Still My Brother (1 John 4:2-3)

1 John 4:2-3 – By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.
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These verses were good ones for me to read this morning, and are likely good for the readers of any Christian Blog. As we study, pray, and strive toward godliness in all that we do, it is often easy to find ourselves drawing battle lines in connection with theological issues. This practice is not all bad, as we must be careful to discern which doctrines are of God and which are not. However, we also need to be careful to remember that theological differences, if not primary-level issues, are not reasons to consider someone to be outside of the faith.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is not a difficult story. God is perfect in every way. He is also just, and must justly punish sin. Man is sinful. All human beings, with the exception of Jesus Christ, have sinned and earned for themselves the wrath of God for infinitely offending an infinitely holy God. None of us could ever pay the penalty for our own sins, as the penalty would never end. But Jesus Christ, God in flesh, died to pay the penalty for all who would come to him. Jesus’ death was the perfect sacrifice for our sins. All who repent of their sins and come to Jesus, in faith believing that Jesus is the Son of God and that Jesus’ death on the cross is sufficient to pay the penalty for all their sins, have their sins forgiven.

Those who believe the true, biblical gospel of Jesus Christ are brothers and sisters in Christ. These people may disagree over all sorts of issues. We may disagree over issues of free will and predestination, over the timing of Jesus’ second coming, over Purpose-Driven or 9-Marks church models, over the biblical definition of baptism; but if we agree on the gospel, we need to recognize that we are brothers and sisters in Christ. There are people who embody the spirit of antichrist. The text above tells us that those people are those who deny Jesus.

Where I am challenged this morning is to recognize that there are people out there, people with whom I strongly disagree regarding certain doctrinal issues or ministry approaches, but who are still believers in Christ. While I will never stop seeking truth in theology and right doctrine in our churches, I must be careful to remember that there is room for others to differ with me on issues that are not the gospel, and yet if we agree on the gospel, those others are still my brothers and sisters in Christ.

By no means should anyone read this and take it for a call to stop disagreeing over theological issues that are not the gospel. There are important doctrines that must be discussed and understood. There are strong, God-glorifying debates to be had. But, we must learn to have such debates with a spirit of love and humility. We must learn to remember that, if it’s not the gospel, it still may be important, it may still be worthy of a strong discussion, but those on either side who have Christ as Savior are truly brothers and sisters in Christ.

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Immediately after publishing this post, I read an article about the meeting of the Anglican Church in New Orleans that reminded me that I had better come back and clarify just a bit more. If someone in the church is clearly denying the authority of the scripture to regulate our life and doctrine, we can not have genuine Christian fellowship with them. While it is possible that such a person may have come to Christ for grace, they deny so much at the very heart of Christianity that they will eventually tolerate or even encourage sin. The Bible is clear that in such a case, we can not treat such a person as a brother or sister in Christ. So, in the case of those claiming Christ but who are ordaining homosexual ministers or performing homosexual marriages, we are divided too deeply to truly have fellowship as believers. We can not claim to love Jesus and then present a wholesale denial of his commands. If you love Jesus, you will obey his commands (John 14:15).