THE ONENESS
PARTLY OF THE FAITH AND PARTLY
OF THE FULL KNOWLEDGE
OF THE SON OF GOD
When we keep this oneness, it will become the third kind of oneness, that is, the oneness partly of the faith and partly of the full knowledge of the Son of God (Eph. 4:11-16). The faith mentioned in Ephesians 4:13 is the objective faith, denoting all the things in which we believe for our salvation. The faith equals the apostles’ teaching, which is the teaching of the entire New Testament. The faith in which we believe is the contents of the entire New Testament. The three main things in the New Testament are God Himself, the person of Christ, and the work of Christ. We believe in what God is, we believe in what Christ is, and we believe in what Christ has done. This is our faith.
If we do not believe in any one of these main aspects of the New Testament teaching, we are divisive. Some so-called Christians say that they believe that Christ is the Savior, but they do not believe that Christ is God. They believe that Christ loved them and died for them, but they do not believe that He is God. We might mistakenly think that because they believe in Christ, these people are Christians. The Mormons and the modernists are such persons who do not believe that Christ is God. Because of this, they are divided from us.
This oneness is also the oneness partly of the full knowledge of the Son of God. We may know Christ, but we may not know Christ in full. The Christ whom we know may be very narrow. We need to have the full knowledge of Christ, that is, to know Christ in full. Then the Christ whom we know will be the enlarged Christ, the expanded Christ.
The Oneness to Which
All the Believers in Christ
Need to Go On
and at Which
All the Believers Need to Arrive
The believers in Christ need to go on until they all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God (Eph. 4:13a). When we say that Christ is all-inclusive, we mean that He is not only the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—but also the Man; that within Him is His marvelous death and His powerful resurrection; and that He is all that we need—salvation, peace, hope, our spiritual food, our spiritual drink, and our spiritual home. Some people argue with us and try to discourage us from speaking in such a way. Because I teach that Christ is our food (John 6:57), our drink (John 7:37-39), our clothing (Gal. 3:27), and our dwelling place (John 15:4a), some have misunderstood my teaching concerning the all-inclusiveness of Christ and have even accused me of teaching pantheism. They believe in their kind of Christ, and I believe in Christ according to the full revelation of the Bible. Because of such differences in the knowing of Christ, there is a lack of oneness. Thus, there is the need for us to go on to arrive at the full knowledge of the Son of God.
Christians disagree and argue over many small matters. For example, some argue over whether a person should be baptized by sprinkling or by immersion, and others have disagreed over the number of times and in what direction, forward or backward, a person should be immersed. Disputing over small matters such as these causes division. Those who are preoccupied with such things may be genuine believers, but they have not arrived at the oneness of the proper faith or at the full knowledge of Christ. They are like small children who are preoccupied with certain toys. Therefore, we all need to advance; we all need to grow. The more we advance in the growth of life, the more we will drop all the "toys," and the more we will arrive at the genuine oneness in practicality.
(Elders' Training, Book 10: The Eldership and the God-Ordained Way (2), Chapter 3, by Witness Lee)
