How Many Brands of Faith Are There?

The prophet Isaiah declared that the way of Christ would be so simple that even fools could understand it (Isa.35:8). There is no reason, then, for anyone to be ignorant of the truth. The knowledge of God in Christ is freely given to all who diligently seek it.

Isn't it right to believe that if there is one God, that He has ONLY one faith? So many conflicting doctrines are proclaimed in the name of Jesus that some have thrown their hands up in pretended frustration, as though they hunger and thirst for the truth of God, and strive to find it, yet cannot. They make little or no sincere effort to seek God and then excuse themselves, pointing to the confusion among Christians, who say they love Jesus and know the Bible. If a person is really seeking the true faith, he will have to search for it outside of "Christianity" because Christianity is divided. Christianity has a thousand different denominations, who hold to a thousand different beliefs. None of them are the "one truth" if they all tolerate others who believe false things about God, yet lay hold to the name of Jesus Christ. If you are in a denomination in Christianity, you better believe that ONLY your denomination is the right way to Christ Jesus, and that all others are false, and therefore, must be rejected. Otherwise YOU are in error, partaking of dividing the precious body of Christ, and working contrary to the prayers of Jesus that his believers be one. ONE means one doctrine, one truth, one love, one faith, and one body. ANY division of the fellowship in the Spirit of God is sin. Let's be practical: If you are in the Assembly of God, you MUST denounce the United Pentecostals . . . and have nothing to do with them (and vice-versa of course). You have two different doctrines, but there is only one faith. One of you is wrong (however the wise will consider that perhaps BOTH of you are wrong!) May we show you a better way? The way of Christ Jesus?

God has commanded no one to search for Him by digging through the labyrinthine doctrines of men. Every person who searches in sincerity for God and His truth finds Him - every one! If you desire to know the truth, you can. In Jesus, the way has been made for everyone who hungers to know God. If you do not know the truth, it can only be because you have not yet striven in faith to find it. You have the Bible; you have time to pray; and you have an open door from God. That is all that is needed. The many confusing, contradictory doctrines invented by Christians have nothing at all to do with your search for truth. Don't look to them; look to Jesus.

Here are the Seven Pillars, the seven foundations of the gospel, as listed by Paul in Ephesians 4:4-6:

• One Body
• One Spirit
• One Hope
• One Lord
• One Faith
• One Baptism
• One God

These seven pillars make up the foundation of the gospel of Christ. They all are easily understood. All of them are precious. Error can be easily seen, when the doctrines of any group contradict any of these pillars. The apostle Paul was honored to be the one who laid out this foundation for the body of Christ to build upon. As he himself wrote, "According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon" (1Cor.3:10). Then, we should carefully consider these seven pillars, that we may build upon them rightly, beginning with the:

ONE BODY

To the saints at Ephesus, Paul wrote, "There is one body". Yes, there is only one body (or "congregation") that is truly of God, whether its members be scattered among various religious groups, as taught by some, or all belong to one religious organization, as claimed by others. To determine who is in the body, we need only determine how one enters it, or we could say, how one is born again. Only if we know how one is born again can we ever discern the "one bod". If God puts a person into the body, they are in it regardless of what men would say. One thing we do know, and that is there is only ONE body... and to endorse more than one is error and against the will of God for his people. This truth will be revealed as we continue.

ONE SPIRIT

From Genesis to Revelation the holy Spirit is given various descriptive titles, such as, "the Spirit of God" (Gen.1:2), "Spirit of the Lord" (Isa.11:2), "Spirit of grace" (Zech.12:10), "holy Spirit" (Luke 11:13), "Spirit of truth" (Jn.14:17), "Comforter" (Jn.15:26), "eternal Spirit" (Heb. 9:14), "Spirit of adoption" (Rom.8:15), "Spirit of life" (Rom.8:2), "holy Ghost" (Mt.1:18), and others too numerous to mention here. All these titles refer to the same Spirit.

To show this another way, we offer these things that the holy Ghost is said to do, which in other Scriptures the Spirit is said to do. For examples: Sanctification: by the holy Ghost (Rom.15:16); by the Spirit (2Thess.2:13). Spiritual gifts given: by the holy Ghost (Heb.2:4); by the Spirit (1Cor. 12:4). Believers taught: by the holy Ghost (1Cor.2:13); by the Spirit (Jn.16:13). Believers pray: in the holy Ghost (Jude 20); in the Spirit (1Cor.14:16). Dwell ing in saints: the holy Ghost (1Cor.6:19); the Spirit (Eph. 2:2.).

The Bible offers many examples of men using various titles for the Spirit. Samuel told Saul (1Sam. 10:6) that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon him, but when it happened (v.10), we read that "the Spirit of God came upon him". For another example, we find in Acts 5:3 that Ananias and his wife "lied to the holy Ghost", but in verse 9 it was the Spirit of the Lord against which they had sinned. Again, using Joel's voice, God promised that He would "pour out my Spirit upon all flesh" (2:28). When this prophecy was fulfilled, the promised Spirit is called the holy Ghost (Acts 2:4). To confirm this, Peter says in verse 16, "This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel." Time and space forbid the presentation of more examples, but the point is amply made: There is only one holy Spirit, called by many different names.

ONE HOPE

The one hope of the saints is "the hope of salvation" (1Thess.5:8). Unbelievers are "strangers from the covenants of promise, having NO HOPE, and without God in the world" (Eph.2:12). Other ways of stating this hope is the "hope of eternal life" (Tit.1:2), or "hope of glory" (Col.1:27). Eternal life is promised to God's people, "unto which promise", said Paul, "our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come" (Acts 26:7).

