RIGHTEOUS GOVERNMENT

ACTS 15 HOW TO ACHIEVE UNITY

Rev. 11:15 Man's governments will become Godly governments.

UNANIMITY: GOD'S METHOD OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT

(short version) by G. H. Lang, Unity Chapel, Bristol, UK, 1900 AD - (Paraphrased by LK)

www.neve-family.com/books/lang/Unanimity.html (Link is outdated)

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MAJORITY OR UNANIMITY?

__Experience has abundantly shown that the minority is frequently in the right and the majority in the wrong. Rather than making known to the Church His wishes by this majority rule plan of voting, the Lord has rather promised to reveal His will by and through the bringing of His people to unanimous judgment.

__It seems clear that a method which is as likely to lead to a wrong decision as to a right one cannot be a divine method, and ought not to be followed by those possessing the divine nature, and capable of having the mind of Christ (2Pet 1:4, 1Cor 2:16), in whose workings mistakes are unknown. A method at all likely to cause disagreement and possibly open division cannot be of God, who is "not a God of confusion, but of peace," (1Cor 14:33).

__Majority rule is eminently likely to lead to dissension, both secret and public, a truth with which any who have had much experience on the subject must be sadly familiar. Can anything be more likely to stir up contention and cause disaffection than that a section of the church should have their wishes and, possibly their sincere convictions, rejected, simply because a larger section of the church, with no other advantage, has different opinions?

BIBLICAL TESTIMONY

__It is to be noted that the whole burden of Scripture testimony is on the side of unanimity. This is more clearly seen by observing two very remarkable lines of thought: first, that unanimity is in the Word of God associated with spiritual prosperity; and, on the other hand, division with spiritual regression. See 1Chr 12:38,40; 1Chr 13:1-4; 1Ki 19:20; 2Chr 30:4; 1Ki 16:21.

__The New Testament speaks even more clearly in favor of unanimity. Take, for example, such exhortations as the following.

__John 17:20-21 Jesus said, "... And the glory which You have given Me I have given unto them; that they may be one, even as we are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that You did send Me, and loved them, even as You loved Me."

__Rom 15:5,6 "Now the God of patience and of comfort grant you to be of the same mind one with another according to Christ Jesus: that with one accord you may with one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

__1Cor 1:10 "Now I beseech you, brethren, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that you be perfected together in the same mind, and in the same judgment."

__2Cor 13:11 "Be perfected, be comforted, be of the same mind; live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you."

__Galatians: The direct object of this epistle was to bring the assembly to oneness of mind upon the question discussed; to exhort them to all walk by the Spirit, and thus to avoid the "strife, factions and divisions," spoken of as being of the flesh, (Gal 5:20).

__Eph 4:3-16 "Giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." The "unity of the Spirit" is that unity which is manifested by the Spirit through united action on the part of the body; and therefore in this passage the apostle at once proceeds to a revelation of the inter-working of the whole body in perfect harmony.

__Php 1:27 "... stand fast in one spirit, with one soul striving for the faith of the gospel."

__Php 2:2 "Fulfill my joy, that you be of the same mind, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind; doing nothing through faction or through vainglory."

__Php 4:2 "I exhort Euodia, and I exhort Syntyche, to be of the same mind in the Lord."

__1Thes 5:13 "Be at peace among yourselves." Earlier I sought to show that dissension, not peace, is one of the probable and, indeed, frequent results of majority rule.

__2Thes 3:16 "Now the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times in all ways," which must include business meetings.

__1Tim 6:3,4; 2Tim 2:23; Tts 3:9 In these passages certain people and actions are condemned, and the avoidance thereof exhorted, because they engender strifes; that is, not that every time a foolish question is discussed it leads to strife, but that there is a general tendency in such discussion to provoke dissension. So it does not require that every time a matter is decided by a majority vote it should provoke strife; it is sufficient if it has a tendency that way.

__Jam 1:5 "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally, and upbraids not; and it shall be given him." When an assembly meets together and some think one course the best, and some another, it is evident one, or both, of the parties has not the wisdom of God in the matter. This Scripture indicates what should then be done. Not the opinion of the majority is to be acted upon, for they may be wrong in their judgment and, for the same reason, not that of the minority: but let all wait on God for wisdom, and it shall be given, in God's time, to those who ask in faith.

__In addition to these passages, exhorting to "peace," to "oneness of mind," to "all speaking the same thing," to being "perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment," we have the already commented upon words of the Lord Jesus, from John 17, and the Scriptural analogy of the body; and also the example of an assembly transacting affairs in its corporate capacity recorded in Acts 15, which we shall now consider.

__As if the Lord foresaw that the precepts and whole tenor of His Word would not be sufficient to preserve His people from adopting almost universally the practice of the world in the matter of making group decisions, He caused to be given a very full narration of the discussion of an important and intricate question by the assembly at Jerusalem, including the apostles, to whom was specially committed the knowledge of His will, and who were undoubtedly those most likely to know what method was most accordant with the mind of the Spirit.

THE APOSTLES' EXAMPLE

__This record is found in Acts 15. When closely studied the story gives not only the decision upon the question actually discussed, but also the principles by which the judgments of believers were influenced, and, further, that which directly bears on our subject, the order of discussion.

