In Scripture, the unity of Christ’s body is not an optional extra but the very will of God. When someone deliberately sows discord—“dividing and splitting the church”—that person is acting contrary to Christ’s heart and teaching. Such a divider can rightly be called a heretic and even an antichrist because of the devastating theological and relational damage these actions produce.
1. God’s Design Is One Body
From the earliest pages of the New Testament, unity is paramount. Jesus prayed, “that they may all be one … that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:21). Paul echoes this, urging believers “to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit” (Ephesians 4:3-4). By trampling on this unity, a divider directly opposes the prayer of Christ and the apostolic vision for the church.
2. Division Marks False Teaching
John warns that “many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh” (2 John 7). These false teachers are called “antichrists” because they deny the core truth of the Gospel (1 John 2:22). Division almost always follows error: when foundational doctrines are twisted, relationships fracture. A heretic in the New Testament context (from the Greek hairesis) is literally someone who makes a choice—often a factional choice—and thus breaks the unity of the body.
3. The Apostle’s Remedy: Separation
Paul instructs the Roman believers: “I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them” (Romans 16:17). He goes so far as to say that “in gatherings of the church, God’s people must not tolerate factions” (1 Corinthians 11:19 NLT). Titus is even more pointed: “As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him” (Titus 3:10).
4. Why Division Equals “Antichrist” Activity
To be “against Christ” is not only to preach a different Gospel but to undermine the very community He died to create. Jesus declared, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters” (Matthew 12:30). A divider scatters what Christ came to gather, and in doing so, adopts the posture of the adversary rather than the Savior.
5. Loving the Body Means Defending Its Truth
True pastoral love sometimes demands hard boundaries. John makes this clear: “Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God” (2 John 9). To protect the flock, we must refuse hospitality to those who would disrupt the Gospel’s integrity (2 John 10–11). Far from unloving, this tough love preserves the spiritual health and witness of the church.
In sum, by fracturing the body of Christ, a divider operates in the spirit of heresy and antichrist—not merely by differing in minor details, but by sabotaging the unity and core truth of the Gospel. Guarding against such division is therefore both a defense of orthodoxy and an act of love toward our Lord and His people.
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