One Body

By Brian Mitchell     There is hardly a congregation of the Lord’s church today—Large or Small—that is not feeling some type of pressure to change. Whether it comes from within or without, there is mounting pressure today to alter our teachings about the nature of the church, salvation and worship. This pressure can be either good or bad—positive or negative.     It can be positive if it causes us to examine closely what we believe and make sure that it is in accordance with the Word of God. If it helps us to be able to distinguish between the Truth of God’s Word and the Traditions of Men—holding to the former while being willing to let go of the latter. It can be negative, if in an attempt to ease the pressure or simply to be more like those around us, we are willing to give up any of the essentials of our faith. That are dictated to us by the Word of God and thus not subject to change.     It does not matter if they are popular or not, there are certain limits beyond which we cannot go, if we are to remain pleasing to God—Gal.1:6-9. Regardless of what is often heard from the “change-agents” among us, we cannot alter, adapt or change in any way the foundational principles and practices of the Lord’s church. And to do so would be of no benefit to ourselves or to those we would “supposedly” be reaching by doing so.     I believe that it was Barton Stone that long ago said: “In matters of faith, Unity, In matters of Opinion, Liberty and In all things, Love.” While I wholeheartedly agree with the principles behind these sentiments, the practice of them, even in the Lord’s church, has never come easily. What are matters of faith and opinion to one individual or group is often quite different than what is considered to be so by another group. And there has often been anything but love, expressed towards one another by those on opposing sides.     Is there any way that we can know what are and are not matters of faith upon which our unity is built and maintained? How Do We know the Biblical Limits of Faith and Practice Beyond which We May not Go? While I wish there was, within the Bible, a concise list of all the things that we must believe, practice and teach, the reality is that it is not quite that simple. If we were looking for one place in the NT that provides us with insight into the principles upon which the Unity of the Christian Faith is built, Eph.4 would be that passage.     The Basis of this Series—Eph.4:4-6. It is here that Paul provides 7 Foundational Pillars that serve as the foundation of the Christian Faith. Any one of which removed will cause the entire structure to crumble. There is ONLY ONE Body, Spirit, Hope of Your Calling, Lord, Faith, Baptism and God the Father of All. Thus, if an individual or groups teachings conflict with one of the 7 principles found in our passage, unity is destroyed.     If one teaches that one religious group is as good as another, they are violating the teaching that there is only 1 Body. And this teaching would destroy the unity for which Christ prayed and died, thus making our walk unworthy of our calling. So our goal beginning this week, is to more fully understand the 7 Ones and specifically to understand the One Body, of which Paul speaks in Eph.4:4.

- Brian Mitchell served as a minister with the Jackson Church of Christ in Jackson, MO. Visit the congregation's website at https://www.jacksonchurchofchrist.net