One

Ephesians 4:3-7 "Endeavoring to keep{tereo [tay-reh'-o], to place a guard on} the unity{henotes [hen-ot-ace'] from heis; oneness, i.e. (figuratively) unanimity: - unity} of the Spirit in the bond of peace. [4] There is one{heis [hice]numerically "one"} body, and one{heis [hice]numerically "one"} Spirit, even as ye are called in one{mia [mee'-ah], one of a certain kind, only one, uniquely one} hope of your calling; [5] One{heis [hice]numerically "one"} Lord, one{heis [hice]numerically "one"} faith, one{mia [mee'-ah], one of a certain kind, only one, uniquely one}baptism{baptisma [bap'-tis-mah], submersion or immersion in a substance}, [6] One{heis [hice]numerically "one"} God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. [7] But unto every one{heis [hice]numerically "one"} of us is given grace according to the measure{metron [met'-ron] an apparently primary word; a measure ("metre"), literally or figuratively; by implication, a limited portion (degree):-- measure} of the gift{dorea [do-reh-ah'],from 1435; a gratuity: sacrificial gift} of Christ."

Why are there so many Church fights and denominations in our world today? Why do local Churches have "closed Communions", where only those who are currently "on the Church rolls" are the only ones allowed to partake of the blessed Table? Why are many business meetings filled with anguish and battles, and why have I heard of one meeting where believers stooped to where they VOTED to allow certain races of people to attend THEIR Church? Why?

Because many who profess Christ do not understand the principle of ONE that Paul teaches us today. We assume that the Church is MINE, OURS, or YOURS, but often do not truly realize nor apply the truth that the Church is HIS. Look at the emphasis of our focal text.

Though in our English (KJV) text we only see "one" use of the word ONE, in the Koine Greek text we see that Paul actually uses THREE Greek words for "One". This is VERY significant.

Look how these words are used.

Our text tells us:

Ephesians 4:3 "Endeavoring to keep the unity{henotes [hen-ot-ace'] from heis; oneness, i.e. (figuratively) unanimity: - unity} of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

As members of the Family of God it is good to remember that we are "Children of the Spirit", or Spirit Born Children. We are in a saved or redeemed relationship with the Godhead because we were GIVEN this blessed state by our Savior Jesus Christ:

2 Timothy 1:8b-9 "... according to the power of God; [9]  Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began"

And again,

Titus 3:5-7 "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; [6]  Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior; [7]That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life."

We were brought into this blessed state of unity by the Blood of God the Son, through the power and action of God the Spirit, and through the unfathomable will of God the Father. In essence, the ENTIRE GODHEAD brought us into juxtaposition with one another. It is important to realize that walking the aisle, water baptism (whether sprinkling or immersion), partaking of the Table of Communion, praying pretty prayers, or singing hymns with clear voices did NOT save us. Our involvement in our actual and real salvation ended at the point where we acknowledge the NEED for and ASKED for the free gift of Grace. From that moment on the Spirit of God began to work in us, in each of us, as Paul declared:

Galatians 3:3  "Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?"

Paul was incredulous as he, under guidance of the Spirit, asked the Galatians "God began the work of salvation in you by the Spirit. Do you think that a work that He, in His infinity, began to work out by His own power - do you think that God can now turn that immense work over to you? How foolish!"

Or to put it another way, if God, the One True God, began this work of salvation in us, then will He not CONTINUE this work in us until we are as HE wants us to be? Absolutely! God is in control of the work of our salvation, both at it's inception and now, even now. As the Scripture says:

Philippians 1:6  "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ"

God does not leave the believer hanging, nor does He any more neglect the care of His children than we ourselves, who are parents, would. No, just as any sane parent who brings a child into the world will strive to feed and raise this child, even so God, who fathered us through The Blood and the Spirit, WILL NOT abandon us once we are born. No, no, to assume such a thing is to accuse Him of poor parenting, and Father is the MODEL of parenting. No, we were begun in this work by Father, by the entire Godhead. So what can we do? What does Paul say that we, who are members of Ekklesia - that special fellowship - should do?

Again our text states:

Ephesians 4:3 "Endeavoring to keep{tereo [tay-reh'-o], to place a guard on} the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

We as believers are called to TEREO, to GUARD the unity or oneness that we are in. What in the world does this mean?

Remember the beginning? Remember Adam and Eve? God the Son, Creator of all things, made the heavens, the earth, light and sun, and after making all these things He made a perfect, sinless Garden. In the midst of this Garden, on the sixth day, Jesus put Adam in the Garden and gave him one job:

Genesis 2:15  "And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress {`abad [aw-bad'], to cultivate} it and to keep {shamar [shaw-mar'], to watch over and guard it, to hedge it about with thorns} it."

When God told Adam to 'ABAD, to cultivate the Garden, this was more of an exercise in keeping busy than anything else. As of yet sin had not entered creation, and there were no weeds or thorns in the Garden to trim out or burn. Here was a PERFECT environment, a BEAUTIFUL environment, and the only thing of note that God asked Adam to do was to SHAMAR, or guard the Garden.

Guard it? From what? From Satan, the serpent, who would try to bring division into the Garden. Satan who would come in with silken lies and lead us to turn against our Creator God. Further, we were to guard the Garden from our own inferior works, and even from our own will, if that will departed from that which our Creator expressed. The work in the Garden was finished, finished by our Lord Jesus - thus, Adam had nothing to do but GUARD that which the Lord had entrusted to him.

One day, at a time before the Lord would come to the Garden, Satan came in and tempted. Man was ONE with his Creator, and his duty was merely to GUARD the Garden from that evil intruder. But Adam forgot his duty. He forgot that his job was to guard that which the Lord had committed, entrusted to him.

