All One in Jesus

Our studies in John 17 take us to verses 20 and 21 this morning. Let me read them, and then we’ll pray.

Jesus prays to the Father, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

Father, take your truth; plant it deep in us, we pray. Shape and fashion us in the likeness of the Lord Jesus,[1] in whose name we ask it. Amen.

Well, for those who’ve been following along in these studies, I think at the beginning we suggested to one another that we could view the entirety of the prayer in terms of a series of concentric circles, the smallest of those circles containing Jesus’ words in the first five verses, where he is praying expressly for himself; and then, in verses 6–19, where he is praying directly for the disciples that are within earshot of him, those whom he has called to himself and those who he is about to send out into the world with the good news; and then, in the last section, the larger circle, if you like, contains the verses that are before us now, all the way to the end of the chapter, where Jesus is now praying for us and for those who, like us, in the years since the time of the apostles, have heard the good news of the gospel and, having believed it, have been brought into the family of God.

And so he is praying expressly for those people, ourselves included, that we might be the family that we are. He’s not praying that we would be made into a family. By our adoption, we are part of that family. He’s not praying that we would create a unity but that we would progress in enjoying and displaying the unity which is ours as part of that family.

And so it is that if we think in those terms this morning, we will be helped. We’re routinely aware of the statement “You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family.” And usually that’s an expression of the challenges that are represented, the privileges of being part of a family. Not everyone in a family always gets along as they might, and they are still part of the family. And sometimes the head of the family needs to say, “I don’t think you’re actually behaving like a family at all. I want you to increasingly become like the family that you are.” And I suppose if we wanted to cue the music, we could sing, “We are family. I got all my sisters with me.”[2] And that would sort of set the tone for us—at least for three of us.

So, I want us to ponder these things this morning. The visible church—the visible church, which is universal—is the church that has come into being because of the gospel. And it describes those who throughout the world are the professors of that same gospel. And as members of that church, they are the forerunners, if you like, of the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And as the family, they have the privilege and the responsibility of bearing testimony to the one who has adopted them.

We recognize, too, that there is also an invisible dimension to the church. The invisible aspect of it is such that people throughout the world that we have never met are also included in that family. And that has been true, again, ever since the time of the apostles and will continue all the way until the time comes when Jesus Christ returns.

We need to remind ourselves routinely about what happened to us when we trusted in Jesus. When we trusted in Christ, we found that a number of things changed immediately for us. Our status changed. We were once, as we read in Ephesians 2, without God and without hope in the world.[3] Now we’ve been brought into the realm of hope, as we’ll see in just a moment, and we have been created as new people.

And as a result of being adopted into the family, we’ve been adopted into a relationship with one another. It’s not a relationship that we have to go and try and create; it’s a relationship that already exists. That is why when we travel to different parts of the country—indeed, to different parts of the world—and come into the context of people that we have never, ever met before, we suddenly discover that we have a union, a compatibility, a dimension of relationship that is beyond simply the social strata from which we come or our educational background or whatever else it might be, including even notions of religion itself. And it is an uncanny and at the same time a most wonderful thing. And we realize, “The person that is addressing me now is my brother or is my sister in the Lord Jesus Christ. And God in his mercy has brought me into a relationship with them, and I enjoy a unity with them which is grounded not in a sense of feeling—although emotion’s a part of it—but it is grounded in a common understanding of the gospel, of the good news of the Lord Jesus.”

It’s very important that we understand that, because this notion of unity for which Jesus is praying often goes sideways very, very quickly when people close their Bibles and just decide how they’re feeling, as it were, in their solar plexus. It is to the Bible we need to constantly go in order that we might understand exactly what it is we’re saying.

We need to remind ourselves routinely about what happened to us when we trusted in Jesus.

So, not on the basis of our feelings but on the basis of the Word of God, the message of God, he says, “These apostles have taken this message, the message of the gospel, out into the world, and as a result of that, others will become followers of me. And Father, I’m praying for those who enter into that reality.” So the testimony of believers down through the ages is that when they have turned to their Bibles, they’ve discovered that the word that Jesus gave to the apostles to take out onto the streets of Jerusalem was then inscripturated, which gives to us our New Testament documents, and those New Testament documents, as we read them, we read the very Word of Truth. That which they proclaimed is now before us to read.

