Does God command unity between believers and religious hypocrites?
The New Testament does not teach that real believers should be in union with churchgoers who are living continuously very wicked lives. In 1 Corinthians 11:18-21, Paul says: For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you. Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lords Supper. For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk. Here Paul is not contradicting what he said earlier in 1 Corinthians 1:10-17 and 3:3-4. In these earlier passages, Paul attacked the Corinthian factions for primarily following various church leaders instead of Jesus Christ and for being envious and fighting in relation to this. But in 1 Corinthians 11:18-21, Paul said there needed to be divisions in the Corinthian church so that those who were approved by God may b
