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Colossians 3:4 we read, "When Christ, Who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also
appear with Him in glory".
ONE FAITH. The One Faith reflects the One Hope of our calling. Stuart Allen suggests
that faith and truth go together and faith and truth are like two sides of the same coin. The
One Faith is the "good deposit" of truth which was passed to Paul by the risen Christ, and
Timothy was exhorted to guard it. In Ephesians 4:13, we read of the need to build up or
edify the Body of Christ "till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge
of the Son of God".
ONE BAPTISM. For a full exposition we refer our readers to the book entitled Letters
from Prison by Stuart Allen. In the structure, One Baptism is balanced by One Spirit. In
olden days, water baptism, or washing, was the rule. During the Acts period, water and
Spirit baptism are in evidence. The One Baptism must refer then to the baptism by the
Holy Spirit Who has sealed us unto the day of redemption.
ONE GOD AND FATHER. We have a problem here for Ephesians 4:6 reads "One God
and Father of all, Who is over all, and through all, and in all" (R.V.) If "all" is equivalent
to "universal" we approach the doctrine of the universal Fatherhood of God. But in John
1:12 we find "But as many received Him (Christ), to them gave He the right to become
the children of God" (R.V.).
The word "all" must be interpreted according to the context and it may be limited
thereby. In our text, as the context concerns the members of the Body, "all" must be
interpreted to related to the members of the Body.
To include this article, we will quote from Letters from Prison, page 84:
"Here then we have the first stage of a walk that is worthy of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus,
namely seven perfect parts of a perfect unity made by the Spirit of God, which we are charged to keep
and guard, where Christ is pre-eminent, the Father is all in all and the Spirit gives the substance and
reality of spiritual riches that are beyond the full comprehension of the human mind".
G.T. FOSTER
Practical Truth in Ephesians (9)
"That ye may be filled unto all fullness of God (Eph. 3:19 R.V.)
A brief reference to the central prayer in Ephesians was made in the fourth article, but as
this prayer is of such great importance, let us meditate upon it in our closing article on
Practical Truth in Paul's letter to the Ephesians.
In the structure given by Charles Welch, this prayer appears under item G, this: