5. A Biblical “Summary of Faith”
In writing to the ecclesia in Ephesus, Paul
appeals for unity of mind and fellowship among believers there based on their
mutual acceptance of seven “ones”:
“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” (Eph. 4:4-6).
The enumeration of these seven
“unities” has the distinctive appearance of a “summary of
faith”, a statement of faith which is wholly Biblical. Some writers
(Marcus Barth, “Ephesians 4-6”, Anchor Bible, pp. 462, 463;
Alfred Barry, “Ephesians”, Ellicott’s Commentary, Vol.
8, p. 36; Francis Foulkes, “The Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians”,
Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, p. 112) suppose that Paul is in fact
citing a concise yet precise doctrinal summary known to the worldwide church or
ecclesia of his day:
- One body
- One
Spirit
- One hope
- One
Lord
- One faith
- One
baptism
- One God
The seven “ones” may be defined by
comparing especially Paul’s use of the same words elsewhere. This produces
a credible statement of essential doctrines — which defines the
distinctive truths we believe, and sets that system of truth apart from various
false “gospels”:
1. One body: The unity of all believers,
and specifically both Jews and Gentiles, reconciled to God on the same basis
(Eph. 2:16). One body, bound together in love with Christ as the head (Eph.
4:12-16; Rom. 12:1,4,5; 1 Cor. 12:12-27). Also, one body as
“husband” and “wife”: the “great mystery” of
Christ and the church, or ecclesia (Eph. 5:23,28,30). Finally, the “one
body” of the church is equivalent to the “one bread” of
communion or fellowship with Christ (1 Cor. 10:16,17; 11:24,27,29). Thus
“one body” defines the ecclesia in terms of fellowship, both
inclusively (all true believers being members) and exclusively (no others being
members).
2. One Spirit: The Holy Spirit of God, by
which prophets and apostles were inspired to record the one truth, and by which
the Bible itself was written, validated, and preserved. This was the Spirit of
truth, or the Comforter, which came to the apostles, to teach them the words of
Jesus (John 14:17,26; 15:26; 16:13). As there is one true Spirit, or Teacher,
the others must be false “spirits” or teachers (1 Tim. 4:11; cp. 1
John 4:1-3) when they teach other doctrines contrary to that which the apostles
received and taught (Gal. 1:8-11).
3. One hope: In Paul’s own words
elsewhere, the one “hope” is the hope of a resurrection (Acts 23:6;
24:14,15), the hope of the promises made to the fathers (Acts 26:6-8; Rom.
4:13-18), and the hope of Israel (Acts 28:20) — that is, the kingdom of
Israel restored (Acts 1:6; 3:19-21; 2 Sam. 7:12-14; Luke 1:30-33). Thus the
“one hope” must also be the hope of Christ’s appearing and
kingdom (Acts 1:11; Col. 1:5; Tit. 2:13) and the hope of eternal life (Tit. 1:2;
3:7). Those who are “without Christ” have “no hope”
(Eph. 2:12).
4. One Lord: References to “the
Lord” in Paul’s writings are too numerous to catalog here. The
essence of Bible teaching about the “one Lord” might be summarized,
however: Jesus is the one Lord because he is the only-begotten Son of God, and
the one man in whom all mankind (that is, all believers) are included (Eph.
4:11-16; 2 Cor. 5:14-17). He was the one man to lead a perfect life, and
therefore the one man capable of dying as the perfect representative sacrifice
for all men. Thus he was raised from the dead (Phil. 2:8-12) to become the head,
or Lord, of all who would have eternal life in him (Rom. 5:12,18,19). A final
point: as the “one Lord”, Jesus is always personally distinct from
the “one God” (Eph. 4:5,6; 1 Cor. 8:4-6; 1 Tim.
2:5).
5. One faith: Faith in the crucified and
risen Christ is the one and only means to salvation (Acts 4:12; Rom. 3:22-31;
Gal. 3). By such faith — in prospect — even Abraham was justified,
or declared righteous (Rom. 4:1-5; cp. Rom. 3: 25 and Heb. 9:15). By faith
sinners may be forgiven (Rom. 4:6-8), apart from their own works or acts of
righteousness (Eph. 2:8,9).
6. One baptism: The one baptism (i.e., the
only true baptism) is that which is preceded by belief in the one gospel, as
defined in the list. Paul knows only one form of baptism: a burial (Rom. 6:3,4;
Col. 2:12) in water. Baptism is the means by which believers become heirs of the
promises made to Abraham and his “seed” (Gal.
3:27-29).
7. One God: The last of the seven
“unities” in Paul’s list is actually the first and greatest
“unity”, from which all other “unities” are derived.
“One God”, as distinct from even His own Son (1 Cor. 8:6; Gal.
3:19,20; 1 Tim. 2:5). The “one God” is the “Father” of
one Divine family, all made one in Him because of His love for them, as shown
through His Son (Eph. 3:14-21).
Positive teachings
The essential doctrines derived directly from
Paul’s “summary of faith” in Ephesians 4 are listed below.
The references 1 through 7 are to the preceding seven numbered
“unities”. For ease of future reference, the essential doctrines are
listed in the general order familiar to readers of our common statement of
faith.
-
The Bible (the teachings and
writings of prophets and apostles), the only source of truth and the only hope
of eternal life
(2).
-
One God, the
Father of all (7).
-
The
Holy Spirit, God’s power unto salvation
(2).
-
The one Lord,
Jesus, the Son of God, who is distinct from God Himself, being a man and the
head of all men, by virtue of his perfectly obedient life
(4).
-
The one Body: all
men — both Jews and Gentiles — who have been reconciled to God
through the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ
(1).
-
The forgiveness
of sins, only through faith in Christ
(5).
-
Christ as the one
mediator between God and men
(4).
-
The second coming
of Christ (3).
-
The
resurrection of the dead
(3).
-
The reward of the
faithful with immortality
(3).
-
The fulfillment
of the promises to the fathers: eternal possession of the earth
(3).
-
The kingdom of
Israel restored
(3).
-
The one true
gospel, which cannot be altered
(5).
-
Baptism (total
immersion), only after belief of the gospel and repentance
(6).
-
The memorial
supper, expressive of fellowship (inclusive and exclusive) in the family of God
(1).
“Doctrines to be
rejected”
Certain false doctrines are very directly and
distinctly ruled out by belief in the positive teachings summarized
above:
-
The “trinity”,
and the pre-human existence and “divinity” of Christ (all being
contrary to the “one
God”).
-
The
immortality of the “soul” (contrary to the “one
hope”).
-
Heaven-going
(contrary to the “one
hope”).
-
The
earth literally burned up (contrary to the “one
hope”).
-
A
superhuman fallen angel “devil” or “Satan” (contrary to
both the “one God” and the “one
Lord”).
-
Infant-sprinkling
(contrary to the “one
baptism”).
-
Universal
salvation (contrary to the “one
hope”).