While hiding as a fugitive in the Cave of Adullum, David wrote, in verse 1 of what would become the 133rd Psalm:
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is, for brethren to dwell together in unity!
Notice carefully that the verse doesn’t say, “How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together.” For indeed, many there are in this world who dwell together, but not in unity. Many husbands and wives, parents and children, boyfriends and girlfriends, dwell together—but not in unity. Democrats and Republicans dwell together, in state legislatures and in the halls of Congress, but not in unity. Red states and blue states dwell together on America’s political map, but not in unity. At the United Nations in New York City, diplomats and statesmen from around the world dwell together, but not in unity. Nations and global alliances together occupy the terrain of our tortured planet, but not in unity.
And saddest of all perhaps, even professed Christians can be found who worship together, socialize together, attend school together, sit on church committees together—who do many things together, but not in the unity for which our Lord sought in His prayer for His disciples long ago.
False Unity in the Christian World
Today, the subject of Christian unity is exceedingly popular. The ecumenical movement in its varied forms has never been stronger. And rather than taking the approach so many ecumenists took in the old days, which involved the crafting of delicate compromises in areas of doctrine and lifestyle expectation, the contemporary ecumenical spirit seeks togetherness not by attempting to resolve differences, but by simply ignoring them.
The modern charismatic movement, for example, with its ecstatic tongues-speaking and other supernatural signs, draws professed Christians into its fellowship based on a shared spiritual euphoria, irrespective of wide differences in faith and practice. The Religious Right in contemporary America builds its political coalition among widely differing religious groups, for the purpose of electoral dominance on the basis of the few moral tenets its constituents share in common.
What has happened to doctrinal integrity in the ranks of those professing to hold Biblical authority supreme over all? The robust convictions that birthed the Protestant Reformation are being swept aside. Neither the authority of Scripture, the exclusive mediation of Christ between God and humanity, the solemn warnings of prophecy concerning the end-time Antichrist, not even basic Biblical teachings regarding Christ and the doctrine of salvation, are being allowed to stand in the way of alliances driven by convenience and circumstantial imperatives. More and more we see the predictions of inspired counsel fulfilled, as Christians and others set aside major issues of disagreement for the sake of acquiring the political and coercive power depicted in Revelation 13 and The Great Controversy.
False Unity in Contemporary Adventism
But sadly, the lure of false unity is not confined to the religious world outside Adventism. Some are presently seeking to nurture this illusion of fabricated oneness within God’s remnant church itself. Theories are advanced, conferences are held, in which major differences in doctrine, worship, and lifestyle are relegated—at the very least—to implied unimportance. All it is claimed that we need, these folks insist, is Jesus.
It sounds so wonderful.
According to this mindset, we don’t need to worry if the authority of Scripture is compromised. We don’t need to worry if the writings of Ellen White are treated with indifference or even contempt. We don’t need to worry if professors in our schools teach Darwinian evolution, or if denominational employees or institutions endorse or tolerate agitation in favor of accepting homosexual practice within the church. We don’t need to worry if the sanctuary message and the significance of 1844 are denied. We don’t need to worry if certain ones continue to maintain that even through God’s power in the life, victory over sin remains impossible. All that matters in this eclectic spiritual Nirvana of theirs is that we are “one in Christ.”
One contemporary Adventist pastor, writing—ironically perhaps—in an ex-Adventist newsletter, bluntly stated some years ago: “Doctrine does not save us. Jesus does” [##1|J. David Newman, letter to Proclamation! April, May, June 2011, p. 30.##].
Strangely enough, this reasoning is nothing new, despite some of the more radical ideas it seeks to accommodate in contemporary times. As a born-and-bred Adventist coming of age during the 1970s, I remember the pervasiveness of such talk in the Bible classes, youth rallies, and other religious gatherings among Adventist young people in those days. True, it was less blatant in some cases than in others, but the basic message could be summarized in the phrase: “Doctrine is nice, but Jesus is better.” The wiser among such persons were always careful to remind their listeners that they weren’t denying the importance of sound doctrine, Bible prophecy, or standards of holy living. All they were trying to say, they insisted, was that a personal relationship with Jesus Christ was presumably more important.
