Ephesians 4:3-7 KJV
Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
I don't suppose we can rightly understand any portion of this passage without keeping it in its context. The Scripture wants us to strive for unity in the house of God and encourages us that the way to do that is to see the unity in the things of God.
One bodyI can't see this in any other light than that of the local church context. That local church strives for unity in the fact that it is one body. It has one function, one life. It may have different members who have different responsibilities within the body, but the body is one.
One Spirit
There is not the Spirit of the faith of Christ and the spirit of the faith of Islam and the spirit of the faith of Judaism and etc. God's Holy Spirit will lead men into one faith. Everything else is influence of the world, the flesh or the devil.
One hope of your calling
There is only one way to be saved. Every saved person got saved the very same way. We who are believers share that in common.
One Lord
Not multiple gods; not many Christs. There is one Jesus Christ and He is the Lord of all of the saved.
One faith
The system of doctrine we believe is called our faith. This is one of the reasons why I believe we need to keep this passage in the local church context. Anything else would make this thought make no sense. Within Christendom there are a bunch of different systems of faith. Some believe man has all the choice of salvation; some believe man has no choice at all; some believe a Christian can lose his salvation, some believe a Christian cannot; some believe babies are to be baptized, some insist baptism is only for those who have made their own profession of faith. On and on it goes. The unity of the spirit can only be maintained when we in the church have one faith.
One baptism
Again, this serves to maintain unity. When we all have been baptized under the same church authority there is unity in the local church.
One God and Father of all
Who are members of that local church. Not the God and Father of all the living. Not the Saviour of any man woman or child regardless of what they believe.
There is only one God and He is the Heavenly Father of all who have come to His Son, Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sins and pardon.
Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
I don't suppose we can rightly understand any portion of this passage without keeping it in its context. The Scripture wants us to strive for unity in the house of God and encourages us that the way to do that is to see the unity in the things of God.
One bodyI can't see this in any other light than that of the local church context. That local church strives for unity in the fact that it is one body. It has one function, one life. It may have different members who have different responsibilities within the body, but the body is one.
One Spirit
There is not the Spirit of the faith of Christ and the spirit of the faith of Islam and the spirit of the faith of Judaism and etc. God's Holy Spirit will lead men into one faith. Everything else is influence of the world, the flesh or the devil.
One hope of your calling
There is only one way to be saved. Every saved person got saved the very same way. We who are believers share that in common.
One Lord
Not multiple gods; not many Christs. There is one Jesus Christ and He is the Lord of all of the saved.
One faith
The system of doctrine we believe is called our faith. This is one of the reasons why I believe we need to keep this passage in the local church context. Anything else would make this thought make no sense. Within Christendom there are a bunch of different systems of faith. Some believe man has all the choice of salvation; some believe man has no choice at all; some believe a Christian can lose his salvation, some believe a Christian cannot; some believe babies are to be baptized, some insist baptism is only for those who have made their own profession of faith. On and on it goes. The unity of the spirit can only be maintained when we in the church have one faith.
One baptism
Again, this serves to maintain unity. When we all have been baptized under the same church authority there is unity in the local church.
One God and Father of all
Who are members of that local church. Not the God and Father of all the living. Not the Saviour of any man woman or child regardless of what they believe.
There is only one God and He is the Heavenly Father of all who have come to His Son, Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sins and pardon.
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