Biblical Unity

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“What do you mean by biblical unity?” At the Center for Biblical Unity, we hear that question often. 

Scripture presents unity as something God accomplishes and we are called to preserve. Biblical unity is a spiritual reality achieved by Christ through His death and resurrection. While believers do not manufacture unity, we’re called to maintain it by living consistently with the unity Christ has already secured.

Creation Identity

We affirm that God directly created a historical pair, Adam and Eve, who became the first parents of all humans (Gen. 3:20, Acts 17:26). Within Adam and Eve was the possibility of all the ethnic diversity we see today, and both bore the imago Dei or image of God (Gen. 1:27) and the “breath of life” (Gen. 2:7). The imago Dei is the source of human dignity. Because of it, all human beings have inherent value, dignity, and worth—no matter where they live, how old they are, what they look like, whether they are Christians or not, or whether or not others see them as valuable.

Because every human being shares the stamp of imago Dei—and lives with the results of our first parents’ fall into sin—we are, in one sense, unified in our creation identity. Yet biblical unity requires the supernatural work of the gospel.

Biblical Unity Begins with the Gospel

What we call salvation identity is exclusive to those who have heard the gospel, accepted Christ’s finished work, and yielded their hearts and lives to His lordship. For those who are “in Christ,” Jesus accomplished the work needed to achieve unity with God’s household. At the moment of salvation, God becomes our Father and other Christians our brothers and sisters in His family. The work of Christ on the cross opens the door for all sinners, Jews and Gentiles alike, to become children of God (John 1:11–13, Ephesians 1:5, Romans 8:15), though only a few will come (Matt. 22:1–14). For Christians, unity is our starting point, not a destination to be achieved.

God’s spiritual family is called from every nation. The universal Church has been ethnically and culturally diverse since Pentecost (Matt 28:18–20; Acts 2:9–12) and has continued to expand to this day. Becoming a child of God means joining a multiethnic, multicultural, intergenerational movement of God across thousands of years of history. Unity is possible because Christians participate with each other from the position of brothers and sisters. Jesus has completed the work necessary to make cultural enemies into family—and it’s our job, as His children, to spread that good news.

Seeking Unity Across Denominational Differences

The universal Church also stretches across denominational lines. Faithful Christians who uphold the authority of the Bible are present in many denominations. At CFBU, we desire to reflect Christ’s prayer in John 17:21 “that they may all be one,” celebrating our shared faith across ethnicities, languages, and cultures. We also seek to walk out our unity with the family of God across denominations, treating one another graciously as we all affirm foundational documents including the Nicene Creed, our Statement of Faith and Position Statements.

In particular, the Nicene Creed provides a theological anchor that binds us together despite doctrinal differences on matters of lesser importance. While our team is diverse, we unite around core beliefs in the Trinity, the divinity and humanity of Christ, and the hope of salvation. Our guiding principles also include confirmations and denials found in the Los Angeles Statement on Race, Justice and Unity, the Chicago Statements on Biblical Inerrancy and Hermeneutics, and the Nashville Statement. 

While denominational differences certainly exist, we want to promote gracious conversations and a desire to understand others’ perspectives—ultimately standing on the common ground of our core beliefs in biblical authority, the essentials of historic Christianity, and a shared vision of biblical unity.

What Biblical Unity is Not

To avoid confusion, here is what we don’t mean when we refer to biblical unity:

• Biblical unity is not uniformity.

  Unity in Christ does not erase the distinctions God created—what we call matters of providence, such as ethnicity, physical appearance, and personality. The New Testament celebrates diversity within the Body (I Cor. 12), and unity does not require every Christian to join the same denomination, sing the same songs, or speak the same way.

• Biblical unity is not agreement on every issue.

  Through the centuries, Christians have disagreed over secondary theological questions and practical matters. While these conversations are important, they do not determine whether someone belongs to Christ. We can disagree with charity while standing together on the essential truths of historic Christianity.

• Biblical unity does not ignore sin or error.

  Biblical unity never comes at the expense of truth. Scripture calls us to contend for the faith (Jude 3), confront sin within the church (Matt. 18), and guard sound doctrine (Titus 1:9). Unity upholds biblical truth and calls out false teaching.

• Biblical unity is not built on shared earthly identities.

  The gospel does not unite believers because they share an ethnicity, skin color, socioeconomic status, or political party. Our deepest identity is in Christ, not any earthly category. While we affirm the validity of matters of providence in shaping who we are, we acknowledge that our allegiance to Christ comes first in all things. This is how we maintain our unity.

• Biblical unity is not passive.

  Christ accomplished our unity, but we are called to preserve it through humility, patience, forgiveness, gentleness, and love in our interactions with one another (Eph. 4:1–6). Unity in Christ is a gift we actively steward.

The church’s unity is one of its greatest testimonies. Former enemies become family, sinners become saints, and strangers become brothers and sisters thanks to the finished work of Christ. Biblical unity does not erase our differences, ignore truth, or minimize theological convictions. It demonstrates the power of the gospel to reconcile sinners to God and to one another. All believers are called to preserve unity by speaking the truth in love (Eph. 4:15), extending grace to one another (Col. 3:13, Eph. 4:32), and proclaiming the good news that has transformed our hearts and made us one (Eph 4:4, Gal. 3:28).