Lecture 2 — Unity of the faith

^4:5^ One Lord, one faith, one baptism. [n. 198]

^4:6^ One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all. [n. 201]

197. After he has exhorted them to secure ecclesial unity, the Apostle offers the Ephesians, in this section, a glimpse of this unity’s pattern. Since the Church of God is likened to a city, it is one and distinct, although this unity is not uncomposed but composed of different parts. Thus the Apostle does two things:

first, he shows what is common in the Church;

second, he shows what is distinctive to each member in her, at but to every one of us is given grace (Eph 4:7).

The solidarity of any city demands the presence of four common elements: one governor, one law, the same symbols, and a common goal. The Apostle affirms that these are present in the Church also.

198. Hence, he says: you ought to have **one body and one spirit **(Eph 4:4) since you belong to the one unified Church.

First, she has one leader, Christ. Obeying one Lord, not many, conflicts do not arise from trying to comply with divergent commands. For it is written: Christ is as the Son in his own house (Heb 3:6). Therefore let all the house of Israel know most certainly that God has made both Lord and Christ, this same Jesus, whom you have crucified (Acts 2:36). There are many lords; yet to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things . . . and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things (1 Cor 8:5–6). And the Lord shall be king over all the earth. In that day there shall be one Lord, and his name shall be one (Zech 14:9).

199. Second, her law is one. For the law of the Church is the law of faith: where then is your boasting? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith (Rom 3:27).

Faith is sometimes applied to the reality believed in, as with this is the Catholic faith, meaning this is what must be believed. At other times, faith refers to the habit of faith by which a man believes what he must in his very heart. Faith in both these senses can be called one.

In the former, one faith would mean that you are bidden to believe in the same truths and in the same way of acting. For what is believed by all the faithful is one and the same reality, hence their faith is termed Catholic or universal. Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak, that is, think, the same thing and that there be no schisms among you; but that you be perfect in the same mind and in the same judgment (1 Cor 1:10).

In the second way, one faith designates the unity of the habit of faith by which all believe. I mean that it is specifically one—not numerically one—since the same faith is present in each one’s heart; just as when many persons want the same thing, they are said to be of one will.

200. Third, the Church shares the same symbols. They are Christ’s sacraments, of which baptism is the first and the entrance to the rest. Hence he says one baptism.

Three reasons account for this unity. First, baptisms do not differ by reason of who administers them. No matter who performs the rites they possess an unvaried power because he who baptizes interiorly is one, namely, Christ. He upon whom you shall see the Spirit descending and remaining upon him, he it is that baptizes with the Holy Spirit (John 1:33).

Second, baptism is one since it is conferred in the name of the one Triune God: baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matt 28:19).

The third reason is that it cannot be repeated. The sacraments of penance, matrimony, the Eucharist and last anointing may be repeated, but not baptism. For it is impossible for those who were once illuminated, by baptism, have tasted also the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, have moreover tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come, and are fallen away, through sins, to be renewed again to penance (Heb 6:4–6). It is not repeated, either by reason of the sacramental character it imparts, or because its cause is not repeated: for we are buried together with him by baptism into death; that, as Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life (Rom 6:4). And Christ also died for sins once for all (1 Pet 3:18).

201. Fourth, the Church has the same goal, which is God. The Son leads us to the Father: when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God and the Father; when he shall have brought to naught all principality and power and virtue (1 Cor 15:24). In reference to this the Apostle adds one God and Father of all:

first, he mentions his unity;

second, his dignity, at who is above all.

202. Regarding the first he has two remarks. One pertains to the divine nature; he says there is one God: hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord (Deut 6:4). The other has to do with his kindness to us and our piety; whence he says Father of all: you, O Lord, are our Father, our redeemer: from everlasting is your name (Isa 63:16); Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? (Mal 2:10).

203. He extols God’s dignity on three scores. The divine majesty who is above all: the Lord is high above all nations; and his glory above the heavens (Ps 113:4). His power which extends through all: do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord (Jer 23:24). You have subjected all things under his feet (Ps 8:8). All things are delivered to me (Luke 10:22) since all things were made by him (John 1:3). It is indicated how this is accomplished: you have ordered all things in measure, and number, and weight. For great power always belonged to you alone: and who shall resist the strength of your arm? (Wis 11:21) Finally, there is the abundance of his grace in us all: you, O Lord, are among us, and your name is called upon by us (Jer 14:9).

Majesty is appropriated to the Father who is the source and principle in the divinity, exceeding the whole of creation. Power is appropriated to the Son who is that wisdom which reaches from end to end mightily (Wis 8:1). Grace is appropriated to the Holy Spirit who has filled the whole world (Wis 1:7).