Ephesians 4:1-8 “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 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. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.”
Some of you will remember the epic western movie of the 1960’s featuring the Magnificent Seven who rescue a Mexican village from the tyranny of thugs. Today, I wish to speak on the Magnificent seven contained in our text that underscores the unity of the Christian church.
Ephesians is a doctrinal letter written with special focus on the church as the Body of Christ. Love coupled with the endeavour to keep the unity is embracing the seven ones.
There are more than 4200 religions in the world. Which one is right?
There is only one, yes only one church. Religious labels, such as Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Baptist and so forth are mere denominational labels. The label does not determine the content. Every person irrespective of the label they choose to use, who confesses Christ as Saviour, Romans 10:9 “is saved, and is a member of Christ’s Body the church.”
How can we keep the unity—The Seven Ones:
1. There is only ONE BODY, the Body of Christ, authentic, genuine, historic and Biblical Christianity, the church.
2. There in only ONE SPIRIT (many Christians came out of paganism that believed in a spirit for every emotion and purpose), but as Christians, there is only ONE SPIRIT.
3. ONE HOPE, the rapture and return of Christ—please refer to 1 Thessalonians 4:11-18.
4. ONE LORD, Jesus is exalted as the ONE LORD the Mediator.
5. ONE FAITH or confession that forms the foundation of faith.
6. ONE BAPTISM, a diligent and careful reading of the Scriptures speaks of several baptisms—water baptism, washing rituals, fire baptism, etc. Not all references to baptism contain water. Romans 6:1-4 and 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 speaks of being baptised by the Spirit into Christ’s Body. It is this baptism that unites us all as members of Christ’s Body.
7. ONE GOD and FATHER. Pagans are either Pantheists (all is god) or Polytheists (many gods). To the Christian there is only ONE TRIUNE GOD.
