STRIFE AND DIVISION

When the church is unrepentant, as I believe it mostly is, there will be evidence of much strife and division in the Church. This strife is caused primarily by sinfulness. As the scriptures teach, "He who loves transgression loves strife." (Prov.17: 19a) And "A perverse man sows strife." (Prov. 16:28A)
Particular sins foster strife:
• Hatred (Proverbs 10:12)
• Anger (Proverbs 15:18; 29:22)
• Contentiousness (Proverbs 26:21)
• Pride (Proverbs 13:10; 28:25)
Notice that hatred, anger, pride are sins that produce contests or quarrels (i.e. strife).
Strife is also caused by carnality.
For you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving as mere men? For when one says, 'I am of Paul,' and another, 'I am of Apollos', are you not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I [Paul] planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he that plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. (I Cor. 3:3-8)
Strife and division exist when we are carnally minded. Much of the Church is carnally minded as evidenced by our saying, "I am of the Assembly of God; I am of the Baptists; I am of John Wesley." But who are all the people who started these denominations but men who the Lord gave to the Church to help them grow and understand more about God. These men can say they have planted and watered but God is the one who caused the increase. God is who is important here. Everybody involved in this process of planting and watering will receive a reward for his/her labor but heaven forbid that we follow after a man or a denomination named after him. As mentioned earlier, when we follow denominationalism, we are dividing the body and are following after a man's doctrine and organization.
We need to repent because we have settled in and are satisfied with our organizations and call them the Church. These organizations are not the Church. They are, or soon will be, part of the false church in all its maturity. The Church is an organism not an organization!
Strife is Sin
Strife is an act of sinful nature.
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (Gal. 5:19-23 KJV)
So the works of the flesh (sins) are strife, seditions, and heresies. The New International Version uses the terms selfish ambition, dissensions, and factions.
Elsewhere it is stated that these sins evidence carnality. "For you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?" (I Cor. 3:3) But yet the Lord has clearly taught us not to do anything out of strife (factions). (Phil. 2:3) And that in the name of our Lord Jesus we are all to agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among us and that we may be perfectly united in mind and thought. (I Cor. 1:10)
Strife in the Church
Now what should the church do about the strife that exists? We need to put on (clothe ourselves with) the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts. The Lord tells us that his servant
must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will. (2 Tim. 2:24-26 KJV)
We are first of all to repent and put on the Lord Jesus. In not making provisions for our lusts we can stop including dependencies and securities other than God, such as the denominational structure. We need to instruct gently, with meekness, patience, and ongoing instruction about the truth of the Lord and who He is, so perhaps those who need to would repent and have their eyes opened to see the truth of their situation. We need to avoid contentions and strivings over things concerning the law. (Titus 3:9) In particular, we need to avoid foolish questions, genealogies, contentions and strivings about the law because they are unprofitable and vain. If there is a scorner in the church, he needs to be cast out. When that is done, the strife will cease. (Prov. 22:10)
Finally, we need to stand fast, Church, in one spirit and mind, striving for the faith of the gospel. (Phil. 1:27)
Strife causes Division
When the Church is unrepentant, not only will there be strife caused by sinfulness and carnality, but it will be full of division. Often where there is strife (wrangling, quarreling, contests), there are divisions or factions. These divisions are very schismatic, for where there is envying and strife (faction) there is every evil work. (James 3:16) Factions are not something that are simply an imperfection; they produce evil of all kinds. They have very serious consequences and need to be repented of.
Division yields Destruction
Houses, kingdoms and cities cannot stand with division - Do you think the kingdom of God would be excluded? “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?” (Matt. 12:25,26 KJV)
Jesus continued and said,
He who is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. (Matt. 12:30,33 KJV)
Have you wondered why the Church seems so powerless and is not having much of an effect on the world? For a large part, it is because we are divided. How can we be a witness when we are divided? How can we be in unity? Do you think that the first century church had so much more than us? No, they didn't.
