Ephesians 4:4-6 “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you also were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.”
Pastor Herk continued that the second tie is though the work of God the Son. Our passage of Scripture says “one Lord, one faith, one baptism”. The Lord is at the center of this seven-fold unity. There is to be unity in the body of Christ and there can only be one Lord, and that one Lord is the head of the body, Jesus Christ; the very center of who we are as Christians. In John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.” But unfortunately, in our culture today Jesus has even become the source of division among Believers who claim to follow Him as Lord. Many have a false Jesus that they have fashioned in their mind to fit the immoral life-style and prideful ethics of their own sinful flesh desires. Unique individuals would come up with unique answers to what Jesus world do in specific situations based upon their egotistic covetous cravings to justify their ungodly behavior, in essence saying “the I know would do what I want to do”.
During His earthly ministry, Jesus performed many miraculous healings by many supernatural methods. We can get our focus on Jesus’ methods rather than making Him Lord and Savior; realizing that all we need is the one Lord Jesus. Because there is only one Lord, there is only one faith. In theology, faith is defined as the assent of the mind or understanding to the truth of what God has revealed. Simple belief of the scriptures, of the being and perfections of God, and of the existence, character and doctrines of Christ, founded on the testimony of the sacred writers, is called historical or speculative faith. Evangelical, justifying, or saving faith, is the assent of the mind to the truth of divine revelation, on the authority of God's testimony, accompanied with a cordial assent of the will or approbation of the heart; an entire confidence or trust in God's character and declarations, and in the character and doctrines of Christ, with an unreserved surrender of the will to his guidance, and dependence on his merits for salvation. In other words, that firm belief of God's testimony, and of the truth of the gospel, which influences the will, and leads to an entire reliance on Christ for salvation. Are you faithful Followers of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior?
Ephesians 3:14-19 “I bend my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner self, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints [whose who have been sanctified] what is the width and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to all the fullness of God.” Faith is connected to Jesus Christ. There is only one kind of faith that can save a Sinner; saving faith is clearly defined as trusting Jesus Christ alone for eternal life. So, only one true body of belief in one true doctrine centered in the teachings and finished work of Jesus Christ on the Cross and the resurrection that unites us, trusting completely in Him as the basis for our relationship with almighty Father God.
Romans 6:3-4 “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life.” The third element of God the Son’s work is one baptism. The Greek word for “baptism” in this passage is “baptisma”, meaning immersion, submersion, so of Christian baptism; baptism is a rite of immersion in water as commanded by the Lord Jesus Christ, by which one after confessing his sins and professing his faith in Christ, having been baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for the cleansing of sin, been born again by the Holy Spirit unto a new life, identifies publicly with the fellowship of Christ and the church. In John 3:5-6Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, and that which has been born of the Spirit is spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:13 “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” The Greek word here for “baptism” here is “baptizo”, meaning to cleanse by dipping or submerging, to wash, to make clean with water, to wash one's self, bathe. Are you washed in the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb of God for the forgiveness in sin? The Holy Spirit is the instrument and means by which we are baptized. The indwelling Holy Spirit is given to born again Believers at baptism to guide them in life, but who gives us the Holy Spirit? Mark 1:7-8says that John the Baptist was preaching, saying, “After me One [Christ who has strength of soul to sustain the attacks of Satan, strong and therefore exhibiting many excellences] is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to bend down and untie the straps of His sandals. I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Baptism points to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Let's conclude Pastor Herk's message on the Flock of Jesus in the next post. In Christ, Brian
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