Unity, peace, truth...
J.C. Ryle, "The Fallibility of Ministers"
Do not put implicit confidence in any man's opinion,
merely because he is a minister.
What are the best of ministers but men--
dust, ashes and clay-
men with a nature like our own,
men exposed to temptations,
men liable to weaknesses and failings.
They have often driven the truth into the wilderness,
and decreed that to be true, which was false.
The greatest errors have been begun by ministers.
Peace without truth is a false peace;
it is the very peace of the devil.
Unity without the gospel is a worthless unity;
it is the very unity of hell.
We ought to contend jealously for the truth and to
fear the loss of truth more that the loss of peace.
To maintain pure truth in the church, we should be ready
to make any sacrifice, to hazard peace, to risk dissension
and run the chance of division.
Never let us be guilty of sacrificing any portion of truth
on the altar of peace.
We should no more tolerate false doctrine
than we would tolerate sin.
To regularly hear unscriptural teaching is a serious thing.
Is is a continual dropping of slow poison into the mind.
Let us receive nothing, believe nothing, follow nothing
which is not in the Bible, nor can be proved by the Bible.
_________________
It's true that doctrine divides. It's also true that love unifies. The unity we have in the faith is rooted and grounded in truth and love. Remove truth (right theology and doctrine) from the mix and you have less than Biblical unity. Remove love and you have no unity. Love causes us to seek truth and share that truth with others so that we become more unified. God is truth, and as we are more acquainted with His truth, the closer we are to Him, and the closer we become to each other