Read through the letters to the churches - Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians - which were written during the life of Paul. They had some serious problems, as indicated in the letters. Yet the whole world was reached with the gospel during this time because in spite of their problems there was One Church (separated only by location); there was real Unity.
The churches that Paul wrote to were separated by location only. He wrote to the church in Ephesus (a city), the church at Philippi (another city), and the churches in Galatia (a province containing many cities). Churches are separated only by physical geography, not by a denomination, not by a building, nor by a belief system. They all believed the same thing and when they didn't, Paul or another apostle corrected them.
The first century Church did not have any more power than we do today. Jesus didn't give them any more gifts than He gives us today. In fact, there were far fewer people then than there is today. (I admit that the global population was much smaller, too.) Yet they reached their world in their generation. (See Rom. 1:8; Acts 2:1-11, especially verses 5 and 8; I Thess. 1:8, Rom. 10:18)
These scriptures state that the gospel was preached to the whole world during the time of Paul's writings. They fulfilled what Jesus said in Matt 24:14 (KJV), "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations."
Concerning Acts 2, notice that the "wonderful works of God" (KJV) were preached by the disciples in the language of every nation under heaven. There were Jews present from every nation. "Every man heard them speak in his own language."
It is important that we allow the scriptures to speak for themselves. Romans 1:8 (KJV) says of the Christians in Rome, "your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world." Of the church of the Thessalonians, Paul says, "In every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad." (I Thess. 1:8 KJV) In reference to the gospel, "Their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world." (Rom. 10:18 KJV) As Acts states, they were in unity. They went forth in unity, striving for the faith of the gospel. Their kingdom was not divided. They had their problems but they were not divided.
Beware of False Ones who Cause Divisions
The Lord has commanded us to have no divisions but be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. However, there will be false teachers who will come in. These false teachers are the ones that cause strife and quarrels.
Too often I have seen the true preachers of the truth being called the ones who cause strife, quarrels, and divisions. They are persecuted because they speak the truth and others want the lie. What is good is called evil and what is evil is called good. It is the false teachers who cause division because they are the ones who teach the error contrary to the truth and then lead astray those who refuse to love the truth. As a result there is division - those who love the truth and those who are lead away by error, willingly or ignorantly. [Even Jesus came to bring division in a sense. (See Matt. 10:34-36.) But the division seems to be about Himself and believers verses unbelievers, not those already of the house of faith.] As stated in I Tim 6:3-5a (KJV):
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, wherefore cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth.
We have been told that there will be false teachers among us who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Sovereign Lord who bought them - bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many shall follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. (2 Peter 2:1,2) These people will end up being condemned. The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars whose consciences have been seared, as with a hot iron. (I Tim. 4:1,2)
Some examples of these false teachings are as follows: resurrection had already occurred, doctrine of the Nicolaitans, legalistic teachings, factious teachings, grace used as an excuse for sin, etc. Others are developed in the next few pages.
Breaking God's Command for the Sake of Tradition
When the Pharisees and teachers of the law started challenging Jesus about some of His actions such as why the disciples were not washing their hands before they ate, Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?” Jesus gave a specific example. He said,
For God said, 'Honor your father and mother' and 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.' But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God,' he is not to 'honor his father' with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.' (Mt. 15:1-9 NIV)
How many of us are listening to and believing the doctrines that people are teaching as the doctrines of God when they are only the commandments of men? Jesus gave an example: God said, "Honor your father and mother and anyone who curses his father and mother must be put to death." But when the Jews said that it was good for a man to "give to God" instead of helping his parents, they were nullifying the word of God for the sake of their tradition. We need to be aware that we are doing the same thing when we think we are giving money to the church at the cost of neglecting our own families. This is not what God wants. There are many teachings that are traditions and/or rules taught by men. Another example concerns some that were troubling the Christians. They were subverting their souls by saying "you must be circumcised and keep the law." Paul stated that he did not send believers to say this to the Gentile church. But even today, are we not telling new converts that they must be circumcised and keep the law? (See Acts 15, Gal. 3-5)
We are not under the law. Paul attests to this throughout the New Testament. We have been set free. The law was fulfilled in Christ. When we say, "you must pay your tithe," "you must go to church every Sunday," are we not like the Jews saying that "you must be circumcised and keep the law?" Are we not teaching for God's doctrine the commandments of men? We err when we do that. We need to hold fast to what the Bible says, and only to what it says. We are not to add obligations that the Bible does not put upon us. For we are to have sound doctrine... godly, Biblical doctrine...not man-made doctrine. We are commanded to take heed unto ourselves and unto the doctrine. We are to continue in them, for in doing this, we shall save ourselves and those that hear us. (I Tim 4:16)
As Paul told Timothy,
Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen.