None can deny, of course, that a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is more important than a mere theoretical knowledge of what is right, or a merely superficial adherence to lifestyle or worship standards. But many modern and postmodern Adventists have grown increasingly less careful in distinguishing the internalized acceptance of truth and obedience through God’s converting power, from the sort of surface piety that is properly termed legalism. Blanket statements that “doctrine does not save,” “obedience does not save,” take little or no time to distinguish beliefs or activity apart from conversion from beliefs and activity received and produced in the life through the experience of conversion.
For too many among us, all these things have been relegated to the “non-salvation” pile, irrespective of whether conversion is involved or not. The unity of Christ’s body, so it is claimed, is only hindered by such particularities. All we need, such persons tell us, is Jesus.
But does the written counsel of God endorse this vision of Christian unity?
Two Visions of Christian Unity
The Bible presents two very different kinds of Christian unity. One of these is found in our Lord’s prayer for His disciples, just before His death:
Sanctify them through Thy truth; Thy Word is truth.
As Thou hast sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word.
That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me (John 17:17-21).
The ecumenical movement is fond of quoting the last of the above verses. Tragically, they neglect to consider the preceding verses, which maintain that such unity cannot exist apart from being sanctified through God’s Word of truth. Which means that according to Jesus Himself, there is no “oneness” possible without sanctification through the truths of His Father’s Word.
But another Bible passage says a movement will arise in the last days which will seek to fabricate unity among professed Christians apart from God’s Word of transcendent truth. We read about it in the fourth chapter of the book of Isaiah:
And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel; only let us be called by Thy name, to take away our reproach (Isa. 4:1).
In context this is clearly an end-time passage, as the following verses speak of the final purification, beauty, and glory of a restored Jerusalem (verses 2-6)—a destiny not experienced by ancient Israel and which therefore awaits the spiritual heirs of the Old Testament faithful. A woman in Bible prophecy, of course, represents a church (Jer. 6:2; II Cor. 11:2; Rev. 19:7-8). The number seven representing completion and perfection, we can fairly assume that the “seven women” of Isaiah 4 symbolize the entire professed Christian world, with of course the exception of God’s faithful people, who are depicted in Revelation as “not defiled with women” (Rev. 14:4)—that is, the false churches.
The one Man Isaiah is talking about is arguably a reference to the Lord Himself. And these women say to the Lord, We will eat our own bread. Bread in Scripture symbolizes God’s Word of truth. Jeremiah, pleading with God at one point, declared, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them” (Jer. 15:16). In His battle with Satan in the wilderness, Christ declared, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4).
The seven women go on to say, We will wear our own apparel. What does apparel represent in Scripture? The book of Isaiah declares, “We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (Isa. 64:6). Speaking of the bride of Christ, the book of Revelation states: “And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints” (Rev. 19:8).
But these women in Isaiah 4 are saying to the Lord, We’ll eat our own bread—in other words, we’ll have our own doctrines. We’ll wear our own garments—which means we’ll have our own righteousness. But what in fact do they desire from Jesus?
Let us be called by Thy name, to take away our reproach (Isa. 4:1).
Christians and non-Christians alike agree that disunity among Jesus’ professed followers is a reproach to the Christian faith. And these women therefore ask Jesus’ permission to use His name, despite doctrinal and moral unfaithfulness, in order to take away this reproach. What they fail to understand is that a far greater reproach to the Christian cause than disunity is disobedience to the divine standard of righteousness.
They fail also to consider that Jesus predicted a group of Christians in the last days who will do everything, supposedly, in His name, without rendering obedience to His commandments.
Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of My Father, which is in heaven.
Many will say unto Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works?
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from Me, ye that work iniquity (Matt. 7:21-23).
Dangerous Distinctions
It is therefore cause for serious unease when Christians promote agendas under such slogans as “Jesus All,” “Just Jesus,” “Jesus only,” or “Jesus period.” The response of many thoughtful observers to such phrases is, What is being excluded from primary importance by such declarations? Are such phrases intended to convey the notion that issues raised by inspired counsel concerning doctrine, worship, and lifestyle are somehow less important than Jesus?
If so, how is one to harmonize such thinking with our Lord’s own statement that man shall live “by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4)? Or His later statement, “If ye continue in My Word, then are ye My disciples indeed” (John 8:31)?
A number of years ago, the passing of a prominent Adventist pastor and revivalist evoked comments from certain ones that this pastor “had only one string on his violin, and that was Jesus.” Properly understood, I hope this could be said of us all. But without clarification, a statement like this can lead to serious misunderstanding. What would persons making such comments consider to be other “strings” on an Adventist pastor’s “violin”
Are we to conclude that Biblical teachings exist regarding doctrine, prophecy, or personal behavior which convey something other than Jesus? When an Adventist pastor or revivalist preaches healthful living as presented in both Scripture and the writings of Ellen White, is such a person invariably presenting a topic other than Jesus? Can either Scripture or the writings of Ellen White be properly divided into “salvation” and “non-salvation” parts? Is the loving character of Christ revealed in only certain inspired writings and not in others?
Many are familiar with Ellen White’s statement during the 1888 era, where she declared: “As a people we have preached the law until we are as dry as the hills of Gilboa, that had neither dew nor rain” [##2|Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, March 11, 1890.##]. (I am quite sure that if she were alive today, she would write of how, through subjective and self-accommodating spirituality, many have instead become “drippy as the swamps of Louisiana.”) But true to form, Ellen White doesn’t leave us guessing as to the solution to the problem she cites. In the very next sentence she admonishes: “We must preach Christ in the law” [##3|——Review and Herald, March 11, 1890.##]. Notice she doesn’t say, “Preach Christ, then the law.” Nor does she embrace the popular notion of so many in modern Adventism that we should simply “preach Christ, and let the law take care of itself.” Rather, she says we must preach Christ in the law.
In Ellen White’s theology, Christ is found in every Biblical teaching and moral principle. In her words: “All truth is to be received as the life of Jesus. Truth cleanses us from all impurity, and prepares the soul for Christ’s presence” [##4|——Our High Calling, p. 208.##]. In another statement she declares: “The whole Bible is a manifestation of Christ” [##5|——The Desire of Ages, p. 390; see also In Heavenly Places, p. 134.##]. Elsewhere she speaks of how certain ones mistakenly distinguish “faith in Christ” from the acceptance of Biblical truth:
There are many who profess to love God, but when the Scriptures are opened before them and evidences are presented showing the binding claims of God’s law, they manifest the spirit of the dragon. They hate the light and will not come to it, lest their deeds should be reproved. They will not compare their faith and doctrine with the law and the testimony. They turn away their ears from hearing the truth, and impatiently declare that all they want to hear about is faith in Christ [##6|——From the Heart, p. 309.##].
Consider this statement also:
The present truth, the special message given to our world, even the third angel’s message, comprehends a vast field, containing heavenly treasures. No one can be excusable who says, “I will no longer have anything to do with these special messages; I will preach Christ.” No one can preach Christ, and present the truth as it is in Jesus, unless he presents the truths that are to come before the people at the present time, when such important developments are taking place [##7|——The Voice in Speech and Song, pp. 325-326.##].
