In addition, there are three other “ones”—one hope, one faith, and one baptism. Hope is for the future. As those who have been saved by grace, those who are the church, we may have different opinions, yet we share the same hope. For example, consider the previous example of the two brothers: one is a shaking brother, and the other is a quiet brother; one disapproves of quietness, and the other disagrees with shaking. Obviously, these two have widely divergent opinions. The Spirit in them is one and the same—this is not a problem. However, they have two outward expressions—this is a great problem. The quiet one, however, may ask the shaking one, “Brother, even though you shake and shake, where will you be in the end?” The shaking one would answer, “One day I will be in glory.” On the other hand, the shaking one may ask the quiet one, “Brother, you are quiet all the time, but where will you be in the end?” Surely the quiet one would also say, “I will be in glory.” This is the one hope they share. No one who is saved is without this hope of glory. A brother expressed it really well when he said, “Our future is the same, so our journey today must also be the same.” Thank the Lord, we really have the same one future, the same one hope. Throughout the generations, Christians in various denominations have had many differences in doctrines, yet they have one and the same hope. If someone is different in the matter of the one hope, he must not be saved nor a member of the church nor a brother of ours.
There is also one faith. This faith is our belief, not an idea, opinion, or understanding. Sometimes two brothers who do not know each other meet and discover that they are mutually brothers in Christ, and they speak of spiritual matters. For example, when they speak of baptism, one brother may say, “I believe that baptism by immersion is right.” The other brother may say, “I do not believe that it is necessary to be immersed; sprinkling with water is sufficient.” Here are two different beliefs, two kinds of faith. But is this really faith? These are not matters of faith; rather, they are opinions or views. What is faith? Only that which we must believe in order to be saved can be called faith. We can be saved even if we do not believe in sprinkling or if we do not believe in immersion. Therefore, things such as this cannot be counted as faith.
Sometimes brothers come together and speak concerning the matter of rapture. One may say, “I believe in the rapture before the great tribulation,” and another may say, “I believe in the rapture after the great tribulation.” It appears that these two brothers differ in their faith, but actually, this is not a difference in faith. Whether one is pre-tribulation or post-tribulation is of no consequence. If we do not believe in a post-tribulation rapture, we still can be saved. Likewise, if we do not believe in a pre-tribulation rapture, we also can be saved. We cannot be saved to a greater degree by believing in a pre-tribulation rapture, neither can we be saved to a lesser degree by believing in a post-tribulation rapture. We may believe differently, but we are both saved just the same. Please remember, belief that is unrelated to salvation cannot be counted as faith. What then can be counted as faith? The only thing that can be counted as faith is what we must believe in order to be saved; it is the things that, if not believed, will keep us from being saved. This is what is called the one faith. The one faith is not related to beliefs that are according to our opinions or views; it is the faith, the belief, that brings in salvation.
Sometimes the sisters may speak regarding head covering. One sister may say, “I really believe in wearing a head covering. Since we are sisters, we should cover our head.” Another sister may say, “I do not believe in it. Head covering was an ancient custom in Corinth; I do not believe it is a commandment from God.” Here, again, we see two different beliefs. One believes in head covering, and the other does not believe in head covering. However, such beliefs cannot be counted as the faith. They are opinions and not the faith. One believes in head covering and is saved; the other does not believe in head covering and also is saved. One is not saved to a greater degree by believing in head covering, nor is one saved to a lesser degree by not believing in head covering. These beliefs cannot be counted as the faith, the one faith.
