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Scripture Reading: Eph. 4:3-6, 13-16
For a proper and practical expression of the church, we need to know the oneness of the church. The proper local church and the proper practice of the church depend on how much we know the church, and oneness is the foundation and the test of the practicality of the church life. If we can pass the test of oneness, then we are proper and right in our church practice. Therefore, in order to have a proper and practical church life, we need to be very clear about the oneness of the church.
What is the oneness of the church? The fourth chapter of Ephesians makes us very clear. “Being diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace: one Body and one Spirit, even as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (vv. 3-6).
The oneness of the church is the oneness of the Spirit, which is comprised of the Triune God. Here in Ephesians 4 the seven “ones” are divided into three groups, and every group has one of the three persons of the Godhead. In the first group we see the Spirit, in the second the Lord, and in the third God the Father. In group one there is the Body, the Spirit, and the hope. Then with the second group we see the Lord, the faith, and the baptism. The last group contains God the Father. With the Spirit is the Body and the hope. With the Lord is the faith and baptism. Then there is God the Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. The Godhead in three persons is our oneness, which is realized in the Spirit.
The oneness of the church is nothing but the Triune God, the very God in three persons dispensed into us for the forming of the Body. It is quite interesting to notice that in these three groups, the Spirit is mentioned as the first, the Lord as the second, and God the Father as the third. This order is according to the formation of the Body, not according to the order of the Godhead. According to the order of the persons of the Godhead, God the Father is first, then the Lord, and then the Spirit. But according to the formation of the Body in our experience, the Spirit is first, then the Lord, and then God the Father. This is because God the Father is the source, the Lord is the course, and the Spirit is the application. It is in and with the application of the Spirit that the Body comes into existence. Without the Spirit it is impossible to have the Body.
When we have the Spirit, we are led to the Lord. When we have the Lord, we have the source who is God the Father. This is the oneness of the church. It is nothing but the Triune God realized in the Spirit. Thus, the oneness of the church is the oneness of the Spirit. The Father is in the Son, the Son is in the Spirit, and the Spirit is now in the Body. They are now four-in-one: the Father, the Son, the Spirit, and the Body.
How is all of this possible? How can the Triune God be one with the Body? It is only by faith and baptism. It is by faith that we get into the Lord and by baptism that all our oldness is ended. Faith brings us into Christ, and baptism brings us out of Adam. This is why we must believe and be baptized. It is by believing and being baptized that we are translated out of Adam and into Christ. We were born in Adam; so we were in Adam. But we were transferred out of Adam into Christ by believing and being baptized.
When we believe, we believe into Christ, and when we are buried in baptism, this burial terminates all our old relations. It is by these two things that we are in Christ and Christ is in us. Now in Christ we are one with the Triune God with a hope before us. Everything is accomplished; we only look forward to the hope. The hope is our future, our destiny, and our destination; it is the coming Christ or the coming of Christ. Christ is our hope, the hope of glory (Col. 1:27). At His return we will be glorified with Him and brought into His glory (Phil. 3:21; 1 Cor. 2:7; 1 Pet. 5:10).
This is the oneness. We are all really one in this—not one real Christian differs. We are all alike in the seven “ones.” This is our oneness, and this oneness is the oneness of the Spirit. The Spirit is the reality of this oneness.
This oneness is also the oneness of the faith, the oneness of that in which we all believe. It is the oneness of the faith by which we are saved. As in the Spirit we are one, so in the faith we are also one.
In Ephesians 4:13-14 we see two terms: the oneness of the faith and wind of teaching, which refers to doctrine. What is the difference between the faith and doctrine? The faith is composed of the things that save us if we believe in them, such as the person and the redemptive work of Christ. If we believe in these, we are saved. The faith is composed of these. These things are the faith, not the doctrine. Doctrines have nothing to do with our salvation.
Some say that their faith is in immersion. Others say that their faith is in sprinkling. But are immersion or sprinkling part of the faith? The faith is absolutely necessary for our salvation, but neither sprinkling nor immersion are so necessary. Some may be immersed who are saved, while others may be sprinkled who also are saved. So neither immersion nor sprinkling has anything to do with our salvation. This proves that neither immersion nor sprinkling is part of the faith. Neither immersion nor sprinkling are heresy; both are doctrines, but neither are a part of the faith.