There is no Bible doctrine, no standard of Bible morality, that does not reveal the loving character of our Lord. Nor does any narrative of God’s dealing with humanity offer anything but a glimpse of Jesus. That includes Noah’s Flood, the plagues of Egypt, and God’s judgments on the Canaanites as surely as it includes Jesus blessing the children and Paul’s teaching of righteousness by faith. Indeed, in describing our Lord’s submission to His enemies’ abuse before the Sanhedrin and how He might have acted differently, Ellen White informs us how “on one occasion, in obedience to the command of Christ, [angels] slew of the Assyrian army in one night one hundred and eighty-five thousand men” [##8|——The Desire of Ages, p. 700.##].
In other words, Jesus Himself gave the command to slay Sennacherib’s host. The apostle Paul speaks of Christ as the One who guided Israel through their wilderness wanderings (I Cor. 10:1-10), which included both the punishment of Hebrew apostates and the destruction of pagan tribes. The problem with too many of us is that we craft our own view of Jesus’ love and grace, without permitting the whole of inspired counsel to inform our conclusion.
No matter how popular this notion has become that Jesus saves while doctrine does not, it is contrary to Scripture. God declared to Israel through Hosea, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee” (Hosea 4:6). Paul declared to the Thessalonians, “God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth” (II Thess. 2:13). And to young Timothy he exhorted:
Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine: continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee (I Tim. 4:16).
Nothing “Save Jesus Christ and Him Crucified”
Some will point to the apostle Paul’s statement in First Corinthians, chapter 2, where he states: “For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (I Cor. 2:2). This verse has often been used as a means of devaluing unpopular issues of doctrine, worship, or lifestyle as presumably less important than the Gospel of Jesus or a personal relationship with Him.
But in this verse Paul is not contrasting a knowledge of Jesus and Him crucified with allegedly separate issues of faith and practice. Rather, he is contrasting the proclamation of Christ and Him crucified with the use of human wisdom and unsanctified eloquence. The following verses in this chapter make this clear:
And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.
That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect; yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought (I Cor. 2:3-6).
If in fact Paul was stating in verse 2 that to not “know any thing . . . save Jesus Christ in Him crucified” was to set up a contrast between Christ on the one hand and doctrinal and moral truth on the other, the apostle would be guilty of grossly contradicting himself, as he proceeds in the following fourteen chapters to give the Corinthian believers a detailed discourse on correct theology, correct worship, and correct behavior, in contrast with the errors and misconduct that permeated their congregation.
Warnings Against False Unity
The Bible warns in a very simple and short verse regarding the danger of false unity, asking, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3). Ellen White addresses the same issue in a number of pointed passages:
Christ calls for unity. But He does not call for us to unify on wrong practices. The God of heaven draws a sharp contrast between pure, elevating, ennobling truth and false, misleading doctrines. He calls sin and impenitence by the right name. He does not gloss over wrongdoing with a coat of untempered mortar. I urge our brethren to unify upon a true, scriptural basis [##9|——Selected Messages, vol. 1, p. 175.##].
We have a testing message to give, and I am instructed to say to our people, “Unify, unify.” But we are not to unify with those who are departing from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. With our hearts sweet and kind and true, we are to go forth to proclaim the message, giving no heed to those who lead away from the truth [##10|——Selected Messages, vol. 3, p. 412.##].
Christ never purchased peace and friendship by compromise with evil. Though His heart overflowed with love toward the human race, He could not be indulgent to their sins. Because He loved men and women, He was a stern reprover of their vices. His life of suffering, the humiliation to which He was subjected by a perverse nation, show His followers that there must be no sacrifice of principle [##11|——From the Heart, p. 332.##].
Jesus prayed that His followers might be one; but we are not to sacrifice the truth in order to secure this union; for we are to be sanctified through the truth. Here is the foundation of all true peace. Human wisdom would change all this, pronouncing this basis too narrow. Men would try to effect unity through concession to popular opinion, through compromise with the world, a sacrifice of vital godliness. But truth is God’s basis for the unity of His people [##12|——Our High Calling, p. 329.##].
