Monday: Together as One in the One
What seven “ones” does Paul cite in support of his theme of the unity of the church? What point is he seeking to make with this list? (Ephesians 4:4-6).
Paul’s list of seven “ones” has a poetic feel to it and may echo a hymn of affirmation used in Ephesus. The list begins by mentioning two “ones” together: “There is one body” (referring to the church as the body of Christ, Ephesians 4:12, Ephesians 4:16; Ephesians 1:23; Ephesians 5:23, Ephesians 5:29-30) and “one Spirit” (Ephesians 4:4). The third one is the “one hope of your calling” (Ephesians 4:4; compare Ephesians 4:1).
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The list then offers three more elements, “one Lord” (a reference to Christ), “one faith” (meaning the content of what Christians believe, Ephesians 4:13; Colossians 1:23; Colossians 2:7; Galatians 1:23; 1 Timothy 4:1, 1 Timothy 4:6), and “one baptism” (compare Ephesians 5:26) before concluding with an extended description of God as “one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all, and in all” (Ephesians 4:6, ESV).
What is Paul communicating through this poetic description of God the Father? By virtue of His being “Father of all,” God is the Creator. The rest of the sentence describes how, once the world is created, God relates to “all things,” to everything that He made. Paul is not dabbling in the heresies of pantheism (which identifies nature with God), or panentheism (which argues that the world is included in God’s being, though it does not exhaust that being). He is rather proclaiming the transcendence (“who is over all”), active rule (“who is … through all”) and immanence (“who is … in all”) of God.
Note carefully two ideas about the unity of the church (Ephesians 4:1-6). First, unity is a spiritual fact, rooted in these seven “ones,” a reality to be celebrated (Ephesians 4:4-6). Second, this unity requires our zeal to nurture and grow it (Ephesians 4:3). There will often be cause to weep at our failings in actualizing this unity. However, whatever our failings, we should rejoice in the work of God-in-Christ in unifying the church, rejoicing in the theological reality of the “unity of the Spirit” (Ephesians 4:3). Doing so will empower us to return to the hard work of advancing this unity, but with fresh conviction that in doing so we are accomplishing God’s own work.
| Read again Ephesians 4:4-6. How does it make you feel? How should it make you feel, knowing what it says about our unity in and with God through Christ? |
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In Australia, the Congregational, Methodist, and Presbyterian Churches formed the Uniting Church in 1977. A few years ago I was involved in a discussion about doctrine with a Uniting Church member. We started by talking about the divisions of belief in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He had heard things and having finally met with a real Adventist, he thought he might get some more detail on what was happening. After I had given him a brief summary, I thought he owed me one so I asked him what it was like in the Uniting Church. His response was that the Uniting Church was essentially still three separate churches with one name. Congregations still largely reflected their origins and the "Uniting" bit was a bit of a misnomer.
Unity is much more than just a name. And it is much more than the recital of some "Jesus talk" scriptures about unity in Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit. We need to come to an understanding of what unity looks like and make some decisions about how to put it into practice.
Here is something to think about. If our vision of unity says something like "Seventh-day Adventists should all believe the same thing about ..." then we are looking up the wrong end of the telescope.
My father wrote me a letter before I married Carmel. He said, "If you see things in Carmel you don't like, don't try to change her, Learn to love and accept her just the way she is." Good advice, and it has worked for 55 years (when I remember to put it into practice.) We can cite the great issues that divide Seventh-day Adventists. Most of our arguments end up with us launching bible verses and Spirit of Prophecy quotes at one another like cruise missiles. Our interpretation is best and everyone else needs to unite with me! Is that a platform for unity?
"By this shall all men know ..."
I get that we shouldn't be launching Bible and Spirit of Prophesy missiles at each other. This is often done in a very unloving manner. However, I tend to disagree with your statement "Seventh-day Adventists should all believe the same thing about....". If we are united with Christ our message, beliefs, and doctrines should be all the same, that is what makes us the denomination that we are and who we, individually are. One Adventist member in California shouldn't have different Adventist beliefs than an Adventist member in Maine, or Illinois, or Australia, or Germany, or Kenya, etc... We have 28 Fundamental beliefs and they should all be upheld in unity wherever our church is located. We should also have unifying standards of conduct and practices around the world. We can accept the fact that members each have different gifts to use but the uniformity is in bringing that gift to the table for the benefit of the group and outreach to others. Visitors coming to our church should see the same unifying beliefs and conduct in members regardless of what church they are attending. We are in danger if we pick and choose what we believe in or what we practice and "water down" our message to suit worldly trends all in the name of unity.
Hello Kay,
By implication, your statement gives the impression that all truth is bound up in the 28 fundamentals. However, in the preamble to the 28, it states “Revision of these statements may be expected at a quinquennial General Conference Session whenever the church is led by the Holy Spirit to a fuller understanding of Bible truth, or if better language is found to express these teachings of God’s Holy Word.”
Given this, I would not expect a ubiquitous uniformity of belief in the church. But I would expect that we would “walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which [we] have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:1-3.)
