Not sparing the flock; the leaven of the Pharisees & the strong Delusion: Implications to ponder part III

The introductory post explains the purposes, goals and scope of this blog. If you have not read it, I suggest you start there and then, look through the posts to get a feeling for where I have gone and where I am going. But, if you don’t have the time, feel free to read this post alone. However, the blog is meant to be a series and so if you find it interesting you can go back and read it or, if you would prefer you can download a PDF of the entire blog. This PDF will be updated every Saturday so that it will have the entire blog, from first post to last, through the latest Saturday.

In the fourth chapter of Ephesians, Paul instructed the believers what they should expect of the Spirit if they kept its unifying force. Eph 4:4-6  There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;  (5)  one Lord, one faith, one baptism;  (6)  one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. Hmnn… one would think that there should be a lot more unity than there is in Christendom. Especially when he went on to say that they had Apostle’s prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers for the following purpose: Eph 4:12-15  for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,  (13)  till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;  (14)  that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,  (15)  but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—

Have you never wondered what happened? Today, we see the church as a whole being tossed to and fro by the winds of doctrine.  One denomination has one doctrine and another has a different one and many saints are truly being tossed to and fro; especially in light of all of the television and radio ministries teaching doctrines that directly contradict each other. Did this prediction Paul made fail?

Or, did Paul mean something much simpler when he said that they would grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ? Could it be a simpler message of redemption? Could it be… that the God that John equated with Love…. redeemed the world in Jesus and, that apprehending that redemption by faith was his plan from the beginning?

Contrast this with 30,000 denominations, many of whom will not share communion; will not allow the possibility that others are even in Christ; many others that will not recognize Jesus as divine; that hold to creeds that are several pages long and, have systematic theologies that require 500 page books to explain.