One
Lord
One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and
through all, and in you all.
- Ephesians 4:5-6
Before we are able to do a satisfactory overview of
understanding Paul’s statement of “one Lord,” we must first be able to point out
some elementary steps of who this Lord is.
Without a doubt, Jesus Christ is the Son of God, but
it is necessary while reading scripture to take a contextual approach. Meaning,
we must always correctly identify the speaker(writer), the audience being addressed,
and ask the question, “Am I in the audience?” While it may be the habit of many
to try and claim all of scripture as their own for application, we must be
bible students and not so gullible. If you are not being addressed, then the
verse does not apply to you; every promise in the bible is not yours, nor is
every warning. We must always take a Pauline approach in understanding
scripture, simply because Paul is the individual who not only was sent to the
Gentiles, but is the one who’s sole purpose was “to make all men see the
mystery.(Eph.3:9).” If you do not know what the “Revelation of the Mystery” is,
then you may want to pause here and spend some time in Ephesians 2 & 3, Colossians
1, and read Romans 16:25.
I want to first point out that Jesus’ earthly
ministry (the 3 years he spent preaching, teaching, and showing signs and
wonders) was geared toward only one group of individuals; Israel was His
audience.
Romans 15:8- Now
I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the
truth of God, to confirm the
promises made unto the fathers:
Matthew
15:24- But he
answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep
of the house of Israel.
It is very important to note that unless you are a
member of one of the 12 tribes of Israel and in the first century, before the
mystery has been revealed, it is impossible for you to be an audience member of
Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John.
Also, it is necessary to note Paul’s description of
the Lord we serve today.
Paul says that we have known Christ in the flesh(as an earthly man), but we are not to any
longer view Christ as a fleshy man, but instead as a resurrected Savior.
While Jesus taught even in Matthew,
He gave a different set of instructions to Paul;
this is also known as progressive revelation. Progressive Revelation is the
biblical truth that not all of God’s wisdom is revealed in one dose, but
instead God has in past time revealed to man what was necessary to fulfill His
purpose. This is important to note when you find two scripture you see to be
contradictory. The writer of Hebrews states that Jesus is the same, always. Note
that although Jesus never changes, this does not mean that His instructions never
change.(Compare Luke 10:4-5 with Luke 22:35-36 to see a very simple example of
Jesus changing His instructions.)
Jesus later reveals to Paul that instead of praying
that Heaven would come to the earth in the form of a kingdom (this does not
mean that God does not still have plans for this), he instructs men to focus on
heavenly things.
Colossians 3:1-2- If ye then be
risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where
Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set
your affection on things above, not on things
on the earth.
While I would be more than happy to
agree with anyone that there is only One Lord that we serve, I would also be
just as willing to contend as to how it is we are to serve this Lord; we judge
this by identifying what dispensation we are in. As participants in the “dispensation
of grace,” we must accurately identify what instructions we have received for
this dispensation. I would mention, just as C.I. Scofield did almost 100 years
ago, that in Paul’s epistles alone do we find the doctrine and
instruction for today’s church (Scofield’s Reference Notes 1917).
Many people contend that our Great Commission
for today is found in Matthew 28.
Matthew 28:19-20- Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching
them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with
you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Let’s outline quickly and simply what all is packed into
this Great Commission that is supposedly that of the church, the Body of
Christ, today.
Teach All Nations- these
men in attendance of Jesus’ command was instructed to go to ALL nations. Did
this happen? Nope. See Galatians 2:7-9 for more study, but in short, Paul was
the one to go to the Gentiles, while Peter and the other Apostles confined
themselves to the Jew ONLY. It is noted in Acts 10 that Peter went to a
Gentile, but it was clearly against his own will and conscience. It actually
took a vision from Christ before he would even talk to Cornelius the Italian.
Teaching them to
observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you- To say that this is our
commission today would make us responsible to do exactly this. Teach and preach
ALL that Jesus commanded. Would the
average preacher today preach all that Jesus commanded? Let’s see:
Matthew 23:1-3- Then spake
Jesus to the multitudes, and to his disciples, Saying The scribes and the
Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All therefore whatsoever
they bid you observe, that observe and do…
When is the last time you heard a protestant preacher commanding that
his congregation follow the law of Moses? Paul make clear in Galatians 2:19 that we are “dead to the law.” Big
difference… Not a contradiction, just a change in instructions.
