Ephesians 4.5c-Christian Corporate Unity in a Positional Sense is Defined by One Baptism
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday December 5, 2024
Ephesians Series: Ephesians 4:5c-Christian Corporate Unity in a Positional Sense is Defined by One Baptism
Lesson # 207
Ephesians 4:1 Therefore, I myself, the prisoner because of the Lord’s will, exhort and encourage each and every one of you as a corporate unit to live your lives in a manner worthy of your effectual calling with which each and every one of you as a corporate unit have been effectually called 2 with the fullest expression of that which characterizes humility resulting in that which characterizes gentleness. Specifically, by each and every one of you as a corporate unit continuing to make it your habit of tolerating one another with that which characterizes patience by means of the practice of divine love. 3 In other words, by all of you without exception continuing to cause yourselves to make it a habit of making every effort to maintain the unity produced by the Spirit by means of the bond, which produces a peace, which is divine in quality and character. 4 It is defined by one body as well as one Spirit just as each and every one of you as a corporate unit were also effectually called into the state of experiencing one confident expectation of blessing which was produced by your effectual call. 5 It is also defined by one Lord. It is also defined by one faith. It is also defined by one baptism. (Lecturer’s translation)
Ephesians 4:4-6 contains seven essential, fundamental elements or spiritual realities of Christian unity in a positional sense.
These are identified by the nouns sōma (σῶμα), “body,” pneuma (πνεῦμα), “Spirit,” elpis (ἐλπίς), “confident expectation of blessing,” kurios (κύριος), “Lord,” pistis (πίστις), “faith,” baptisma (βάπτισμα), “baptism,” and theos (θεός), “God.”
All seven are modified by the nominative form of the adjective heis (εἷς), “one.”
Each constitute the basis for Christian unity in an experiential sense.
Ephesians 4:5 is composed of three elliptical assertions about Christian unity in a positional sense, namely that Christian unity in a positional sense is defined by one Lord, one faith and one baptism.
Now, as we noted earlier in our study of Ephesians 4:5, the third and final assertion in this verse, which is about Christian unity in a positional sense states that it is defined by the baptism of the Spirit.
The noun baptisma (βάπτισμα), “baptism” does not refers to literal or water baptism, which is the act of submerging a justified sinner in water as ceremonial depicting them being identified with Christ at the moment of justification by means of the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit.
Rather, this word means “to be identified with” Jesus Christ and refers to the baptism of the Spirit, which takes place at the moment of justification when the Holy Spirit places them in union with Jesus Christ and identifies them with Him.
This identification means that it makes them identical with Jesus Christ in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father.
It also means the Holy Spirit ascribes to them the qualities and characteristics of the Lord Jesus Christ the moment of the Father declared them justified through in His one and only Son, Jesus Christ.
However, this identification does not mean however that the believer becomes the second person of the Trinity, but rather it means that God views the believer has having been crucified, died and buried with Christ two thousand years ago as well as raised and seated with Him.
The baptism of the Spirit results in making the believer a permanent member of the royal family of God, a new spiritual species and eternally secure (Mark 16:16; John 7:37-39; 14:20; Acts 1:5; 2:1-4; Rom. 6:3-5; 1 Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:26-28; Eph. 4:5; Col. 2:11-13; 1 Pet. 3:21).
It also results in positional sanctification and the potential to experience sanctification in time and the guarantee of the completion of sanctification at the resurrection of the church.
By positionally, I mean that God views the believer as crucified, died, buried, raised and seated with Christ since at the moment of conversion, the Holy Spirit placed the believer in union with Christ.
He also identified the believer with Christ’s crucifixion (Romans 6:6; Galatians 2:20), His death (Romans 6:2, 7-8; Colossians 2:20; 3:3), His burial (Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12), His resurrection (Romans 6:5; Ephesians 2:6; Philippians 3:10-11; Colossians 2:12; 3:1) and His session (Ephesians 2:6; Colossians 3:1).
Understanding the nature of the baptism of the Spirit and its implications is so very important for the Christian to understand and apply to their own life.
The Father’s viewpoint of the believer is directly related to the baptism of the Spirit.
As we have noted the believer is identified with Christ in His crucifixion, His deaths, His burial, His resurrection and session.
God views the believer as He views His Son in the sense that He looks at the believer as having been crucified with His Son, to have died and been buried with Him and raised and seated with Him at His right hand.
This is all the result of the work of the Spirit.
The believer’s responsibility is to appropriate this fact by faith!
Doing so, results in the believer experiencing their sanctification and deliverance from the sin nature, Satan and his cosmic system.
Ultimately, it leads to the glorification of the Father since if the believer appropriates by faith their position in Christ, they will manifest the character of Christ and to manifest the character of Christ is to glorify God and to glorify God is to manifest His character.
No wonder the devil has done an enormous amount of work in this area to cloud and confuse Christendom’s knowledge of this truth.
Now, like the nouns sōma (σῶμα), “body,” pneuma (πνεῦμα), “Spirit,” noun elpis (ἐλπίς), “confident expectation of blessing,” kurios (κύριος), “Lord,” and pistis (πίστις), “the Christian faith,” the noun baptisma (βάπτισμα), “baptism” is modified by the adjective heis (εἷς), “one.”
As it did in the five previous instances this adjective functions as an attributive adjective.
This means that this adjective is ascribing to the baptism performed by the Holy Spirit on behalf of the church age believer at their justification the concept of being a single entity in contrast to more than one.
Thus, it emphasizes that there is only one baptism that helps to define Christian unity in a positional sense, namely the baptism of the Spirit.
As was the case in the previous two assertions in Ephesians 4:5, Paul is again using the figure of ellipsis in the third assertion in this verse.
This means that the third person singular present active indicative conjugation of the verb eimi (εἰμί) is again omitted but implied.
As was the case in the previous two assertions, the verb eimi (εἰμί) means “to define” since in this context the word pertains to identifying the essential nature of something or making a statement which expresses the essential nature of something.
As was the case in the previous two assertions in this verse, the referent of the third person singular form of this verb is the noun henotēs (ἑνότης) is again Christian unity in a positional sense.
Like the nouns kurios (κύριος), “Lord,” and pistis (πίστις), “the Christian faith,” the noun baptisma (βάπτισμα), “baptism” functions as a predicate nominative which means that it is making an assertion about the subject, which we noted is Christian unity in a positional sense.
Therefore, the noun baptisma (βάπτισμα), “baptism,” is making the assertion that Christian unity in a positional sense is defined by the baptism of the Spirit.
Therefore, like the body of Christ, the Holy Spirit the church age believer’s confident expectation of blessing, the Lord Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father, and the Christian faith or Christian doctrine, the baptism of the Spirit is an essential, fundamental element or spiritual reality of Christian unity in a positional sense.
Therefore, along with the body of Christ, the Holy Spirit, the believer’s confident expectation of blessing, the Lord Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father, and the Christian faith, the baptism of the Spirit serves as the basis for Christian unity in an experiential sense.
