Christ is the Head of the Church
Unity in the Church is our mutual recognition that the Church has only one Head, Jesus Christ.
Church purpose versus church growth
Authority, Submission and Oneness
Authority and submission are important to the unity of the Church. But it does not operate based on a human chain of command. It operates based on respect for leaders under a common head.
Conclusion: False Brethren Seek to Bring Us into Bondage
The essence of heresy is division in the Body of Christ, and a “heretic” is one who stealthily introduces division into that Body in order to increase his or her own reputation, power or wealth. In that way, they seek to replace Christ as Head of the Body for their own profit.
What About Church Discipline?
The purpose of church discipline is restoration, a process that is to be initiated by a person injured or offended by a wrong behavior. The disciplinary process has no valid application to erroneous beliefs, as such. The New Testament never suggests that worldly penalties should be attached to the process.
Factions–Following Human Leaders–Leads to Heresy
Christ is not divided. But historically Christianity has been divided into groups following human leaders, past or present, ahead of Christ. The solution is an individual one, letting God perfect our unity with our brothers. It cannot be imposed by a human leader or organization.
On the Other Extreme—1 Timothy 4 and Colossians 2
Divisions in the church have been started not only by leaders who taught license to attract followers, but also by leaders who taught extreme asceticism– that God is only pleased by those who keep the strict rules they prescribe.
The Traditional View of the First Timothy, Titus and Second Peter Passages
The traditional view of the heresy passages in 1 Timothy 6, Titus 3 and 2 Peter 2 actually fosters division by requiring us to shun anyone who disagrees with our denomination’s formal doctrinal statements.
A Disagreement Over Doctrine does Not Necessarily Lead to Heresy—Acts 15
Doctrinal disputes, even over such heavy subjects as our relationship to the Law of Moses, can be settled peacefully within the Church, as shown by the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15.
The Bad Example of Korah
Korah’s rebellion was to insist on half the truth–that all in the congregation of Israel were holy, set apart to God, because the Lord was among them–but to reject the other half–that only the Lord had the right to assign each their functions. They denied this half of the truth to rebelliously assert their own authority, as false teachers today also do.
The Bad Example of Cain
Cain’s underlying sin was his arrogant insistence that he could come to God on his own terms. This is the “way of Cain” of which Jude speaks—self-sufficiency, insisting on coming to God on one’s own terms, murderous jealousy of those who truly seek God and are accepted by him, and “repentance” only of the consequences of these sins and not of the sins themselves. It all starts with an attitude of self-sufficiency.