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Aug 21, 2025 06:00am

Our Common Faith

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“To Titus, my true child in a common faith; Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.” (Titus 1:1)

There are people in this world who are united in a way that is beyond this world. Their lives are strangely knit by a bond that exceeds any shared hobby or work, even any family ties. In fact, our relationship is often richer, deeper, and fuller than any earthly family will ever know.

We are joined by a common faith.

THE ENTRY

Something has happened to each of us who are in this joyous fellowship. We have come to know our sinfulness and need by the grace of God. Somewhere along the way, led by an Unseen Hand, we have been brought to the end of ourselves. God has revealed (in the way only He can) that we were made for Him, and our incessant running from His rule in our lives is the explanation of all that is wrong in our lives and this world.

By the goodness of God, He has shown us the beauty of Christ—who He is and what He has done to remedy this disconnection. We have come to know in part how His work on the cross and the empty tomb took our place for our sins, giving us a way to be pardoned by God and joined back to Him forever.

And then, another gift: faith has come to our hearts. We believed, and in believing, we were born into a new, eternal family from which we will never be separated. It is our common faith. On the back side of this spiritual transformation, we realize this awakening was all by God’s orchestration and grace.

THE SEAL

To seal this transaction, the Spirit of God has been given to each of us, to live in us, empower us, comfort us, lead us, and use us in this life. This Spirit is not less than God, He is God. Paul referred to this as “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).

This Life we all share is not merely a common set of thoughts, a theological tradition, or a church experience (although it is all those things). It is nothing less than the singular, Divine life of God Himself, indwelling us so we can be joined into inseparable union with Him forever. And in so joining, He has joined us to everyone else who has this faith too.

Like the aspen tree, which all grows from one root, so we are connected around the world and through each century by this Life. This is why a true believer from Kansas can meet a believer in Nepal and know instant, indescribable fellowship and joy. The Christ in one speaks to the Christ in the other.

Peter also speaks of this “common faith.”

To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ; Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (2 Peter 1:1–4)

We have, through faith, become partakers of the Divine nature. We have Christ and He has us and we now—forever—and have a Divine, indestructible family.

This is why the gates of hell will never destroy the church. Why persecution fuels the body of Christ and causes it not to be extinguished but to explode. Why a true believer can move from one city to the next and find others of the common faith and instantly worship. Why there is such an extraordinary, unshakable band of brothers in the body of Christ. Why every humble believer, joined as one, forms one mighty Body that marches throughout the world and throughout history, gathering others into its common faith.

And it is what heaven is and will be one day. A community with no darkness (for the Lord Himself will have extinguished all of that) and a world of love forever. Our common faith, our common Life, our common eternity.