Institutions declare, “One team.” Whole nations announce to themselves and to other nations, “We are one.” You’ve got, “one office,” to promote productivity for the work place. To express the unity of a city, there’s “One Atlanta.” Not surprisingly, you see “One Philadelphia” too.A single team isn’t saying, “We’re numerically one team.” No. The people on the team or the leadership of the team attribute unity or oneness to it. Speaking of the nations of the world at the World Cup, “We are one,” means a desired unity of all the nations. Even an office wants unity, because a unified office gets more work done together. It’s normal for cities to say they are one through all the racial, ethnic, religious, etc. diversity. I could find almost every major American city to possess some initiative toward “One Miami” and the like.When we pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, we say, “One nation, under God, indivisible.” The Pledge of Allegiance recognizes at least a desire for unity in a nation. That pledge isn’t saying that other nations aren’t nations except the United States. It also isn’t saying there is one mystical nation, maybe even a single invisible nation to which everyone in the world belongs.
Scriptural “One” For Unity
Before all the examples above used “one” for unity and not for one in number, the Bible did it. God did it before any of the above did it. Do not assume that “one” means numeric one. Many people know this usage of “one” because the Bible used it first.
Scripture uses “one” for unity quite a few times, so readers should expect it. No one should think, “Wow, that says ‘one’ there, so it must mean numerical one.” Since numerical one doesn’t make sense, the same person concludes, “It must be something mystical and universal.” It isn’t. “One” can and does mean “unified one.”
Romans 15:6 says:
That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul writes to the church at Rome. He says, “ye,” plural, speaking of the individual believers in the church. Is there only one numeric mind and one numeric mouth in that church? Of course not. This is an example of a type of usage of “one,” fitting of the title of this post, “When ‘One’ Doesn’t Mean ‘One’.”
Scripture uses “one mind” to communicate a biblical kind of unity, a group of people all thinking the same, having the same beliefs.
2 Corinthians 13:11, “Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.” Philippians 1:27, “Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.” Philippians 2:2, “Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.” 1 Peter 3:8, “Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous.”
Do you see that this is a common usage? There are others. “One voice” is used this way:
Acts 19:34, “But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.”
One Body
No more is this kind of “one” used than it is for “one body,” speaking of a unified church. The church is the body of Christ, and “one body” speaks of a unified church, a unified body of Christ, a local one. The New Testament uses “body” as a metaphor for the church to show both the diversity and the unity of a church. Here are the usages:
Romans 12:4-5, “For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office. So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.” 1 Corinthians 10:17, “For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.” 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” 1 Corinthians 12:20, “But now are they many members, yet but one body.” Ephesians 2:16, “And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby.” Ephesians 4:4, “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.” Colossians 3:15, “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.”
A body has many members, that is, body parts, but it is still one body. God wants a unified church, a unified body. This is not all believers. The kind of unity found in a physical body, which is the comparison, isn’t even found among all believers. Some might say, “There is a spiritual unity,” but that is not the unity taught and admonished in the New Testament. The spiritual is certainly part of the unity, but it is far more than that.
1 Corinthians 12:12-13 explains the metaphor or analogy of the human body. A body is one, that is, it is all together in one cohesive unity. The parts are all attached and work in symmetry. It’s one like that. It’s not several pieces sitting different places in different locations. It is all in exactly the same place at the same time, but interconnected in a way for more than that. All the body parts fit together into one body.
Every body part, each member of the body, enters the body through baptism — “by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body.” Water baptism unifies someone to a church. The Lord’s Table, represented by the words, “have been all made to drink into one Spirit,” unifies the church even as 1 Corinthians 10:17 talks about many being one bread and one body. This is the “communion of the body of Christ” in the previous verse, 10:16. The two ordinances of the church, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, are important components or instruments for the unity of a church and to display the unity of the church. A mystical, universal invisible church does not baptize or practice the Lord’s Table. When the members came together (cf. 1 Cor 11:20-33), they partook together of the Lord’s Table as one body.
The list of “ones” in Ephesians 4:4-6, one body, one Spirit, One Lord, one faith, etc., all relate to verse 3, “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” There is obviously numerically one Spirit, one Lord, and one faith, but each of those are the basis of the oneness of a church. Through the “one body” language, Ephesians 4:4 reveals the unity of the church in the most fundamental way. Division would bring two bodies when there is only one.
In Romans 12:4-5, Paul uses the plural “we” to include himself in one body. Again, this is not numerical one. All body parts are part of one body, indicating unity. This is true of every true church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul could say “we” even when writing to the church at Rome, because what applied to that church also applied to his.
Besides those listed in the blockquote above, the one other usage of “one body” distinguishes slightly from the other examples. The Apostle Paul asks in 1 Corinthians 6:16, “What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.” This is only slightly different, but it is also illustrative. Even when a man joins a woman, a harlot, outside of marriage, the two become one, so instead of two bodies, they are one. They are obviously still two separate people, but the act itself brings a unique unity, which is important to consider. Paul is letting that be a warning.
The teaching of “one body” in the New Testament does not say there is only one numeric body of Christ in the entire world. There is no universal, mystical body taught in the New Testament. In its usages, it shows that even though a body has many members, it is still one, that is, unified. The Lord wants unified churches with Him as the Head of each.
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