And the strange thing that happens to us when we read the Bible with eyes of understanding is that it appears that the Bible knows us better than we even know the Bible. And when we often pray before reading the Bible, “Show me myself and show me my Savior,”[4] the self that it shows up is a sinful self that needs a Savior. And then it shows us the Savior who is the one that we need, and then we become members of that family.

Now, it is very, very important to understand this—that the faith that we find as the foundation for our unity is the faith as we recorded it in studying Jude a while ago: It is “the faith … once … delivered to the saints.”[5] And the New Testament letters help us understand this. I read from Ephesians 2, but let me just point it out to you in Ephesians 4 as we think about the foundation of this unity for which Jesus prays.

Ephesians chapter 4, and he explains the unity that is ours in the body of Christ. Notice first of all, in verse 4, “There is one body.” “There is one body.” He’s referring there to the body of Christ. There is only one body of Christ. And he is the head of that body, which is his church.[6] And his church is brought into being as a result of the good news of the gospel going out, being brought home by the work of the Holy Spirit, so that the eyes of men and women have their understanding opened, and they actually come to believe, as we read in Ephesians 2—that the very faith that we know is a gift of God to us.[7]

Because our background in our own rebellion is such that we don’t have a mind for God. We don’t have an interest for God. So if you’ve been coming here for a while, and that just describes you—you say, “Well, I don’t really know what you were actually on about, Alistair, because none of it really makes sense to me at all”—well, then just in your heart, just say, “Lord Jesus, show yourself to me. Reveal yourself to me.” That’s what he’s promised to do. As his Word is proclaimed, the Holy Spirit comes and taps people on the shoulders, so to speak, and we are brought into the one body.

Notice: by “one Spirit.”[8] “There is one body and one Spirit,” the Spirit illumining the Scriptures, the Spirit giving to us the reality of faith, the Spirit bringing us into the realm of fellowship with one another. “One body … one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope.” “One hope.” Remember, Peter says we’ve been “born again to a living hope [by] the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”[9] In Ephesians 2 as we read it, the gentiles, he says, “You were once without God, and you didn’t have hope in the world”—that our culture has lost sight of God and, it has lost hope at the same time. It has no basis for which to hope for anything very much at all, no matter what your political opinion is. No.

Where is hope to be found? Right here: “one body” and “one hope” and “one Lord.”[10] And that Lord is the Lord Jesus. He’s the Lord. And what that actually means is that we have no right to believe anything except what he taught, we have no privilege of behaving any way except the way in which he calls us to behave, and we have no freedom to belong to anywhere at all other than that which is underneath the lordship of Jesus.

“One Lord” and, obviously, “one faith.” “One faith”—salvation by grace alone, through faith alone. And “one baptism.” “One baptism.” When we come to Christ, we’re baptized by the Holy Spirit into a relationship with Jesus, and then we’re baptized in water, and we’re bearing testimony to what has taken place, identifying ourselves with the fact that we were once here, but now we’re here. This is something that God has done. And, clearly, there is “one God and Father …, who is over all and through all and in all.”[11]

How comprehensive does that sound? Very comprehensive—that God, the creator of the universe, who has stepped down into time in Jesus, he is the “one God and Father.” There is no other God. There is no other Father. There is no one else to whom we can go save the God who has made himself known. And he is over all, he’s through all, and he’s in all. Every morning when I wake up, I remind myself, “You’re my heavenly Father. You’re over all, you’re through all, and you’re in all. Now let’s see what the day holds.” Makes all the difference in the world! As opposed to waking up saying, “I don’t know how I’m going to make my way through this sorry trudge of the day.” Uh-uh.

And incidentally, what it speaks to is the fact that God is over all—red, yellow, black, white. The ethnocentricity that is so much a part of Western culture is exploded by that phraseology. It’s not as if God is a Western God or that Jesus looked like a little White guy with blond hair so that we could put him in children’s books. Not at all! A Mideastern man who lived in that context, a carpenter, unlike anything that we would have expected—we’d never know him if he came down the street—this is he! He is God over all. It’s an amazing thought. That’s why we take the gospel to the whole world: because it is God’s world! And that’s why he’s sending us out to do that.

There is no other God. There is no other Father. There is no one else to whom we can go save the God who has made himself known.

