One Faith
A Sermon on Ephesians 4:5
Scripture
5One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
Sermon Description
In this sermon on Ephesians 4:5 titled “One Faith,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones argues that the unifying faith of Christianity is not unity of doctrine, first and foremost, but it is a unity of faith in Christ. This is the faith that justifies all who are truly Christians. It is seen in the saving work of Christ and the application of that work to the hearts and minds of believers by the Holy Spirit. For this reason, the great doctrine of justification by faith alone is at the very heart of the gospel and Christianity. It is this doctrine that the Reformers fought for, and it is this doctrine that is essential to any true understanding of the gospel. This is why it is so vital that the church today guard against all heresies that would add anything to the gospel. For anyone who tries to add anything to faith detracts from God’s glory as the only Savior and hope for fallen humanity. It detracts from the work of Christ on the cross to say that fallen people must do something in addition to the gospel. To reject justification by faith is to reject the saving gospel and to reject true Christianity as found in God’s Word.
Sermon Breakdown
- The sermon is based on Ephesians 4:5 which states "One Lord, one faith, one baptism."
- The sermon focuses on explaining what "one faith" means in this verse.
- There are two main views on what "one faith" refers to:
- It refers to our subjective faith or ability to believe. But this view is rejected because it is too subjective and the passage is referring to objective truths.
- It refers to the objective body of faith or doctrines that Christians believe. But a complete compendium of theology has never existed and Christians disagree on some points of doctrine.
- The sermon argues that "one faith" refers to the essential message of the gospel concerning salvation by faith alone. This is the faith that was rediscovered during the Reformation.
- This "one faith" is the message that we are justified by faith alone in Christ alone. It is God's act of declaring us righteous based on Christ's righteousness imputed to us.
- This "one faith" has always been the only way of salvation. It was the way people were saved even in the Old Testament, e.g. Abraham was justified by faith.
- This "one faith" is the only way of salvation for both Jews and Gentiles. All people are guilty before God and can only be saved through faith in Christ.
- We break the unity of "one faith" by:
- Bringing in our own good works, boasting in our deeds or understanding. This detracts from faith.
- Denying the centrality of Christ and his work. Salvation is only through Christ.
- Adding to faith, e.g. faith plus circumcision. This was the error of the Galatians and Roman Catholicism which obscures the "one faith."
- The "one faith" is essential to salvation while other matters like baptism, Calvinism vs Arminianism are not essential.
- We must examine ourselves to see if we truly have this "one faith" - are we relying only on Christ's righteousness or also on our own good works and background?
The Book of Ephesians
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.