How far does one go in upholding the two words “one faith?” God has united believers in Christ into one body and called those members to preserve that unity because they possess only one faith — one gospel that will save and redeem men. To what extent will one travel to uphold that truth?
One of the lesser known and more compelling stories of English history is instructive in the importance of defending the unity of the body because of our singular doctrine of saving faith.
The British crown in the 16th century was a battle between Protestants and Catholics — and a battle that turned bloody at times. When it became clear that Protestant King Edward was nearing death, his supporters convinced him to bypass the order of succession and name another Protestant to the throne. So instead of Princess Mary, a Catholic, ascending to the throne, a 16-year-old girl by the name of Lady Jane Grey was appointed instead — even though she was only fourth in the line of succession.
The plot of the Protestants failed.
Princess Mary began making her way to London and all along her path, receiving universal support, she was hailed as the Queen. When she got to London, the crown was removed from Jane Grey and Mary was installed as queen. Lady Jane served only nine days.
But her problems only escalated from there. Mary was vigilant in her defense of Catholicism (she became known as “Bloody Mary” for the killing of some 246 Protestant leaders under her reign) and she attempted to get Lady Jane to recant her Protestantism, as many who had attempted to install her as queen already had. She refused, responding to the Catholic position that works are necessary for salvation, by saying,
I deny that, and I affirm that faith only saveth…we may not say that [works] profit to our salvation; for when we have done all, we are unprofitable servants, and faith only in Christ’s blood saves us.
A later attempt by a priest to get her to acknowledge that Jesus’ words at the Lord’s Supper, “Take, eat, this is My body” was a reference to Christ’s literal body elicited this response:
I grant he saith so; and so he saith, I am the vine, I am the door; but he is never the more for that a door or a vine…God forbid that I should say that I eat the very natural body and blood of Christ; for then either I should pluck away my redemption, or else there were two bodies or two Christs, or twelve bodies, when his disciples did eat his body, and it suffered not till the next day.
At the end of this interview by the priest, he expressed regret that she had not accepted the Catholic position on salvation, saying that he was sure they would never meet again, to which she replied,
True it is that we shall never meet again, except God turn your heart; for I am assured, unless you repent, and turn to God, you are in an evil case; and I pray God, in the bowels of his mercy, to sen you his Holy Spirit…to open the eyes of your heart.
Here is a young woman who is sure of her faith — understanding that there is one objective faith on which salvation stands and that apart from that faith, there is no unity in Christ. So part of preserving the unity of the church is preserving the truth — the one, singular gospel of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone — through which the church exists.
For more on the life of Lady Jane Grey, see:
- Richard Phillips, “One Church” in The Church: One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic (P & R, 2004).
- Rick Holland: “Lessons from Church History: Lady Jane Grey” (audio)
Words of Grace 