Now, with all that said, the unity—the unity to which Jesus refers and for which he prays—is not organizational. It is not organizational. It is organic. You will notice that if you paid attention to the verses—which, of course, I’m sure a number of you did. “That they may all be one,” says Jesus. How? Well, “just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you.” Well, whatever else that is, that’s close. That’s close—that from all of eternity, the relationship that existed in the Trinity between the Father and the Son, Jesus says, “I’m going to use that as my prayer in order that when these followers of me get to grips with what it means to be a family, that the union they will enjoy will be this kind of union.” Clearly, ontologically, it’s not the same as that, but he’s using it analogically: “Just as we have a union, Father, grant that they, too, might be united.”

Now, the wonderful thing about this (and it’s important that we remind ourselves from time to time): As the Holy Spirit applies the truth of the gospel to our hearts and as we come to faith in the Lord Jesus, as we’re accepted into his family, we’re united with this entire company that extends around the world and through all the ages. And this, of course, is not a call to sentimentality. It is a call to theology. It’s not a call to take your brain out and think funny thoughts. It is a call to think deeply about these issues.

Because when you hear people speak about unity, they often speak in terms that are very gooey—you know, like “All you really need to do is speak lovingly or try and be nice to people. Try and be friendly to people.” It’s usually combined with a statement like “And after all, who are we to say anything?” What do you mean, “Who are we to say anything?” Didn’t you just say that you have the Lord as your King, that he is God over all? What do you mean, “Who are you to say anything?” Of course we’re supposed to say something! Otherwise, we’re liars. “No, just be friendly. Just be nice. Just be a decent person. Don’t be like that Alistair Begg fellow. No, don’t do that.”

Well, what are we told? “[Speak] the truth in love.”[12] Truth has to come first. I mean, some of you are scientists. Some of you are engineers. You’re not building bridges on the strength of what’s going on in your tummy in the morning, I hope. I was just in New York yesterday and standing underneath one of those gigantic trains coming right over my head, and I remember thinking, “Whoever put this thing up here, he must have been doing his homework. ’Cause it’s been up there a long time, and so far, it hasn’t landed on my head—for which I’m very thankful.” But it didn’t go up there as a result of just some kind of notion. It is up there as a result of structure, of framework. And the same is true of theology. The same is true of the Scriptures. Truth comes first.

That is why it is impossible for us to talk about unity in the body of Christ with people who are not in the body of Christ. If, for example, somebody says they don’t believe in the virgin birth, they don’t believe in the miracles of Jesus, they don’t believe in the fact of his substitutionary atonement, they don’t believe in any of the foundational aspects of the gospel, there is no basis for unity with them—the notion that somehow or another, the charge that is given to us here is to create some kind of ecumenical structure that involves all these different denominations.

First of all, when Jesus is praying, there were no denominations. So he’s not praying about denominations. He’s praying about those whom he has redeemed. He’s praying about those who are in him, who are united with him and united with one another. So somebody tells me that the Virgin Mary is a mediatrix—that she’s one of the avenues to an encounter with the Father. I can’t have fellowship with them. They’re my Catholic friends, but I can’t have fellowship in the gospel with them, because that is not the gospel. Because we know from our Bibles that there is only “one mediator between God and [man],” and that is “the man Christ Jesus.”[13] So if somebody else is going to try and encounter God the Father through someone other than Jesus, we know that it can’t be done. Therefore, again, it would be wrong for us to say, “Oh, but after all, they’re nice people, and they call themselves Christians.” You can call yourself a Christian if you want, but the way in which the Bible defines things helps us to understand what that means.

Very well then. First of all, this unity is supernatural. It is supernatural. It’s supernatural in its origin just as the love that has made us a child of God is supernatural in its origin itself. It doesn’t start from down here and try and project up. It starts from up there and comes down.

Secondly, it is doctrinal in its substance. It is about truth. It is about the gospel. It is about these things. And thirdly, it is evangelical in its focus—supernatural in its origin, doctrinal in its substance, and evangelical in its focus. We know that because that’s what Jesus prays. It is spiritual; it is organic. It’s not a product of tradition. It’s not a product of organization. No.

“I’m praying, Father, for these but not only for these only—for those who believe in me through the Word—through the Word, through the message—that they all may be one just as you, Father, are in me and I in you; that they also may be one in us”—here we go, here’s the evangelical in its focus—“so that”—so that—“the world may believe that you have sent me.”

