How many of us remember the history lessons of the Civil War?  The United States was divided with family members on both sides of the war.  At times they were fighting against each other.  And if another army would have come into the fight while America was divided, the entire country would’ve fallen. 

Unfortunately, that is happening with the Christian Faith.  There are those that say “My way is the best.”  Others say “You are wrong!”  And still, others that say “If you are not part of this church you are going to hell!” 

What do you think Satan is doing right now?  He is laughing at all of us.  Because the only person who is right and perfect is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  We need to respect each other’s point views and try to find common ground.

We should all really around the key points of Christianity:

1. There is only One God and his name is Yahweh.  He is our creator.
2. Believe in One God but with three faces: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.
3. That Jesus is God the Son, and that Jesus was 100% God and 100% Man.
4. Jesus died to atone for our sins and was raised from the dead, and now resides with God the Father.  He did this for us have a relationship with God, and Jesus did this of His own free will.  And that Jesus will one day return for His Church and bring us to be with Him in Heaven.
5. Jesus is the only way to Heaven.  Without our belief in Jesus and acceptance of Jesus as our Savior we are doomed to an eternity in Hell.
6. Once we accept Jesus as our Savior God gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit as our seal and guarantee of our salvation.
7. Salvation is a free gift from God.  It cannot be earned and there is nothing you can do to receive salvation except to accept and acknowledge that Jesus is our Lord and Savior, that He died for our Sins so we can live in eternity with Him.  
8. Jesus is the Head of the Church.  And we submit to His authority.
9. The Bible is the inerrant word of God and was divinely inspired.  We believe the Bible in its entirety.  We do not remove chapters or verses; the Bible is accurate and correct and is the Divine Word of God.
10. There will be a final judgment on Mankind, and you will be sentenced either to an eternity in Heaven or an eternity in Hell.
11. Satan and his demons are real.  That they are here to create spiritual warfare, distract us from our mission to seek and save the lost, to stop unbelievers from believing, create chaos, to deceive us, and that Satan wants to destroy mankind and prevent our reunion with God.
12. God is omniscient.  Satan and his demons are not omniscient.
13. That there is a Heaven for those who follow Jesus and a Hell as the eternal punishment for those who do not follow Jesus.
14. The only unforgivable sin is Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.
15. There will be a tribulation period in which the Anti-Christ will arise and rule the world. 
16. Eventually, the Earth will pass away, and a New Heaven and a New Earth will take its place with God as the Benevolent Ruler of this New Heaven and New Earth.  And no evil will be allowed to reside there.

We need to unite around these truths from the Bible for Christianity to be victorious in a world that is becoming increasingly hostile to Christ’s Followers.  As Christians, we have no right to defame other Christians unless they are not showing Love or Grace to others, and have turned their backs on the Word of God, and on the teaching of Jesus and His Prophets as dictated in the Bible.  We must be United in our Faith.  We need to tolerate the majors and accept the minors.  Those minors include speaking in tongues.  We need to accept that the majors are important.  Other things like was Jesus Black, White, or Hispanic (The Bible does not say anything about this, only that He was born of a Jewish carpenter and that He was not a person who stood out);  or does the miracle of healing still happen, where a person lays his hands on an ill person and heals them instantly.  Remember, our faith is what we hang onto for our salvation and our hope. 

In some parts of our country, and many parts of the world, faith and hope are the only thing people have to hold onto and if we take that away by attacking each other then we are no better than the world that attacks us.  We need to be United in our Faith.

I love how the Ligonier Ministry took the Reformation Theology and summarized it into the Five Solas

1. Sola Scriptura:  Scripture Alone.  All theology must be based on Scripture.  And that scripture only comes from the Word of God – The Bible.  Nothing extra-biblical, everything is based on Scripture from the Bible.  We do not add to the Word of God, we do not take away from the Word of God, and we don’t change the meaning to the Word of God.  We are always reverent to God and His Word, and the meaning in which it was written.
2. Sola Christus:  Christ Alone.  All theology must be Christ Focused and point to Jesus as the Head of the Church.  Everything in Scripture teaches us about God and His story, and His plan for us.  The Bible is the testament of God and is inerrant.  Also, there is no fellowship with God without acceptance or a relationship with Jesus, Our Savior
3. Sola Fide: Faith Driven and Faith Alone.  Without Faith in Jesus Christ we have no hope.  Faith leads us to Jesus.  Without this faith in Jesus it would be impossible to please God and to improve ourselves or to be better testimonies for Him.  With faith we can do all things for God.  Without faith we are lost in a sea of storms.
4. Sola Gratia: Grace Alone.  Our Salvation is from God’s Grace.  Our salvation is a gift from God.  It is not earned, but freely given.  As stated above, all God wants is for us to believe that Jesus is our Lord and Savior, and He gave up His life on the Cross as the atonement for our Sins.  Because of His gift we now have eternal life.  We must acknowledge that Jesus is our King, Our Lord and Savior, and that He sits at the right hand of the Father.  Again, it is freely given.  There is nothing you can do to earn Salvation. The fact is that we are saved by our faith in Jesus and that our salvation is a free gift from God, you can’t do anything to earn it, you cannot buy it, and you cannot receive it any other way. 
5. Soli Deo Gloria: Dominated by God.  This is very important.  Ligonier’s Ministry, from whom I borrowed the Five Solas definition, defines Soli Deo Gloria beautifully: each of the three persons of the Trinity leads us to salvation and to worship all three faces of God.  Even though there are three faces, it is still One God.  Once we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we have fellowship with all three faces of God in the following way:
6. With the Father we have fellowship with Him in Love.  He is our Creator and our Father.
7. With the Son (Jesus) we have fellowship with Him in Grace.  He is our Savior and He laid down his life freely for us by dying on the Cross on Calvary.
8. With the Holy Spirit we have fellowship in strength and comfort.  He is our Guide, our Counselor, our Conscience, provider of our strength, and giver of comfort.  He is always with us and is our seal of salvation that cannot be lost. 

Once we accept all this and unite behind our Lord and Savior Jesus, and discontinue the infighting, then we will all be stronger.  Remember that the only perfect person is Jesus.  The spirit that divides is not of God but of satan (Yes I purposely wrote his name in lowercase because he is a nothing burger compared to God our Father).  The spirit that causes chaos is from the evil one.  The spirit of Unity comes from our Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. We have a God who brings order, unity, and peace.  Let us submit to our God of Peace and forsake the spirit of chaos, and live in Unity and Harmony with each other.

To God be the Glory