__Before the reader goes further I would earnestly ask that the chapter be carefully read, and then the following remarks may be better considered.

__To the Gentile assembly at Antioch there had come from Judea certain men who taught the brethren that, as circumcision had from the time of Abraham been the sign of a person belonging to the visible company of the people of God, they could not be saved unless they were circumcised.

__Paul and Barnabas dissented from this teaching, and in order to obtain the opinion of the apostles and the mother assembly, the brethren at Antioch deputed Paul and others to proceed to Jerusalem and there discuss the question; and we read, "when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the assembly and the apostles and the elders."

__The order in which the matter proceeded is then shown as follows. "They rehearsed all that God had done with them," evidently including in their remarks a statement of their having refrained from teaching Gentile believers that they must be circumcised, and also laying before the assembly the facts concerning the discussion that had gone on at Antioch.

__That they did this is clear from verse 24, where the apostles display a knowledge of what had transpired at Antioch, which things they evidently learned in the information of Paul and Barnabas.

__Thus the matter was laid before the assembly, and the proposal to enforce circumcision thrown open for discussion.

__Certain of the Pharisees, not having been yet divested of their sectarian spirit, rose and urged that it was needful that Gentile Christians should be circumcised and enjoined to keep the law of Moses. This imposing of the ceremonial Judaic law upon Gentiles had not been the practice of the early assembly, as may be seen by the recorded teaching of the apostles and their speeches on this occasion; but the addresses of these Pharisees made it clear that there was a division of judgment upon the question.

__Now, had their method been the more modern plan that we are discussing, it would have been recorded that they ascertained on which side of the question there was a majority of members, and so settled the matter. But, as opposed to this, we learn that when this divergence of view is manifested, the meeting is adjourned, and a fresh gathering of apostles, elders (v. 6), and the whole multitude of the disciples (v. 12), constituting the "whole assembly," (v. 22), is called together to consider the matter.

__Then we learn that upon the subject being again brought forward, there was "much disputing" (v. 7), showing that those wide and opposed differences of opinion which now manifest themselves were seen then also. Here again I remark that had the apostolic method of reaching a decision been the present one, we should expect to find a record to that effect; but, on the contrary, the disputing and speech-making uninterruptedly continued.

__Peter, Barnabas, Paul and James all freely expressed their thoughts, until we find the significant record (v. 22). "Then it seemed good to the apostles and elders with the whole assembly," to do certain things.

__This is the essence of the whole question -- nothing was done until all differences have disappeared in unanimity; then action taken. So that, with the approval of the whole assembly, it could be written to the brethren at Antioch, "it seemed good to us, having come to one accord," (v. 25).

UNANIMITY AS AUTHORITY OF GOD

__And it is of the most momentous importance that we should notice that the assembly thus "being of one accord," (Php 2:2), and having learned to "all speak the same thing," so that there were "no divisions among them" but that they were "perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment," (1Cor 1:10), they are then able to calmly and confidently claim the authority of the Lord Himself for their decision, and say, (v. 28), "it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us."

__Thus would our divine Lord impressively set before His people the method to be followed by the assembly when considering matters in a corporate capacity, and teach us that when, by patiently waiting before Him and focusing upon the particular subject in hand the light He has given, the assembly comes to oneness of mind in their decision, we can then claim His approval of and authority for that which we do.

__This teaching is the underlying basis of the seemingly difficult passage of Mat 18:15-18. There the Lord says that if my brother sin against me, and I cannot by personal influence lead him to repentance, and thus bury the matter, I am then to take one or two more brethren and see him with them. It is evident that these brethren would not agree to help me unless they are convinced that I am in the right and my brother is the offender; so that there is thus found a consensus of opinion on the subject.

__But if the sinning brother will not listen to these further remonstrances, I am then to narrate the circumstances to the assembly. Once more, it is evident that the assembly will not side with me unless I am in the right; but if they -- the assembly, not a section thereof, but "the assembly," implying the whole assembly, just as when we speak of "a city," we mean the whole city -- agree with my view of the case, we have the fact that a body of those indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and so having the mind of Christ, are of one judgment in the matter; and that if the offending brother will not hear and submit to the assembly, he must be dealt with and treated as a Gentile and a publican, that is, he must be put out of assembly fellowship.

BINDING AND LOOSING

__When the assembly thus unanimously deals with a case, the Lord assures us that we may be certain of doing the right thing, and that "what things soever we shall so bind on earth shall be bound in heaven," for the simple reason that it is the will of our Lord in heaven, that, through the Spirit, we have done on earth.

__So again, Paul, having instructed the Corinthian assembly to thus deal with a wicked person (1Cor 5), upon learning that the discipline had produced in him the desired repentance, instructs them (2Cor 2) to now forgive and receive back the offender and restore him to the joy of the fellowship of saints; and having invoked the name of the Lord Jesus for the former measure, he now claims the authority of the Lord for the latter course; and thus the one who had been "bound" over to Satan as an evil-doer for the destruction of the flesh, is now, upon repentance, "loosed" by the assembly from the sentence, that no advantage may be gained by Satan.

__Thus, in this practical matter also the Lord indicates His willingness to recognize the decision of an assembly, if that decision be unanimous; nor is there one single precept or example in His Word to indicate that He allows the authority of His name to be attached to the decision of only a portion of His people.