And in forgetting that he was to guard the Garden, man fell. And when man fell, he himself was cast out of the Garden:

Genesis 3:24  "So he (God) drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to KEEP {SHAMAR} the way of the tree of life."

How sad! The guard lost his job, and became the guarded. Man, the blessed, lost his blessing when he took his eyes off of Jesus and followed Satan. Just as Jesus owned the Garden and demanded that we guard it from the intruder, Jesus owns the Church, this Church, and demands that we guard it from Satan and his friends.

Ephesians 4:4-5 "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; [5]  One Lord, one faith, one baptism"

Throughout this text, as we said before, our Lord uses three forms of the word "One". The form of "one" used most often is the Greek HEIS, which means "numerically one". This word is used repeatedly, with:

This is logical, and makes sense. There is, indeed, only NUMERICALLY ONE God the Father, ONE God the Spirit, ONE God the Son, ONE Godhead. There is only NUMERICALLY ONE Church. Though there are many Local Churches, there is only ONE universal Body of Christ that all believers belong to. There is, indeed, only NUMERICALLY ONE faith that saves, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ - for our Savior made it so. Christianity is an EXCLUSIVE faith with an EXCLUSIVE Savior, for Jesus said:

John 14:6  "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

And again,

John 3:36  "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."

Christianity is exclusive, and can only come through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. So the use of HEIS, meaning "numerically One", makes absolute sense in each place it is used. However, there is a deeper truth here.

When the Greek text uses the same word over and over again, which it has done with HEIS (as you have seen), then we are to certainly heed where this word is used. BUT when God switches, in mid stream, to another more specific word within the context, this transition demands that we TRULY PAY ATTENTION to what has been said. In such a case, God is making a pronounced theological truth that we - walking with Him in the cool of the evening - need to apply to our lives. God does this with the word MIA, meaning "a UNIQUE ONE". This word is used only in two places:

Ephesians 4:4b - 5b "even as ye are called in one {MIA} hope of your calling; [5]  ... one {MIA} baptism ...."

The "unique" hope is easy to understand, for as believers we have a "unique" hope that no other faith has. For those in Islam, the man "hopes" to enter the presence of Allah, and enjoy for all eternity the company of seven enslaved virginal women (of course, the women have no blessing in Allah's presence). In Hinduism or reincarnate theology, the dying person hopes to achieve "Nirvana", or the special highest astral plane. But whether he does or not, it is hoped that the departed is no reincarnated as a lower animal. That would mean to "lose ground", so to speak. In Tao, the human hopes to achieve an enlightened state, and in Wiccan theology there is hope that the god and goddess will unite you with mother earth.

In these, and thousands of other world religions, the "hope" that they have, though it may be unique for that religion, has no assurance of coming to pass. God has not "signed" you, nor given you a pass, nor given you any guarantee or warranty of eternity with him.

Only in Christianity is this possible. We have a UNIQUE hope, for we have a UNIQUE (MIA) Baptism. This unique baptism is NOT WATER BAPTISM, for among humanity there are many forms of water baptism. Among mankind some local Churches sprinkle with water, whereas in other local Churches they use immersion in either fountain, lake, or stream. Some local Churches believe that water baptism of babies is appropriate, whereas other local Churches forbid such practices. Other local Churches baptize those who have died, believing that, without water baptism, they will not enter Heaven - whereas other local Churches consider the thief on the Cross next to our Lord, and believe that water baptism has no efficacy in salvation. No, among humankind we promote different forms and methods of water baptism. Some baptize in the name of Jesus Christ only, whereas others use the formula "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit".

But none of these, no matter whether correct in ritual, or incorrect in form - none of these water baptisms save the soul. When Paul said MIA BAPTISMA, or UNIQUELY ONE BAPTISM, he was not referring to water baptism at all. No, like so many other truths of God's Word, we messed up water baptism - and if we had to depend on that ritual for salvation, we would certainly be in trouble. No, Paul referred to ONE UNIQUE BAPTISM that we all who are saved receive at the moment of salvation. This is NOT something we can do, for we cannot bring ourselves into the family of God. We must be BORN into it by an action that we cannot perform. We come into the Family by Spirit Baptism:

1 Corinthians 12:13  "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit."

What gives us hope, a UNIQUELY ONE HOPE that no other faith has? We have this unique hope because we, alone, are possessed and Baptized by the Spirit of God. This Baptism uniquely IMPRINTS us with the Cross of Christ:

Romans 6:3-5 "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? [4]  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. [5]  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection"

We are marked, imprinted as Children of God by the Spirit of God, and literally marked as those who have been "buried with him by baptism into death". Water does not identify us with the death of Christ, but the Spirit does. Praise Him, for you are marked, identified by Spirit Baptism, by the Baptism performed by God, not by feeble and deceived human hands. This Baptism cannot be misinterpreted, misread, or misperformed - for God performed it at the point of our salvation.

Just as He made the Garden, He made us.

By Grace. By the Blood. By the Spirit. Into One Body.

If you do not know Jesus Christ as your Savior today, it is not too late to enter Oneness with Him. He paid the price for us. The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come". You cannot be One with God unless you recognize and call on Him who paid the price for you on that old Rugged Cross. The only thing you can bring to the project of salvation is yourself:

Galatians 3:26-27 "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. [27]  For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ."

When you call on Jesus you will be baptized into Jesus by the unique Baptism of the Spirit - and are assured of eternity in Jesus' presence. One in Jesus, through the work of the One Unique Spirit.

What a truth, praise His Holy Name!
 

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