GOD’S COUNTER-INTUITIVE WAYS – UNITY THROUGH DIVISION

 

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4.12

Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.        Luke 12.51-53

Division – Webster’s Dictionary = To separate into parts, groups, or sections. Something that divides or separates; partition. Separation by difference of opinion or feeling, disagreement.

How can we have unity if we do not agree on the truth? Believers have a difficult time agreeing on most Biblical doctrine. How can we have unity?

It would seem that we cannot have unity unless we agree on what truth is. How do we arrive at truth? In order to arrive at truth we must separate that which is true from that which is untrue. Many of our traditions which we hold so dear in our Christian life are un-truths. We must rightly divide the word of God (2 Tim 2.15) in order to obtain truth.

The method the Lord revealed to me is to allow the Bible to interpret itself. That requires a constant prayerful reading and re-reading both the Old and New Testaments. We look for what the Bible says on the issue at hand and compare scriptures. We look for as many confirming scriptures as possible. We must take the Bible as God’s Word. It is not an easy task to allow the Bible to interpret itself without injecting our own ideas.

As an example let’s look at how man was created:

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. Genesis 2.7

I would read that as God formed our bodies out of the dust of the ground. Then He breathed into the nostrils of the dust form. He breathed His breath of life into that dust and man became a living soul.

The Hebrew word for breath (of life) is neama = Strong’s 5397 = blast of breath, by extension: life, life force, spirit.

God breathed life into the dust (His spirit) and man became a living soul. The word soul is Strong’s 5315 = the seat of emotion and desire, a creature or person as a whole: self, body, person.

Allowing the Bible to interpret itself: God breathed His spirit into the lifeless dust/clay figure and it became a living soul or person.

This reveals three parts of who we are:

BODY – Made from the dust of the earth. The body is our home or tabernacle. God lives in us, He tabernacles with us.

SOUL – Our soul is who we are. It is our person or personality. The Bible says God is a quickening spirit (1 Corinthians 15.45). His spirit, then, quickened us or gave us life, energy, force.

SPIRIT – God breathed His spirit into our nostrils and we became a living soul.

The Body is our home, tent, or tabernacle. The Soul is our person or personality—who we are—each separate individual of soul. When a plane crashes they say, “There were 50 souls on board” meaning 50 personalities. The Spirit of God energized us and gave us life.

This is one example of allowing the Bible to interpret itself on an issue.

Some Christians believe the soul is immortal, that it lives forever. This was an idea developed by the Greek Philosopher Plato. It came from Greek thinking—not the Bible.

When we allow the Bible to interpret itself we see that the soul has the “potential” to be immortal. It will depend on whether we are born again in Yeshua and rise from the dead at the first resurrection (Read Revelation 20).

Allowing the Bible to interpret itself we see these two scriptures:

The soul that sinneth, it shall die. Ezekiel 18.20

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6.23

I show this to many believers and they deny it! It is clearly written…the soul that sins dies and the wages of sin is death.

The only way the soul becomes immortal is if we accept the gift of God which is eternal life through being born again in Jesus Christ our Lord. Now read 1 Corinthians 15 where it explains our gift of eternal life is received upon our resurrection from the dead--and new spiritual immortal bodies which we receive at that time.

If we are sincerely seeking the truth and allow the Bible to interpret itself, with some written history as back up, (Plato saying we have an immortal soul) we can figure these things out.

The problem is we have been taught falsely the traditions the church hold dearly unto rather than the simple truth.

Finally, Yeshua was not crucified and buried on Good Friday as we have been taught. In Matthew 12.40 he says the only sign he is going to give is the sign of Jonah. As Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights so shall the son of man be 3 days and nights in the earth.

If we allow the Bible to interpret itself than Yeshua means what he says. Three days and three nights is 72 hours. In order to understand this we must understand that in the Bible a day begins in the evening at sunset. A Biblical day begins in the evening (12 hours of night first, then the 12 hours of the day).

What we would call Tuesday night on our Roman calendar is Wednesday night on the Biblical calendar. To be in the ground for 72 hours Yeshua would have been buried on what we call Wednesday night, which on Biblical time is called Thursday night.

From Biblical Thursday night to Biblical Sunday night is 72 hours! This is your homework -- if you can’t figure it out, go do your research and figure it out. Find out how the Bible keeps time. Allow the Bible to interpret itself!

Which brings us back to our counter-intuitive God. How can we have unity if we do not understand the truth? The above examples reveal truths we have never been taught in our traditional churches. Unless we can agree on the truth it is impossible to have unity.


Understanding the above truths do not make a person more "spiritual" above others. What it does is open our understanding to truth which opens our understanding of the scriptures. This helps us to understand the mind of God and to understand the times.

Division is reducing a number to its mean. It is through reduction or dividing out that we arrive at truth. Many do not wish to know the truth—they want to hang unto traditions. God always reduces His people down to a remnant of believers who know the truth. He divides them out. He tests the thoughts and desires of their hearts through His word. This process weeds out those who refuse to embrace the truth.

If we want to abide in the Lord and have true Holy Spirit power we must yield to His truth. He is desiring a people who hold the truth in their hearts who will move at His appointed time into the ministry He has for them since the beginning of the world!

He is calling us to take up our cross and deny ourselves for His glory. He will lead us into truth if we truly are seeking truth. The truth will set us free! Division is how it is accomplished.

Your brothers and sisters in the Lord will not quite understand you—but God will know you quite well. You will move in a realm of understanding which few know. It is a process of sifting. God sifts us until we become more and more the image of Yeshua. It really is a higher calling which few attain.

I’m not there yet but desire to get there…He is not finished with us…seek Him and allow Him to work out His character in your earthly tabernacle (body). Amen.