Do not misunderstand me. I am not saying that there are no truths related to baptism, rapture, and head covering. There are indeed truths related to these matters. However, we need to remember that beliefs related to views and opinions concerning the truth are not the same as beliefs related to the faith. Views and opinions concerning the truth are views and opinions and should not be counted as items of the faith. One of the seven ones of the church is called “one faith.” The faith associated with the one faith causes us to be saved. This is the faith in which we believe in the Son of God as our Savior, the faith in which we receive the Lord Jesus into us. He is the Son of God anointed to be our Lord. God put Himself into His Son and made Him our Lord. God not only conveyed His Son to us through His Spirit by preaching but also by transmitting Him. We receive Him when we say, for example, “Amen, You are the Son of God, the Savior appointed by God, and the Lord of all set up by God. God is in You, and You are my Lord. I receive You from my heart.” When we receive Him in this way, we believe in Him. This is the belief of the one faith. Every genuine Christian has the one faith, regardless of whether he shakes or is quiet. Anyone without such faith is not saved; anyone without such faith is not our brother or our sister. Those who have such faith are our brothers and sisters. A sister may not believe in head covering, but she has faith. A brother may not believe in baptism by immersion, but he still has faith. Another may not believe in a pre-tribulation rapture or even in a post-tribulation rapture, but he still has faith. Dear brothers and sisters, I absolutely believe that each one of us has faith in us. We all have this faith. This faith is the one faith of the seven ones of the church.
Sometime ago in a certain place I met a very dear brother. He came to our meetings to listen to messages because he genuinely enjoyed the fellowship with us. When he observed that we all prayed at the same time during the meeting, he asked, “Brother Lee, where did the practice of praying at the same time originate?” I said, “It probably came from the Spirit. After 1935, sometimes when we would meet, there was a certain kind of atmosphere and everyone would spontaneously pray at the same time.” He nodded his head and said, “No doubt this came from the charismatic movement, the Pentecostal movement.” Then he shook his head and said, “This is really regrettable! Really regrettable! I thought that your meetings were the best, but I never would have imagined that there could be such a bad thing as everyone praying at the same time. The presence of this practice among you is really a stain.” After I listened to his words, I dared not say anything, nor could I. Within me, however, I said, “We feel that it is all right to pray at the same time, and you feel that it is not all right. Either way, it does not matter. But if we dispute over this matter, with one considering it as a defect, and the other considering it as a good thing, this will become troublesome to us, and we will have a problem with one another.”
We must know the one faith that is indispensable to the church. Our oneness must be based on this one faith, not on opinions concerning the truth. God is in His Son, His Son is in the Spirit, and the Spirit comes into every one of us, making us one Body. One God, one Lord, one Spirit, and one Body—this is the one faith. Is God one? Yes! Is the Lord one? Yes! Is the Spirit one? Yes! Is the Body one? Yes! Is this one God in us? Yes! Is this one Lord in us? Yes! Is this one Spirit in us? Yes! Are we in the one Body? Yes! We all have these items, and we all believe these items. This is the one faith. Concerning outward practices, one may be in favor of praying one by one and another favors everyone praying at the same time. The first may consider everyone praying at the same time as a stain, but the second may consider it a glory. This is something in addition to the faith. As children of God, we must see that we should require people to have only the one faith; we should not consider other opinions, views, or ideas as fundamental beliefs. Whether we pray while standing or pray while kneeling down, whether we pray at the same time or pray one by one, whether we pray silently or pray loudly, whether we pray with still hands and feet or pray with our whole body shaking—everything is all right, and nothing is unacceptable. Let me ask, brothers and sisters, should we count all these different opinions as fundamental beliefs of our one faith? Can we ask everyone to be the same in these matters? This is absolutely impossible. Therefore, we should not include these matters in the fundamental faith. The fundamental faith does not concern these matters. The fundamental faith is concerned with the one Father being in the Son, the one Son being in the Spirit, and the one Spirit being in all of us, making us the one Body. One Father, one Lord, one Spirit, and one Body—this is the one faith.
Oh, dear brothers and sisters, if the children of God would disregard all the outward matters and see that only the one faith is absolutely necessary, we would be clear regarding the ground of the church. There would not be an immersion sect or a sprinkling sect, a pre-tribulation sect or a post-tribulation sect. All the differences would be gone, and only the one faith would remain. It does not matter if we are for immersion and others are for sprinkling, or if we are for pre-tribulation and others are for post-tribulation; we all have the one faith—we all believe that the Father is in the Son, the Son is in the Spirit, and the Spirit is in us, making us the one Body. Because we all have this one faith, we are all in the one Body, which is the church.
