Ephesians 4:4-5, 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 Spirit
The Bible establishes that God is not a person; He is Spirit which is present everywhere. David stated in Psalm 139:7, 8, “(v. 7) Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? (v. 8) If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.” Proverbs 15:3 reads, “The eyes of the LORD are in every place.” I Kings 8:27 states, “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?” John 4:24 states, “God is a spirit.” I Corinthians 12:13 emphasizes, “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” II Corinthians 3:17 states, “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
In comparing the LORD Jehovah of the Old Testament to the Lord Jesus of the New Testament, we will establish there is only one Lord. Isaiah 12:2, “the LORD JEHOVAH . . . he also is become my salvation.” Thus, Jesus is Lord!
1) Old Testament: Deuteronomy 4:39 states, “Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.”
New Testament: In John 20:28, Thomas knew who Jesus was when he said unto Him, “. . . My Lord and my God.”
2) Old Testament: Deuteronomy 6:4 reminds us, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.”
New Testament: Because of the first commandment’s significance and unchanging nature, Jesus reiterates this in the New Testament (see Mark 12:29-37). Philippians 2:11 states it best: “[J]esus Christ is Lord.”
3) Old Testament: Deuteronomy 32:39 states, “See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal.”
New Testament: Luke 7:21, “And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities.”
4) Old Testament: Isaiah 43:10 states, “Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen; that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.”
New Testament: John 8:24, 27 states, “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. They understood not that he spake to them of the Father.”
5) Old Testament: Isaiah 45:18 states, “For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it.”
New Testament: Colossians 1:16 speaks of Jesus: “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth.”
6) Old Testament: Isaiah 44:6, “Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.”
New Testament: Jesus stated in Revelation 1:11, “I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.” And He was also called the King, in I Timothy 6:14-16.
7) Old Testament: Isaiah 43:11, “I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.”
New Testament: Philippians 3:20 states, “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
8) Old Testament: Isaiah 44:24 states, “Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb.” Isaiah 12:2 says, “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.”
New Testament: The Revell Bible Dictionary reports, “[J]esus, from the Hebrew word yeshua’, meaning ‘savior’ or ‘Yahweh [the LORD; Jehovah] saves’ . . .” (1). Jesus saves (see Luke 19:10), and He forgave sins (see Luke 5:20; 7:48).
One Faith
The apostle writes in Matthew 16:15-18:
(v. 15) He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? (v. 16) And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. (v. 17) And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. (v. 18) And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock [Peter’s revelation] I will build my church.”
Peter understood Jesus was the Christ. If you are going to be part of the church, you must also have faith that Jesus is the Christ, or anointed one, the Son of the Living God. The disciples referred to Him as the Christ because they knew He was the promised Messiah of the Old Testament. According to Old Testament prophesies, the Messiah (or anointed one in Hebrew) would come to deliver the people and reclaim the throne of David (Ps. 2:2-6; Christ the King, Isa. 9:7; Isa. 61:1).
When Jesus Christ came to the earth, John the Baptist had faith that Jesus was the deliverer. John, upon seeing Jesus, said boldly, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Andrew, a follower of Jesus, stated, “We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ” (John 1:41). When one acknowledges Jesus as the Christ, or the anointed one of the Old Testament, this is a statement of faith in believing that Jesus has a divine nature with the power to save. And if we look at Jesus as Savior, then He must be Jehovah in the flesh, because only the LORD of the Old Testament had the power to save (pg. 137, #’s 7, 8). Only God could forgive sins, and the Pharisees knew this. That is why they challenged Jesus’ divinity when Christ stated, “ . . . Man, thy sins are forgiven thee” (Luke 5:20). In verse 21 the scribes and Pharisees asked in an uproar, “Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?”
