Be Imitators of God.

 I don't know how many times in the past 30 years that I have heard someone say "I don't need a pastor, Jesus is my head and the Holy Spirit is my teacher." Almost all of the people who have said this have a zeal for God but do not have knowledge to go with it. So they make statements that cause strife and not encouragement, their actions cause division instead of bringing unity. These people judge others instead of judging themselves.

Paul says in Ephesians,
1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

So when people bring division to the body of Christ, they are not walking in the love of God. They are not being humble and gentlle. They are not making every effort to keep unity. They haven't realized that there is only one body, one Lord, one Spirit, and one God and Father.

These same people are in rebelllion to God. They claim that they only need the Holy Spirit as teacher. They must have already arrived to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ, but their actions show differently. Paul continues in Ephesians by saying,
7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
8 This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men."
9 (What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions?
10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)
11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,
12 to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up
13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.
15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.
16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

From what it says in these verses, God has instituted the gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher to prepare God's people, so that all of us can reach unity in the faith, in knowledge and become mature. Through Jesus, the whole body (all Christians) grow and build themselves in love as all of these gifts do their part.

It is these people who say that they are walking in the love of God, who do not know what the love of God is. In 1 Corinthian 13 it says this,
1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails.

These people act rudely, are self-seeking, and boastful. They are not kind to other people who don't believe the same as they do. They believe they are right and won't listen to reason. Their actions show that they really don't have fellowship with God. If they did have fellowship with him, they would become like Him. They need to do what Paul said in Ephesians 5,
1 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children
2 and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God