How did we get here?

​There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
(Ephesians 4:4-5)

One of the definitions of the word faith is “a system of religious belief.”  If we substitute that definition into Ephesians 4:5, we would get “One Lord, one system of religious belief, one baptism.”  According to an estimate by the Center for the Study of Global Christianity (CSGC) at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, there are approximately 45,000 Christian denominations in the world as of 2019.  A denomination is “an identifiable religious body under a common name, structure, and doctrine within Christianity” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_denominations).  What happened to one body and one faith?”  And how did we get from one body/faith to 45,000 bodies/faiths?

To start, we will show that Jesus is the one Lord and the head of the one body.  Then, we will show that the Apostles (who spent over 3 years with Jesus) taught only one faith.  Finally, we will see the warnings that the Bible gives us about the proliferation of different bodies/faiths and that the end result is the broad way to destruction.  We must look to the Bible for answers because:

• All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:  (2 Timothy 3:16)
  
• In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)
  
• And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

Let’s begin by looking to the one Lord, Jesus Christ.  We know He is the one Lord because The New Testament uses the phrase “Lord Jesus” 115 times, Deuteronomy 6:4 tells us that “The Lord our God is one Lord” (Jesus names this as the “first commandment of all” in Mark 12:29), and Jesus says “I and my Father are one” in John 10:30 and “he that hath seen me hath seen the Father” in John 14:9.  Therefore, Jesus is the Father and the Son, the one God manifest in the flesh (I Timothy 3:16), and the one Lord referenced in Ephesians 4:5. 

Since Jesus taught “as one that had authority” (Matthew 7:29, Mark 1:22) let’s look to Him and those that walked with Him (the Apostles) for answers.  Jesus states in Luke 24:44, “These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.”  He is referring to the books of the Old Testament and the prophecies contained in them about Him.  Of these many prophesies, Jesus quotes Psalm 118:22 in Matthew 21:42, Mark 12:10 and Luke 20:17:

• The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. (Psalm 118:22)
  

Jesus used the above Psalm at the end of a parable that the chief priests and the Pharisees perceived (correctly) was directed at them (see Matthew 21:33-46, Mark 12:1-12 and Luke 20:9-19).  As the leaders of the Jews at that time, they refused (by conspiring to have Him crucified) the head cornerstone, Jesus.  What is He the head cornerstone of?

• Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; (Ephesians 2:19-20) 
  
• For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. (Ephesians 5:23-24)
  
• And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. (Colossians 1:18)

He is the head and chief cornerstone of the household of God, the church.  And the church is the one body that He is the savior of.  And as the head of the body, He is “the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). 

Of all the times Jesus spoke about faith, one instance stands out in Matthew 8:5-13 and Luke 7:1-10, because of the reaction Jesus had to the faith of a Roman centurion (military officer):

• The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. (Matthew 8:8-10)

Why did Jesus marvel at the faith of the centurion?  It was because the officer understood that being under authority means being obedient to that authority.  Faith is obedience to the one Lord and His Word.  If there is one Lord, then there can only be one faith in that Lord.  This is why the Apostles spoke of the faith (singular) in the Book of Acts which chronicles the beginning of the Church following the outpouring of the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost.  And doesn't it make sense to find out what the Apostles (who were first-hand witnesses of the one Lord and His words) did within the first few years after Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection and ascension?

• And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. (Acts 3:16)
  
• And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith. (Acts 6:7)
  
• And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily. (Acts 16:5)

In fact, faiths (plural) is not found anywhere in the Bible.  There is only one “faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15).  So, how did we get from one faith to 45,000 faiths?

We find that Jesus (the One Lord himself) warned us of this happening in Matthew Chapter 7.

• Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. (Matthew 7:13-15)

If the way that leads to life is narrow, doesn’t that sound like one faith?  And if the way that leads to destruction is broad, doesn’t that sound like 45,000 faiths?  Jesus, as the beginning and the ending (Revelation 1:8), knew that false prophets would come disguised as part of the faith, but in reality, would lead many astray from the narrow way back to the “highway to hell.”  How would they do this?  Again, Jesus tells us several ways, one of which is found in Matthew 15:

• But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?  (Matthew 15:3)
  
• This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. (Matthew 15:8-9)

Tradition does not trump God because tradition comes from men.  In this example, the wolf in sheep’s clothing is tradition dressed up as faith.  Faith comes from the heart (not the mind) and we’ve already mentioned the one faith that matters, that is faith in the one Lord, Jesus Christ. 

As the Apostles were working to follow the commandment that Jesus gave them (described in the last few verses of Matthew, Mark and Luke), the one faith was already under attack.  Paul warned the church members at Ephesus in Acts 20:

• Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. (Acts 20:28-30)

Paul says that even some members of the church would rise and draw disciples away.  If they are drawn away, then they would no longer be in the one faith.  They would have to be in a different faith, heading down the broad way to destruction.  This is why Paul “ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears” (Acts 20:31).  And it is why he wrote that there is only “One Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:5).  Paul, Peter, James and the other Apostles followed the one Lord in one faith obeying His commandment for one baptism (more on that part next time).  The question for each one of us is, are we?