At times, with burning earnestness and words of terrible severity, Christ denounced the abominations He saw in the church and in the world. He would not allow the people to be deceived by false claims to righteousness and sanctity.
We are to unify, but not on a platform of error [##13|——Manuscript Releases, vol. 15, p. 259.##].
We cannot purchase peace and unity by sacrificing the truth. The conflict may be long and painful, but at any cost we must hold fast to the Word of God [##14|——Historical Sketches, p. 197.##].
Speaking of the early Christians who refused to compromise with the great apostasy, she writes:
To secure peace and unity they were ready to make any concession consistent with fidelity to God; but they felt that even peace would be too dearly purchased at the sacrifice of principle. If unity could be secured only by the compromise of truth and righteousness, then let there be difference, and even war [##15|——The Great Controversy, p. 45.##].
True Oneness in Christ
It is simply impossible to claim Jesus is more important than doctrinal or moral truth, if we’re going to be faithful to Scripture and the teachings of Christ Himself. When our Lord declared in the wilderness that humanity shall live “by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4), He meant the whole of inspired counsel, not merely a part of it. “Every word,” includes Revelation 13 as well as I Corinthians 13, the beasts of Daniel 7 as surely as the Beatitudes of Matthew 5, the stoning of Achan as surely as Christ forgiving the woman caught in adultery, Daniel 8:14 as surely as John 3:16.
It is true that Jesus said: “By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35). But Jesus also declared: “If ye continue in My Word, then are ye My disciples indeed” (John 8:31). In the teachings of our Lord, truth and love are not in tension one with the other. They are one and the same thing.
Now let us return to John 17, and consider further the means whereby our Lord brings His followers into harmony.
And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one.
I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me (John 17:22-23).
Let’s stop and consider this for a moment. Why would the Father have needed to give Jesus His glory? After all, wasn’t Jesus eternally pre-existent with the Father? Wasn’t the Father’s glory His, therefore, from eternal ages?
The Bible is very clear about Christ’s eternal pre-existence, as seen in such verses as the following.
But thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall come forth unto me that is to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting (Micah 5:2).
Verily, verily I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am (John 8:58).
There was never a time when Jesus did not personally co-exist with His Father, and with the Holy Spirit. So what glory could Jesus have been talking about—the glory He says His Father gave Him? Let’s turn to Ephesians chapter 3, verses 16-21:
That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man.
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that ye ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end, Amen (Eph. 3:16-21).
Philippians 1:11 says the same thing:
Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
According to these verses, the church both partakes of the riches of God’s glory, and in return gives glory to God, by means of Christ dwelling in the heart by faith. Remember what Jesus said in John 17:22-23: “The glory which Thou gavest Me, I have given them, that they may be one. . . .I in them, and Thou in Me . . . that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me.” The apostle Paul obviously had this truth in mind when he declared in Colossians 1:27: “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
This is what the first angel’s message is talking about, when it summons the world to “fear God, and give glory to Him” (Rev. 14:7). The Old Testament, of course, anticipates this demonstration. God declared to Moses at a critical point in Israel’s history: “As truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord” (Num. 14:21). Isaiah likewise promised, “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it” (Isa. 40:5). And the same author is clear that God’s glory is to be revealed through His people:
Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.
For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee (Isa. 60:1-2).
These guarantees are about as good as they can get: “As truly as I live” (Mum. 14:21) and “the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it” (Isa. 40:5). God is assuring us by His very existence and unfailing honor that this demonstration of divine glory will in fact take place. And according to God’s own promise, this glory is to be demonstrated through His church (Isa. 60:1-2). Jesus Himself, as we have seen already, assures us this will happen
The glory which Thou gavest Me, I have given them.”
I in them, and Thou in Me (John 17:22-23).
This, according to God’s Word, is how Jesus received glory from His Father as a human being. In His own words: “I can of Mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and My judgment is just; because I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent Me” (John 5:30). John, chapter 10, verses 37-38, follows the same theme:
If I do not the works of My Father, believe Me not.