Luke 12:33- Sell
that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a
treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither
moth corrupteth.
This one actually does
happen, but not often. How
many would preach the necessity of selling all things? Notice what Paul tells Timothy
to instruct in
1 Timothy
5:8-But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of
his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.
And in
Thessalonica
2
Thessalonians 3:10- For even when we were with you, this we commanded you,
that if any would not work, neither should he eat.
This is MUCH
different than
Matthew
6:25- I say unto you, Take no thought for your life,
what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what
ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than
raiment?
And
Matthew 6:31-33- Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we
eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For
after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth
that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first
the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added
unto you.
Is it any
wonder why many sold all they had and met everyday in the temple, instead of
working, in the early Acts period?
While many would neglect these as important
passages of distinction, there truly is no denying the difference between what
Jesus said in the four gospels as compared to what he instructed Paul to write.
Now that we have laid the groundwork for
understanding how we are to observe commands according to what dispensation we
are in(we are not under the law, but under the dispensation of grace), we can
now begin to build a case for how we are to serve our One Lord. We acknowledge
a little earlier that there are a couple things that are impossible to for us
to observe according to the Great Commission, but this is not all we struggle
with in accomplishing if we are to remain true to what Christ later revealed to
Apostle Paul. Let’s examine a few examples of how we are to follow a Pauline pattern
and not one from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
“Following Jesus”
God tells us to follow Paul – 1
Cor 4:16, 11:1, Phil 3:17, 2 Thess 3:7. If you say “follow Paul”, the response
will be, “you make too much of Paul.”
How ought we to follow Jesus? John 13:36,
under the Law of Moses? Mat 23:3
You cannot follow Christ today
unless you are following Him according to the pattern Paul has set.
“Preaching Jesus”
Paul did not know Christ not
after the flesh – 2 Cor 5:16. He relished in the wisdom of God in the mystery –
1 Cor 2:7-8. He built on the foundation of Christ (according to the mystery) –
1 Cor 3:10-1.
He was a faithful steward of the
mysteries – 1 Cor 4:1-2.He sought God’s glory according to the mystery – Col
1:27, 1 Cor 10:33.
You cannot preach Jesus as Lord
today unless you know exactly how he is Lord. Unless you have fully grasped
what the mystery is, you will not be able to correctly preach Jesus.
“Accomplishment
of Jesus’ Death”
Jesus shed his blood for the New
Testament - Hebrews 9:13-17. The NT could not be fulfilled without the shedding
of blood – Heb 9:18.
He said his blood would be shed
for the NT in Matt 26:28, Mark 14:24, Luk 22:20. Jesus came to fulfill the prophecies
(including his death) – Mat 1:22, 26:56. When Jesus shed his blood, nobody understood
what it did.
-----Paul
and the Blood of the New Testament-----
Salvation was once of the Jews – John 4:22,
Rom 9:1-5. Gentiles partake of salvation that was once promised to Israel – Rom
15:27. God revealed a mystery to Paul about what his blood accomplished – Eph
1:7. We are made night by the blood of Christ - Eph 2:12-15. We receive all
spiritual blessings/ higher callings by the blood– Eph 1:3,3:8-12,19.We stand
in grace by faith in… his blood – Rom 5:2 _ Rom 4:24-25, Rom 3:25. The mystery
gospel required blood be shed, but it was not promised - Col 1:20. The blood
was shed for the NT, but accomplished something more… the mystery.
In Conclusion, I hope it is plain to see that there really
is only One Lord. This one Lord is Jesus Christ. He is not only the Messiah of
Israel to fulfill the New Covenant, but is also the savior of all due to the
shedding of his blood and the giving of salvation to all, freely. Many would
say that since Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever, then it should
also be true that whatever Jesus said in one place is applicable, always. It is
so IMPORTANT to understand that
Jesus gave Paul, in the form of the mystery, something that was entirely new.
Study
to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth.
2
Timothy 2:15