John 1:10 states, “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.” Jesus Christ was God in the flesh. You see the quality of God was in Christ and not the quantity because God is an invisible, immortal Spirit, which fills all space. You cannot put all of God in a box, house, or anything else because He is everywhere at all times. II Corinthians 5:19 states, “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.” John 1:1, 14 shows the incarnation of God: “(v. 1) In the beginning was the Word [or thought; plan (2)], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (v. 14) And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” God is a spirit. The Word was His thoughts, and His thoughts were expressed in the man Christ Jesus. Understand God was 100% man; He cried, slept, ate and prayed. The Bible says that man should pray without ceasing. Christ’s humanity was praying to deity to gain strength, support and guidance. However, as God, because divinity dwelt inside of humanity, He created all things, wrought miracles and had the power to redeem the lost. Jesus stated, “ . . . for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins . . . . They understood not that he spake to them of the Father” (John 8:24, 27).
We must have the faith that Christ is able to save us. If we have that faith, then we need to act upon it. James 2:19 states, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” The devils believe there is only one God. Obviously the devil is not saved. James 2:20 states, “faith without works is dead.” Faith must have an action. We will see what that action is in the next section.
One Baptism
Acts 2:38, 39 states,
Then Peter [who had the keys to the kingdom of heaven] said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
On the day of Pentecost, Peter was preaching to them the plan of salvation. Spoken in his words, we find the gospel. Peter was telling them to identify with and obey the GOSPEL.
Notice:
Paul declared this gospel of the death, burial and resurrection in I Corinthians 15:1-4:
(v. 1) Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; (v. 2) By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have BELIEVED in vain. (v. 3) For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ DIED for our sins according to the scriptures; (v. 4) And that he was BURIED, and that he ROSE AGAIN.
II Thessalonians 1:7, 8 warns us God is coming back: “ . . . taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We OBEY the gospel by doing what Peter said in Acts 2:38, 39.
On the day of Pentecost, Peter was fulfilling the command that Jesus had spoken: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the NAME of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 28:19). Notice the word name is singular. If I was to go to the house of a man by the name of Mike, who was married with kids, and I asked his children, “What is the name of your father?” The children would reply, “Mike.” If I were to go to the man’s mother and say, “What is the name of your son?” She would say, “Mike.” If I were to go to his wife and say, “What is the name of your husband?” She would say, “Mike.” You see Jesus wanted them to use his “name” in baptism. Jesus is the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. *John 5:43, Matthew 1:21 and John 14:26 declare this:
-John 5:43, “I am come in my Father’s name.”
-Matthew 1:21, “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS.”
-John 14:26, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name.”
Acts 4:12 states, “there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” From the time of our Lord’s death, we will never find in the entire Bible, anyone baptized in the titles Father, Son and Holy Ghost or any other way. They were only baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (see Luke 24:47; Acts 2:38; 8:12-17; 10:43-48; 19:2-6; 22:16).
Not only must we repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, but we must also receive the Holy Ghost. Romans 8:9 makes this clear: “Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” Christ said in John 3:5, 8, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” Jesus said when you are born of the Spirit, there will be a sound. He tells us what that sound is in John 7:38, 39: “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)” When one believes on Jesus according to the scriptures, then he shall receive the Holy Ghost. It is the Spirit of God that will flow up out of his belly, and when this happens to him a sound will be heard.
John the Baptist spoke unto the people: “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire” (Matthew 3:11). On the day of Pentecost, “there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues” (Acts 2:2-4). In Acts 10:44-46, Peter went to Cornelius’ house, a Gentile. While Peter yet spoke the Word to Cornelius and his family, the Holy Ghost fell on them that heard the Word. The disciples then realized the Gentiles had received the Holy Ghost, “For they heard them speak with tongues” (Acts 10:46). Isaiah 28:11-12 testifies of this day, “(v. 11) For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. (v. 12) To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear” (see also Mark 16:17; John 14:16-18; 14:26; Acts 19:6). Let no man deceive you; prophecies, tongues and knowledge shall not cease until “that which is perfect is come [Jesus Christ]” (I Cor. 13:8-10).
Jesus said, “ . . . ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). If you have not repented, been baptized in Jesus’ name and filled with the Holy Ghost, then you need to contact your local Apostolic Pentecostal or United Pentecostal Church!
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