So in other words, this unity for which Jesus prays, although in a sense it is invisible in its vast expressions, it is at the same time visible, and it is purposeful. In other words, if somebody is united, if I’m united to you in Jesus, and the world wants to come and meet with us, they ought to find that the two of us are walking side by side for the cause of the gospel—that we are united, not because we come from the same background, not because we have the same intelligence, not because we have the same social strata, but we just both have Jesus, and along the journey of our lives, we’ve encountered Christ, and Christ has grabbed ahold of us and has changed us.

The outsider then goes, “Oh, well, that doesn’t make sense to me, but I understand what you’re saying. What you’re saying is you’re not there because of a denominational thing. You’re not there because of some religious dogma. You’re there because of Jesus. Is that what you’re saying?” That’s exactly what I’m saying. “What else are you saying?” Well, not really very much apart from that—at least not for now. We can talk more later.

But the reason that she and I, he and I are united in this is because of Jesus—and this in order, says Jesus, so “that the world” out there might “believe that you have sent me,” so that the world might then say, “Oh, so that’s why Jesus came. Oh, so that’s this message of good news.”

You know, every so often you hear people saying, like, you know, “Preach the gospel all the time; use words if you have to”—which sounds like, you know… It’s really not that smart. It’s like saying, “Feed the world; use food if you have to.” Because the fact of the matter is that our proclamation of life is grounded in the truth of the Word. We’re not there to talk about ourselves. We’re there to explain who Jesus is and what Jesus did. And it is that which unifies us, that which makes us one, as a church family and as a family that is throughout the world. It is like nothing else in the entire world. And what Jesus is saying is that this kind of unity—the unity of God’s people displayed in this way—puts the good news of the gospel on display.

Now, that contains not only an encouragement but also a peculiar challenge. Because when we’re tempted to use the invisible reality of this unity as a smokescreen behind which to hide, to try and tolerate our unjustified divisions… Our unjustified divisions: We say, “Well, of course, yeah, we don’t… And we don’t…” and so on. But, of course, there is a great, you know, invisible unity. People say, “Well, I’d like to see some of the visible, if you don’t mind.”

“The progress”—and I’m quoting—“of the unbeliever toward the Christian faith is obstructed more by the behavior of professed Christians than by the arguments of avowed atheists.” In other words, people’s consideration of the good news, their move towards the gospel, is prevented—prevented more—by the nonsense of Christians rather than the pushback from the atheists.

Unbelievers, actually, are fortified in their unbelief by quarrels among Christian people. Unbelievers are fortified in their unbelief. Every time one of our evangelical heroes hits the fan, your friends are on the phone within fifteen minutes. They say, “See, I told you that stuff was bogus. This guy said this. He did that. Why would I ever believe this stuff? And why is everybody arguing now about this, and why are all those people over here arguing about that? What in the world is going on here?” That’s a legitimate question, isn’t it? Of course it is a legitimate question! Because they understand it’s not supposed to be that way.

When we lose sight of what is central and start focusing on the peripheral, then, funnily enough, what is peripheral becomes central, and what is central starts to become peripheral.

Non-Christians, actually, have got a pretty good idea of how you’re really supposed to be a Christian. Calvin is very, very clear in making this point when in his Institutes he says, “Not all the articles of true doctrine are of the same sort.”[14] In other words, for all that we say about the absolute reliability and sufficiency of basic Christian doctrine, not everything fits in that category. And it is in this other category that, very often, the church goes wrong. “Among the churches there are other articles of doctrine disputed which still do not break the unity of [the] faith.” Quoting from Paul in Philippians, he says, “Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, be of the same mind; and if you be differently minded in anything, God shall reveal this also to you.” Says Calvin,

Does[n’t] [that] sufficiently indicate that a difference of opinion over these nonessential matters should in no [way] be the basis of schism among Christians? First and foremost, we should agree on all points. …

But I say we must not thoughtlessly forsake the church because of any petty dissensions.[15]

Someone has observed that when you go in a local church and you find disagreements, the chances are that you’re not going to find disagreements over the Ten Commandments. You will find disagreements over the eleventh and twelfth commandments—which is what churches come up with on their own. One of the things I’m grateful for is that we don’t have a book of bylaws where, when you turn to the end of everything the Bible said, that you then have a page of things that we’ve decided is taboo here. And legitimate or illegitimate, I’m just glad that we don’t have them. Because points of disagreement on these things—issues that are not necessary for salvation—should not be points of disagreement. And yet, within the framework of the kind of churches we represent, it is often those very issues which are the cause for disagreement.