The faith has something to do with our salvation. If we have it, we are saved; if we do not have it, we are lost. This is the faith. But what is doctrine? Doctrine may benefit us, but it has nothing to do with our salvation.
In today’s Christianity there are many doctrines such as head covering, foot-washing, baptism by immersion, or sprinkling. There are many doctrines which are all from the Bible but not part of the faith. They are just doctrines, having nothing to do with our salvation. Whether we have our heads covered or not, whether we practice foot-washing or not, whether we are baptized by immersion or by sprinkling, as long as we keep the faith, we are saved.
I have heard many in the past quoting Jude 3: “Contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.” Therefore, they say, we must contend for the faith. Some take baptism by immersion as a part of their faith; so they contend for it. But baptism by immersion and so many other doctrines are not part of the faith; they are just doctrines. The Bible tells us to contend for “the faith,” not for any doctrine. We must contend for “the faith,” the saving faith, not for any doctrine that has nothing to do with our salvation.
Suppose a brother in the faith insists upon sprinkling. What should our attitude be? We may feel that it is better to be immersed; but if he insists on sprinkling, we must let him do it. As long as we all have the faith in the Lord, it is sufficient. If you insist upon sprinkling, I am still one with you. Though I am not for sprinkling, I am still one with you in the faith and in the Body. I would not be divided from you in the faith and in the church by any doctrine.
We should not make any doctrine a part of the faith. If we do, we make ourselves a “church” of a certain doctrine and become a sect of that doctrine. If we insist on sprinkling or immersion and make it a part of our faith, we become a sprinkling “church” or an immersion “church.” These are not genuine churches, but divisions. Whether we practice immersion or sprinkling has nothing to do with the faith. As long as we simply keep the faith and do not make any doctrine a part of our faith, we are one. In the faith we are one; by the doctrines we are divided.
We must be exceedingly clear regarding the difference between the faith and doctrine. The faith is uniquely one, but doctrine may vary. Thus, the faith unites, but doctrine may divide. With the faith there is surely oneness, but with doctrine there is the possibility of division. Any doctrine, regardless of how good it is, can be divisive. We should be alert not to allow any doctrine to divide us. “Be no longer little children...carried about by every wind of teaching.” Any doctrine other than the faith, even the best doctrine, can be a “wind” carrying us away from taking Christ as our center and from the proper church life. If we are careless regarding the Lord’s unique purpose concerning the church and do not give it our full attention, we may be carried away from the Lord’s central purpose by the “wind” of some doctrine. We must hold Christ, cleave to His Body, and keep the oneness of the faith in the oneness of the Spirit. Never be carried away from the oneness of the faith by the wind of any doctrine. The oneness of the faith is first. We must stand for the oneness of the faith forever, not for any doctrine. Let no doctrine be a “wind” to us! We really need the Lord’s deliverance and the Lord’s protection.
In order to keep the oneness of the faith and not be carried away by the wind of doctrine, we need the growth in life. If we remain in childhood, we may be easily carried away by the wind of some doctrine. The doctrines may be good, but they are simply toys. Toys are not wrong, but toys are for children. The younger you are, the more you enjoy toys. Do you still toy with doctrines? I can assure you that the more you grow in the Lord, the more you will drop the toys of doctrine.
Ephesians 4:14-15 tells us clearly what doctrine can do if we have not grown up into Christ in all things. As long as we are children, it is easy for the subtle enemy to deceive us by using certain doctrines to distract us from the proper church life, as a wind carrying us away from the proper course. Why? Because children like toys, and the doctrines are just like toys! The more we grow in life, the more we will drop the toys of doctrine.
Forty years ago, baptism by immersion was a real toy to me, and so were many other doctrines. But by His mercy I can hardly say what toy of doctrine I still have today. We must learn never to insist on any doctrine, but just upon the faith. Doctrines divide; only the faith unites.
