 |  |
down. Nip all such attempts in the bud. Let them not get a foothold. Be
willing to be called narrow, proud, anything, however untrue and unmerited,
but endeavour to keep that sacred unity as you would defend your life.
We write thus because of the laxity of many, because of the confusion
which exists in the mind of many as to the difference between humility of
mind and resolution, of meekness and strength. We cannot be charitable with
the goods of another. Stewardship, though exercised with all lowliness,
meekness, longsuffering and forbearance, must nevertheless be above all
things exercised faithfully. The Lord keep us faithful as the apostasy sets
in.
The unity of the Spirit is sevenfold.
The unity of the Faith is sevenfold.
The unity of the Body is sevenfold.
The sevenfold unity of the Spirit can be likened to the candlestick
used in the tabernacle. Its central shaft, without which the candlestick
would fall to pieces, stands for the One Lord, and on either side are ranged
the other members of the unity.
We will not retrace the ground already covered in this Analysis. The
reader will find under the headings Body1; Baptism1; and Hope2, the teaching
of the Scriptures on those subjects. Here, in this exhortation, he is not
being instructed what these items of truth stand for, but is being exhorted
`to keep' them.
The sevenfold unity of the faith.
The seven items are:
The Unity of the Faith
(1)
of the faith
(2)
of the knowledge
(3)
of the Son
(4)
of God
(5)
of the stature
(6)
of the fulness
(7)
of the Christ.
This unity is attained in three stages, marked by the Greek preposition eis
unto.
(1)
Unto (eis) the unity of the faith, even the knowledge or the
acknowledgment of the Son of God.
(2)
Unto (eis) a perfect man.
(3)
Unto (eis) the measure of the stature of the fulness of the
Christ.
The perfect creed leads to the perfect man.
This threefold goal is prepared
for by a threefold ministry, thus:
(1)
For the readjustment.
(2)
For the ministry.
(3)
For the building up of the Body of Christ.
We must now retrace our steps, in order to make the meaning of the
apostle plain to the reader.