There is a distinct difference between uniformity and unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Richard
WHAT I FEEL WHEN I READ EPHESIANS 4:4-6
-The repetition of “one” tells me the importance of unity.
-The members of the one body are from every kindred,nation and tongue.
-I look forward to the Second Coming of Christ as that is our hope,which animates my heart.
-I feel excited when I know that our hope is a person,Jesus Christ-1 Timothy 1:1.
-My confidence in God is boosted when I hear that no other being is above Him,Ephesians 4:6 “is over all”.the whole world is ruled and sustained by Him.
-I am filled with this drive to tell others about baptism.
-I feel secured from the powers of darkness which we fight against,when I read that God is in all.
The Holy Spirit gives special gifts for building up the church. They were given "for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ." (Eph 4:12) We all have our task, though our task may well be different from our neighbor's task.
The purpose "till we all attain the unity of faith ...unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ."(Eph 4:13)
God is working to bring His church into unity of one faith. There is "one faith", but we all realize that our grasp of this faith is imperfect. There is "one Lord" but our knowledge of Christ is incomplete. There is one baptism, but do we all realize what that one baptism signifies? The goal is the attainment of true faith and knowledge "till we all attain unto a perfect man". (Eph.4:13)
The singular "man", as Paul is talking of the church, the one body of Christ.
Salvation is all centered in Christ, He is the head. It is one hope, one faith, one baptism. There is only one road to heaven. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. (John 14:6) There is only one true Holy Spirit that works on our hearts and minds to bring us into this one and only way to eternal life and reunite estranged mankind, as many as will believe, with God our Father, the Creator and Sustainer of all.
So the Holy Spirit enables apostles, evangelists, pastors, teachers (Eph.4:11-13) and gives other gifts in order that the church may attain both the full knowledge, growth and full measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.
In this world, uniqueness substitutes unity. People are supported to stand out for whatever makes them different because the focus is on the differences (be yourself!). Instead, Jesus preached that differences are essential to the community of believers, as a body has many parts, but united in Him, everyone contributes to the perfect function of the gospel (be yourself in Love!).
As I study the lesson today, I want to resist the temptation to go into a deep explanation of what Paul was seeking to convey to his readers. Paul placed emphasis on the word "one" because that was the salient point of his message. So, how should this important message move from written words to reality? This can only happen by human action. So, I have to ask myself, what am I doing to make this "one" a reality in the church.
When I was a graduate student, I was inspired by the action of a member of the church I attended. Each month she had all the university students over to her house for lunch after church. Her invitation had no distinction for gender, age, race, ethnicity, background, country of origin, career path, nature of studies, church membership, etc. I was not only blessed by her action, I was inspired to follow her example and do the same thing after I graduated and moved to another city. As a result, I adapted as one of my ministries, the opening of my home to students, as a place for them to eat and fellowship after church on selected Sabbaths. So, back to my original question, "what am I doing to make Paul's word a reality?"
Most of the time when I've heard these verses referenced, it's been to prove that there is only one true form of baptism. I do believe in believer baptism by immersion, but to make vs. 5 and the others around it simply about that is really to sell them short.
When I was reading this passage today, the idea of the "one" really hit me. It emphasized to me that there is only one place to really connect with the 7 "ones" and that is in the Body of Christ. We don't have the option to go out and make our own church, no matter how much we might like to. We have to get along with each other. Knowing that sort of humbles me and changes my perspective.
Good point. We can't be in unity if we start our own group away from the body of Christ, our Adventist church. People who want to start their own separate group often use the logic that it depends on your definition of "church". That church isn't meaning the denomination, which is partly true, but not entirely true. Whenever we start our own independent thinking and pull members away to our "more righteous group", we are in grave danger. Yes, we may have to address certain members or issues within the context of our local church but we still stick with it and strive to get along and be in unity. As you stated "we have to get along with each other" and that often takes humility and patience.
Everyone contributes their interpretation/understanding of what ‘One’ means to them. I see a way to look at what this ‘One in the One’ refers to when focusing on the 'Oneness of the Spirit which operates in all of us equally’; receiving God's voice by the same spirit.
Since it is the same spirit which manifests Itself in all believers, when the unity of and by the Spirit; is manifest, it is because it is the same spirit which operates in all believers. The unity is established when we allow and not hinder the Spirit do its work.
To me, therefore, the ‘One in the One’, means that it is the same Spirit which leads all believers – Jews and Gentiles, in the Oneness in Spirit toward unity of the believers. Should this not be achieved, one could assume that the Holy Spirit is somehow prevented/hindered to do his work in and for the Ekklesia toward achieving this goal of unity.
Petty arguments and difference of preferences by the believers should not undermine the work of the Holy Spirit to establish spiritual fellowship/unity within the Body of Christ – expressing loving, caring, considerate kindness toward each other.
By placing the focus of our ‘unit in the spirit of God’s love in us and through us’, this would go a long way to successfully avoid schisms to form in the local assemblies of the Ekklesia disrupting the Holy Spirit's work toward the unity of the believers – Mark 12:28-31.