One

Eph 4:4,5,6 "There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were 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."

 

All of God's word is significant. All of God's word is true. If He says something even once, we need to sit up and pay attention. But I have heard people say, if He says it twice, we need to really pay attention, and if He says it three times, it is something that He is trying to drill into our heads and hearts. How about seven times? How about repeating something seven times? He does it here in these three verses. Seven times in three verses He uses the word "one". Why? Why this emphasis on "one"?

 

In order to grab onto this, I think we have to go back to what Paul was talking about in verse three: unity. We have to exert effort to keep the unity of the Spirit. Unity is huge in the church because it reflects the character, nature and work of God. When we, as a body, are divided, we distort who God is. We misrepresent His work.

 

Look at God's work: There is one body. There is only one church. It is the church universal of blood bought believers. It isn't the Baptist church, or the Methodist church, or the Catholic church, or the Lutheran church, or the non-denom church. It is the church. It is the body of Christ. Man, have we really screwed it up. The world does not understand who God is because we have decided that some of our petty issues need to divide us. Now, of course, the real church is the one whose family members all have the same lineage in them. The lineage is the blood of Christ. Only those who have trusted in Jesus' finished work on the cross are a part of this family. Anyone who is trusting on their own works, their own smarts, their own ability to get in this family is not a part of it. But if you have repented and trusted in Jesus alone, we are one.

 

There is only one hope of your calling. I mean what else is there? There is only one "joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation". (Strongs) Hope for anything else is useless. It is worthless. It is hopeless. And there is that calling thing again. It is only the work of God that calls us into that hope.

 

There is only one faith. There is only one confident conviction of truth, because there is only one truth. Sure, people can run around espousing other beliefs, other faiths, other ideas, but there is really only one faith…"I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." John 14:6 Narrow? Yes. But truth is narrow.

 

There is only one baptism. This seems kind of weird in this list of things. What does Paul mean by baptism? Back then, people may have been confused. There was the baptism of John and there was the baptism of Jesus. Which one was right? Which one evidenced true faith? Only the immersion that comes after faith in Christ. I know that some people struggle with baptism. I am not sure why. I mean, it should be the next step. You get saved and you get baptized. The Ethiopian did it this way with Philip. The early church did it. Jesus instructs us to do it. What is the big deal? There is only one.

 

And then look at the character of God. One Spirit, One Lord, One God and Father. Kind of looks like the trinity to me. God is One. God's work is one. The church should be one. Petty squabbles need to be put aside.