Both Jesus and Paul prayed that believers would have unity amongst themselves. Doing so, we learn, would cause the world to believe that God sent Jesus. Sadly, the church today is divided, and the divisions keep people from ever entering the Kingdom of God.
The statement, “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; and, in all things, charity,” pretty well sums up what would be exhibited by the Lord’s church if it were as He would like it, and prayed for it to be.. This phrase was first attributed to a 17th century Lutheran theologian, Rupertus Meldenius.
I truly believe that it is our lack of agreement in the essentials that is what makes the church so unpalatable to the world today. We must come to one accord on three fundamental essentials of the Christian faith before we will ever be able to be of one accord. Those essentials are Jesus, the Bible and the Cross.