In the early 20th century, many believers began to claim to receive salvation at the moment of conversion. They were persuaded to believe that they "got saved" when they came to Christ; and in spite of the fact that it has no biblical basis at all, this error became widely accepted. "Salvation" is not "conversion". Salvation is the one hope of believers, a hope which the world does not have. Believers long for Jesus to return and to save them from the wrath of God, soon to come upon this wicked world. That is the sure hope of the congregation in Christ. If Jesus does not come again, believers are hopelessly doomed, with every one else. As Paul wrote, "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable" (1Cor.15:19).

No, my believing friend, you are not saved yet. If Christ by his Spirit dwells in your heart, then you have the hope of eternal glory (Col.1:27), a hope which the world does not have. And we should, as Peter exhorted us, "be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear" (1Pet.3:15). Let us then humbly confess Christ everywhere we go, in deed and in word, for "confession is made unto salvation". Pointing us to our hope, the Master said, "Many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved" (Mt.24:11-13). If you belong to any group that is teaching they are saved "now", get out. That is not the real congregation at all, but a "pretender". The real congregation are those who are being led by the Spirit of God, and loving the right ways of Christ.

ONE LORD

There is nothing here to argue; yet, for the benefit of those who may not yet know it, let us state clearly that Jesus of Nazareth, God's only begotten Son is "both Lord and Christ". He is the head of the one body, the firstborn of the dead, and is exalted by his Father "above the heavens". And as we read: "All power in heaven and in earth is given to him, and in everything he has the preeminence. Jesus is the one Lord of all" (Acts 10:36).

ONE FAITH

Throughout the New Testament we are commanded to "earnestly contend for the [one] faith which was once delivered to the saints." Moreover, Paul tells us that "[Christ] gave some, apostles . . . and some, pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the [one] body of Christ; till we all come in the unity of the [one] faith" (Eph.4:11-13). To be in the [one] faith means to partake of these seven pillars.

According to Peter, this faith is "precious", while James says that the faith is "most holy". Both the world and the Devil are overcome by all who remain "steadfast in the faith" (1Pet.5:9; 1Jn.5:4). Paul, as an aged man, lamented that some to whom he had preached had "erred from the faith" and "turned aside to vain jangling"; nevertheless, he himself stood fast, writing to Timothy, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith" (2Tim.4:7). This one faith is the gospel which will be preached throughout the world before his return (Mt.24:14). Christians have carried their doctrines around the world, but the true gospel, quenched since the days of the apostles, has yet to be preached on a scale such as Jesus suggested. The way of destruction is broad and many people go that way. The way of truth is narrow, and VERY FEW shall find it.

Since what we believe about God will have eternal consequences, sound doctrine is essential to our spiritual well-being. Paul exhorted us to examine ourselves, to see whether we are in "the faith" (2Cor.13:5). And those who are wise constantly do so; they ask themselves the hard questions. "Why do I believe what I believe about God?" "How do I know that what I believe is the truth?"

ONE BAPTISM

Just as God has but one Body and one Spirit, so it is with baptism. And just as no other body or spirit can save, no other baptism but that of Christ will cleanse the heart. This is an extremely important matter, because both Jesus and Peter taught that no one could be saved without being baptized (Mk.16:16; 1Pet.3:21). The absolute necessity of baptism is not questioned by anyone who is knowledgeable of the Scriptures. The only real issue is, which baptism must we receive? Is it a form of baptism in water, or is it the baptism of the holy Ghost which Jesus purchased with his sacrificial death? Peter answered this question when he said that the baptism which saves is not the one which washes dirt from the body but the one which came "by the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (1Pet.3:21). My friend, no one is clean in God's sight who has not received this baptism, purchased at the fearful price of Jesus's life. No one will ever be saved without the holy Ghost baptism. It is astonishing how many people claim to be already saved without it!

"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" (Acts 2).

Understanding this pillar of the faith may be the key to understanding the faith as a whole, for we are told by Paul that it is by the baptism of the Spirit that we become members of the body of Christ (1Cor.12:13). This answers the earlier question concerning the [one] body. Many have received this regenerating baptism of the holy Ghost, but they are scattered throughout the sects of Christianity which they have joined. Clearly, Christianity is not the [one] body of God, because a person may belong to Christianity without being baptized by Christ! Many Christians even dare to reject the one baptism of Christ! For a child of God to be a part of Christianity, then, is to be "unequally yoked together with unbelievers". It saddens the Father for His children to be united in faith with those who do not love and obey His Son. This is why the Spirit is calling all who belong to God to renounce Christianity, and to be united at long last by the one faith and the perfect love of our Lord, Jesus Christ (Rev.18:1-5).

ONE GOD

The last of the seven pillars is the one God, "who is above all". He is "the Father" whom Jesus loved, feared, and obeyed (Heb.5:7; Jn.6:38; 15:10). He created His Son, and gave him power to create everything else. The Father is a person, and the Son is another person. The Spirit is eternal life, which He gave to His Son, along with power to give it to whomever he chose (Jn.5:26-27). In spirit, the Father and Son are one, but each has His own body. At the end of this age, Jesus will present to the Father those in the body of Christ who have been faithful and will himself kneel down at his Father's feet (1Cor.15:24-28).

May I ask you now to "examine yourselves, whether ye be in the [one] faith"? If you have received the holy Ghost and understand that "by one Spirit we all are baptized into one body [the body of Christ]", and if you confess that this gift was purchased by the blood of our [one] Lord Jesus Christ, whom the [one] God, the Father, sent to be the propitiation for our sins, then you possess the [one] hope of eternal life and are in the [one] faith. It is this one faith, holy and simple, that the sincere follower of Christ endorses and loves. It is the only faith they give their money to. It is only where this one faith is preached, that the true follower will go. If this is your faith, let us know. The body is being made one by the power of God - and there is only ONE BODY! Are you a part of it, or are you a part of something else?

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