So, when you lose sight of the fundamentals of the faith and start focusing… Let’s put it this way: When we lose sight of what is central and start focusing on the peripheral, then, funnily enough, what is peripheral becomes central, and what is central starts to become peripheral. So you start to listen to the people talk. What are they talking about? They’re talking about this or that and the next thing. Are they talking about Jesus? Are they talking about the gospel? Are they talking about the nature of salvation? No, probably not.

Now, when we read What Is an Evangelical? by Martyn Lloyd-Jones in our leadership team a while ago, we were helped by his willingness to be straightforward about that. Lloyd-Jones was a powerful little man, a clever physician, an amazing preacher—held court in Westminster Chapel in the center of London for a long, long time in his life. And he wasn’t an equivocator in any way at all. In fact, people would have said of him that he was rather hard. He wasn’t, actually. He was very kindly. But he was forceful. In his book, though, he says, “Let me tell you things that I will not break fellowship with other pastors or with other churches over. Let me tell you what they are.”[16] Let me tell you what they were.

Number one, he said: the doctrine of election and predestination. You say, “But wait a minute! I thought that Lloyd-Jones was big on the sovereignty of God.” Yes, he was. He was absolutely clear. But what he’s saying is that is not the basis of fellowship between God’s people. Because election and predestination has to do with the mechanism of salvation. But we are not saved by a mechanism. We are saved by Jesus, no matter what way you come to Jesus. Whatever way you want to describe it, the fact of the matter is, it is Jesus. And so he says, “Then I won’t break fellowship over election or predestination.”

Secondly, “I won’t do it over the age or the mode of baptism. I’m not going to argue about how much water there needs to be, when the water needs to be, what age you need to be. I have a view on that,” he says, “but that is not the issue, because it is secondary to this issue of the gospel.”

Thirdly, “I’m not going to disagree,” he says, “over whether your church is congregationally governed or led by elders or is episcopal and you have bishops and everything else.” And the reason for that is because that’s not the issue.

Now, let me just pause and point out that anybody coming to this church over a period of time would, I think, with relative ease have said, “You know, I think this must be the perspective of this place.” Because if you take the people who have spoken at the pastors’ conference, at our Basics Conference, over twenty-two years, one of the salient features is the fact that they didn’t all come from one cabinet. We didn’t look for a person that was absolutely clear on this issue of baptism, absolutely clear on the doctrines of grace, absolutely clear on that. No, no, no, no. We looked for guys who were Christian men who were committed to the gospel. And when we put them up on the platform together, we realized that you’ve got a Presbyterian from Scotland, you’ve got an Anglican from England, you’ve got another guy from the Free Church in Edinburgh, and all three of them had more in common with themselves than they had in common with the background out of which they came. Why was that? Because the commonality was the gospel—not on election, not on baptism, not on church polity, not on prophetic interpretation.

As we were driving from the airport last night, Sue said to me, “I just saw a sign there.” She said, “It’s something like ‘Prophetic 444; call this number.’” I said, “Don’t you dare call that number, please.” Some of you would be very excited about that. I hope you didn’t put the thing up there, in which case, I don’t mean to offend you. But the fact of the matter is, you want to have an argument about that? People will be arguing about the end of the world at the end of the world. People will be going, “There is no possibility that a trumpet… Pardon?” Yeah. Right? So…

But churches are divided over that. I mean, Seventh-day Adventists, that’s their whole gig: “Two things: the Sabbath and the return of Jesus Christ. How are you going to have fellowship with that? You can’t. Those are the factors. Those are the issues. Those are the touchstones.” No, they’re not.

What about the baptism of the Holy Spirit? What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit? What are we to do with spectacular gifts? Lloyd-Jones says, “I won’t disagree with anybody over that at all. We’re going to have different perspectives on it. It doesn’t matter, because it is secondary to the gospel.”

Now, let me end in this way. Here we are as a church family, and we have whatever future God has for us with the background that we have. Here’s the danger—a number of dangers.

One is that in being very, very clear and solid on the basis of Christian doctrine, we become very, very clear and solid on things that we don’t need to be as clear and solid on. Therefore, we become hard, then we become judgmental, then we use our standard by which to gauge where other people are in relationship to the issues of the gospel.

