Jesus once said: "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" - Luke 12:51,52. The life of Jesus fulfills this prophecy. The gospel of John repeatedly states that people were divided because of Jesus (John 7:43; 9:16; 10:19). The same was true of His apostles. When they preached the gospel, division and disagreement resulted in city after city (Acts 14:4; 19:9; 28:24,25). Did Jesus and His apostles sin in causing division? If we do as they did, will we be guilty of sin?
To answer these questions, we must ask why the people were divided. The answer is that, when Jesus and the apostles preached the truth, some listeners believed it and some did not. The result was division. The same is true in all ages. There will always be people who will not accept truth, and these people will be separated from those who do accept it (Matthew 7:13,14). In fact, God Himself commands His people: "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you ..." - 2 Corinthians 6:17,18.
So today, when some people preach and practice truth, but others preach and practice error, the result will be division. But the only people who are unacceptable to God are those who refuse to obey the truth. Those who obey it will be pleasing to Him.
(c) Copyright David E. Pratte, 4/2009
To study more articles like this (syndicated for reproduction) visit our Bible study topics web site. This article is freely available to be reproduced in print or on a web site under the following conditions: (1) The article must be reproduced verbatim in total without any change in content, (2) the name of the author and web site addresses must be included (as in this trailer), (3) the use must be entirely non-commercial with no fee or financial charge of any kind to the readers. Click here for more information about our copyright guidelines.
Please bookmark our site in your favorites.
We welcome links to us from other sites :
gospelway.com
- The Gospel Way: Free Bible Study Materials & Guides
Scripture quotations are generally from the New King James Version (NKJV), copyright 1982, 1988 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. used by permission. All rights reserved.