We all need to be delivered from the toys of all kinds of doctrines. However, it must not be an outward deliverance but a deliverance issuing from the growth in life. We need to grow. While we are still growing, we must realize that we should not insist on any toy. As long as the saints believe in the Lord Jesus as the Son of God, incarnated to be a man, dying on the cross for our sins, resurrected, and ascended to the heavens, we must be one with them. If the Lord Jesus is our unique center, there will be no problem.
While I was visiting some places in this country, there were some who asked whether it was scriptural to be baptized more than once. I did not say a word. If we have grown in the Lord, we will not pay much attention to doctrinal things. All we will care for is the faith and the oneness.
Some people are offended by sisters having their head covered. That is in large measure a matter of opinion. As long as a sister feels that she must cover her head, there is no need to oppose it. But there are also some who impose head covering, making it a legalistic matter. This is the other extreme.
Some oppose pray-reading, and some condemn loud praising. All this is dissenting opinion and unnecessary. As long as people take the Word of God and praise the Lord, regardless of the way we prefer that they do it, we should not oppose them. If we do, we go too far. On the other hand, if we insist on these things and impose them upon others, we go too far in the other direction.
Since we have seen that the local church is the practical expression of the church, we should not insist on anything but the faith. If anyone says that the Lord Jesus is not the Son of God, we must contend for it. This is contending for the faith. But if a sister feels that she does not need to have her head covered, she should be left to act according to her own feeling in this matter. This is the church life, and this is keeping the oneness. Regarding matters of dissent, the apostle teaches in Romans 14:1-6 that we should take a very liberal attitude in receiving one another in order to keep the oneness of the Body.
Now this matter of the oneness of the church is very clear to us. First of all, we should not insist on anything but the faith, and we should not impose anything other than the faith on others. Second, we should not be influenced by any kind of wind of teaching. We must “stick” to the local church. Regardless of what others teach, we should not be distracted. If we pay attention to any kind of doctrine, it will be exceedingly easy for us to be carried away by the wind of doctrine from the oneness of the Body. We must be for the local church—nothing else.
We must be just like the wood that is used to build a wooden stand. All the pieces of wood are good for nothing but the stand; they have been ruined for everything else. In the same way, we all need to be ruined for everything but the local church.
Some friends with good intentions have come to me and said, “Brother Lee, we love you, but you have taken the wrong way. If you would not take this way of the local church, but do as we do, you would be much in demand. We are so sorry for you.” They are sorry for me, but I am so happy for myself. I like to be wrecked for the local church. I like to be ruined for the church life. I am good for nothing but the church life. I do not care about a certain kind of doctrine or a certain kind of spiritual teaching; I only care for the local church.
Praise the Lord! The goal is so clear to us, and the way is so certain to us. We have no other choice but the oneness. We must not care for anything but the oneness. There is one Body, one Spirit, and one hope. There is one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. There is one God and Father of all. Therefore, we are all one. This is why we are so broad and so all-inclusive. We do not care for anything but the faith.
May we have the Lord’s grace that we may keep the oneness by the growth in life. We must grow and grow in life until we drop all the toys of different doctrines or teachings and “all arrive at the oneness of the faith” (Eph. 4:13).
At the time we were saved, we all had the oneness of the faith. But afterward, due to our childhood, we gradually picked up many different doctrines by which we were intentionally or unintentionally divided. If we grow in life, we will spontaneously and gradually drop the doctrines of dissent. The more we grow in the Lord, the more we will relinquish the doctrinal toys. The more mature we become, the less we will take pleasure in doctrines. One day, by the growth and maturity of life, we will “arrive at the oneness of the faith,” and all the toys of doctrines which immature ones keep will disappear.
Oh, how we need to return to the oneness of the faith from so many doctrines or teachings of dissent! So many of us have been carried away by the “wind of doctrine” for too long a time. Now is the time for us to be brought back. This requires a real turn to the Lord and growth in life. For the church life we need to be brought back to the oneness of the faith. For the local church we need to be brought back from all the divisive doctrines of dissent. For the Lord’s recovery of the genuine Body life, we need the genuine oneness, which is both the oneness of the Spirit and the oneness of the faith. All the divisive doctrines must go; only the Spirit and the faith should remain. May the Lord have mercy upon us and all His children.
