Greetings everyone,

Today I'd like us to examine the principle elements of *the* faith - what,

in fact *was* the doctrine, the teaching, which transformed the lives of the

apostles, which bound them together as a community of likeminded

individuals, and which defined both their thinking and their way of life?

As an introduction, I'd like to quote from Brother George Booker's work

'What Are the First Principles?', and present what Brother George calls 'A

Biblical Summary of Faith':

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:

1. One body

2. One Spirit

3. One hope

4. One Lord

5. One faith

6. One baptism

7. 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":

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).

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).

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).

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).

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).

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).

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").

This, it may be seen, is a concise summary of *the* faith - a short but

highly precise and detailed summary of the *first principles* of the faith.

It is critical to note that *all* of them are described in terms of a

unity - *one* faith, *one* hope, *one* God, *one baptism, etc - which

impresses upon us even more that there is only *one* way to salvation, and

it is *the* faith.

Be strong and of a good courage.

Jonathan.