By Ken Blue
Ephesians 4:3-6 “Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 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.”
There are two vitals that must exist for a church to remain healthy and productive. These are unity of fellowship and unity of doctrine. Local churches may differ, and survive. However, unity within individual churches is critical. The above text is about doctrinal unity.
THE ONE BODY. Although there are multitudes of local churches and denominations, and each differs in some way. However, there is in reality only one body of Christ. All believers are members of that one body.
ONE SPIRIT. There are many operations of the Spirit, yet it is the same Spirit. Every believer has the same Holy Spirit. It is important that believers understand how the Spirit works in each dispensation.
ONE HOPE. All believers have the same hope awaiting them. That hope is described in Paul’s epistles.
ONE LORD. In spite of the bleeding heart liberals, there is only ONE LORD. That Lord is the Lord Jesus Christ.
ONE FAITH. That faith is the body of truth of this dispensation. Most of the divisions exist because of a failure to rightly divide the Scriptures.
ONE BAPTISM. This is not water baptism. Rather, it is the baptism by the Spirit into Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection when we believed on Him. (1 Cor. 12:13; Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:27). All the saved have this one baptism.
ONE FATHER. There is one Father who rules over all, dwells in all, and acts through all. What unity is this! It belongs to all believers, and is to be embraced by faith.
Pastor Ken Blue was born in Boswell, Ark. In 1955 he accepted Christ as his Savior. He and his wife Joyce were married in 1955. They have 5 children. He graduated from Midwestern Baptist Bible College in 1969 and started the Open Door Baptist Church in Lynnwood, Wa. where he pastored for 39 years. Because of health issues (ALS) he was forced to resign as pastor. It is his desire to continue to be used of God to help pastors and believers through this ministry.
Amen brother! All born again Christians have God the Holy Spirit living inside of us, and we are joined together through Him, through the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
There are too many people who believe water baptism saves. It is a command and symbolic but it does not save the soul.
Brother Ken,
Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Is the seal given in Ehp 1:13 the baptism of the Holy Spirit or is it something else?
Thanks
Chette