Finally, there is another “one”—one baptism. What is this one baptism? Does it refer to baptism by immersion or baptism by sprinkling? Actually, it refers to neither immersion nor sprinkling. This one baptism denotes baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus. In baptism we confess that all we are and all we have are accursed and that all that we deserve is condemnation and death. Through baptism we died, we were buried, and we have been resurrected together with the Lord. Thus, from now on the Lord Jesus as our life is living out through us. This is genuine baptism, and this the one baptism. On this point all the children of God are the same. If we speak of baptism only as an outward practice, however, it will become a troublesome matter.
I would like to tell you some of the practices of baptism so that we will understand that there is a great variety of practices concerning it. There is baptism by sprinkling, and there is also baptism by immersion. Regarding baptism by immersion, there are further details. There is face-down baptism, and there is also face-up baptism. There is baptism with one immersion, and there is baptism with three immersions: once in the name of the Father, once in the name of the Son, and once in the name of the Spirit—as if only this way will count. Such disputes actually exist. Someone asked another person, “What kind of baptism did you have?” He answered, “I had face-up baptism.” The first person said, “This does not count. According to John 19:30, in His crucifixion the Lord Jesus bowed His head and delivered up His spirit. Since our baptism signifies that we died with Christ, we should bow our head and be face down.” Furthermore, there are those who argue, saying, “Brother, in what kind of water were you baptized? Was it artificial water or natural water?” They consider baptism in the meeting hall as something unacceptable. They say, “Look at the examples in the Bible. In the case of the Lord Jesus, He was baptized in natural water. And in the case of Philip, he baptized others in natural water.” However, some over-spiritualize the matter of baptism. The Salvation Army is such an example. Those in the Salvation Army simply wave a banner over people’s head and consider that as baptism. The Quakers, who spiritualize things even more, do not want anything outward, so they only receive a spiritual baptism. They want only a spiritual reality, not physical water, not even a banner. The children of God have serious disputes concerning the matter of baptism, and as a consequence, we have been divided.
The one baptism spoken of in the Bible, however, is one, just as there is the one faith. By faith we believe into Christ and are in union with Christ. In baptism we acknowledge that we have been terminated and that we have died and been buried. After baptism, everything involves Christ being our life. When we believe in this way, the Triune God comes into us. When we are baptized in this way, the old creation in us is terminated. In addition, we also have the hope of glory. Therefore, these three—one faith, one baptism, and one hope—form another group.
Therefore, the first group that constitutes the reality of the oneness of the church consists of one Body, one Spirit, one Lord, and one God; the second group consists of one hope, one faith, and one baptism. In reverse order, they are one God, one Lord, one Spirit, and one Body, and then one faith, one baptism, and one hope. The one Body is the main item of the first group, and the one hope is the main item of the second group. Combining these two main items, we have one Body with one hope. The church is one Body today with one hope in the future. The one Body comes out of the entering in of the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The one hope is obtained through faith and baptism. The Father is in the Son, the Son is in the Spirit, and the Spirit comes into us, causing us to believe and to be baptized. After we believe and receive the Triune God, having been baptized into Him, the Father, the Son, the Spirit are all in us, making us one mystical Body with one hope of glory. Therefore, through one faith and one baptism we have received one God, one Lord, and one Spirit so that we are one Body with one hope. These seven “ones”—one God, one Lord, one Spirit, one Body, one faith, one baptism, and one hope—are the reality of the oneness of the church, the base of the oneness of the church.
Thank and praise the Lord, we have these seven “ones.” Whoever does not have these seven items is not a brother in the church; whoever has something more than these seven items is a member of a sect. If we have only these seven items, we are persons living in the church. Anything less is a problem, and anything more also causes trouble. We can have only these seven “ones”—one Body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Thank and praise the Lord, we have these seven “ones.” We should not drop any of them, nor should we add anything to them. We should keep only these seven “ones.” If we do, there will be no divisions; instead, we will have the oneness of the church and the ground of the church.