There Is One Faith Series

Alba 4-23-2023

THERE IS ONE FAITH

Ephesians 4:5

Some years ago in the cartoon “The Family Circus” two

children had found their Easter baskets and are enjoying them. One asked, “Who colored all these eggs?” to which his sister replied, “The Easter bunny.”

“Who gave us the jelly beans?” “The Easter bunny”

“And the chocolate rabbit?” “The Easter bunny.”

Obviously there was nothing beyond the reach of the Easter bunny.

The family attended Easter services and heard the preacher say, “They came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been rolled back. Who could have done this?” To which the little boy jumped up in the pew and said, “The Easter bunny!”

It is a sad commentary on our culture that too many children, and even many adults, have only a secular knowledge of what Christians celebrate on holidays (holy days) like Christmas and Easter. It raises the question: In what do we place our faith? The Easter bunny, or Jesus?

Ephesians 4:5 says that there is “One Faith”. But there seems to be more. If someone says, “Have faith.” We need to ask, “Have faith in what?” We operate on faith every day. Just not always in God.

For example, you go to a doctor whose name you do not know or cannot pronounce. Whose degree in medicine you have never seen. He gives you a prescription you cannot read.

You take it to a pharmacist you have never seen before. He gives you medicine you do not understand. You go home and take the medicine by his instructions. You do that by faith.

We all have it. Some more than others.

Some deny they have any at all. But even the atheists have faith. They believe in themselves. They believe there is no higher power called God. They believe that a world of chaos just happened to produce perfection that fell in place and created a world that man controls. They just don’t like the word faith.

Every day everyone exercises faith. That our car will start. That every box, bag or can of food is safe for us to eat. Faith is a daily necessity whether one is getting married, taking a job, struggling with an illness, or overcoming a handicap.

Have you noticed that around Christmas time there are movies that tell us that we need to “Believe, believe, believe” or else the Christmas magic will disappear.

We are never told explicitly what we are to believe, but we better believe or else. It is sort of a belief in believing. Or a faith in faith.

But faith in faith is actually faith in ourselves, faith in our own expectations, thinking positive thoughts. It would be wise to ask, “On what basis are we thinking positive?”

You see, faith itself has no power. It is really not faith that moves mountains, it is God. There is a big difference between having faith in faith, and faith in God.

For example, we need to have faith when we pray, but the crucial thing is not our faith, but the object of our faith. We have a God who is able to hear and answer prayer. Our faith is in Him, and not ourselves. If we pray in faith, we are believing that God will act.

But someone has suggested that we live in a culture you could describe as a “menu age”. In other words, we want to have a choice in everything we do.

We take the drive-through at a fast food restaurant and are asked, “May I take your order? What would you like?” And we say, “Wait a minute, let me look at the menu.”

After doing so, we make our choices. People do the same thing with faith. They choose what they want to believe, and leave out anything that doesn't agree with their choices.

They will make claims like, “My faith is personal. My faith is what I believe. Faith is different for each one of us.”

The problem with this is that there can be tragic consequences when one's faith is in the wrong thing.

For example, we hear about all of the of drugs being smuggled, coming through our open southern border. Because of that there have been far too many deaths of so many young people who took a pill that they believed would be harmless, but actually contained enough fentanyl to kill them.

But the Bible shows us an authentic faith. The one faith which saves a soul, changes a life, connects us to God through Jesus, and motivates us to service for Him. This is authentic faith.

And this one authentic faith is essential, necessary, and of utmost importance. We understand what essential means. We know that air, food, and water are essential for life. Exercise and good nutrition are essential for good health. Gas (and now electricity) is essential for a vehicle to continue working.