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene. (2 Tim. 2:14-17a NIV)
We are to Speak the Things which become Sound Doctrine
(Titus 2:1)
God does not want us to strive with those who are in error. He wants us to warn them and then, if they do not listen, avoid them. God does not want us to be divided as His body. There is one body, not ten or so separated by denominational or belief system barriers. God wants us to be of one mind. We need to repent of our sinfulness: unbelief, hate, pride, anger…things that have caused strife and division in the church.
We need to recognize that we are one in Christ. He has made us one. He prayed that we would be. He died so that we would be. We need to accept that and to walk in that oneness instead of allowing fleshly barriers to come up between us. Is Christ divided? Emphatically No!! But WE have caused divisions and we need to reconcile ourselves with the Lord and with one another.

What Should the Church do about Division?
Now you are probably asking, "Well, why are there so many divisions, when Jesus clearly says that we are to be in unity? Since there are divisions, what should the Church do about it?"
One reason for the division is that Paul's letters "contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction." But God has instructed us that since we already know this we need to be on our guard so that we would not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from our secure position. (2 Peter 3:16,17 NIV) We need to be aware of scripture distortion and misinterpretation. We need to be on our guard so we won't be carried away by error. We need to, as the Church, warn a divisive person once (also called a heretic) and then warn him a second time. After that we are to have nothing to do with him; we may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful. He is self-condemned. (Titus 3:10,11)
Paul states,
I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people…. I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. (Rom. 16:17-19 NIV)
God wants us to warn those that cause divisions. If they don't listen, we are to keep away from them.
Good Divisions
Not all divisions are bad. There are good divisions. Paul clarified this when he said the following about the Corinthian church (which is very descriptive of our churches today):
In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you has God's approval. (I Cor. 11:17-19 NIV)
As in this case, there are divisions to show who are approved by God. When these divisions occur, we can see those who are obedient to the truth and those who are disobedient. During these times, those who have God's approval will shine forth with the Lord shining through them and the truth will be made manifest. Division is good when we rightly divide the word of truth. (2 Tim. 2:15)
It is good to rightly divide the word… to know what the Bible says.
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Heb. 4:12)
The Bible, which is the word of God, is a divider. It reveals to us what (or who) is of darkness and what (or who) is of the light. Study the Scriptures. Understand and know the truth. Then we will be of one mind. Then we will walk in unity because we will be following and obeying the Lord who has called us to Himself.
The final division will occur on the final Day of Judgment when the Lord returns. He will divide the sheep from the goats.
When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'
Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'
And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'
Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.'
Then they also will answer Him saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?'
Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.'
And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. (Mt. 25:31-46)
The Lord will separate the sheep from the goats, for He is a just God. Those who are righteous and who have followed Him will be in heaven forever. But those goats who did not (even though they might have looked like sheep) will be sent to eternal punishment.
Amen! Come Lord Jesus!

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Some would say the gospel was preached to the "known world." However, we must be careful not to read into the scriptures something different than what they say. These verses say the gospel was preached to the "whole world" and "into all the earth." The Greek words used here refer to the world in its completeness and entirety.