Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Ephesians 4:1-6.
One
Lord, one faith, one baptism (Ephesians 4:5).
In
Ephesians 4:1-3 the apostle Paul describes several marks of those who are “walking
worthy of the vocation” to which they were called. In other words, these are marks
of those who profess to be Christians and who then conduct themselves as
Christians. One of those marks is “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit
in the bond of peace” (4:3).
In
Ephesians 4:4-6 Paul stresses the importance of unity among believers. He then
uses the term “one” no less than seven times to emphasize the ground for Christian
unity. We have one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord,
one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all.
Let
me focus on three of those “one”s which are listed in quick order in v. 5:
As
Christians we have one Lord. That
is the Lord Jesus Christ. There are not many Saviors and many Lords but one
Lord. As Peter preached in Jerusalem, “Neither is there salvation in any other:
for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved” (Acts 4:12).
We
have one faith. Here faith means
not merely the personal trust in Christ, but one orthodox (right-believing) confession
of faith. In Titus 1:4 Paul called Titus his own son, “after the common faith.”
In Jude 3, that servant of Jesus Christ exhorted believers, “that ye
should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the
saints.” Orthodox doctrine does not divide. It unites faithful Christians.
And
there is one baptism. Not only was Paul
saying that baptism, when rightly ordered, should happen just once in the
believer’s life, but also that true baptism (by the Spirit and then by water)
comes to those who hear the preaching of the gospel, repent of their sins and
believe in Christ. The one baptism is that experienced by those who have been
born again.
May
the Lord grant us unity, upon the basis of these marks, within our particular
local church and with believers around the world.
Grace
and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
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