But if I do, though ye believe not Me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.
In other words, Jesus received glory from His Father in the same way you and I receive glory from Jesus—by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Ellen White affirms this truth in the following statement: “Not even by a thought did He (Christ) yield to temptation. So it may be with us. He was fitted for the conflict by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit” [##16|——The Desire of Ages, p. 123.##].
And just as the world knew the Father dwelt in Jesus on account of demonstrated righteousness, so the world will know Christ dwells in His end-time church on the basis of demonstrated, practical righteousness. This is the means of true Christian unity, true oneness in Christ.
The Baleful Fruit of False Unity
We noted earlier that the present, unspecific focus of certain ones on “Jesus only” is nothing new in the church. Unfortunately, its fruition across the decades has been a tragedy long in coming. For those with discernment, the signs were there early on—salvation theologies disparaging human effort and/or the possibility through heaven’s power of total victory over sin, worship music heavy on feeling but light on solemnity, the subtle and not-so-subtle weakening of barriers between Adventists and the nominal Christian world, implied scholarly disdain for the Spirit of Prophecy writings, and lifestyle faithfulness in a growing number of areas seen as less and less imperative. Perhaps, like the slow, grinding buildup to the American Civil War during the antebellum years, it is more easily acknowledged through hindsight.
Sadly, the doctrinally indifferent, morally ambiguous “Christ-centeredness” of my formative years has morphed into something far worse than anyone but a few—in those far-off days of comparative innocence—could ever have imagined. Back then, most Adventists of a less-than-conservative stripe could be expected to push the envelope in a scant few, predictable, and—by today’s standards—comparatively minor areas. Such issues as meat-eating, wedding rings, dining out on Sabbath, dating and marrying outside the church, divorce on other than Bible grounds, and of course that favorite dissident Adventist staple—discomfort with the little lady who died in 1915—can more readily be recognized now than before as the subtle retreat of integrity, the “creeping compromise” lamented by often lonely watchmen on Zion’s walls.
Sometimes only painful experience can teach that Step One is dangerous less for its own moral and spiritual harm than because it prepares the way for Step Two. We can be sure few if any in those distant days would have openly summoned their church to make room for heresies such as Darwinism in our schools, and fewer still would have openly called for acceptance by the church of such aberrations as homosexual practice. But such blatant departures from the Bible as we presently see among us have only become possible because of the more subtle departures from the Bible/Spirit of Prophecy paradigm in former days.
Conclusion: Wishful Oneness
Perhaps what is most disquieting about the current “oneness in Christ” movement in Adventism are the biases held by so many of those attracted to it. Magazines and organizations notorious for attacks on Biblical authority, Adventist fundamental beliefs, the writings of Ellen White, and any number of lifestyle standards both uniquely Adventist and commonly Christian, avidly promote this model for Christian unity. Those seeking accommodation in the church for disbelievers in any number of basic Adventist doctrines feel right at home with this shapeless, subjective exaltation of Jesus. But for those who prize our Lord’s veneration of the written Word as the final arbiter of truth and sole path to salvation (Matt. 4:4; John 8:31; 17:17), such efforts at ambiguous “oneness” cannot possibly be endorsed.
In closing, let us survey the following vision of the church’s future glory—the genuine harmony and sanctified togetherness produced by the final purification of God’s end-time covenant community:
When trees without fruit are cut down as cumberers of the ground, when multitudes of false brethren are distinguished from the true, then the hidden ones will be revealed to view, and with hosannas range under the banner of Christ. Those who have been timid and self-distrustful, will declare themselves openly for Christ and His truth. The most weak and hesitating in the church, will be as David—willing to do and dare. The deeper the night for God’s people, the more brilliant the stars. Satan will surely harass the faithful, but, in the name of Jesus, they will come off more than conquerors. Then will the church of Christ appear “fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners” [##17|——Testimonies, vol. 5, pp. 81-82.##].
