Praize Blogs

“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are 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).

V.4 - The “one body” is the church made up of Jews and gentiles. We are all of the same body and Spirit, and of the same mind. We are born from above by Jesus, baptized in water, and baptized in the Spirit. We may come from several different denominations, and we may attend services at different buildings, but that doesn’t matter.  The church is the people who form body. All true Christians are members under Christ. All who claim the rebirth by water and Spirit, and who worship the Lord according to the Bible, are of the same body. Does that mean all who claim they are Christians are part of the body? No. Why not? Let’s read 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.”  It is made clear in John 1:12 that it is those who receive the Lord (into their hearts) and believe on His name that “He is the Son of God” who are born-again.  Unless one repents and seeks forgiveness and invites Jesus into their heart, they cannot be saved.  It is NOT by works (Ephesians 2:8, 9).  No matter how good you are, no matter how much you do for others, no matter how much you pray and serve in church, you are not saved until you “confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead” that you are saved. (Romans 10:9, 10)

We are to think of others first. That doesn’t mean we have to think of ourselves as useless, or worthless, but rather, no more than equal with others. Our job in the church body is not more important than someone else’s. The church will not close its doors if you leave there. Your services are valuable, as long as you do them with the right spirit, but they are not irreplaceable. Also, you are not more valuable to God so that He would save you first before anyone. He loves us all the same, and that’s how we need to love others and ourselves.

My friend who put many hours into teaching me about the Lord, Pat Knight, calls Christians cannibals. That can be confirmed in Galatians 5 where it’s talking about love and how it fulfills the Law.  In verse 15 it says, “But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!"  It is a very real problem in the body.  We need to learn to put the best interest of others first.  That does not mean we go without.  It means we treat others as we would like them to treat us.

The Holy Spirit of God is He who calls us unto salvation. He gives life, convicts us of sin, reveals things to us, and makes us whole in our faith. He is our Comforter, our prayer Partner who prays with words to deep to understand so they sound like groanings (Romans 8:26). The Spirit is our seal. Because of all this, we need to work toward the Unity of the Spirit we talked about last week. If we are not humble, and are not working in the unity of the Spirit, we cannot produce good, juicy fruits. 

What is the hope of your calling? It is your home in heaven one day. When you were called, you answered, so you have been promised a new living area in Christ’s mansion. One day you will take up residence in that mansion. Also, you have been promised that crowns will be waiting for you in heaven. They are the crowns of Life: Joy: Righteousness: Glory, and the Imperishable. What are we going to do with those crowns? We will joyfully cast them at Jesus feet in worship. Why? It is because we love Jesus for what He did for us.  He deserves anything we can give back. Who will get these crowns? Anyone who loves the Lord Jesus and fulfills the requirement for each crown, and has accepted Him as Savior will be blessed to receive them.  There are no exceptions to the rule. Not everyone will receive all five, though.

V.5 - There is one Lord. Christ is not divided (I Corinthian 1:13). “Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?" There is only one first born of God, and that’s Jesus. Jesus is the Bridegroom of the church, and therefore, we must submit to Him in all things. He is the Only Lord over the Body. Since Jesus paid the price to buy us out of hell, we belong to Him body and soul. We need to glorify the Lord because of His great love for us. 

What is faith? It is a steadfast belief in a Higher Power. There are varying degrees of faith. There is the conditional faith that says, “If this chair is strong, and the legs are intact, and there are nails or something to hold it all together, I can sit on it and it will hold me.” There is temporary faith that says, “I trust you right now, until you show me I can’t trust you.” Then there is absolute faith. That’s the only kind God is interested in. We need to believe unconditionally that God is our Source. Without Him we are nothing. With Him, we can do all things. Philippians 4:13 tells us that we can do all things through Christ who gives us the strength. Who is Christ? He is The Son of God. 

One baptism is the water baptism that we participate in to demonstrate publicly our love for God. It symbolizes the dead man being buried, and the new man being born of water. We are baptized, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost because we believe in the Triune God, and have claimed Him as our own. Public baptisms are a wonderful witnessing tool, and should be done at a beach any time possible. But one must never be denied the right to be baptized because of the season. If it’s too cold outside, do it inside, but advertise it publicly.

V.6 - There is one God and Father of all. He is the Creator, the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent Giver of life. He is the only living God who actually can communicate with us. We are in Him because we are His children. We are His by creation, by design, and by choice. Let’s look at John 1:10-13. "He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."  Because we believe in Him, we were given the right to claim Him as our own.

There are seven “ones” in this portion of Scripture. They are: One Body, One Spirit, One Hope, One Lord, One faith, One baptism, and One God and Father. I will paraphrase Walvoord and Zuck a little.  In their commentary, they say that the Spirit revitalizes the body of all believers so we have hope. These bodies are united in one Jesus Lord and identify with Him through baptism. And God the Father is supreme over all bodies, and resides in all saved hearts. He says this is the unity of the Trinity.

Praise God.

More studies at http://www.newbeginmin1.org/BIBLESTUDYOPENING.html