Articles
One, & Only One
“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” (Ephesians 4:4-6)
Jesus is our Lord (Acts 10:36), our faith must be that of Christ (James 2:1) as revealed in His Gospel (Phil 1:27), a faith for God's elect (Titus 1:1), and a faith we must obey (Acts 6:7). The baptism mentioned above is clearly described in scripture as an immersion, for a purpose (Acts 2:38, Titus 3:4-7, John 3:5, 1 Cor 12:13) and is a result of our belief and decision to obey the faith of Jesus the Christ.
It is urgent that we preach and teach the "one" way to God, because so many false teachings ideas and theologies suggest there are many ways to God, and we simply need to choose the one that best fits our lifestyle. That could not be further from the truth. Those teachings come from human origins, and God warns repeatedly about such teachings.
God will send Jesus back some day of His choosing, to claim His own, His church, the "one body", who has submitted to the authority of the "one Lord", believed and submitted to the "one faith" and been baptized with the "one baptism". Scripture makes this clear. The one Lord, through scriptures has made His Gospel known to all nations, for the purpose of allowing people to be obedient to the faith (Romans 16:26).
Mankind has distorted those teachings to the point it is almost impossible to identify the one true church, however, through scripture we can still look at the pattern and see if we fit. Certainly, we are not without spot or blemish, we will never be perfect, but Jesus came to fix our imperfections, to present us to God pure and Holy.
Let us be certain we have submitted to the "one Lord", Christ, through our belief and submission to the "one faith", and making sure our baptism is what scripture decrees to be the "one baptism". If we haven't, our hope is not the "one hope", we are not part of the "one body", the "one Spirit" is not dwelling within us, and we have missed Christ's calling.
