nature, not in anything else, and our oneness even is the divine life and nature. Therefore, when we fellowship, we should not ask one another about every manner of doctrine. We should forget about those things and simply praise the Lord that we are all brothers. We have one Father, one Lord, and one life, and we are one Body and one church in our locality. This is good enough.