The positive aspects of the truth may be set forth as in Eph. 4:4-6. There we have what we might perhaps call the seven pillars of wisdom’s house.
One God—The Potentate.
One Lord—The Prince of God.
One Spirit—The Power of God.
One Body—The People of God.
One Hope—The Promise of God.
One Faith—The Purpose of God.
One Baptism—The Precept of God.
- —One God, Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, the Creator, Sustainer, Upholder of all things.” “The first of all the commandments is Hear, 0 Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord” (Mark 12: 29). Not Trinity, but Unity. Unity manifested in diversity.
- —One Lord. Son of man through Mary, David and Abraham. Son of God because begotten by the power of the Highest, and our nature and our race, the second Adam, tempted in all points, yet never guilty of personal transgression, he committed neither sin nor fault, our elder brother, he died as our representative, not substitute, is now our High Priest, higher than the angels, is coming to be King over all the world.
- —One Spirit. Not a Person, but a Power, the great power by which God made known His will through the Prophets and Apostles. By His spirit He created all things. The angels are living embodiment of the Spirit.
- —One Body. The People of God. The Ecclesia, called out ones. Christ is the head, all we are brethren, therefore neither Rabbis nor Reverends.
- —One Faith. The Purpose of God, with the earth and the man upon it, that He will in the fullness of time send the Lord Jesus to subdue the nations of the world. to restore again the Kingdom of Israel, and reign over a worldwide dominion from Jerusalem.
- —One Hope. The promise of God to raise the dead, to judge the responsible, to make the righteous equal to the Angels, Kings and Priests, teachers and rulers, and that He will glorify the earth for man’s eternal home.
- —One Baptism. God’s precept. We must be born again, immersed, not sprinkled, or poured upon. It must correspond to a burial and a planting (Rom. 6), our sins require to be washed away. We require cleansing. Except a man be born of water (now) and of the Spirit (here after), he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.
These are positive elements of the true Gospel; let us keep our feet firmly planted on the rock, and our faces Zionward, knowing that we shall not be ashamed when he comes. He has given us:
Faith to strengthen, hope to brighten,
Love to broaden, deepen, heighten,
‘Til there comes eternal day,
And all shadows flee away.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One