Again we recall the two visions of Christian unity noted earlier—one described by our Lord in John 17, the other described by the prophet Isaiah in the fourth chapter of the book that bears his name. One offers unity through submission to the sanctifying process, accomplished in the lives of committed Christians through God’s Word of truth. The other permits all manner of opinion, doctrine, worship practices, and lifestyle choices, with “oneness in Jesus” presumably making such differences irrelevant.
According to Ellen White, this vision of false unity is symbolized by the broad road leading to eternal destruction, as described by our Lord in Matthew, chapter 7. In the modern prophet’s words:
On the road to death the whole race may go, with all their worldliness, all their selfishness, all their pride, dishonesty, and moral debasement. There is room for every man’s opinions and doctrines, space to follow his inclinations, to do whatever his self-love may dictate. In order to go in the path that leads to destruction, there is no need of searching for the way; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad, and the feet naturally turn into the path that ends in death [##18|——Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, p. 138.##].
Such phrases as “Jesus only” and “Just Jesus” could rightly be embraced by all who love the Advent message and mission, provided we are talking about Jesus as revealed through the whole of inspired teaching, prophecy, and counsel. But too much in contemporary Adventism conveys a theory of “Jesus” which conveniently sidesteps uncomfortable issues of doctrine, worship, or behavior. Again we recall the following warning from the lips of Jesus Himself:
Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven.
Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works?
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from Me, ye that work iniquity (Matt. 7:21-23).
The fabricated, wishful oneness described in Isaiah, chapter 4, verse 1, invites us to keep our own beliefs and our own behavior, while still calling ourselves Christians. By contrast, the vision of unity Christ offers in John 17 is accomplished only through total sanctification, made possible through the written counsel of God (verses 17-21).
Too many among us seem to desire the wishful oneness described in Isaiah 4. The ecumenical movement in its many forms has tried that approach, but the Word of God forbids it. The only unity God endorses is what we see depicted in John 17—that which is made possible through the sanctifying Word of truth. Again, from the modern prophet’s words:
We cannot purchase peace and unity by sacrificing the truth. The conflict may be long and painful, but at any cost we must hold fast to the Word of God [##19|——Historical Sketches, p. 197.##].
REFERENCES
1. J. David Newman, letter to Proclamation! April, May, June 2011, p. 30.
2. Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, March 11, 1890.
3. Ibid.
4. ----Our High Calling, p. 208.
5. ----The Desire of Ages, p. 390; see also In Heavenly Places, p. 134.
6. ----From the Heart, p. 309.
7. ----The Voice in Speech and Song, pp. 325-326.
8. ----The Desire of Ages, p. 700.
9. ----Selected Messages, vol. 1, p. 175.
10. Ibid, vol. 3, p. 412.
11. ----From the Heart, p. 332.
12. ----Our High Calling, p. 329.
13. ----Manuscript Releases, vol. 15, p. 259.
14. ----Historical Sketches, p. 197.
15. ----The Great Controversy, p. 45.
16. ----The Desire of Ages, p. 123.
17. ----Testimonies, vol. 5, pp. 81-82.
18. ----Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, p. 138.
19. ----Historical Sketches, p. 197.
Pastor Kevin Paulson holds a Bachelor’s degree in theology from Pacific Union College, a Master of Arts in systematic theology from Loma Linda University, and a Master of Divinity from the SDA Theological Seminary at Andrews University. He served the Greater New York Conference of Seventh-day Adventists for ten years as a Bible instructor, evangelist, and local pastor. He writes regularly for Liberty magazine and does script writing for various evangelistic ministries within the denomination. He continues to hold evangelistic and revival meetings throughout the North American Division and beyond, and is a sought-after seminar speaker relative to current issues in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He presently resides in Berrien Springs, Michigan