Denominational Union

Signs Publishing Co. · Melbourne, Victoria · May 31, 1920

FromAustraliasian Signs of the Times, Vol. 35, No. 22.

Denominational Union

The religious press and the secular press of today are filled with arguments and predictions concerning the union of the Churches of Christendom. More power is what is needed, and this great power many feel can come only through denominational unity. They say the churches must abandon their individualism and their denominational quarrels and work under common direction for a common purpose. But more essential than denominational unity is the unity of individuals and of churches with the great source of power Himself, Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith. Denominational unity is not the great essential, but the unity of the believer with Jesus Christ is the one prerequisite of success in this grand warfare. The greater the machinery of Church unity, the less is the sense of dependence upon Jesus Christ. Thus will they have the form without the power, the shadow without the substance. Denominations need not quarrel, they should not quarrel, there is no necessity of their quarrelling, and the more they look to their Lord and Saviour Himself for direction, for courage, and for strength, the smaller will seem the necessity for conducting quarrels with other sects. The true Church of Jesus Christ does not quarrel with men. It teaches men, admonishes men, and exhorts men, and lays down the precepts of the gospel of Jesus Christ and stands firmly for those principles, leaving the Holy Spirit to convict of sin and turn the feet of the sinner into the path of righteousness. There is one faith, one baptism, one hope of our calling, one Saviour, one Lord and Father of us all, and as long as we are truly united with Him, we shall be true members of His household, brethren in the faith, standing staunchly for the principles of His kingdom

following where He leads, going where He sends, keeping the precepts of His holy law, and waging daily and hourly conflict with the forces of darkness, strengthened with His strength, and conquering through His power. That is the unity which counts; it is the substance and not the shadow, it is the power more than the form.