Ephesians 4:13 English Standard Version (ESV) until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,^{[full grown man]} to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,

There is more than one way to approach the issue of unity in faith as it is expressed here. A review of commentaries seems appropriate to see what others have gleaned out of the scriptures.

Chuck Smith in his sermon notes says this “There is one thing that I think is more important than the unity of the faith, and that is the unity of the Spirit, of which Paul speaks in verse 3.”

Refocusing a subject does not explain the subject, even if a point is well made.

David Guzik says “Again, by clearly stating that this is a unity of the faith, Paul did not command a structural or organizational unity, but a spiritual unity around a common faith.”

While a good point Ephesians 4:5 points out there is but one faith and we should not lean towards thinking that there is uncommon faith.

Matthew Henry included these words “till all true believers meet together”. This has been viewed to some as an indication that unity in faith is impossible until all who are going to be part of the body of Christ are saved. That is an eternal view and does not help us at this present time.

John Brown focuses on the ministries and concludes that verse 13 is all coming to know Christ without addressing faiths role in the maturing of the saints.

They all hint around the issue without addressing the issue. Those who have and use the gifts of ministry and the congregation of saints all have this same faith. It is the common thread that runs through all of us and ties us together as each of us are in fact a part of the body of Christ.

To use the idiom “the ties that bind” would be appropriate here but is only supported in scripture by Ephesian 4:5 as there being only one faith. It is in all of us and is not different for any of us.

Psalm 27:13 English Standard Version (ESV) I believe that I shall look^[a] upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!

Footnotes ^[a]  Other Hebrew manuscripts Oh! Had I not believed that I would look

Psalm 27:13 King James Version (KJV) I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Psalm 27 has a periscope vision offered by the NASB that calls this psalm “a psalm of fearless trust in the Lord.” It is why “I had fainted” was added in the KJV where there are no Hebrews words given to be translated. That is why the ESV omits those 3 words.

This psalm is written in a time when David was under attack. The inclusion of “I and fainted” is an emotional appeal which is common in warriors who have lost trust in the heat of battle. It does not speak to all warriors, only some. It is common enough to address and why it might have been added in the KJV. It does not change the meaning but does add some human perspective.

It is how some see it by faith. That does not mean all will see it and it does not mean that those who do are wrong. It is not about right or wrong, it is about being touched. We should be mindful of that when we hear others express perspectives we do not share.

Is their perspective theologically dangerous? It might be that their expressions have not matured. We do not expect children to speak as mature adults nor adults as children. It is also possible that their perspectives have been tainted by others who had influence over their lives. We often find that when God leads us to a new church for a season we take our learned behaviors with us. Some minor examples are the way baptisms are performed, how and when the Lord’s Supper is shared or even what it is called.

No issue should become a point of division. We should seek unity of faith.