And that actually comes out in various places in the New Testament—not least of all, I think, at the beginning of 1 Corinthians, where Paul, he says to the people, “You know, I’m concerned for you folks, because all you do is you line up behind your favorite personality. One of you says, ‘I’m Paul.’ One of you says, ‘I’m Apollos.’ One of you says, ‘I’m Cephas.’”[17] Do you know how prevalent that is in our evangelical world—that people don’t actually read the Bible? They don’t think. They just line up behind their hero. Go on social media, find out what Mr. X says, and then if Mr. X is your man, then you just line up right behind him.

Let me tell you the only person to line up behind: Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus! That’s the only person. That’s what Paul is saying: “I’m the apostle Paul. But is Christ divided?”[18] Danger! Danger! Big danger!

You might not agree about a thousand and one different things. But agree in the Lord. It is in Christ that the unity is found. It is for this unity that Jesus prays.

Second big danger: the idea that the independency that marks our nation is baptized into the structure of church life. The structure of church life is not an independent structure; it is an interdependent structure—hence Paul in relationship to the gifts that have been given to the church. Because no one person has the gifts. No one has all that is necessary. And therefore, the church, as the body of Christ, has been molded in such a way that we might be able to make an impact on the world.

Lastly: the danger, again, of petty squabbles. Petty squabbles. I don’t know what was going on with Euodia and Syntyche, but it was enough for Paul to say to them, you know, “I beseech you, ladies, that you will make sure that you get things sorted out here in the Lord”: “I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord.”[19] “To agree in the Lord.” You might not agree about worship style. You might not agree about politics. You might not agree about how to educate your children. You might not agree about a thousand and one different things. But agree in the Lord. It is in Christ that the unity is found. It is for this unity that Jesus prays.

The problem with the ladies is more than matched by the problem of the gentleman in 3 John. Who would ever want to be identified with this character? “I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us.” Do you want to be clearer, John? He’s the Apostle of Love, incidentally. “… talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and [he] also stops those who want to and [he] puts them out of the church.”[20]

What Jesus prays for is supernatural in its origin, it is doctrinal in its substance, it is evangelical in its expression, and it is pastoral in its focus.

Hopefully, this is not my final sermon. But if it were, I’d be happy to finish with Philippians 1:27: “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that,” says Paul, “whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.” That’s the future of the church at Philippi. That’s the future of the church of Jesus Christ. That’s the future of this church too: “standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents,” because that’s “a clear sign to them of their destruction.”

Lord Jesus, we want to understand the Bible. We want to get underneath the weight of your prayer to your Father. Within hours you go to the cross, you bear our sin, you triumph over the affairs of darkness, and you rise triumphant. Thank you that you are a living Savior. Thank you that you are the Lord of heaven and earth. And I pray that you will so come to us as individuals and enlighten our understanding that we may come to believe in Christ and, in believing in Christ, might understand what it means to be brought into the family of faith, and then that we will not be the disruptors or the meddlers but that, rather, we will by your enabling strive side by side and be of one heart and one mind.

Jesus, come and do for us what we so desperately need, we pray. In your name. Amen.

[1] Stuart Townend and Keith Getty, “Speak, O Lord” (2005).

[2] Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, “We Are Family” (1979).

[3] See Ephesians 2:12.

[4] R. Hudson Pope, “Make the Book Live to Me.”

[5] Jude 3 (ESV).

[6] See Ephesians 5:23; Colossians 1:18.

[7] See Ephesians 2:8.

[8] Ephesians 4:4 (ESV).

[9] 1 Peter 1:3 (ESV).

[10] Ephesians 4:5 (ESV).

[11] Ephesians 4:6 (ESV).

[12] Ephesians 4:15 (ESV).

[13] 1 Timothy 2:5 (ESV).

[14] John Calvin,Institutes of the Christian Religion, ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960), 2:1025–26.

[15] Calvin, 2:1026.

[16] D. M. Lloyd-Jones, What Is an Evangelical? (1992; repr., Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2016), 89. Paraphrased. The list of nonessential doctrines that follows is drawn from pp. 89–92. Further quotations attributed to Lloyd-Jones are also paraphrased.

[17] 1 Corinthians 1:10–12 (paraphrased).

[18] See 1 Corinthians 1:13.

[19] Philippians 4:2 (ESV).

[20] 3 John 9–10 (ESV).